St. Petersburg, Russia

St. Petersburg is a much different place than Moscow. This far northern city knows it as well. Upon arriving at the train station early Saturday morning an announcement over loudspeakers greets visitors: "Welcome to St. Petersburg the second, Northern capital of Russia." I don't know if Moscow would agree. However, the city makes a great impression.

Right Image: I almost purchased this car for Denise because I figured I could take it home as a carry on item on the plane. I didn't have enough rubles.

One thing quickly became clear. This city of about 5 million people is much more inviting. And much more relaxed as if it doesn't have anything to prove, unlike Moscow, which seems to thrive upon catching up and/or keeping up with Tokyo, New York City, or London as a major player in the international city scene. There are not as many blaring car horns on the street. People don't drive as fast. There is a slower pace on the sidewalks, subway or restaurants. All over the city there are signs in both Russian and English, which is a rarity in Moscow. Many workers speak some English to help speed up transactions. The reason the city is this way is that St. Petersburg is easily accessible by cruise ships from Finland, which deposits thousands upon thousands of tourists daily during the summer. The city depends upon tourist for its livelihood, versus Moscow.

For my taste however, I prefer Moscow over St. Petersburg. But, it could be my interest in Soviet history, which is much more obtainable in the capital city.

A disclaimer: I am not a fan of the "cottages" of Newport, Rhode Island. Nor am I fan of Monticello or Mount Vernon. This includes the palaces of St. Petersburg. While I appreciate their beauty and architectural wonder, I always consider what it took to build these estates: The labor & slave labor of a working class people whom had no rights bestowed upon them during or after their efforts. Working under brutal conditions, many of these people died creating houses of obscene opulence that served the whims of those that never truly earned their positions. This is appalling evident in the Winter Palace. It rankles me today that Newport, St. Petersburg, et. al. market these structures to attract tourists dollars without rightly and properly putting into context what created these homes.

Image Above: St. Isaac's Cathedral. 

St. Petersburg is a very European city compared with Moscow. Five and six story buildings line the narrow streets. There are very few alleys between the buildings because they are built right next to each other. It is very romantically constructed. There are my 18th- and 19th-century buildings that are built in the neo-classical and Russian Baroque styles. There are several very nice areas to stroll in the evenings, especially along the many parks and canals. However, be prepared to jostle among the numerous tourists if it is the summertime. The Neva River is the main water way that allows the city access to the Baltic Sea. Today it is cluttered with commercial traffic and advertising on its banks that takes away a  lot of its charm and appeal. Of course this is a lot like U.S. waterways.

The Hermitage (The Winter Palace)

Right image: The view from the third floor of the Winter Palace, overlooking the square where three revolutions occurred against Tsar Nicholas II.

This is an top-notch art gallery. To get to the entrance to the palace, one has to cross the square where three revolutions occurred against Tsar Nicholas II early in the 20th century. Bloody Sunday (1905) and the two revolutions of 1917, which were instigated by the Bolsheviks. Standing on the square looking at the Winter Palace and cannot imagine why the people believed their pleas were not being heard :)  It was well worth the hour-long wait to get a ticket to go inside the art gallery, which contains over 800 rooms. I'm not going to spend time rattling off the art contained inside. There are, of course, Picassos', Monets', Van Goghs', Renoirs', etc, but the most amazing part is how close you can get to the paintings or other pieces of art work. There are few barriers. In many cases I could almost put my nose to a Monet as I closely examine his brush strokes. This ability enhances the experience. However, on the other hand, as I wander from room to room I am looking at the ornateness and ostentatiousness of the palace. It is no wonder the Tsars held the peasants in contempt. There is a disconnect between reality and what these royals believed themselves to believe. Of course, Tsar Nicholas II found this out the hard way when he and his family were murdered by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War. 

St. Isaac's Cathedral 

St. Isaac's Cathedral is another symbol of the Soviet peoples' will to resist the Nazi invasion during the Great Patriotic War. During the Siege of Leningrad which lasted almost 900 days from 1941 to 1944, the cathedral survived numerous bombing attempts because of the defensive fortifications erected and the number of anti-aircraft guns surrounding the 19th century church. While many of the palaces outside the defensive perimeter of the city were heavily damaged, including Catherine's Palace and Petrodvorets, this citadel to the city stood its ground. It is a massive structure, and being so central to the city it isn't hard to understand why it was important that it remain standing. The only evidence of damage is on several of the columns which received numerous pockmarks from machine gun fire from Luftwaffe pilots. There is a plaque at the base of one of the damaged columns commemorating those who fought to protect it and those who died during the siege. Like the Gettysburg farm houses who facades show holes where cannon balls and bullets penetrated or damaged, this column reminds its viewers of the brutality of warfare. Today it serves as an appropriate moment to the 1.5 million people that perished during the siege, which is considered to be the most brutal ever in warfare.

Across the street from the Cathedral is the Astoria Hotel. This was Hitler's chosen location to throw a celebration for the smashing of the Soviet Union on New Year's Eve 1941. Needless to say, it was premature on his part. A copy of one of the invitations is on display inside.

Petrodvorets (Peterhof, Peter the Great's Summer Palace)

Russia's Versailles. I've heard this is better than the French Palace at Versailles because of its ready access to the Baltic Sea it has better fountains. If that is the case, I am in no hurry to go to France. We arrived at 10:45 a.m. The crowds, oh, the crowds. Japanese, Dutch, Finnish, Brits, Russian, French, American (Texas), Korean, and Spanish are just a few of the languages I heard just before they bore down upon me pushing their way past to see the next splendor of what Peter the Great had wrought. Each tour group is led by a guide carrying a sign with a unique number of symbol so each group stays together. Everyone is in such as hurry to see the next area they don't even know what they were looking at...

Sorry, I digress. I wasn't impressed with the palace nor the fountains. The gardens were very nice. If you like gardens. I don't like ostentatious displays. See above. Peter the Great was not so great. He had killed about a quarter of his people to consolidate his rule. This is his monument to himself. Actually, now to think about it, the idea of hordes of tourists trampling his grounds is just punishment.

Anyway, the fountains are turned on with great fanfare, complete with music and a drum tapping out anticipation. The crowd goes quiet. Finally, someone turns on the hose. The numerous gilded fountains start spewing water. Wow. The fountains are spewing out water. Somewhere in the distance I hear clapping. It must have been the American tour groups. The event was a huge letdown. A couple of colleagues agreed. I guess in this Moscow heat I get more excited when I turn on my own humble shower. That's a show.

Disappointed and looking for a way to escape the heat, a friend and I walked down to the Bay of Finland's sea edge. It was beautiful. It reminded me of Cape Cod with its breeze, temperature and views. The water lightly lapped against the shoreline. We stayed there for 90 minutes and even skipped the palace tour to stay longer. The professor couldn't believe we would miss such a thing. I don't understand why. After five weeks of sitting in the brutal heat of Moscow, writing several papers, attending hot classrooms, sweating every night while sleeping, a brief escape by the sea's edge rejuvenated my body and soul. Looking across the water became my reality that could not be discovered in a palace of fantasy created by people that were so far disconnected from reality. It was incredible. Here on this large property crawling with thousands of people scurrying about seeing one fountain after the next, or taking photo after photo of gardens, I found peace. It was quiet. Sitting on the large rocks, my friend and I talked about nothing and then everything. I think after five weeks I'm beginning to suffer from sensory overload. I've seen more than I can possibly process in a year. But yesterday I realized again that there is more to life than trying to see everything. It all begins to seem false after awhile. It took the timeless beauty of a natural creation to ease the stress of witnessing so many man-made creations.

I'm sure in the not too distant future I'll look back and realize that I appreciated St. Petersburg more than I appear to here. It is a wonderful place, I just need time to process everything I've seen over these five weeks.