Toasting Our First Night in St Petersburg ~ (Part 1 Sept 17, 2015)

September 17, 2015

Toasting Our First Night in St Petersburg

Moscow has been somewhat challenging but I am learning to deal with my autism, the language barriers and enjoying the adventure. Certainly Moscow was not a user-friendly city but then again it is only barely out of adolescence in post-communism development and consumed with its independence and release from decades of once-forbidden goods.  Interestingly Russia has been described as just as xenophobic as United States! Earlier yesterday I told someone I was Canadian and not American to see if they would like me better.  Thankfully, we haven’t been arrested yet for John’s black market ticket dealing at Bolshoi Theatre.

 We wake up early this morning to catch a 7:30 taxi to the airport. I am not hungry and still thinking of my delicious veal cutlet covered with forest mushrooms and piroshky from the night before. We anticipate a difficult transition through the airport gates but despite our being unable to read any of the signs or ask questions that anyone can understand we make it through the process fairly easily. In 90 minutes we arrive at the St Petersburg airport and taxi to Alexander House, a small 20-room hotel located on Kruykov Canal about 2 miles out of town. Originally in the 19^th century this home was owned by a merchant and recently restored to its original appearance.

Alexander House

It is located in the historical area where Russian writers such as Pushkin and Dostoevsky used to live. The hotel people are extremely gracious and friendly taking service standards to the highest level I have ever experienced.  They even upgrade us to a small 2-bedroom apartment called Barcelona at the very top of the house. They provide 24-hour service with no extra charge and we even have a kitchen with nespresso! As usual John’s thorough travel research has paid off.

View from our hotel window

We have lunch at Alexander House and when John receives his borsch soup (made of beets) he apologizes returning it for chicken soup.  After lunch we try our hand with the bus system because Rick Steve’s book has warned us only to use taxi service with great caution. While we initially get lost searching for the bus stop, we finally get #27 bus into town and figure out what to pay (about 52 rubles or 75 cents).  We head for the Mikhailovsky Theatre to see if we can get any tickets for the Opera. As in Moscow we find they are sold out.  Again John searches for black market ticket sellers outside but none are to be found.

Walking to bus

Vodka and more vodka

John, a thorough tour guide, has booked us for dinner at DOM restaurant located in a mansion of the 19^th century overlooking the Moika River and St. Isaac’s square. It serves contemporary Russian food and arriving I find it to be aristocratic, elegant and refined. It has antique furniture and many works of art on the walls. I wish I wasn’t wearing jeans, Nike shoes and toting my large camera.  However, despite my attire we seem not to be noticed and are seated next to 3 men totally absorbed in their conversations and vodka drinking.

So what do we order? For hors d’oevres I have what has to be the most delicious salad ever ~ it is arugula topped with goat cheese, candied walnuts and barbecued peaches with carmel toping.  John is equally pleased with his hot spinach salad. Next, to my surprise, John orders beef stroganoff for the 3^rd night in a row. I order chicken Kiev said to also be a Russian dish. (Later I learn that stroganoff and chicken Kiev are rarely served in Russian homes and were introduced to Russia in the late 19^th century.)  Oops I forgot that we started our meal initially with some amazing Pelmeni (nonlevined pasta) filled with turkey and served with sour cream, onions and basil. This appetizer dumpling is different from piroshky which is bread filled with various items. When John’s stroganoff arrives he announces it is the best ever!  While we are eating the men sitting next to us are on their 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th rounds of vodka and toasts since we arrived. John estimates they have had 4 shots in 30 minutes. We don’t know how many shots they had before we arrived!  Periodically they leave their table presumably for cigarettes outside and then resume to partake in another appetizer and several more rounds of vodka clinks. By our count we are up to 6 when a new bottle arrives.  John losing count wants to leave but I convince him to stay for desert so that I can observe how many more toasts they will have. None of them seem even slightly intoxicated.  Finally, we leave realizing this may be just the start of their night. My guidebook says that a Russian on average drinks 4 gallons of vodka a year!  Unfortunately their average life expectancy is only 59. 

Moscow Metro ~ A Benefit of Communism (Part 3 Feb 16)

Moscow Metro  ~ A benefit of Communism 

Lenin Bust in Metro 

The next morning I find my wish has been granted. The guide we hire for a few hours turns out to be a lovely, 20-year-old 2^nd year college student named Maria who is a Moscovite. She is studying Sociology and speaks good English as well as German. I ask her about religion in Russia and she explains that Stalin tried to destroy religion by closing churches and tearing down cathedrals. Stalin said, “Religion is the opiate of the masses.” In turn, she comments Stalin replaced it with the religion of communism with himself as God. Now she says, there is a resurgence of Orthodox Christian spirituality, especially for older people. She comments that many students have been baptized and are religious but most don’t go to church.  She says that about 70% of Russians are Orthodox Christian.

We ask Maria to take us on a tour of the metro underground subways. She is surprised we don’t want to go back to the Red Square and St. Basil’s.  Because of the traffic jams (which we experienced the night before) the metro is the most popular method of transportation. Our guidebook says that up to nine million people use the metro daily ~ more than in New York or London. Construction began in 1931 under Stalin. Architects and engineers spent 4 years building deep stations (350 feet below ground), which served as bomb shelters during World War II. The cost was enormous. Today 10,000 trains run through 12 major lines and 190 stations that connect all parts of the city. We go to 6 or 7 of these decorated stations, which are beautifully decorated with chandeliers, intricate mosaic pictures, marble, stained glass windows, and bronze statues of revolutionary guards, children, students and workers. Moreover, the stations are absolutely immaculate and like an art gallery.

Maria explains why people rub dog's nose 

 

I am happy to see that women are depicted as athletic as well as men and my favorite bronze busts are of parents and children. 

Communist Star Motif 

Lenin in Mosaic on Ceiling 

Pushkin ~ the Poet 

Peace 

Could be a dance hall! 

 It is quite a scene down in bowels of the earth below the streets with thousands of people packed in metro trains and rushing up and down very steep and fast escalators.  

The escalators are long enough that I see one person reading his I-pad and another kissing her boyfriend. 

No Translations & in Cyrillic Alphabet

We feel that navigating this web of lines would be nearly impossible as no signs are in English and all are written with Cyrillic alphabet.  This tour was amazing and a lovely opportunity to people watch. I think about the benefits of communism. To provide working people with the opportunity to see this beauty every day as they go to and from work seems like a real gift ~ why don’t we do something like this in our dismal subways?  

Afterwards we wander home and into an Orthodox Church. St. Basil's looms up around the corner.   



We stop on the Red Square for a coffee and ask Maria many questions about politics, university, gay rights, religion, economic inequality, view of Syria and refugees, ethnic diversity and free speech. Interestingly she asks us about Republicans and Democrats!  We hate to see her rush off for a 3 pm university class and have thoroughly enjoyed this brief glimpse into Moscovite life. However, later I realize I am not sure of her position on religion, gay rights or politics. Perhaps free speech is still struggling. Nonetheless she confirms my belief that Russians are mostly friendly. 

Searching for Bolshoi Theatre Tickets 

Bolshoi Theatre

We are told by the hotel concierge and at the Bolshoi Theatre everything is sold out. However, John insists we go to the Bolshoi Theater to see if we can get some scalped tickets (as John says on the Black Market) for the evening performance of Swan Lake. After all our guide as told us that bribery is an integral part of the economy and our guide book says 20% of the GDP.   In front of the theatre we find 5 large Mafia looking men dressed in black standing out side the ticket booth who offer us some tickets at first for 40,000 rubles.  Later John talks to another member of their team who has adjusted the price to 50,000 rubles.  I am feeling very dicey about this exchange and walk away to ask some young looking students if these guys are legitimate.  By the time I come back John as bought 2 tickets for 19,000 rubles ($290) ~ he is very proud of himself but I am worried this being a big scam. John is much more of a risk taker than I am.  We head back to the hotel for a nap and then go to a trendy bar for a snack before the ballet. John orders a hamburger, which is infinitely better than a MacDonald’s burger.  We are probably three times older than anyone else in this fun bar with loud techno music and much of it in English. I remember Maria telling us one thing she likes about America is the music and movies.  In this restaurant we could easily be in a London bar. Since we don't frequent Seattle bars I can't compare.

Swan Lake and Finding Ideal Love 

We set off for the theatre and have no problem getting in and have delightful and comfortable seats on the 3^rd balcony. 

This is the 1733^rd performance of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake since its first performance at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1877.  It is the 192^nd performance of the latest Swan production since 2001.  The choreographer is Yuri Grigorovich. It is an incredible performance both from the music and ballet perspective. John thinks Prince Siegfried had found true and ideal love but later was seduced by another woman (the black swan Odile who disguised herself as his true love ~ represented metaphorically as fate). John tells me that the moral of the story is that men shouldn’t trust women. I on the other hand feel that the Prince had a dark side to his soul that led him astray from staying faithful to his true love. John is outraged that I have this view of men and tells me that Wikepedia confirms his viewpoint. I disagree.  It certainly is a tragic story of love, delusion and despair with both Siegfried and Odette (his true love) feeling betrayed. Perhaps the story is an allegory and more about Siegfried’s delusional dreams regarding ideal love.  He aspires to the ideal love with brief happiness but has a passion for vice. There is much controversy and many different versions of the ending and this version of Swan Lake does not have a fairy tale ending.

Bolshoi Restaurant

We end this lovely day with dinner at the Bolshoi Restaurant. It is warm enough for us to eat outside on the veranda. Russian food on the menu includes caviar, forest mushrooms, borsch, beetroot soup, pikeperch and lots of dishes with sour cream.

John orders what we had the night before pirozhki stuffed with mushrooms and stroganoff. I have veal cutlet with mushrooms. It is delicious.  We ramble home wishing we had 1 or 2 more days here as there is so much more we want to see.

John is in heaven despite his black market activity 

Moscow ~ Magical and Delicious (Part 2 Feb 15-16)

Moscow ~ Magical and Delicious

Clock Tower of Kremlin in Red Square

Outside standing in the Red Square, the heart of the city, we see the magnificence of the cathedrals, the ancient clock tower of the Kremlin (reminding me of Big Ben in London) and the Disneyland fairy–tale magic of St. Basil’s Cathedral and its gilded domes ~ but this is actually real! 

Historical Museum

Orthodox Church and GUM department store 

From the time of Ivan the Great this square has been a huge gathering place for public events, markets, religious processions, festivals, political revolutions  and public executions. I learn that it is called Red Square because the Russian word krasny means red and beautiful. It is bounded by the Kremlin walls, St Basil’s cathedral, the Lenin Mausoleum, the Historical museum and the GUM department.

St. Basil’s Cathedral

St Basil's Cathedral 

Red Square’s most eye-catching structure is St. Basil’s Cathedral. It was built by Ivan IV (the Terrible) from 1555 to 1561 to commemorate the annexation to Russia of the Mongol states of Kazan and Astrakhan. The holy prophet Basil opposed the cruelties of Ivan the Terrible and took on the name of St Basil after Ivan’s death. It has onion domes over 9 chapels, each dedicated to a saint on whose feast day the Russian army won a victory.

We did not go in the Kremlin but walked around the walls, which are half a mile long, 62 feet high and 21 feet thick with 20 towers and gates. Over 10 churches and palaces lie inside.  The Moscow Kremlin is the oldest historical and architectural feature of Moscow. We hope to enter this place tomorrow, but decide due to our jet lag to take a hop on / hop off bus tour around the city. 







It is a lovely tour of the Moskva, the KGB building (still occupied by current Intelligence Services) and the Bolshoi theatre which we have learned is sold out several months in advance of the shows.  We are falling asleep on the bus so return to our hotel for a nap before our dinner.  What cuisine do we seek?  Why, Russian of course.  We have learned from the newspaper that day that because of the Kremlin’s embargo on Western food imports and an economic downtown many of the restaurants are offering more Russian cuisine.  Surprisingly, apparently 80% of ingredients used by Russian restaurants were imported.  As a result cooks are buying more local ingredients and changing their menus accordingly. We are excited to try out Russian and Georgian cuisine.

Dinner at Café Pushkin

“Moskva how violently the name plucks at any Russian heart!” (Pushkin’s description of his first trip to Moscow)

Leaving at 7 pm for what should be an 8-minute taxi ride but became a 30-minute ride we are immediately stuck in a traffic jam reminding us of Seattle but worse. It is said to have the worst traffic in the world.  However, one difference from Seattle is that these cars are very expensive Mercedes and BMWs. Some government buildings have rows of the costliest models parked in front.  We arrive at this amazing restaurant and are directed to the elegant upstairs library, which has centuries old leather bookshelves, parquet floors, high ceilings, and chandeliers. There is a pianist and harpist providing wonderful music.  The place seems refined while at the same time not pretentious and quite relaxed with families with children and business people enjoying good conversation in many languages. Other floor levels in this restaurant are decorated as a pharmacy and attic. I would definitely return to this restaurant. about the same price as the Pink Door in Seattle.

Choosing from classic Russian cuisine we start with some amazing dumplings filled separately with fish or mushrooms or pickles.  Sharing a delicious crab salad prepared with papaya follows this. Next our main meal is beef stroganoff and I am reminded I once made stroganoff regularly. It is creamy with sour cream not on John’s diet and served with fried potatoes and a pickle salad. I am unable to finish my serving as it is very rich but John does this for me.  I think I will start making this again when on our return to Seattle.  The menu has different kinds of caviar and I learn that Russia is the largest producer of caviar in the world, processing over 1,000 tons per year. I wonder since we have so much salmon in Seattle why we rarely see this on our menus. In Russia it is considered a health food. My guidebook tells me that Czar Nicholas II made his children eat caviar with black bread every morning.  I wonder if that is standard parenting practice today in Russia?  We eat the black bread, do not order caviar and John avoids the beet borsch because beets are the only thing he doesn’t eat.  I point out to him that he was eating a beet salad on the plane; however he didn’t realize what he was eating. On our first night here, we decide not to partake in vodka toasting.

After dinner we go back to Red Square where the GUM, Kremlin and St. Basil’s are all lit up magnificently.  People are strolling and enjoying the atmosphere and eating at outside cafes.  We have heard very little English this entire day and those to whom we have asked questions have either ignored us or looked at us in confusion. 
I feel a bit like a child with autism as I can't understand the language or be understood when I talk and even reading is perplexing because the alphabet is different. I wish we were with a Russian friend who we could ask questions about real life here.

See Part 3 next