Music

Music was everywhere in Russia. We had the great pleasure of seeing two ballet performances, and a folk music performance. Swan Lake was presented by the Russian National Ballet Company, in Moscow. It was an amazing performance. We saw Romeo and Juliet in St. Petersburg. It was a contemporary choreography. Quiet interesting with a very moving ending, but not really my cup of tea. But both the orchestra and dancers were excellent. In St. Petersburg we also saw a show called Feel Yourself Russian. I think this is designed for tourist. It was great fun, with a variety of traditional Russian music and dancing. Free vodka and champagne before the show and during intermission, too.

There was also music on the streets and at the various historic sites we visited. I've posted some of the more fun ones. The men with the horns were at Peterholf, which was the Summer Palace of the Tsars. (Where the Amber Room is located). I had never seen these before. They were amazing. When we first came upon them, they were playing Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev. They then played several other things. It was amazing the range and tones they produced. I am sorry I did not think to video these men.

The man with the odd looking instrument was a street player in Old Arbat, the oldest part of Moscow. He made this instrument himself. Interestingly, he is pictured in the travel guide we used, Insight City Guide.

The video is a clip of folk musicians at the Museum of Wooden Architecture in Suzdal. This is an outdoor museum where a variety of historic log buildings have been moved to one locale.

More to come!

Churches in Russia

We returned home thee days ago. Our Internet connection in St. Petersburg was slow, and our days were full, so I will add a few more posts about the trip now.
What I have learned about religion in Russia is fascinating. I certainly am no expert on the Russian Orthodox Church, but I have learned a bit.

Prior to the Revolution , churches were abundant and had many meanings for Russians. Merchants built churches as expressions of thanksgiving for their success. Many churches were built as tributes to fallen heroes. Churches served as community centers. In smaller communities, they were often used to safeguard merchants wares. Some towns, such as Suzdal, were religious centers. In the 19th Century there were 40 churches here, with only about 400 families! Often there were summer churches, which were large, lofty and unheated, and winter churches, which were much smaller, and had some heat source in them. The two white churches pictured above are in Suzdal.

After the revolution, religion was virtually banned in the Soviet Union. Churches, monasteries and convents were nationalized, and used as storage buildings, artists studios, concert halls, and other such activities. Convents and monasteries were often turned into prisons, for political prisoners. Many icons were removed to museums, others were sold to other countries to raise money for the Soviet government. There was some loosing of the restrictions during World War II, but they returned after the war.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been a significant return to religious practice. A great deal of money has been spent to restore churches throughout Russian. Many are restored as museums, to support the growing tourist industry. Every town we visited had churches as part of the planned tour. But there are a significant number of churches that hold services again.

The interiors of Russian Orthodox Churches are covered with frescoes, paintings and icons. Rarely is there a bare space. The wealthier churches are full of gilded or gold surfaces. There are no pews or chairs, as sitting during the service is not allowed. The onion dome represents a flame. As you see by the picture of the wooden church, not all churches have the domes.

I do not know what percentage of the Russian population claim religious affiliation, but clearly the churches are a very important part of their heritage. They are also beautiful buildings to visit.

St. Petersburg

We arrived in St. Petersburg yesterday afternoon after a very fast train ride. It took only 4 1/2 hours, for a trip of more than 450 miles.

What a beautiful city! It reminds me a lot of Paris, which, of course, was Peter the Great's idea, when he founded the city in 1703. He based the development of the city on the great western European cities, particularly Paris and Venice. Much here is in honor of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. This was the capital of Russia until Lenin moved it (back) to Moscow in 1918. During the first World War, the name was changed to Petrograd, because St. Petersburg was the German name. It was renamed Leningrad in 1924, after Lenin died. After the fall of the Soviet Union, city names throughout Russian were returned to their original name. So, back to St. Petersburg.

The city was built on the Neva River and has a wonderful collection of canals and bridges throughout the city. Our hotel is on the Embankment, just two blocks from the Hermitage. Boats run up and down the canals all day.

The city was devastated by the German siege, during WW II. What is amazing is that Stalin had the buildings rebuilt as they were after the War. I'm not exactly sure why, but the buildings were restored, rather than new buildings built, so St. Petersburg has few buildings representing the Stalin era. Stalin did see Moscow as the great Soviet city, and put his efforts (and money) there. To him, St. Petersburg was a tsarist city. He wasn't much interested in it.

Times have indeed changed. Prime Minister Putin is from St. Petersburg. He was the Russian President at the time of the 300 anniversary of the founding of the city, so a great deal of money was put into the restoration of the city.

The gold domed building is St. Isaac's Cathedral. We climbed up the 250+ steps to the colonnade, where there is a beautiful panoramic view of the city. Like many St. Petersburg churches, it is now a museum. The green building in front of it is the Hermitage. This was the Winter Palace of Catherine the Great. It was made a museum in 1917, and treasures from grand Russian estates were confiscated and placed here. We will visit it in a couple of days.

We also visited Yusupov Palace today. The theater pictured here is in the Palace. It was in the basement of this building where Rasputin was killed. This is one of the only Palaces in Russian that was preserved during the Soviet era. It was used as propaganda to support the socialist ideal, by showing citizens how wealthy the nobility was.

This is a very approachable city. We have done a great deal of walking around already. Most places we go the people speak a little English. There are tourist everywhere, from all over the world. They get more than 3 million tourist a year, which brings in 10% of the local economy.

Tomorrow we will take a hydrofoil down the river to Peterhof, which has some of the most magnificent gardens in the world.

In Soviet Times

We have heard the term "in Soviet times" often from our tour guides. The first guide we had in Moscow said it with some obvious nostalgia. The second one with honesty and a bit of scorn. The guide who was with us the last two days, on the Golden Ring, seemed to have very mixed feelings. Clearly the transition to a capitalist society has not always been easy.

As part of the collectivization and nationalization of everything, private ownership of land and homes ended. Initially, people were housed in confiscated homes, churches and cultural buildings. Then large apartment buildings were built. According to our last guide, these were much sought after, because they had 'all the modern conveniences'. Her family lived (and she still lives) in Vladimir, about 120 miles from Moscow. The log homes had no running water or electricity. The new apartments had both. They also had heat from a central heating plant. In fact, everything is heated from central systems, through Moscow and the other cities.

With the end of "the Soviet time", people were give ownership of their flats or homes. Many then had them bilked away by shifty buyers. Most Russian still live in large apartment buildings. The one pictured here, with the colored panels, is in Vladimir. But they are everywhere in Moscow. Most were built in the 1950s and 60s under Khrushchev, who promised to solve the housing problems of the nation. Today they are crumbling, but still provide most of the housing for folks. Here are various pictures of houses, and apartments. The pipes are steam heating pipes. You see them everywhere. The bottom picture is the main government building in Vladimir. They do not seem to care about restoring the crumbling hammer and sickle.

Cars and more cars

Cars are everywhere in Moscow. Not surprising for a city of about 11 million, right? Except when you realize the history of cars here. According to our guide, during the Soviet era very few people had cars. To buy one, you had to be put on a waiting list, and it often took up to five years for you to buy a car. The only cars available were Russian made, which were very undependable. The green car above is an older Russian model, but in amazing condition.

All this changed only about 6 or 8 years ago. It was then that Russians began buying cars. And boy do they! And they do not buy Russian made. We see lots of Fords and Chevys. We see far more Mercedes, BMWs, Saabs, Volvos, Toyotas, Hondas. Some Cadaliacs and Hyundas as well. The Russian made cars are small and look battered.

Since cars really are new for the city, parking accommodations do not exist. No parking lots, no parking garages. So, people just park where they can. On the street and more often, on the sidewalk. The main streets are wide, because Stalin wanted lots of impressive streets for parades. Traffic is chaotic.

There are few taxi cabs. This is the only major city I have been in where you cannot hail a cab. You have to call for one. There are buses and cable cars, which just run on the major streets. But the metro is apparently excellent.

Moscow day 3. Lenin and more

I saw Lenin today. Seriously. He is on display in a mausoleum in Red Square, and on view there. It was kinda weird, but also fascinating. The line forms about a block away, an hour before opening. You cannot take any bags or cameras inside. Our guide told us that is cost about $1 million a year to keep him in this viewable state. Wow. What is also interesting is that Lenin faces the GUM shopping mall , with Louis Vitton right out front. We've heard of East meets west, this is Communism meets Capitalism.

After seeing Lenin, we went to an amazing art museum, and then spent the afternoon walking around the city. Here are some of the interesting sites. The yellow house is now the Russian writers association. It is the house that was the location of War and Peace. The statue in front is Tolstoy. He based the story and location on this house and its residents.

The very tall building with the spire is one of Stalin's "Seven Sisters". There were suppose to be 8 of these, but only 7 were built. One housed the foreign ministry and one the Moscow University. The others were apartments for members of his government and the KGB. He liked to keep his supporters close. (and enemies closer). Six of the seven have a star on the top. The last one built was finished after his death, and the star was not added.

Had a wonderful dinner in a Ukrainian restaurant.

Moscow Day 2

This is Red Square below! My only mental images of this is tanks and soldiers. Today it is full of tourists. (and smoke, ugh). The smallish building in the forefront is Lenin's tomb. We hope to visit it this morning, as it was closed yesterday.

Kremlin means fortress. Most every city in Russia has a Kremlin wall, which surrounds the oldest part of the city, where the nobility and soldiers lived. Today, only the Kremlin guards live inside the Kremlin walls. There are government office buildings and the buildings where official state affairs are held, but the Duma (congress) is housed in a building outside. The major museum of the history of Russia are in the Kremlin. Yesterday we saw the Armory which has a great collection of artifacts of the pre-Soviet history of Russia, including coronation gowns of Catherine the Great and clothing of Peter the Great. We also saw an amazing collection of diamonds.

St. Basil's cathedral is in Red Square. It is perhaps one of the most familiar icons of Moscow. It is a beautiful building, and houses eleven 'churches' inside. Some are tiny, but in theory, eleven separate services could go on at the same time.

We had lunch in a cafeteria inside the GUM shopping mall. This is a huge mall that was built around 1900. Six stories high, with 3 linked sections. It is a beautiful building, and today is filled with all the stores we see throughout the world.

In the afternoon we visited Old Arbat, which is the oldest street in Moscow, Today it is a walking mall, full of stores and street vendors, mostly for tourists and youth. Even stopped at Starbucks. But there is some great old architecture, as there is throughout the city.

We then went on a tour of the Metro. Odd, but apparently a standard part of most tours. Actually, the metro stations are quite beautiful, each with its own decorative them. One, build in 1946 is full of bronze statues of works and soldiers. Several of the statues have dogs in them, and it is considered lucky to rub the dog's nose. I saw a dozen people do this in the short time we were there. The noses are polished golden with the touching. One station has stained glass throughout. That is where this picture is from.

Last night we saw the Russian National Ballet performance of Swan Lake. It was stunning. The young woman danced Odette was brilliant. One interesting note. Air conditioning is rare in Moscow. Hotel rooms and some restaurants have it. Most homes do not. Nor did the theater where we saw the ballet. With temperatures running close to 100 right now, it is stiffling inside. It must have been in the high 80s inside the theater.

Most Moscovites live in high rise apartment buildings, with no AC. Our guides tell us it is unbearable inside. Makes me appreciate my central AC all the more.

Off to the Vodka Museum today!

Moscow

For the next two weeks I will be doing more travel blog than garden blog here, although I will visit and talk about Russian gardens. We arrived in Moscow yesterday morning. Getting through customs was surprisingly easy.

Unfortunately the intense heat wave here, and the related bog fires have left a nasty, smoky haze over the city. It is a bit hard to breathe. We do have masks to wear. Fewer than half the people we see are wearing them, although they are advised. I did not wear one yesterday, but may have to resort to it today.

Yesterday we had a driving tour of the city. Visibility is not good, but this is a fascinating place. There is great collection of buildings from the 19th C to present day. Much of the city was burned in 1812. I did not realize that Stalin was very interested in Classical Roman architecture, so much of the building of the era is in the Roman style.

We visited the Pushkin Museum of fine art. What a fabulous museum. Amazing collection, particular of impressionism and post impressionism. After the museum we went to VDNKh. This was built in the 1930s as a huge exhibition park to celebrate the workers and the states of the USSR. Each of the states had its own exhibition building. Our guide told us that during "Soviet times" there were great exhibits in each building and a beautiful botanical garden. Today it is much as our NC Fair Grounds is. The buildings hold stalls selling everything under the sun. The grounds too have vendors and an amusement park of rides. The park was full of bikers, skaters, Segways and people. Because of the heat, the fountain was full of folks.

More museums today, and ballet tonight!

Recent rains compate the heat

We have had horrible heat, but recent thunder storms (one really bad one last Thursday night) have made the garden grow.

I have found the perfect place for Elephant Ears! This one I planted last year, and it came back. I was very surprised, because in Zone 7b they are not suppose to be winter hardy, and this past winter was unusually cold. But, here it is.

We are leaving for Russia in four days. I plant to post garden pictures from there. I am particularly excited about seeing the gardens at Peterholf, outside of St. Petersburg.