Abroad in 2012: A Year of Travel: SAILING THE ADMIRALTY ALONG THE ENGLISH EMBANKMENT

On Monday, August 27^th, I took the metro down to the Admiralty. From there, I walked west, past St. Isaacs and the Horse Guards Manege, where the riding school was once was located (no photos taken).

I walked around the area, just checking out stuff. I ventured into the main post office and scouted that location for our upcoming mission to send items back to the USA before we depart for Moscow.

I saw where various museums are located, such as the new museum of religion and atheism, the communications museum, and the vodka museum. Perhaps when Alexi comes, we’ll do one day devoted to the bread museum, the vodka museum and the chocolate museum!

Thinking about that ludicrous plan, I became hungry. So I bought a ham and cheese sandwich, some chips and a Pepsi Light at the “prodykti,” what New Yorkers would call a bodega. I knew there was the workers plaza nearby, but when I arrived there, I saw that much of it was torn up and the street under reconstruction.

So I meandered over to the Trade Union’s Palace of Labor and found an inconvenient spot in which to sun myself while gobbling the “butterbrot,” another term for sandwich in Russian.

From there, I strolled over to the English Embankment. Seeing those huge cruise ships close up and sitting on the Neva River in downtown Petersburg continues to amaze me. I have never been on cruise ship and am unfamiliar with all aspects of that procedure, thus it all just dumbfounds me. But those ships sail up the wide Neva River and dock just like a 26-foot power boat might pull up to a pier on a lake.

I then entered the Rumyantsev Mansion which sits right on the Embankment. This is part of the Museums of the History of St. Petersburg. Only a few of the rooms display some of the luxurious lifestyle its inhabitants once enjoyed before the revolution. The third floor is devoted to life in Leningrad during the 1920s and 1930s.

On the second floor, the museum covers the Leningrad experience during World War II. What Leningrad endured is heart wrenching. The entire surviving population of the city (about one million perished) was awarded medals by the state. I’m sure the Soviet Union produced a lot of films about it, but Hollywood needs to script a heroic plot.

I found it all quite fascinating and spent entirely too much time there. But hey, I am on no set schedule, so who cares!

I continued to wander down the embankment and then up the Kryukov canal. On one side is where the Russian Navy is compounded with ongoing operations.

I found my way onto New Holland Island, a tiny little island Peter the Great set aside as part of his ship making Mecca in the Admiralty. It is now a very hip place with artists’ workshops, family recreational space, an interactive entertainment center, some nice little cafes, bread and pastry shops, as well as a book nook. This place has a long history, and despite some volleying between design and architecture plans, is set to undergo some major changes with construction of retail and residential space. Too bad. I like it as it is: an open, creative space for the public.

I walked around an interesting neighborhood in search of the big synagogue I saw on the map I was carrying. I never found it, and only now as I review another map, I see I was within two blocks, only on the wrong side of the street!

On my way to the metro, I came across the famed Mariinsky Theatre. A new one is being built behind the existing one, and across the street is a statue of Rimsky-Korsakov.

I have tried for several hours to upload photos, but that function has consistently not worked. Therefore, I am simply posting the text and will try again tomorrow to upload photos. Sorry.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 - PHOTOS UPLOADED!

ONCE THE PALACE OF GRAND DUKE NICHOLAS, SINCE 1918 THIS BUILDING HAS BEEN THE TRADE UNION'S PALACE OF LABOR.

PLAQUE ON TRADE UNION'S PALACE OF LABOR WHERE LENIN ADDRESSED THE PROLETARIAT.

GRAND STAIRCASE IN PALACE OF LABOR.

EXTERIOR OF THE RUMYANTSEV MANSION ALONG THE ENGLISH EMBANKMENT (44).

RUNYANTSEV ENTRANCE FOYER.

GRAND STAIRCASE IN RUMYANTSEV.

LOOKING DOWN ON THE RUMYANTSEV MANSION GRAND STAIRCASE.

RUMYANTSEV SITTING ROOM - ONE OF SEVERAL.

RUMYANTSEV MUSIC ROOM OVERLOOKING THE ENGLISH EMBANKMENT WITH VIDEO CREW.

ONE OF THE MANY INTERESTING POSTERS CAPTURING LIFE IN LENINGRAD DURING THE 1920S & 1930S. THE CULTURE OF "SPORT" WAS ENCOURAGED BY THE SOVIETS AND RECREATIONAL AREAS ON THE NORTHERN ISLANDS WERE DEVELOPED DURING THAT TIME.

TYPICAL PRE-WAR SOVIET KITCHEN AT THE RUMYANTSEV MANSION MUSEUM.

TYPICAL PRE-WAR SOVIET LIVING & SLEEPING SPACE AT THE RUMYANTSEV MANSION MUSEUM.

LENINGRAD HQ ON JUNE 22, 1941 - WW II DISPLAY AT RUMYANTSEV.

THE HOMELAND OF YOUR MOTHER SUMMONS YOU!

ENGLISH EMBANKMENT WITH VIEW TOWARD CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY AND A CRUISE SHIP.

ENGLISH EMBANKMENT WHERE THE "DEUTSCHLAND" WAS MOORED.

NEW HOLLAND ISLAND.

POND WITHIN NEW HOLLAND ISLAND ON WHICH A LITTLE CULTURAL AREA OF SHOPS AND BOARDWALK HAS BEEN ERECTED DURING THE INTERIM PERIOD OF "NON CONSTRUCTION."