June 7 Last Day of sightseeing

Well, the final full day of my trip has arrived. All I have to do tomorrow is get to the airport for my direct flight to Toronto, and the arms of my eagerly awaiting wife (I always was an optimist)

I actually tried to spend money today!

I thought a perfect memento of my trip to Poland would be a pirogy maker (Different strokes for different folks). I have looked throughout my journey, with no luck. Kitchen gadget stores just aren't a Polish thing.

I did visit a big, modern mall, and I did find a kitchen store, but no pirogy maker. They did have fancy rolling pin, that you could adjust, so that the dough is a uniform thickness, that you can dial. It would be great for making pie dough. Unfortunately it as only six inches long, otherwise it would be mine.

I also wanted to do something entertaining tonight. I had two favourite choices. One was an international volleyball game between Poland and Brazil, two of the top teams in the world. The other was the final concert of the Polish Philharmonic.

I was out of luck, both were completely sold out.

My third option was a noon organ recital at a church. That was available, and it was excellent. The organ was huge, the acoustics perfect. It was a great experience; what a sound. I guarantee nobody dozed off.

I also visited the Royal Castle in Warsaw's Old Town. It had been dynamited by the Germans as they retreated. Good old Germans. It wasn't rebuilt until 1980, and I bet it looks better today than it ever did in the past.

To be honest I have seen more castle rooms, over the last few weeks, than I can remember. About half way through the tour today, my eyes started to glaze over, and I knew I was ready to return to My Ol' Kentucky Home, or, even better, My Ol' Dundas Home.

It has been quite a few weeks. I learned a lot of history, saw some wonderful architecture, and art. I have certainly come to understand the suffering of this part of the world over the last century. It makes me appreciate what we have in Canada. Most of us don't know how fortunate we are.

Till the next trip; hope you enjoyed my blog

Ralf

PS for those of you interested, give me a week, or so, and I will add my final thoughts, and I will add some photos. I still haven't figured out how to do this on the run.

June 6 Two more days to lift-off

It's nice to be back in Poland. Of all the countries I have seen on this trip I liked Poland best. Friendly people, good transportation, lovely sights, good food.

To be honest, when I reached the point of arriving in Warsaw, I just wanted to go home. What I had read of Warsaw was that it was a big modern city.

I have been very pleasantly surprised.

I am staying near the main railway station, convenient, but not upper class. You won't find one tour bus in this neighbourhood.

Warsaw is one of the most punished cities in the world. Over the years it has suffered many invasions, the plague, several times, flooding, you name it. The only calamity it has avoided was Rob Ford as mayor.

It suffered greatly during WWII. 85% of the city was completely levelled by the Germans; as they left they bombed and blew up whatever they could. Warsaw lost over 700 000 of its prewar population of just over a million.

It is absolutely amazing how the city has recovered.

One of the main attractions is The Royal Way. This is the road Polish kings used to travel to their palace. It has been rebuilt as a beautiful people-friendly avenue, full of boutiques, cafes, and beautiful architecture.

In 1778, the Italian painter Canaletto painted many parts of Warsaw. His paintings were used to reconstruct the Royal Way. As you walk along the street, there are several reproductions of his paintings, showing the scene in 1778, and as you look up what it looks like today.

The Old Town was completely, and I mean completely, flattened. It has been rebuild to look the way it did before the war.

Absolutely amazing.

I also saw a photo exhibit, taken in 1947, and beside it what it looked like in 1939. It is very moving to see how these people, and this city suffered.

The other thing I love about Poland is that it is the land of patisseries. I have never seen so many, sometimes two, side by side. I think you gain a pound just walking by one. What is really surprising is that that's the way it is everywhere in Poland, but nowhere else, none of the Baltic states, nor Russia.

The national sweet is a jelly filled doughnut, but there dozens of different tarts, cakes, pies, you name it, the Poles have it. Even more so than the French. I indulged today, had a cappuccino, accompanied by a donut, with a chocolate heart-shaped wafer, on top, while sitting at a cafe on the Royal Way. Decadent, but lovely.

As I said, Warsaw has been a very pleasant surprise.

I should mention one more item. In the centre of the city, near the railroad station is an immense structure. It looks like the Empire State Building. It is The Palace of Culture and Science. It was finished by 1955, and its purpose was to glorify Soviet achievement. At the time it was the tallest building in Europe.

It is referred to, locally, as "Stalin's Hard-On". The Poles do have a sense of humour.

June 5 Arriving in Warsaw

I said good-bye to St. Petersburg today. It was a great week.

Getting to the airport was easy, a Metro ride, then a shuttle bus. It took about an hour and cost 2 dollars.

The St. Petersburg airport has two terminals. The smaller lines use Terminal 2, which is not very modern, but there were few people, and security was much easier than Canada.

 Air Baltic is like Easyjet, cheap, but they try to get you anyway they can. There is no free checked luggage, it's 30 Euros per bag, if you book ahead, and 40 Euros if you wait till you check in. My ticket for the flights was only 100 Euros.  You are allowed one free carry on, but it has to be less than 8 kilos. No other bags, handbags have to be inside your carry-on, or there is a charge.

I had fun packing. In 30 degree heat I wore my jacket, rather than packing it. My electronics stuff was jammed into a pant pocket. My iPad was in a bag around my neck, with a bag of coffee. My iPod was in another bag around my neck. Various other items, including lunch, of course, were in the jacket pockets. I wore a fanny pack around my back, hidden by the jacket.

I looked like an overweight Santa Claus, sweating like a pig. The weight of my bag? 7.8 kilos...another victory for Ralf the Great.

As soon as I got past the check-in, I loaded everything back into my bag.

As it turns out Air Baltic is actually very lax, I saw several people with oversized bags, and with two bags. But you never know ahead of time.

The flights were quick and easy. One and a half hours to Riga, wait an hour. Then another one and a half hours to Warsaw. Sure beats the alternative, 30 hours on buses. And it's probably cheaper

I only got lost a couple of times finding my apartment, and I was in the shower by six.

Supper was a nice pizza and a half litre of beer, after which I staggered home.

Ralf

June 4 St. Petersburg, my last night, or Room 26 where are you?

I had an almost perfect visit to the Hermitage on my last full day in St. Petersburg. I arrived at opening time, and, because I already had my Day 2 ticket, I bypassed every line, and walked right in. I felt like Tsar Ralf The Great.

It was a much less stressful experience than last Saturday. I had decide what I wanted to see, and I could skip all the "highlights" that I saw on Saturday. I have to admit there are things here that you won't see anywhere else. The Oriental collections are great, and they cover places like Tibet and Mongolia. And, as a bonus, there is nobody there. Very peaceful, and lots of time to soak in the atmosphere. You cross the hall, where the impressionists are, and it's a different world. They do have rooms filled with works by Renoir, Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, and anyone else you could name. And also lots of tours.

Another group I wanted to see was the collection of Central Asian, and Siberian artifacts. These are all in the basement, which can be accessed by only two stairs. I asked 8 different Hermitage guides, and none were able to direct me there. In the process of finding these stairs I wandered all through the Hermitage, and did see some interesting things. I finally did find the magic stairway, you had to start on the third floor, no second floor entry. I started in Room 11, and worked my way up. It was fascinating to see some of the findings from Central Asia, all the 'stan countries. Things I had never even heard of before. I got as far as Room 17, where there was a sign "We apologize for the inconvenience, but, because of renovations access to the next rooms are by the stairs in Room 302. I nearly cried. I looked on the map, and not only was Room 302, all the way on the third floor, no elevator, it was on the other side of the building.

I had spent an hour trying to locate this room.

I hate to say it, but I admitted defeat, and left.

On the way home I stopped at Kunstkamera, or "Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (say that three times fast). This is the first museum in Russia, opened in 1727. Peter the Great was a great collector, and wanted to educate his people, so this museum was to expose Russians to other cultures. He was also interested in science, and collected medical oddities.

The museum is not nearly as well maintained as some of the others, no money from tour groups.

The main part of the museum illustrates cultures from all over the world. There is even a section on North American Indians. The Iroquois are one of the tribes featured. It's actually quite good.

The reason this museum is popular is because of his collection of malformed fetuses, all preserved in large jars. It is amazing what is on display. Fetuses with two heads, fetuses with only one eye, cyclops style. Fetuses with four arms and legs, others where the feet are joined, like mermaid. There are over 50 of these on display.I don't think there is another display of this type anywhere else.

I did not take any photos.

It is still hot, today it was 29, and that's in the shade. Apparently this is quite unusual, summer temperatures are a normally around 20. But there is no rain, unlike other parts of Europe. It doesn't sound that Prague would be much fun right now.

Let us count our blessings.

Ralf

June 3 St. Petersburg Day 6

Monday was an easy day, no more minibuses. 

In the morning I toured the Peter and Paul Fortress, only a ten minute walk from my room. It was the origin of the city of St. Petersburg and was built as a protection against the Swedes. I never realized how big the Swedish empire was at one time.

The high light of the visit, is the cathedral. It is the burial site of Peter The Great, and many other Tsars. In 1998 the remains of the last tsar, and his family, who were murdered by the Bolsheviks were entombed here in a special chapel.

The church is not huge, but the inside is beautifully decorated. They sure like their gold.

Most museums are closed on Monday, so the cathedral is very busy with tour groups. You can hear just about any language. I waited for a lull, and I had time to enjoy the architecture.

As I was leaving I saw six buses arrive at the same time, and a horde walking across the square.

I also visited the prison in the fortress. It is famous, because it housed many of the political prisoners dusting the late 1800's and early 1900's. It is ironic that in the 1800's it imprisoned the intellectuals and socialists who fought the Tsar; there were 8 assassination attempts on Alexander II. After the Russian revolution its prisoners were the government officials of the Tsar.

The prison is 2 minutes from the cathedral, but I only met fewer than ten people. It's not on the tour.

In the afternoon I did my subway tour. Some of the station are quite beautiful. I had researched what stations were well known for their art work. I covered a dozen, or so, getting off, taking pictures, and then getting back on the next train, to the next station. It worked very efficiently. I never had to wait more than 2 minutes for the next train.

I had tickets to the Philharmonic, last evening, and that was an interesting experience. I had no idea what the program was going to be, but, for 10 dollars, I was willing to take a chance. By the way, for those of you that make fun of my frugality, that was the top price. The hall is beautiful, lovely decor.

I knew this was not going to be a concert, when there was only a piano on stage, but I can handle piano recitals.

The program started with a lady coming on stage, and reading from a book, In Russian of course. After five minutes of that I was wondering whether this was going to be Russian poetry for a couple of hours. Next another lady came out and started to talk. She could had lectured on "Black holes, and why they are so black", or "the sex life of the Russian snow beetle". It would have made no difference to me. 

I started to plan my escape.

But, yes there is a God, a singer came on stage and sang an operatic aria. Beautiful voice and great acoustics. After her performance the lady spent another ten minutes talking, before the next song, by a different artist. That was the pattern for the evening. I used my stopwatch, and for one of the songs, she talked for over nine minutes, the song lasted six minutes.

Things did improve, and the singing was beautiful. There were eight different performers, all very good.

I only recognize two operatic songs, The Theme of Carmen, and Lakme's Flower Duet, and that piece was performed. Made the evening special.

There is another observation I have made over the last few days. There a good number of overweight people in Russia. They dress better than our Wallmart folks, but they are there, especially older women. But I have seen quite a few chunky young ones, again more women than men.

One more day in St. Petersburg

Ralf

June 2 St. Petersburg Day 5

It has become hot. A high of 28, in the shade, and it's sunny. I am sorry I used all my sunscreen that rainy day in Tartu.

I tempted the fates today. And I lost. I don't know what I was thinking, but I decided to visit Tzarist Catherine's Palace today, on a Sunday. Just me and 50 000 other people. This palace is in Pushkin, about 20 km from St. Petersburg centre. I decided to take local buses. The tourist information bureau has a neat handout. It lists the main tourist attractions, and how to get there. For this palace it reads something like take the Metro to station Moskovskayas, then bus 187 or minibuses 342, or 545. I found my minibus, showed the driver a photo of the palace, and paid a dollar.

Now, those of you that know me, don't believe I have faith, well let me tell you that you must have a lot of faith to get on one of these buses, hoping to end up where you want to go. 

Pushkin is a separate, good sized town. The busdriver, after zig zagging around the town, dropping off and collecting passengers, finally motioned me to get off, at a corner.

Lo and behold, around the corner I could see the palace.

It is beautiful, everything a lovely baby blue, with a lot, and I mean lot, of gold.

They have a strange ticket system there. The palace opens at 10, but between 10 and 12, only tour groups are allowed in. So there is an advantage for those extra 50 dollars.

I wasn't concerned, I arrived before 11, but there are beautiful gardens to enjoy. It's again the same story, once you get away from the two or three highlight buildings you are on your own. There is a small lake, with several interesting buildings, but, mainly, it's the peace and quiet that is so appealing.

At about 10 to 12 I went back to the palace to line up to buy my ticket inside. As I said I was not the only person who wanted to visit. I had to wait 50 minutes before I finally got inside. A couple of other unique practices; you have to wear a cloth cover over your shoes, to protect the parquet floor. You also have to line up for a free audio tour- Russian only.

The Palace tour is a "Slam Bam, Thank You Ma'M" tour. The palace is huge, but there only about 15 rooms open to the public. They are all in a line, so, after a maximum of 30 minutes, it's over.

To return to the exit you walk through a long corridor, which has an excellent, in Russian and English, explanation on the restoration of this palace after WWII. The Germans bombed the site heavily, and when you see photos of the ruins, and you see the present palace, it is absolutely amazing.

Having said that it is certainly worth the time, effort, and money to see the palace.

The furniture is all original, and the restoration is superb. The biggest attraction is The Amber Room, which uses different shades of ambers to cover the entire rooms. Very impressive and beautiful.

You were allowed to take photos, except in this room. I really don't understand that. I can see flash photography damaging art, but an ordinary camera has no effect.  I did take several, before the guard told me " no photos".

Coming home was a bit trickier, because the corner were I got off did not have a station across the road. I had to walk a long block into town, before I saw one. But it worked, and I was home in less than an hour.

I have picked up a cold, and I feel achy and listless. I think my body is telling me to go home. And I agree.

Ralf

June 1 St. Petersburg Day 4

Today was the day I was waiting for; my visit to the Hermitage. The Hermitage is the main reason I decided to come on this trip.

I was apprehensive, I had all these great expectations, and usually, the real thing doesn't live up to expectations.

It didn't start out too well. I had bought a two day pass, before I left home. It seemed like a good idea, because the line-up to buy tickets was long. I went to get my tickets, at a special booth, no line-up, but the lady wanted to see my passport, which was safe at my accommodation. She sent me to a supervisor, same story I needed ID. I didn't want to spend an hour going home, but I had my iPad with me, and I had taken a photo of my passport. I showed it to her, and it worked.

I also learned that I didn't have to use my pass on two consecutive days, but that I have a five day period, so I plan to come back on Tuesday, my last full day in St. Petersburg; a nice way to finish my visit.

The Hermitage is in what the Winter Palace of the Tsars was, and it is huge, comparable to the Louvre.

The most impressive aspect is the building itself. Gorgeous architecture and the decorations are lovely. It's Like a maze though. On the map each room is numbered, the problem is that not all the rooms have numbers. This is where tour groups come in handy. The highlights of the collection always have a group. What is nice is that if you want peace and quiet there are many rooms that are almost empty. I discovered a painting by a student of Hieronymos Bosch, one of my favourite artists, and detectives. It was in a room, no one in sight. I spent several minutes enjoying it.

The Hermitage also has a Caravaggio, I wanted to see. It was in a large room, one of about twenty paintings on a wall. It obviously wasn't on any tour group highlight, because there was nobody viewing it.

There are almost twenty Rembrandts, but most are not his best work.

The one painting that was, both a highlight, and very busy was a daVinci, Mother and Child. I had to wait several minutes for a tour group to finish, before I had a chance for a close up. It is magnificent.

If anyone is interested in the Hermitage I would like to recommend a film called "Russian Ark". It was made about ten years ago, and is the story of an actor wandering through the Hermitage, engaging in conversations with figures of Russin history. The amazing thing is that the director was given permission to film in the real building, but he had only one night to film it. So the movie was shot in one continuous shot, no retakes, no cuts. An amazing piece of organization, and filming. The Hamilton library has a copy, and I have a reserve on it, when I get home.

 I find that three hours of viewing art is my limit, after that my brain goes numb, and I get that glazed look in my eyes. I see a lot of that with tour groups. I wish that the museum would allow re-entries, but they don't, once you leave you can't go back, without buying a ticket.

That's the nice thing about having another day to see the collection again. Knowing where things are will make the second visit so much easier.