St Petersburg -The Ballet

St. Petersburg is a city rich in culture and history. This music nerd has geeked out a few times, like this time in front of a statue of Rimsky-Korsakov. There are so many great composers to come out Russia and more specifically St. Petersburg. There are roads named for great composers, musicians, and writers. There are so may statues and monuments. I was a bit bummed not to be able to see the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, it's currently completely under scaffolding. 

Rimsky-Korsakov

Glinka

We wandered through the theater district and moseyed down one of the canals. There are many
bridges crossing the canals. Some are for vehicles and others are spouts for pedestrians. These
bridges are known for being romantic hangouts. One of the most famous is the Lion Bridge over the Griboedov Canal. My favorite bridge was the Bank Bridge. This bridge was built in
1826. It used to be in front of a bank (go figure). Now the building is the St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance. 

The Bank Bridge

The Bank Bridge

The Lion Bridge

One of the most special experiences of the trip was our evening at the ballet. I abandoned the notion of being a ballerina many years ago. But my love for ballet has remained strong. We saw a production of The French ballet Giselle. A Russian dancer collaborated on the oginal choreography, but the ballet was never performed in Russia, only by the traveling Ballet Russe. Recently, the Mariinskiy (Kirov) Ballet has been reviving classic ballets. 

Christina and Janet in our hotel lobby before the balleg

The theater is gorgeous both inside and out. We sat in a box at the back of the main floor and had a perfect view of the entire stage. It was so nice to see a ballet with a live orchestra. For a long time after I gave up on being a professional ballerina, I thought it would be fun to play oboe in a ballet orchestra. I did once in high school for a local dance school production.

Model of the inside of the Miriinskiy Theater

I'm partial to (and often critical of) the oboe parts in orchestral music. The oboist I'm the pit was incredible. I'd venture to say this was a flawless performance. Seeing the ballet in Russia is just a tourist experience but rather a full cultural experience. People really appreciate the art and show it buy shouting "bravo" and buying the dancers flowers. I'd go again, only the tickets are sold out! 

Final Thoughts on Moscow

One evening we went to the Pushkin Cafe. It's a super swanky restaurant. It's a total tourist attraction in that it is modeled after an aristocratic Russian home. It isn't actually a historic building of any kind. But, since Pushkin is a famous Russian and we wanted to try some Russian desserts, we went. We went there after eating a traditional Russian meal at a small local restaurant by our hostel. The employees didn't speak English, which we figured they wouldn't, so we resorted to our usual pointing and smiling. I ended up with chicken noodle soup. Oops. And a mushroom filled pastry. Oops. I ate as much as I could! Christina ended up with meat filled dumplings. We aren't entirely certain what kind of meat it was, but she said it was good! 

Most of the places we've gone have an English menu. Most of the people we've encountered seem to be more upset that they don't speak English and can't help us as easily than we are that we don't speak Russian. We aren't particularly concerns about it because so much more communication happens non verbally than through words. Tone of voice goes along way, too! Obviously we appreciate when we can speak English with someone and can ask for help easily, but it's not a requirement of traveling.

On our last day in Moscow, we went exploring outside of the city center. We rode the metro out to a park northeast of Moscow. We walked and walked through the snow and enjoyed a slice of winter. This park was absolutely huge. Clearly Muscovites are used to winter so they don't let it get in the way. There were so many families out especially fathers and their kids. They were ice skating and playing on the snow covered playgrounds. There were go carts, too. We saw quite a few snow men, too. There were even kids riding bikes! The strangest thing about this park were the carnival rides. I'm sure in the summer it's bustling but it was a bit like a scene from a horror movie - carnival music playing, rides running, but no peopler. Picture a swing creaking in the wind on a cold misty day and you'll get the right sensation! 

We also visited another Kremlin, the Izmailovsky.  Next door is a HUGE souvenir market. The stalls were mostly full of nesting dolls ( matryoshka dolls) and fur hats (which yes, people really do wear). But there were other trinkets, scarves, and wood carvings. There were artist stalls and food vendors. We didn't stay long because our feet were soaked from our walk in the park. 

More Sights in Moscow

In high school, I took AP European history. It ranks in my top 5 favorite classes in high school, maybe even college. Whenever I travel, I'm surprised how much I remember from that class. However, Russia's history is only partly European and it certainly wasn't the main focus of our course. There is so much Russian history and culture... It's amazing how selective the course material in AP Euro is. 

Most of the Russian history I know, is about St. Petersburg. So I'm really looking forward to that part of the trip. All I knew prior to coming to Moscow was here there were some really colorful churches. We visited the church that is featured on the fronts of tourist books and is all over postcards and local art. 

St. Basil's Cathedral sits just outside of the Kremlin wall and is part of the red square. Construction of the original church began in the mid 1200s. It's been through many renovations, updates, and restorations over its 9 century history. Ivan the Terrible played and instrumental role in the history of the church. Legend has it that he thought it was so beautiful that he had the architect blinded so that he could never construct something so beautiful again.

As we climbed up to the second floor, we could hear beautiful music. Old church hymns are just so beautiful. The voices of the men's quartet rang out in absolute perfect harmony, the
acoustics in the church were unbelievable. The echoes created were simultaneously beautiful
and eerie.

In the Red Square is also Lenin's Mausoleum. After his death, Lenin's body was embalmed and has been preserved (against his will). While standing in line to enter the mausoleum, we saw a mass of people all carrying red flowers, mostly carnations, and carrying the Soviet flag. It's tradition in Russia to leave red carnations on the graves of family and important figures, mostly military members. Many important Russian figures are buried behind the mausoleum including Stalin. Many Russian's still celebrate Stalin and come to his grave regularly to leave flowers.

It was a little bit weird seeing Lenin's body.  Didn't look at all real. Kind of like a wax figure. There is crazy security present both indiscriminate and outside of the mausoleum and then people parade past much like seeing the Mona Lisa.   

Near the red square is the tomb of the unknown soldier and Alexander Park. In the park, there a bunch of statues of Russian story characters. Of course the signs were all in Russian so I don't know what the stories are about.

We also walked past the Beloshi Theater - one that has seen many premiers of great ballets and operas and through much of the theater district. Unfortunately most of the theaters are closed to the public except for during performances.  There are so many statues and monuments. I didn't know who most of them were. We did find a statue of Karl Marx. 

The Moscow Metro

Guide books and blogs say to go on or take a tour of the Moscow metro. They aren't kidding. Wow. Just wow. Easily the most unique thing about this trip so far. Don't get me wrong, the other things are amazing, too. But I have never seen anything quite like the Moscow metro. I'm sure, like anything, that the beauty starts to fade the more you ride it, but seeing it for the first time is awe inspiring. 

Opened in 1935, not only is it beautiful, it is efficient and cheap - 50 rubles (currently $0.70) for one trip. It's the largest metro system outside of Asia and during rush hour, trains run about every 90 seconds. We haven't had to wait more than 3 minutes for a train. 

I've navigated plenty of underground public transport systems and generally have a good understanding of them. This is the most confusing simply because of the language barrier. When my family went to Turkey, I assume it was similar, but my parents did all the navigating and I just followed along. Riding the Moscow metro is 

one big matching game. Lots stopping and comparing maps to signs and generally looking lost. 

Most of the street signs and all of the signs in the metro use the Cyrillic alphabet as opposed to the Latin alphabet that I am used to. Check it out: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_alphabets

Turns out, when we got here on the first night, we made it out of the correct exit at the  station near our hostel by sheer dumb luck. Since then, we've done it incorrectly 2 times. I think we've finally figured out the signage. At least now we know how to get back to the hostel from all exits from the metro now. The first time we did it wrong it took us almost an hour to get un lost in the same neighborhood! Last night we added maybe 10 minutes to our walk once we left the wrong metro exit - that should give you a pretty good idea how big the metro stations are! 

Here are photos from 4 of our metro stops on our self guided tour (one of the hostel staff recommended her favorite stops). Still a few more to see!

Komsomolskaya

Belorusskaya

Kievskaya

Arbatskaya

Moscow - The Kremlin

We rode the metro to the Moscow Kremlin. A Kremlin is a Russian citadel. The Moscow Kremlin houses the government and is the home of the Russian President. It's surrounded by a tall wall with gorgeous clock towers. Inside there are many churches/cathedrals and museums. We went in almost all of them. We spent the most time in the Armoury. It houses an extensive collection of artifacts some from as far back as the 13th century.

A few of my favorite things were: 

1. "The Chiming Clock: Temple of Fame" This beautiful clock built for Catherine the Great. It has a mechanical organ inside and when it plays one of its 13 tunes, the crystal tubes on its face turn and reflect the light resembling sun rays. 

2. The Faberge Eggs. These intricate Easter eggs were given as gifts and contain surprises. My favorite on display was the egg containing a miniature working replica of the first Trans-Siberian Railway train. You can't take pictures inside the buildings so I've borrowed this one from the interwebs!

3. The coaches. Amazing to see the transformation of the coaches through out history. There were small carriages in the exhibit, they were the carriages for the children in the royal families. Fun fact: These carriages were pulled by ponies and staffed by dwarfs (little people). Couldn't have big things towering over small royalty?!

We also saw many beautiful thrones, some of the largest natural emeralds in the world, and of course intricate coronation gowns including the gown worn by Catherine the Great. I'm glad corsets for everyday wear have gone out of style. 

We walked through a few Cathedrals and saw where Ivan the Terrible was entombed. He of course, had his tomb at the alter.

The paintings in the cathedrals are magnificent and cover the walls and the ceiling. Even the ceilings of the cupolas are painted. 

In the court yard areas inside the Kremlin are other artifacts including the Tsar's Bell and Canon and my favorite, the cannons of the war of 1812.

I geeked out a bit over these canons. So, one of Tchaikovsky's most famous works is the 1812 Overture written to commemorate the Russian Victory over Napoleon in his invasion of Russia. Canons played a huge roll in the Russian success in the largest battle in the war. So, included in the score are parts for 16 canons. Not these specific canons, but canons to represent the actual cannons of 1812! Pretty darn cool. 

Reflections from the plane

I'm headed on another adventure. It never gets old. it's such a rush. Routine helps me get through my nerves and focus on the adventure. I have routines about how I pack my carry on and what I wear on board, what I do when I get to the airport and what I buy before I board the plane. I love window seats. Mostly because I like to sleep against it. But it's also part of my routine. I like to watch take off and landing. Watching the airport disappear seeing the clouds get closer and closer. I count down in my head 3-2-1 take off and see how close I can get to the actual wheels up. And I try to guess when the wheels will touch down. 

I'm looking forward to this adventure. I'm glad to share it with my good friend, Christina. We've travelled well together before and she puts up with my quirks. And my other routines...like frequent bathroom breaks and snack breaks. 

So as much as one has to be flexible and prepared for mishaps, travel is my routine. And I like routine.  Now, I'm not as well traveled as some of my peers and sometimes I feel jealous, but I sure do like me life. I like prioritizing travel and adventure. I like seeing new things and broadening my horizons. I like listening to conversations, even when I have no idea what is being said. I like old buildings and history. I like cultural traditions and thinking about local food (sometimes I eat it, too). I like local digs and staying in hostels, riding metros and getting lost. 

Why Russia? Why not Russia? Cheap off season flights, inexpensive logging and an exchange rate in my favor. Fascinating history and a rich cultural fabric including - artists - especially music and dance. Looking forward to it.