Rushing through Russia

Tori’s European Escapade

Summer 2012

July

12/7 – 15/7

St Petersburg - Russia

Generally…

After the whirlwind tour through the Baltics I had a slight and silly unease about going into the former Soviet Union, after seeing such recent effects of the devastating KGB regime. However, I was only in St Petersburg for mere minutes before I was completely enchanted by the city and the country. The city is built on a former swamp by Peter the Great and is the metaphorical link between European and Russian cultures, and has numerous man made canals reminiscent of Venice. Most importantly, (to me at least) St Petersburg is the home of the State Hermitage, which is one of the largest and oldest art museums in the world, with the largest permanent collections of paintings.

My second favourite church exterior ever (after La Sagrada Familia), made even better by the name: The Church of the SPILLED BLOOD. You can hear the dramatic music as you read the words...da da dum!

Hundreds of opulent palaces line the man made canals.

Ah! Tasteful.... Inside Osama was Saddam Hussein, and I stopped there. Right next to poor Pooh and that naive looking girl... for shame...

Over the river from the Hermitage.

Our first day we drove around the streets and took in the sheer number of palaces scattered around the streets of the city, and then took a hydrofoil out to the Peterhof Palace. 

Fwoosh!

Inspired by the French Versalles, it was built by Peter the Great, who focussed his attention on the sprawling grounds and the famous Grand Cascade and 120 fountains. This impressive set of fountains use gravity and natural water sources in a revolutionary design that works without any man made power. The Samson Fountain’s reservoir is over 4km away and the jet of water shoots up to 20m in the air. Considering that the statue is of Peter ripping open the jaws of a lion, it is fairly impressive even before you notice how high the water goes after it comes out of the gaping teeth of the feline.

The Samson Fountain (centre) and the Grand Cascade.

From above the Grand Cascade looking towards the ocean. (Took SO many tries to get this centred! SUCCESS)

Daddy being a Tsar (I think...)

Me taking a photo of Mum taking a photo of Daddy being a Tsar.

One of my favourite aspects of our trip around the Peterhof was that it RAINED!!! Wooo! The first time I saw proper rain since I left New Zealand over a year ago. People telling me to use an umbrella, but nooo! I was enjoying the rain. And besides, there is nothing like a sea of umbrellas to ruin scenery as beautiful as that of the Peterhof Palace.

Fountains disguised as trees.

 That night we went to a folk show - it was entertaining, but nothing was more entertaining than this guy's ma-has-ive guitar! His facial expression of absolute disdain also appealed to me.

The next morning was the scene of the greatest regret of my entire trip. We had a guided tour around The Hermitage. This was one of the expected highlights of the entire 2 months, and it exceeded my expectations. Standing in the line I was shivvering with anticipation, and once inside, I was thrilled by the extreme opulence and grandeur of the Russian Baroque Winter Palace and the concentration of incredible art in every room. I saw my second, third, fourth and fifth Da Vinci's ever, my first Michelangelo sculpture, first Titians, Rahpaels, Goyas, Rembrants... I was in heaven. 

And then I had to leave. As I was very shortly headed to Paris, and planning on a DAY at the Louve; I would soon be seeing much more incredible and famous Italian Renaissance and Spanish fine art. 

I wanted to see what made the Hermitage shine - thier seemingly endless collection of neoclassical, impressionist and post-impressionist art. I wanted to see Renoir, Gauguin, Kandinsky, Cezanne and their huge collection of some of Matisse's most famous paintings, including one of my all time favourites "Red Room".

Henri Matisse, Red Room (Harmony in Red) (1908)

And I didn't see it. As much as I enjoyed my time in Russia, I doubt very much I will be making a return visit. It is VERY far away, and I have seen a lot of what makes it unique and alluring. Other places that I haven't seen call louder. There is a good chance I will never see those art works, and that makes me sad.

However, I did see some incredible sights that I did not expect. Such as the giant jasper "vase" that was carved in the room it sits in and can never be moved because it weighs just shy of 20 tonnes and is hugely bigger than any door.

The Jasper Vase was carved by Avraam Melnikov from a 5m squared block of solid jasper.

 The next day we visited the Yusupov Palace where Rasputin met his final hours. A little history lesson about Rasputin; as I was surprised by a lot of it:

Rasputin was a Russian Orthodox monk that featured heavily in the last days of the Russian Empire, having close personal relationships with the Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, and their only son Alexei. It was implied by the succeeding government that Rasputin was involved in the downfall of the Romanov Dynasty in the early 20th century, with the famous brutal execution of the royal family in 1918, but there is no direct evidence to this. It is fact however, that Rasputin had significant political sway, and had unusual power for his profession and social standing. Due to this, the Yusupov family and other political allies decided to assassinate the monk under the guise of a meeting of acquaintances in the Yusupov family palace.

Now this is where it gets truly exciting, albeit in a grisly way:

Rasputin was given cake and wine laced with enough cyanide to kill 5 men, and was unaffected. He was then shot in the back of the head and his "body' was left unattended. When people returned to collect and hide the body, they found he had dragged himself up a narrow, curved servants staircase into an internal courtyard. He was then shot 3 more times in the back and still alive, struggled to stand. He was then clubbed until (thought) dead, bound, rolled in a carpet and tossed into the river outside the house. The autopsy showed the cause of death was drowning, though the document and those who had seen it "disappeared" during the rein of Joseph Stalin.

Stalinists used Rasputin as a scapegoat to discredit the government they overthrew and to give credence to their philosophies. It is hard to now separate the propaganda spread by Stalin and understand the true person and most accounts of him are severely polarised.

Entering into the Yusupov Palace

The steps. Dark moments as we walked down those.

Beautiful window.

We also went to see Catherine the Great's palace - which was room after room of extreme baroque splendour:

Daddy proudly leading the group through the entrance.

Like I said - opulent splendour.

This one was my favourite - the wall was hand painted, and the china stoves were imported from somewhere special.

Went and saw the "Russian Ballet". There is a reason the photo is of us and not the dancers. Lets just say it was no Bolshoi.

 And one of my fashion bucket list items was crossed off! White Siberian fox fur Russian ushanka:

July

15/7 – 17/7

Moscow - Russia

Generally…

So Moscow is pretty different to St Petersburg. The communist legacy hangs heavy here, and it is immediately apparent in the stark and domineering architecture of the city as we roll in. 

Politically, Russia has a very colourful history. The Slavic tribes began to unite around the 10th century, and Novgorod kings ruled the area, during which time the Russian Orthodox Church gained it's strong and lasting foothold. After this time most of contemporary Russia was part of a Grand Duchy that was in constant conflict with the Mongols. Ivan the Great eventually resisted the Mongolian tribes and consolidated the country with fallen Constantinople in the mid 1400s and when he married into the remnants of the Byzantine royal family, he took their defunct two headed eagle as his coat of arms, and it eventually became that of Russia. He became the first Tsar of Russia in a monarchy that evolved into an imperial empire that lasted until 1917. After the Russian Revolution the country became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union and the country was ruled by dictators Lenin and then Stalin. During the communist rule millions of Russian citizens lost their lives, as did many in Soviet occupied countries and day to day life was restricted and hard for the vast majority. In 1991, the first direct presidential election took place, and shortly after Boris Yeltsin was elected the Soviet Union was disintegrated and huge reforms took place. The current president Vladimir Putin continues to add to the checkered list, by swapping roles with the current Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, in a back and forth which ensures both continue to stay in power indefinitely.

Moscow has been the playing field for a lot of Russia's political history, and the influences are  apparent, most notably in the Soviet era buildings. "Stalinist" architecture is characterised by a severe design, usually in a pale neutral stone, with clear and simple mason work, firm lines and a uniform and clear formula repeated in other buildings. The structures stood as symbols for the Communists - domineering, powerful, stable and enduring. The best example of this type is seen in the Seven Sisters. Often dubbed the "wedding cakes" the massive tiered buildings are scattered around Moscow and are used for pivotal institutions such as the State University and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Hotel Ukrania, from our room across the river. One of the smaller sisters, it is still impossible to miss.

Though surrounded by these dominating behemoths, the architecture of the buildings in the famous Red Square hold their own. The mish-mash of styles that encircle you as you stand on the cobbles presents a fascinating and beautiful panorama and one that I managed to squeeze in two trips to see.

This is pretty late at night - the camera made the sky look very light - and you can see the lighting effects down the Moskva River.

The first trip to Red Square was at night time, and the city has done a fabulous job of lighting up the city. All down the River Moskva and into the city was artfully and colourfully lit. We pulled up opposite the house of the Bolshoi Ballet and walked through Revolution Square to the Moscow City Hall - a gorgeous red brick neo-renaissance building with a huge statue of a mounted Marshal of the Red Army from WWII.

Night lit Moscow City Hall

Veering to the left, we approached the Iberian Gate - a double arched masterpiece that offered the first view of St Basils on the far side of the square, and framed it beautifully.

Moscow's Iberian Gate, with St Basil's Cathedral peeking through on the right.

And we were in! I zoomed past the christmas-esque Gum Department Store on the left...

The Gum Department Store (pronounced Ghoom) that was a major supplier of basic necessities in harsh communist times, and is now the house of most elite brands present in Moscow.

And the towering walls of the Kremlin on my right, and made a beeline for the distant St Basils.

Looking into Red Square from the Iberian Gate

And there it was! St Basil's Cathedral

 It was incredible - I had quite a sense of detachment about it - Russia had not been at the top of my 'must-see' list, and it was one of those awe inspiring building that I wondered when I would see, and I could barely believe I was there. The domes of the cathedral were stunning, and so unusual. I felt the building itself was very small - it was certainly dwarfed by the huge building complexes on either side, but it held it's own in it's uniqueness.

By day, the square lost a tiny bit of magic - more people and less mystery, but each building still awed me. I also managed to ask the question: "WHY is Red Square not red!?" It made me feel a little ditzy, but I swear I thought the cobbles of the square were made out of red brick, and they were most definitely grey. I was skittish that the name came from the copious amount of blood shed on it's surface over the centuries, but in a pleasant twist, the word 'red' means 'beautiful' to Muscovites, the way it might mean 'anger' to others. Originally applied solely to the Cathedral, it was organically extended to the square and adopted as the official name in the 17th century.

St Basil's by day with the edge of the Kremlin wall to the right.

Looking back towards the City Hall, with Gum and the Gate to the right and the Kremlin to the left.

We took our lunch break inside the fabulous Gum Store, and amongst the Hermes and Cartier stores, I found the Mah-ah-ah-nolo Blahnik store and gazed like a starving person at THESE SHOES:

They put my SOUL into the shoe.

Inside the Gum Department Store.

We also took a trip inside the Kremlin, during which time I saw some jaw-dropping imperial jewels, clothes, carriages, and got SUPER drenched by a flash downpour.

After exploring the big city, we took a trip out to a teeny wee town with a famous monastery called Zagorsk Monastery. The area had a cute eclectic collection of buildings and great religious personalities roaming around doing their holy business. 

This one was my favourite, and I almost missed it! It is the exterior of the internal gate, and I got a bit lost and stumbled around the side. Not the most traditional abbey paint job, and I love it.

I am going to wrap up this SUPER long post with what is arguably my favourite photo of the whole 2 months. 

I need to set the scene first: I am very picky about the composition of my photos, and often take a hundred thousand until I get the one I want. I developed the habit of enjoying getting the shot by saying "I nailed it", so if I took a photo of a church, I might turn to Mum or Dad and say "Yes! I nailed the church"... you get the idea. Obviously it rubbed off on Dad, and he tried it out at the monastery after trying to get a tricky shot, he came rushing up to me and says:
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"Sweetie, I nailed those nuns!!"

"Sweetie. I nailed those nuns!!"