Last Thoughts!

Last thoughts of our time  in Russia I am typing this on the flight home. We are ready to go but what an adventure we have had. We have learned so much about our friends in the Russian Federation and have put to bed many preconceptions. The Russians have a tumultuous history, but they have incredible resilience. I especially found that the women were strong, smart, determined. Not one woman we talked with was unopinionated, and most had strong ideas. Will would say "what's new?" but, for some reason I found Russian women open and frank. Our questions were answered without filter and I found this refreshing. Maybe it is a new found freedom to be able to share their opinions but I could have asked a zillion more questions just to hear their answers. Not to discount our wonderful male guides...Michael was just as opinionated and informative but I felt like he was the sensitive man-type (from his charity work) and that he was the exception and not the rule. As to dark and scary, Russian is nyet! Although at times a bureaucratic nightmare, we could have been in any western country. Food was plentiful, with restaurants and markets that could be the envy of anyone. Fashion, well, re-read my Fashionista blog. Religion was a bit confusing. My opinion is that there is freedom of all religions now, a clear sign of the change from the Soviet era. There were beautiful  Mosques, especially the Blue Mosque in St. Petersburg. Jewish Temples and Catholic Churches. And, of course,  the gadzillion onion domed Russian Orthodox churches and cathedrals.  When asked, a guide in St. Pete's told us whole generations were brought up without knowing anything about religion and faith except for visiting the Soviet's Museum for Non-Religion housed in beautiful St. Isaacs Cathedral. She felt that presently many attendees to mass may be fulfilling a rite and not a deep spiritual commitment.  She said that since the revolution in 1917  parents could not take the chance that if they told their children about their faith that their child might go to school and tell a friend who in turn told their parent. Many Soviet citizens were imprisoned, exiled or simply disappeared for practicing their faith. The risk was too great and now the tradition of passing one's faith from generation to generation was  lost for 70 years or two generations.  She did tell me that she was baptized at 21, right after Gorbachev came to power and she will let her child have the freedom to choose to practice or to believe. As to politics, Russians are beaming with their freedom to own property and to own a business. Many were cynical about Putin and this was the only time I found anyone guarded when answering questions. One guide said that in theory they were supposed to have the freedom to criticize the President but that if one is overheard, it could do permanent harm to one's career.  Sad story: Four young girls dressed in masks made a You Tube music video in Christ The Savior Cathedral in Moscow about how even Jesus didn't want Putin as president. It went viral for several weeks until it was taken down. The four teenagers have been sentenced to seven years in prison. And, who can forget the journalist that was assassinated  several years ago for her critique of Putin and his policies? Many Russians speak a foreign language and education is very important to them. Craftsmen and artists are held in high esteem and there is much pride in all disciplines. So much more but I'll leave it here. We are coming home with many wonderful memories of our two weeks in Russia. There is much of the country we did not see but I think I will look into the Trans-Siberian Express for maybe an adventure in the future!? PS  Katherine told me this morning that Americans complain too much and just don't realize how lucky we are and how much we have. I would call this trip a success!!!

St. Petersburg

We were dropped off at the Moscow train station at around 7:00PM. We checked our bags in a holding compartment and ventured to the metro station, journeyed to the city center to locate a Pizza restaurant we had checked out earlier in the week. We were not disappointed. It has been like The movie, Groundhog Day, as every meal is exactly same, including breakfast and including a whole lot of dill. Our overnight train trip was very entertaining as we were in a four bunk compartment and our luggage took up half of our compartment. Our new guide in St. Petersburg was Anya, an English teacher on a 3 year maternity leave. She spoke excellent English and was completely different from our other guides. She was frank and unfiltered with her opinions, mostly humorless but a very intelligent and responsible guide, worried that we were happy at all times. Wow is all I can say about seeing Palace Square with the Winter Palace and Hermitage Museums. St. Petersburg was totally destroyed during the Nazi's 900 day siege during WWII. Millions of died from the years of bombing and starvation. But, as then, the people are resilient. They have restored the city to its former beauty and there are few signs that 60 years ago it was a pile of rubble. This city is very westernized, where anything that can be bought in London or Paris can be bought here. Cruise ships line the port and tourist are everywhere. Our guide confided that Asians were not liked because they are too pushy. I asked if Americans were pushy and she said not at all. I made a point not to change her mind. We toured resorted palaces Peterhof and Catherine's Palace, both decimated by Hitler's army. We were told Hitler's thoughts were that to win a country you had to first destroy its past. I don't see how anyone could destroy such beauty. We are nearly finished with our adventure. I'll wrap up next time.

More Golden Ring

Six towns in four days and three nights. A whirlwind. Here are some of my favorite moments. 1.In  Bogolubovo, a small dot on the map outside of Vladimir,we made our own pilgrimage, plodding down a small path across wheat fields, around streams, over train tracks and hill and dale to view a small Chapel that was situated high on the banks of two converging small tributaries. It was a glorious day and well worth the trek. I just wish one of us could pronounce it. 2. Sergiev Posad and the Holy Day of St. Sergio. We were extremely blessed, or just plain lucky that the Russian "Pope" was in this village at the same time we were. The Patriarch gave two masses at the Monastery across the way from our hotel and while we did not attend a mass, we witnessed the most spiritually uplifting sights. There were several thousand Russians that made the Pilgrimage to the Monastery on this Holy Day, many of them older women dressed in their best peasant skirts and head scarves. We were witnesses to some of the Russian Orthodox rituals including the kissing every icon in the Catherdral,sometimes kissing, then making the sign of the cross and then kneeling for a split second and then doing it all over again.  There was a palpable excitement all day. The faithful stood in huge lines that snaked through the Monastery grounds to get to the Cathedral. Lee B., BS friends and my extended family, you all would have enjoyed all the outward and inward sharing of love for Jesus! Also traveling to hear the Patriarch to hear him say Mass were many monks, priests, young men in the Seminary and Church elders.  The Monastery is a working Monastery where about 100 monks make their home. In the center square in front of the Church was a well with a wooden cross that poured water out of the arms of the cross. The faithful were lining up to drink, splash water on themselves, fill bottles and buckets up and all because the water coming out of the cross is said to be Holy Water. It is said that several miracles have been performed upon those that have drunk from this well. I was the only one to stand in line to drink because my motto is"one should never pass up the opportunity of Holy Water that is Sid to perform miracles." I think I rather felt a little differently after drinking and splashing my face with the water. Will thinks I might have a touch of Giardiasis . 3. Matryoska dolls are the nesting dolls that are so common and identifiable as Russian. Well, I'm here to disappoint you, the first dolls came from Japan. But, when the Communists came to power the icon artists were out of work so they found a way to support themselves by painting these dolls. We decided to take a Master Class on Matryoska doll painting. Yep, Anna Ho takes cooking classes wherever she travels, the Hodges' paint nesting dolls. It was so much fun and even though our dolls probably looked more Japanese that Russian, I still think we did better than if we had taken a cooking class.  The Golden Rings were amazing, albeit very difficult, to visit. We would do it all over again in a heartbeat!

Politically correct Russians? Your chuckle for the day.

1. Having our guide tell us that she and her husband predicted that if Obama were to be elected 4 years ago, America would have a Mexican president this election. 2. Having a Russian friend tell us that as Russia was trying to become more Democratic, America was becoming more Socialist. 3. Our driver took pictures of us to show his friends that not all Americans were overweight. (I think he left me in the picture to be nice) 4. One of our guides asked us how Obama could be President since he was a Kenyan.

Jesus and The Golden Ring

Jesus and The Golden Ring I planned our trip to the Golden Ring, the most historically and culturally significant grouping of villages and towns outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg, literally the last day before we left the USA because it was so difficult to find a travel agency to book it. It is still very uncommon for individual travelers to travel into the countryside; there are many regulated bus tours, but private or individual trips are difficult.  First, the cities form a bit of a ring around Moscow and are not easily reachable, I.e., one must have a vehicle and a strong constitution. The first day we visited Vladimir and Suzdal, spending the night in Suzdal. This ring has the most incredible collection of onion domed cathedrals and churches and more working, not to mention non-working, monasteries and convents. To get here we traveled with a driver, Nickalaus, and guide, Youlia,  on a 2 lane road that the Russians thought was a 5 lane road. Shoulders on either side were the 3 and 4th lanes and the center line is the 5th lane. This is your Russian Driver's Ed course. Barbara G, eat your heart out... One car is passing on the left shoulder while another car coming the opposite direction is passing on the right shoulder while every one is using the suicide middle line and there is weaving and speeding and I am quite sure some are vodka drinking and oh, my Jesus, there are no atheists in a foxhole. Even our guide, cute Youlia from Vladimir confessed to nervousness when asked. I chose to close my eyes and pretend to sleep. Hell, I damn near wet myself when we ran over a large remnant of a truck tire and had to pull to the shoulder to assess the damage!! But, that was just one road we traveled. Another one was a field and forest country back road, so remote that I thought I heard banjo music. It was paved back in the Tsar era and hadn't been maintained since. I swear you could have lost a Volga in some of the holes.  Nicholas did his best to save us from whiplash, but I aged two weeks in the three hours it took to drive to Yaroslavl. And, tragically, there were no tualyet along our route. I will leave the rest to your imagination.  As for Jesus, Christianity is alive and well in the post Soviet Russian Federation even though the Communists destroyed many churches and others were converted for the good of all, i.e.  a beautiful gold domed cathedral in Suzdal one of only 33 out of 70 that survived, was converted to an electrical plant. Religion of all faiths was outlawed and if caught, you were persecuted. Our guide said that they had to secretly congregate in their homes but only with those that they trusted not to tell on them. We were amazed by the number of working churches, and by the mass that is said for a service. 2 hours. No pews, no chairs. One wanders from Icon to Icon and kisses each one. One after another, with no sanitizing spray. One after another. Americans would have a cow. I was astounded by the depth of their faith. In fact, most of the faithful were of the age where they grew up in the Soviet era. The ratio between young and old was disparate. Hard to know why except that maybe the elders realized just how fragile the freedom to worship could be.  We ended our tour of The Golden Ring with a night in Sergiev Posad and it was the most Holy day of the year and the Patriarch, or the Pope of Russia, was offering mass. It was thrilling to be here as the pilgrims from all over made their way to the monastery. More tomorrow about The Holy Day of St. Sergius. P.S. today is the day that Tsar Nicholas was killed along with his entire family.

Eat less, weigh more!

With apologies to Dana for the play on words, eat less, weigh more is exactly what is happening to us.  Let me explain. Russians eat three meals a day with lunch mostly being the larger meal. At  lunch and dinner it begins with a salad and the three main ingredients are cucumbers, tomatoes and yellow peppers. Additions to all salads are mayonnaise or sour cream and dill.  Soup follows and there are only 3 types of soup in all the Russian Federation--  Solyanka, a mixture of spices, several types of sausage, potatoes, and pickles.   Borscht , a  beet based soup with mystery meat, cabbage, potatoes, onions and dill.  And, chicken noodle soup, an American favorite. These two courses have not changed at any meal and I must say, cucumbers are the favorite of the people. For salt lovers there are several ways that cucumbers are prepared and they all have to do with salt. It is common to order a full plate of salted cucumbers, or pickled pickles or salted and pickled vegetables, well, you get the point.  Plates of assorted cheeses and cured mystery  meats ( I swear there was tongue on our last plate) are common as well, eaten without bread or crackers, just naked. I don't know about you but I need a Triscuit and some Dijon to get that mystery meat down. In other news, Katherine has developed a very convenient "allergy" to fish. We weren't very descriptive with the allergy and it didn't translate to Russian well, but it saved me from eating the pre-planned meal, which included dill, dill and a little bit of dill. Shishkabobs are popular dinner entrees. Lamb, pork, beef, mutton, chicken. I have eaten several types of grilled kabobs and they were quite tasty. But, chewy, very, very chewy. I kept wondering if my chicken  had free range in a small village called Chernobyl.  The fish has been very good, but dill is added to almost everything except coffee and I think I am developing a dill phobia, which is a little like Williams's aversion to curry from living next to the kitchen in his freshman dorm at Georgia Tech.  Because of my new found aversion, it has been difficult to find enough to fill us up unless we ordered dessert. Or, we resort to our stash of Pringles and peanut butter and  cheese crackers directly from Nabisco. Therefore, eat less but my pants are  definitely  snugger than they were before I left. Ugh! Now, to caviar! It is on every menu to some degree and mostly served with a pancake/blini. Sturgeon have been fished almost to extinction and are now widely regulated which means that black caviar prices are through the roof, even for Russia. Red caviar is what most locals are eating now. I, of course, ordered the black caviar at a fabulous restaurant, which also  has locations in NYC and Paris,  called Cafe Pushkin. One heaping tablespoon of the most delectable, melt in your mouth, black caviar. Neither Will nor Katherine wanted any so I felt like I had won the lottery. No, the Powerball. The only downside is that I ate about as much as I would win in the lottery. Sadly, We won't be bring any caviar home, my friends, and if we did, we wouldn't tell anyone. Shout out to Liz G. and her sister and brother- in-law, Tricia and Rob, for the restaurant tips. Bon appetit! P.S. we just got our bill and instead of mints or fortune cookies, we got doublemint gum. 

Fashionistas

Everything you think about Russian fashion, forget it. We read and googled  any thing that might help us when we packed. Over and over we read the words  conservative and dark,  Nyet!!! Russian women are some of the nicest dressed women in the world, especially the younger generations. The majority  wear chic dresses, not low cut or hoochie- coo short lengths but something all mothers would love to see their daughters wear.  Most will wear  high heels but beautiful flats were also abundant. The stores in Moscow were filled with designer wear from all over the world. We could have been in NYC or Paris.  The babushkas,or grandmothers, wore stereotypical outfits from every old Russian film. A scarf over their hair tied in a knot under their chin or in a Heidi look,  medieval-patterned skirts down to their ankles  with leather flat shoes or sandals and a tucked in white shirt pulled tight by ample breasts. Maybe it is a throwback to Soviet days or there is a secret Putin decree that designates when a woman transforms from being stylish and attractive to a hunched over, church going elder.  I can't figure it out excerpt to say that the young Russian women are very attractive as a whole. Needless to say, Katherine and I packed all the wrong clothes. We perpetuate the stereotype of ugly American. Well, not Kath. She looks good in a potato sack.  But, as we are not going to send anyone a Christmas card, we just smile through our dark jeans and Tom Toms. I have however left all my shorts in my suitcase. Men only have one fashion rule. No white tennis shoes. I just hate them.

Sunday, july 15. Moscow,Stalin and The Bolshoi

Hi friends and family, I took a vacation for a few days for several reasons...first, we have been burning the candle at both ends. Secondly, I fell to the tourista bug for a day and the blog just wasn't happening. I know you all understand. So, quickly, we had the most amazing last few days in Moscow and we were sad to leave it. We toured everything we wanted to see and a few more. We saw Stalin's bunker, a secret underground bunker that was built under a soccer stadium for Stalin to use during the The Great Patriotic War. I learned that there are still people in Russia that are followers of Stalin and that believe he was the greatest man of all time. But, I talked to several other Russians that said their studies in school portrayed Stalin in a more human light. I have found it fascinating, as I studied Stalin through Western History Books, that maybe, just maybe, there is an in between for all of us. Another astounding thing was that most Russians dislike Americans because they think we think that if it were not for the Americans, Hitler would have won the war. After seeing the massive loss of life, the total destruction of their cities and meeting Russians who lost their grandparents and many relatives in WWII, I can hardly disagree. We should learn more about how the Soviet Union defended their nation, and fought the Nazis on their eastern front for many years....of which many Americans know nothing. What an eye opener. We saw Victory Park, a monument and museum dedicated to WWII. These people honor their fallen like no one else. Every block or metro station is a remembrance and all have fresh flowers lain at the feet. It is an honor for the people to remember their heroes, every day. I guess because Will and I come from a long line of veterans, this felt special to me. Did I say that their metro is a museum as well? Every stop was magnificent. I just don't have words to describe them. Inspiring, beautiful, but I think magnificent will suffice. Oh, I forgot to tell you about the Bolshoi. Fabulous, but I am a neophyte. We dressed up for the show in our best but really shouldn't have as the other tourists brought the dress standard down to the lowest level. The theatre was gorgeous, after it just undergoing a renovation. I did love the ballet, but loved even better the people watching and the champagne, strawberries and chocolate at the two intermissions. We ended our tour of Moscow with another tour of a cold war bunker built after the US bombed Japan. 80 meters underground, it was a maze of tunnels and communications rooms. It also had an elementary lesson about the use of weapons of mass destruction. But it was a good lesson to be reminded about by the Russians. Off to bed tonight as we have been traveling all day. It is very difficult still to visit places off the beaten path. We are trying to be flexible and keeping our chin up as we adapt to the incessant bureaucracy. The people are wonderful here but we are constantly reminded that as Americans, our freedom is our life. We are truly so fortunate and so blessed.

July 12, Russian Art, Sparrow Hills, Cavier and more!

Today was a whirlwind so this will be a whirlwind update. There is so much history, arts, architecture, that your head spins. Our wonderful guide, Katerina picked us up at 10am and whisked us by car with driver to a place called Sparrow Hills. It is the highest point from which to view the entire city. Katerina pointed out Stalin's seven sisters, the seven buildings Stalin commissioned that rise out of the horizon seemingly at random and with no pattern. They are massive and ornate, some garish but others like Moscow University, which was located directly behind us) an architectural wonder. It is told that a university student never left the building for 5 years he was there because it is so massive that it is like a small city unto itself. We toured Tolstoy's home and spent the afternoon at the Tretyakov Museum, the museum which houses the largest collection of Russian art. We loved it. Getting to know the Arts of a Country is like looking into its soul. Russia has a difficult past and seeing how their art has been inspired by it gave us great insight into these complex peoples. We also went to Christ The Savior Cathedral that was having a Russian Orthodox service. There are no pews in the church and parishioners wander from icon to icon during the mass, lighting candles in some places, kissing the figure of Jesus at another. Strict adherence to the dress code was wearing clothing that covered the knees and legs and covering the shoulders. Many of the older female attendees covered their heads, too. Tonight was caviar night!!! We researched the best restaurant for caviar that was in walking distance and Russians don't believe in Taxicabs. No kidding. One must make plans for a cab ahead of time and hope that you will get picked up for a return ride. Katerina says many people just stop motorists, negotiate a price, and that is how it is done. Sort of Russky hitch-hiking. She didn't suggest it for us though. Ok, I led you to caviar but I will finish tomorrow as I am whipped tonight ...we went to the Bolshoi Ballet. See you tomorrow!

July 11

Last night Will and I ventured out on our own and walked to the hip and happening Arbat Street. We were too exhausted to partake in any of the fun that the pedestrian street had to offer, from street performers to a zillion open air cafes interspersed with the tourista favorite souvenir shop. A late beginning this morning, with free and yummy breakfast delivered to our room at 9:00am and then meeting our very young, cute, and extremely smart tour guide in the lobby at 10:00 am. Katerina has just returned from a year at Brown on a Fulbright Scholarship. This 26 year old taught a Russian language and culture course this past year at Brown and is newly returned from the states to teach English to corporate Russians. She is a tour guide on the side and says she will do it as long as she can have a "happy middle" and keep her life balanced. We are very happy to have her for the week. Summing up this day would be difficult so I will post some pictures for you. We toured Red Square, St. Basil's, the Kremlin and Cathedral Square. I stood and recorded Red Square to share with you so I hope it worked! Funny, the weather forcast was 80% chance of thunderstorms and we never saw a drop. Where is Greg Fischel when you need him! We went to a Georgian restaurant tonight at around 8:30pm after an 8 hour touring day. The food in Russian is unbelievably good and foodies would wet themselves. We are not foodies as you know.... But, More on that and the women's fashions tomorrow. Tonight, we are exhausted by our full day of touring and a full stomach of baked salted sea bass and vino. Till tomorrow.

July 10

Passport Control was a breeze and we were met by a nice man holding a sign with our names on it. Although Will adopted a heavy and inauthentic Russian accent as he tried to converse with our driver, the language barrier was too much and Katherine and I had the most enjoyably quiet ride into the heart of Moscow. Frankly, suburban Moscow looked a bit like the Bronx, with gloomy, multi floor decrepit, apartment buildings rising grayly on all sides of us. On the flip side, every Muscuvite must own a high-end car because they clogged the 6 lane (8 if you count the shoulders where we passed a few slowbies)highway. No minivans for these Russians!Nyet! We love our hotel and we felt like lottery winners when we were given an early check in. The room is spacious and the sofa pulls out to a bed for Katarina. We are only several blocks away from Red Square and we promptly headed over to the Kremlin. No words for it. Just wow. Secret is, I have been here before...1980 when I was just a youngin'. But, the sight of onion domed St. Basil's Cathedral at one end and the Kremlin and Gums Department Store on each flank will take your breath away. We proceeded to the only sidewalk cafe on Red Square, red meaning beautiful, not for why you would think it be called red. And, the neatest thing happened. Several thousand-plus policemen closed off the Square and stood in formation and with pomp and circumstance honored their new comrades to the force. With great ceremony and with the Russian National anthem blaring over and over and over, we were privy to the whole shebang! We couldn't help thinking how many military parades and revolutionaries had gone before. It was mesmorizing and we new we were witnessing something unique.

Russia or Bust

As much as we have planned our trip out and confirmed reservations, with the Hodges, something always goes wrong. Only three hours before our flight from RDU was scheduled to leave, we got a phone call that our flight would be delayed two hours. With this twist of the itinerary, we wouldn't make our flight out of JFK to Moscow. In a matter of minutes, we had Delta on the phone pleading not to be changed to the Russian airline Aeroflot, or Aeroplop as its reputation precedes it. Last ditch effort was we were put on the already overbooked American flight out at 10:30am. Yep, it was exactly 9:05am. Will didn't need a plane as he flew down I40 and we arrived to be told to wait to see if 3 passengers would be no shows. With the luck of the Russian's behind us, we clamored into the last seats,like seat 24E for my tennis buddies, and for everyone else, think toilet and non-reclining. Lesson two: sign up for flight updates on your phone and always make international reservations with at least a four hour layover for those delayed and canceled flights. On our way on Delta!!! Thank you, God! *Tidbit because I have loads of time on the plane. The Russian Cyrillic language has 33 letters and resembles the Greek alphabet, both literally and figuratively. Russians stress one syllable of each word and when spoken it is stereotypical of every Russian movie you have ever seen. I have bought an English-Russian dictionary because most all signs are written in Cyrillic. The problem here is first one has to change the Russian to the English and then look up the word. Example: "Hello" in English ( since I don't have the Cyrillic on my keyboard is translated as ZDRASTvuytye, with the first syllable exaggerated. I think this is another weapon in their cold war arsenal because one  has to drink lots of vodka to be able to roll your tongue to expel from the gut those emphasized syllables! Ok. We are landing in five and a half hours. I'm off to Ambienland. See you when I get to Moskva.