NO PHOTOS FOR A WHILE

Stupid Google.

I have been trying since Wednesday afternoon to upload photo images, but the application just spins and then times out.

I also have photos from the Peter Paul Fortress, Peter's first house in Petersburg and exterior shots of the Aurora.

I have come to believe that if weather.com says it will rain, then the sun will shine, and vice versa.

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."

NEW HOLLAND HIPSTERS.

BOAT COMING DOWN THE KRYUKOVA CANAL ONTO THE MOIKA RIVER WITH CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW MARIINSKY THEATRE IN THE BACKGROUND.

OLD MARIINSKY THEATRE. NEW CONSTRUCTION HAPPENING JUST BEHIND IT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE KRYUKOVA CANAL.

STATUE OF RIMSKY-KORSAKOV ON THE PLAZA BETWEEN THE MARIINSKY THEATRE AND THE STATE MUSIC CONSERVATORY. 

PAIN TICKETS

Today is Tuesday. Late Sunday afternoon, Andrea had gone to the train station to inquire about the train we're taking to Moscow.

While some of it may be attributable to a break down in communication between the person Andrea spoke with, in Russia, it is typical to be told one thing on Sunday and told an entirely different thing on Tuesday!

Cost on Sunday? @ 3,000 roubles. "We want forward-facing seats in the first car." "No problem. There are many seats. It's wide open." "Payable with a credit card?" "Yes!"

Cost on Tuesday? @ 6,000 roubles. "We would like forward-facing seats in the first car." "All sold out. Only backward-facing seats in the first car." "Alright. Here's our credit card." "Sorry, no credit cards!"

So in addition to having to pay a service fee to buy the tickets, we had to scramble because the ticket office was closing in 20 minutes and use my ATM card, which will add @ $50 in bank service fees!

And guess what? No cold water this week.

I have a ton of photos to go through and post from my Monday and Tuesday wanderings. Stay tuned.

SWAN LAKE

I must be getting old, because I really enjoyed the ballet last night.

Why?

1.  Because I realize only too well that now I will never be able to move like that. As a youngster, I had been to the ballet and loved the music and movement. I may have even had dreams of being a dancer, prancing around my bedroom, using the bed as a spring board for high leaps. But like so many youthful dreams that shift and change, ballet was left far behind. And while I still like to dance, I know I just look like a goofy, old white man herking and jerking on the  dance floor. Such grace, elegance and strength of purpose in the dancers last night! 

2. The environment. The Alexandrinsky Theatre is a classic. I failed to take my camera, but click on the link to see better photos than I could ever take. Just being at a Rusian theatre to see a Russian ballet...maladyets (a word I perfected last night which means "great.")

3. The staging. The set was maladyets: evocative of the scenery, yet simple enough to create great space for the dancers to communicate the story. And from our position in the loge, we coud see over and behind the set, and I was fascinated by the track on which the swan birds "swam."

4. The story. Like the Rodin sculpture I so loved in Paris (The Age of Maturity), Swan Lake's  concept of faithful love versus physical love is one I am now able to understand and appreciate: of feeling so deeply and truly about another's soul that one would kill oneself to remain with it through eternity.

5. The costumes. I especially liked the harlequin's and Rotbart's outfits and makeup.

6. The girls....so lithe, agile and PRETTY! One can understand why counts and princes would send roses backstage and stand outside waiting for them!

7. The music. Most of us know at least bits and pieces of the score originally composed by Tchaikovsky (apparently, the music, dance and libretto have evolved since he first wrote Swan Lake  in 1875-76), but to hear it performed by a live 36-piece orechestra while viewing the story told by dancers was incredible. Again, our seats afforded a terrific view into the orechestra pit and the conductor, which I also found very interesting and entertaining.

8. The sounds. Sure, there was music, but there was also silence punctuated by Sigfried's eyes or Odette's delicate hand/finger movements. And for some reason, I was equally enchanted in those quieter moments by the padding of the dancers' feet on the stage deck. It didn't hurt the magic, but it made the ballet real.

9. Lastly, the dancing! I had binoculars and was able to see close up their feet. Wow. To do what they do on their tippy-toes is work to dancers, but they made it look like second nature. And I really liked how the dancer portraying Odette moved at times, portraying the movement of a swan; you know the way they sometimes shutter or when they stretech their neck to clean themselves...moving very fast in short bursts?

Andrea liked the ballet, too. I think her favorite part was being pissed off at all the people who were on their smartphones and taking photos during the performance. Of course, an announcement was made in Russian and English before the first curtain was raised to turn off all electronic devices and absolutely no photography. After the first act, she went to the theatre authoritites and complained loudly and vociferously, and then personally confronted some of the worst offenders in the first row.

That is why I can now understand and appreciate true, faithful, spiritual love. Thank you, Andrea!

NORTHERN ISLANDS

On Friday, we stepped out and headed toward the Russian Museum, and we were gladly heartened to discover the sun shining, the temperature mild and the wind calm – all quite contrary to the wet and blustery weather forecast posted on weather.com.

So instead, I persuaded Andrea to ditch museum research on a sunny day and to accompany me on my twice delayed boat trip to see the Northern Islands of St. Petersburg.

You see, after having missed the boat trip Wednesday and rudely being told Thursday that the boat trip was cancelled because of miserable, rainy weather, I decided it was a perfect day to visit the Kunstkammer.

The Kunstkammer was just one other of Peter the Great’s many great ideas. The more I learn about this guy, the more I like him. He was a true Renaissance man in the best sense.

He established the Kunstkammer in an effort to bring reason and science to Russia and to dispel the myths and superstitions rampant among his people.

Peter had traveled to Holland, France and Germany as a young man in the early 1690s. There he witnessed an “enlightened” way of life and studied a wide variety of subjects from the masters of the time: from geometry and algebra, shipbuilding, architecture, engineering, biology, physiology, to even dentistry (on display are teeth Peter himself actually extracted.)

The main attraction at the Kunstkammer are Peter’s “rarities” in the Cabinet of Curiosities. Peter had issued a decree across the land, rewarding people who brought him strange human and animal abnormalities in an effort to demonstrate that these “monsters” were not caused by demons and evil spirits.

The other exhibits at the Kunstkammer get short shrift, even though they comprise the vast majority of space and are very interesting and educational.

But who wants to see anthropological dioramas of Pueblo Indian life or Malaysian houses when you can gawk at encephalitic fetuses in formaldehyde? That’s what the Cabinet of Curiosities is: two-headed calf; skeletons of deformed children; the brain and lung of a French giant…

The Kunstkammer website and onsite signage explicitly states no photography, and I was not about to pay another 200 rubles, therefore no photos from the hellish place. (That did not stop others from snapping shots left and right.)

While I was not able to see the Holstein-Gottorp Globe on the very top of the Kunstkammer (one must pre-arrange a tour of at least 10 people), on the third floor is an interesting exhibit devoted to the development of Russian science and Mikhail Lomonosov.

As mentioned in an earlier blog, Lomonosov was Russia’s first world-class scientist conducting myriad experiments with electricity and elements. However, he also helped formalize Russian language and grammar and co-founded Moscow State University.

With a rich history and tradition in the sciences, I couldn’t help wonder how different this country might be today if the Bolshevik Revolution and decades of command-driven economics under a politically perverse system had not happened.

Anyway, here are some photos from Friday’s boat tour of the islands of northern St. Petersburg. This is an area I have yet to set foot on, but plan to visit. On some of these islands are where the very rich once lived, the communist elite moved in, and now SPB’s “oligarchs” reside.

Kunstkammer (again). This building just photographs well, even on rainy Thursday. The second level is dedicated primarily to anthropology displays and Peter's Cabinet of Curiosities. The fourth level is the Lomonosov exhibit. The sixth level just under the cupola sits the famous globe given to Peter I.

Once again, the rostral columns and the former stock exchange, current museum of naval history.

Once again...Saints Peter and Paul Fortress. One day, I shall actually go there!

Summer Garden from the Neva River. This is the ornate Felten Gate on the north side of the garden.

Naval Academy on left. Cruiser Aurora on right.

Gazprom: the natural gas company of Russia. This monolithic company also sponsors the St.  Petersburg Zenit soccer team. The club's jersey prominently displays the Gazprom logo on the front and uses the company's colors.

The New Russia under construction.

The national TV tower near the school of electronics.

Approaching Kamenny Island with the Stone Island palace near the tip.

One of the grand new houses on Kamenny Island.

Some very nice houses on Kamenny Island.

The ultra-modern Lazarevsky Bridge with an ultra-modern apartment complex on  Krestovsky Island.

SPB construction is booming.

New apartment and retail complex under development on Petrogradsky Island.

The yacht club. There were a lot of really big motor and sailing vessels.

Kirov Stadium first built in 1950  Camera ran out of battery juice at this point, but this stadium is undergoing vast reconstruction.

Tonight, Andrea bought us tickets for Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet. 

Tomorrow, the plan is to have brunch out and to then go in search of a book Andrea saw at the Hermitage at a neighborhood market (more like a flea market or swap meet based on what we saw after our unsuccessful trip to the place after it closed Friday.) 

TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY PHOTOS

Hopefully all readers had a small hoot over the exploits described in the “Hey – It’s Russia” blog.

Below are some selected photos I uploaded before the electricity goes out today.

And in case anyone is interested, it is 100% raining hard and steady today. Not sure if the boat tour of the Northern Islands will be in my future today.

Old Russia - Saints Peter and Paul Fortress.

New Russia - BTB, Megafon and Samsung.

Monument to General Suvarov.

Mars Field - a large park where people come to play with their families and relax on the benches with freinds. Down the center path is a monument to revolutionary soldiers and the old red flag with hammer and sickle still flies.

Cathedral of the Transfiguration - to be visited later.

Approaching the Summer Garden along the Fontanka River. The Fontanka gets its name from all the fountains that were built in Peter the Great's Summer Garden which runs astride this river.

Charlemagne Entrance to Summer Garden. The porphyry vase was a gift from Sweden.

The carp pond looking back at the Charlemagne Entrance.

One of the dozens of weddings taking place in the beautiful Summer Garden on Wednesday, August 22.

One of the dozens of fountains that line the paths at the Summer Garden.

Everyone is a poseur.

I think this may be the Amor and Psyche fountain?

The long entrance line into the Hermitage that we avoided last Saturday.

Kunstkammer, where Peter the Great accumulated his "monsters." To be visited, maybe even today.

The stadium where the championship St. Petersburg Zenit soccer team plays.

Coast Guard vessel on the Neva River. They were working on something inside the bay doors.