Previous Diary Next Diary

Home Diaries Best Pictures Road Trip

---

St. Petersburg (First of two parts)

Tuesday, August 24 -- Independence Day

Hi,

Today is the Ukrainian version of the Fourth of July and Marianne and I are just back from St. Petersburg, Russia. Ukraine is celebrating the end of hundreds of years of domination by the powers that were, in part, resident in St. Petersburg or in "Leningrad" as the Evil Empire called it. It was an interesting few days and we came away knowing just a bit more about Russian history - and, for the most part, Ukraine shares more history with Russia than it may be politically correct to admit today.

We left last Thursday on Aerosweet Flight 407. Now you may not have heard of "Aerosweet" too much but it turned out to be a nice two-hour hop in a regular Boeing 737. Not too different from any other two-hour plane ride - thank goodness. We did have to clear customs and immigration here of course and reverse the process up in Leningrad, oops, St. Petersburg. (To further confuse things, they frequently leave off the "St".)

Normally, clearing customs here on the way out is a piece of cake. Just some forms, including the incoming customs declaration from the last trip. Except this time. I did my usual sloppy job of paperwork and the never-smiling customs/immigration officer didn't appreciate it. I had violated a few of THE RULES. One rule says that whatever one declares on the way in has to leave. OK. No problem. Last time I had my cameras and they were indeed going out with me. Unfortunately, I also had a rug we had bought in Turkey on my last trip and the agent asked me where it was. I said it was on my floor. Not good he explained. Anything I had declared the last time on the way in had to leave with me on the way out. Then he asked about the amount of currency I had. I had written down $690 plus 70 Ukrainian hryvna. Close enough I thought. So he asked to look through my wallet and found $790 plus 93 hryvna. Major violation I guess because the next thing I knew he was hauling me off to "the back room". Quite intimidating in fact since I left my loyal spouse standing in the waiting area wondering if she should call President Clinton or someone. To make a long story (at least it seemed long at the time) short, he lectured me on telling the truth ($690 vs. $790) and on not violating the requirement to bring no more than 80 hryvna (about $20) across the border. I said thank you, vowed to sin no more and took back my money, wallet, passport and tickets with trembling hands.

Oh well, on to Russia. Or, onto Aerosweet flight 407 which did bring us to the old empire soon enough. Flights within the old Soviet Union are considered "almost domestic" so we landed at the older non-International terminal. Which simply meant that the customs or immigration people spoke Russian only and by now my Russian was pretty shaken. We were the last two people through the formalities and that probably helped because we stood between agents and a tea break. It was easy. We cleared immigration where they checked our visas and then we hit customs where the guy asked for our customs declaration form. We said, "what form?" But, since we were the last ones he just waved us through. Great -- a break from the government functionaries. Made up for his cousin in Kyiv.

Outside the door waited the Agent from Russia Travel, the company through whom we bought our tickets, booked our hotel and arranged my visa. With one of those little signs - "Mr. and Mrs. Trotter". It was great. Like being with an old friend except this one spoke no English. Fortunately he was very friendly and we spoke pidgin Russian and communicated just fine.

He walked us to THE CAR and introduced us to our driver - who's name I forget but whom we shall refer to as Barney Oldfieldski. THE CAR was small, old and battered. It barely held the four of us along with our suitcases. And we were travelling light, honest. Barney and Agent proceeded to race into town, giving barely intelligible explanations of everything we saw. On the left is a monument...on the right is a monument...up ahead is a monument...etc. Mostly we were impressed with just how big St. Petersburg is and how amazing it would be if Barney managed to make this trip without hitting something hard. The guy could work New York easily.

Our hotel was not one that our friends had heard of. Leningrad was not a tourist center and, although St. Petersburg obviously is emphasizing tourism, hotels are not easy to locate. We avoided the big ones just because we prefer small places. We avoided the expensive places because I'm too cheap to spend 200 to 300 US dollars per night. We ended up at the Matisov Domick. Not too expensive. At only 26 rooms, not so big. And centrally located -- sort of. After careening around the streets of an industrial area, we turned the corner onto "our street". Picture #1 shows the Bathhouse that is just a few yards from our hotel. Needs work. Barney pulled up just past the Bathhouse and we buzzed a buzzer on a fence and were admitted to what turned out to be a perfectly adequate hotel. We had a huge three-room suite so space was no problem but The Matisov Domick has a long way to go before one would use the word "charming".

However, over the few days we were there, we saw the neighborhood in better light and managed to figure out the bus system so we could get to the real center of town. All in all, it was OK. On our last night there, I left Marianne in the room at about dusk (10:30pm) and went in search of some good twilight pictures. I walked a few blocks and passed the Leningrad Ship Works. This place is famous in cheap thrillers - and, I suspect, in history. Important parts of the Soviet navy, and the Tsar's navy before that, originated in this corner of Leningrad/Petersburg. Now it was peaceful and without objection to taking pictures. I couldn't help thinking that ten years ago, I might have been arrested for espionage but now it's just an interesting silhouette.

The next day, our first goal was the Hermitage museum. One of the greatest museums in the world. From the outside it's huge. It was the Tsar's Winter Palace and those people really knew how to live. Most of the building is restored, at least to the degree that it shows the opulence of Tsarist Russia. Picture #5 shows a hall which features "vases" of Lapis Lazuli - literally tons of it. Think of that next time you price a little Lapis ring or pendant.

But the real jewelry of the Hermitage is the art work. Marianne in a French Postimpressionist fan (I'm an engineer) so we bypassed most things and went to the world of Monet, Van Gough, Picasso, Gaugin and others. It was amazing. Dozens of priceless works of art we could walk up to - and photograph since we had paid an extra $10 to get a camera pass. Picture #6 is a Van Gough and #7 an early Picasso. In the two hours or so that we had, we only touched the surface but there is no doubt that the Hermitage is the high point of a visit to St. Petersburg.

But one does not live by art alone. We had to eat. Embarrassing as it is for such food fans as Marianne and me, we have to admit that several of our meals were at Italian (Pizza) restaurants. Good restaurants but not really what we'd brag about in a travelogue about the center of old Russian culture. But they did seem to reflect a strong Western presence in St. Petersburg. We certainly heard much more English spoken than we do back home in Kiev. Any way, it was good food, good English-speaking service and comfortable atmosphere for weary travellers.

Our only truly Russian meal came at the Angliterre restaurant which, despite it's Anglo-French name, specializes in authentic Russian cuisine. We ordered Georgian wine and a trio of wonderful appetizers. Clockwise from the top of the table is lightly salted salmon, then a plate of assorted vegetables and finally, herring "roll mops". Not the sort of food we feel safe eating in Kiev frankly but it was wonderful here at the Angliterre. We divided two main courses, one of crab-stuffed pike and the other a veal steak. Another wonderful round of food. The pike was particularly delicate and a true Russian specialty. A couple good desserts, coffee and we were headed out on our mile walk home to the Matisov Domick.

*** ___ *** TO BE CONTINUED *** ___ *** ___

Previous Diary Next Diary

Home Diaries Best Pictures Road Trip

This page created on a Macintosh using PhotoPage by John A. Vink.