Destinations

September 23, 2006

One of Russia’s oldest cities, Yaroslavl was founded by Yaroslavl the Wise in 1010. Yaroslavl situated on both sides of the Volga River was an important trading port. Today Yaroslavl is an important industrial center.

In the Baltics as well as in Russia we have seen a lot of wedding couples in almost every city. Every tour guide has commented on very high divorce rates. In Russia, when a couple wants to wed, they register at places where the civil ceremonies are performed. Weddings do not take places in churches and religious weddings are not recognized by the government. After filling out the application they are given a time it will be performed. You don’t get to choose the day or even the time of day. After the wedding party usually drives around the city and has pictures taken in popular spots which are usually the same spots the tourists are visiting. Along the way we have heard various stories about performing some act (such as ringing a bell or throwing a coin into a fountain) which will help make their love strong

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September 22, 2006

We arrived Goritsy which is a small town with the Nunnery of the Resurrection and the Kirillo-Belozsersky Monastery. Our tour skipped the Nunnery and went to the monastery which was founded in 1397.

The monastery was supported over the years by various Tsars including Ivan IV (the Terrible) who funded a fort wall. The buildings contained icon art and examples of the needlework done at the nunnery..

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September 21, 2006
We again sailed through the night East on the Svir river and then North on the Onega Lake. I awoke to colder temperatures and rain but the rain cleared by the time we stopped at Khizi.

Khizi was founded in the 15th century and today is an open air museum with distinctive wooden structures with some of them dating back to the 14th century (some of the structures were moved from other sites to Kizhi). The structures have earned Khizi a UNESCO cultural heritage site designation.

The most impressive structure is the church of Transfiguration (a.k.a. the Summer Church) which was originally built in 1583 and then rebuilt in 1714 after the original church burned down. All of the structures are made completely out of wood with no nails. Recently steel structures and nails have been used to help support the structures.

In addition to the church of Transfiguration, there was the Winter Church, a much smaller church that was used during the winter as it was not practical to heat the larger Summer church during the winter. There were also original houses, bath houses, and a windmill. We were able to see daily activities of the family including young women spinning yarn and making beaded jewelry.

During the winter months, the area is inaccessible except by helicopter. The rivers and lakes completely freeze over. The tour guides who live there in summer months move to another area from October to May.

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September 20, 2006

Our boat set sail at 6:00 PM the previous night and we sailed the entire night down the River Neva into La Doga Lake. There isn’t a lot to see, just trees and more trees. Surprisingly it is very flat, there are few hills and no mountains in sight. It is pretty however, and the leaves are just beginning to change color. I am sure in just a few weeks, the colors must be wonderful.

It started to rain during the night sometime. I must admit that we have lucked out with weather. Most of the tour guides mentioned that we are experiencing an “Indian Summer”. We have had little rain and the temps have been comfortable.

There isn’t a lot to see along the way, just miles of heavily forested areas. Occasionally we saw small villages but there was little to photograph. Most of them look poor and in desperate need of repair. Continue reading →

September 19, 2006
The Hermitage Museum is among the top three museums in the world along with the Louvre, the National Gallery in London and the Hermitage. Five main buildings, 1057 rooms and 117 staircases. It houses works from da Vinci, Rembrandt, Titians, Michelangelo, Rubens, Picasso and Mattise.

There are over 3 million exhibitions! Our tour guide said that in order to see every exhibition it would take years. In fact, to spend one minute at each exhibition it would take 8 years to see the entire collection. Needless to say, I saw just a fraction of it.

The Hermitage started with Catherine the Great purchasing 200 paintings from a German merchant. Catherine the Great was trying to follow in the footsteps of Peter the Great, in enlightening her country. Catherine turned part of her Winter Palace into the Hermitage which means “Hermit’s Place”. Before passing away, Catherine collected over 10,000 pieces and although quite sizeable, she still referred to her museum as the Hermitage.

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September 19, 2006
Peterhof (Peter’s Palace) is by far the most amazing thing I have seen on this trip. It is situated where the Neva River meets that Gulf of Finland. There are over 140 fountains. Peter himself help engineer many of the fountains and seeing the park gave me a real appreciation for Peter the Great. He was truly brilliant and a visionary but he also had a sense of humor as well. Throughout the park there are trick fountains, that are designed to lure and soak unsuspecting guests.

When the Germans invaded during WWII, everything in the palace was removed and the fountains were buried to prevent the Germans from finding or taking them. Although the palace was heavily damaged in the war, the majority of items in the palace are original.

Hitler decided that he would celebrate New Year’s eve at Peterhof when he realized that he wasn’t going to be able to celebrate victory at the Astoria hotel in St. Petersburg. He went so far as to draw up invitations. Stalin responded to this by heavily bombing the area and successfully prevented Hitler from holding his party there. Continue reading →

Mosaic Tiles a replica from one found in a Roman Bath

Sept 19th, 2006 (Continued)

Catherine the Great was impressed with the Vatican that she had them replicated at the Hermitage.  There was no shortage of things to look at – Leonardo da Vince’s “Madonnan Child along with the “Madonna with a flower”.  Works by Michelangelo, Vincent Van Gogh and Rembrandt.  Unfortunately, I had just a few hours and wish I could have stayed days.

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September 18, 2006
In the afternoon, our tour bus drove us out to see Catherine Palace. It is situated in Tarskoe Selo just outside of St. Petersburg. Peter the Great’s wife, Catherine, had the first part of the palace built as a surprise for Peter. Peter however, spent little time at this palace due to his passion for sailing, he preferred to be closer to the sea.

Empress Elizabeth (Peter and Catherine’s daughter) built the largest section of the palace turning what Catherine had built into guest rooms. Catherine the Great added to the Palace during her reign.

Enormous, luxurious and ornate do not begin to describe the palace. Did I mention the extensive gardens, man-made lake and bath houses?

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September 18, 2006

St. Petersburg, named by Peter the Great for his patron saint, was founded on May 27th in 1703. Peter the Great created St. Petersburg to rival Venice. Situated on the Neva river, St. Petersburg consists of 101 islands, 66 canals, and hundreds of bridges. It is known as the Venice of the North.

The statue of the Peter the Great on the left faces west. It represents Peter the Great’s efforts to Europeanize (Westernize) Russia. Peter was a traveler and spent two years traveling throughout Europe. Peter knew that Russia needed to develop if it was going to survive. Continue reading →

September 17, 2006, Day 8
We were up at 5:00 AM to get our bus to St. Petersburg. I must admit, I was a little nervous about the bus ride. This wasn’t a tour bus but rather regular public transportation. All week-long, others in the group made jokes about riding with the chickens.

Well, upon boarding of the bus, we were faced with our first challenge – how to fill out the forms required at the border. I thought I was rather witty pulling out my visa and matching up the words with the Cyrillic letters. Unfortunately, that only worked to a certain point. I still had many blank spaces left on the form.

Meanwhile, some others in the group were spreading stories on how you might have to pay extra if you don’t have the form filled out completely, you will have hard time if you don’t complete the form. I don’t think I ever heard so many unfounded horror stories in such a short time. At least one person had decided to use good sense and decided to ask a Russian. In no time, we completed our forms. Continue reading →