|
By: Ann James
Click
Here for Our Russia Trip Picture Gallery and to Check Out our Current
Russia Calendar
 For
many people, the mere mention of the word "Russia" evokes
a multitude of thoughts and memories, ranging from icy cold blasts from
Siberia to troops, tanks and missiles parading across Red Square, to
the "onion domes" of the Russian Orthodox Cathedrals. After
an eleven day trip with the Viking River Cruise company on a 200 passenger
boat from St. Petersburg to Moscow on the Volga-Baltic-Moskva River\Canal
system, my perceptions and ideas about Russia and its people and country
were drastically changed. This part of Russia was truly beautiful, with
rolling hills, small towns nestled along the river\canal system, each
with its dominating cathedral and domes, and beautiful salt-of-the-earth
people struggling to become independent in this country newly emerging
from "communism."
Flying non-stop from DIA to Frankfurt, Germany, and then
onto St. Petersburg, Russia, was smooth, easy, and comfortable, although
long as we crossed through 10 time zones. Transfers from the airport
to the Viking River boat, the Pakomov, were included , making the initial
exposure to Russia and its language and Cyrillian alphabet a bit easier.
Once on board and settled, we were introduced to the crew of the Pakamov
which would serve as our floating hotel for the trip, treated to dinner,
and given time to adjust to our "jet lag."
St. Petersburg is a city founded in 1703 that has become
known as the Venice of Russia. It is a city on water that is criss-crossed
by rivers and canals spanned by many bridges; a city with many parks,
palaces, boulevards, museums, monuments, and buildings reflective of
its history from Peter the Great through Catherine the Great through
Nicholas I and II. Renamed Leningrad during Lenin's rule, St. Petersburg
has survived wars and revolutions, and is now undergoing massive restoration
in preparation for its 300th Anniversary next year. It is, however,
a city of two faces: One of the beauty and wealth collected by the tsars
and nobles with many elaborate palaces; the other of the disrepair and
decay that has taken place in the absence of money or focus to maintain
or modernize.
No trip to St. Petersburg would be complete without a
visit to Peter and Paul Cathedral, built in 1712 in Dutch style with
its gold leaf dome and needle spire, massive interior with elaborate
gilded statues and columns, which is now the resting place of Peter
the Great and most of his successors. The Hermitage Museum , originally
built as a retreat for Catherine the Great to house her art collections,
is a stunning palace converted to museum. With the expansion of the
collections through Nicholas, the Hermitage was expanded into the Winter
Palace quarters and contains works by the worlds greatest artists including
Picasso, Matisse, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, and Leonardo da Vinci. We
were treated to a night on the town at the historic Mariinsky Theatre,
dating from the 1870Õs, where we saw a Russian ballet company
stage the ballet ÒGiselleÓ in its magnificent five-tiered
auditorium of crystal, gilded carvings, and plush decor; an experience
that truly made you feel a part of the history of Russia. The next day,
our tour included a trip outside of St. Petersburg to the Peterhof palace
which sits on the Gulf of Finland. Begun in 1715 by Peter the Great,
it was fashioned after Versailles with all of its ornate style, gilding,
domes, and crystal. Severely damaged by German occupation and destruction
in 1944, its restoration is now nearly complete and serves as a beautiful
showcase for Russian art, tsar history, gardens, fountains, and canal
to the Baltic sea.
From St. Petersburg we cruised on the Neva river, across
Lake Ladoga, Europe's largest lake, down the Svir river into Lake Onega
to the island of Kizhi. At Kizhi, we experienced a mystical excursion
to the ancient wooden churches of Russia. Built in 1714, the 22-onion
domed Church of the Transfiguration, the 9-domed Church of the Intersession
with its collection of Russian icons (ancient Russian religious paintings),
and the octagonal bell tower, each wooden structures built without the
use of nails, were breath-taking and awe inspiring. During the walking
tour, we were enchanted by the ringing of the century old bells from
the bell tower.
Leaving Lake Onega, we cruised down the Volga-Baltic canal
to the town of Goritsy where we toured a 15th century monastery founded
by St. Cyril. Built with fortress like walls, it was a functioning monastery
throughout its history, never occupied by foreign invaders, and contains
a complete collection of famous Russian icons. Walking through its hallowed
chambers and spartan grounds was a vivid reminder of the simple, meager,
and harsh life of these monks. As we cruised farther along the canal,
we visited Yaroslavl which was founded in 1010 and is now a thriving
city of 750,000 people supported by its refinery, diesel engine and
paint factories. Clean, alive, and substantially restored, this city
and its citizens presented a vibrant picture of "Perestroika"
at work and apparently successful. From the restored five-domed Church
of Elijah, built in the 17th century, with its icons and frescos, to
its open-air markets, trading arcades, and museums, Yaroslavl was a
fresh breath of Russian air.
Cruising on the canal closer to Moscow, we next encountered the small
and "typically Russian" town of Uglich known for its watches
and colorful Church of Dmitry on the Blood, built in 1692 with its five
blue domes and red and white walls.
T he
walkways from the boat were lined with people, from young to old, selling
flowers and other small items for a few roubles hoping to supplement
their meager existence, and set with open-air venders selling Russian
handicraft items from black laquer boxes to ceramic pins to watches
to linens and shawls to Russian Baltic amber to wooden ornaments and
chess sets. Very little English is spoken, although most merchants were
able to advise of the cost in dollars (the desired method of payment)
rather than roubles. As you walk through the market stalls and town,
listening to Russian and encountering the people, you are given a rare
opportunity to see this culture, observe its people, and experience
an understanding not found in books.
From Uglich, we cruised down the Moskva-Volga Canal now
headed for Moscow. In the Stalin era, Moscow was connected to the major
seas by the construction of this canal system and existing rivers and
lakes. This was only possible by constructing a canal system leading
into Moscow, building dams which flooded many parts of the countryside,
and a system of 17 locks to raise and lower the river traffic through
the canal\river system. This was accomplished in a 5 year period, a
remarkable feat considering it took 15 years to construct the Panama
Canal. Because of the extremely dry year in the Moscow region, the air
was full of smoke from forest fires and fires burning in the peat areas
dried by lack of rain.
Moscow is a large city and the center of the Russian government. With
the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1993, Russia is now ruled by an
assembly called the State Duma with Putin as is current President. Moscow
has benefitted through major injections of money for building, rehabilitation,
and public transportation systems over the years. Any trip to Moscow
would be incomplete without a walk across Red Square surrounded by the
GUM (an acronym from the Russian name for State Universal Store), a
19th century building housing three floors of shops, St Basil's Cathedral
with its colorful twisting domes almost in an 'oriental' style, to the
Kremlin (from the Russian word meaning fortress) enclosing its cathedrals,
the Armoury housing the history of the Russian tsars through their jewels,
crowns, gowns and robes, horse-drawn buggies, and royal trappings, to
Lenin's Tomb with its surrounding graves and memorials to such famous
Russian heroes as Yri Gagarin, Brezhnev, Stalin, and Chernenko. What
an awe inspiring moment to be standing in Red Square, the heart of the
Communist Russian power, and view the people and buildings and towers
of the Kremlin walls. Then, touring inside the Kremlin grounds and cathedrals
and crown jewels, capped off the exposure to those places whose names
are so familiar.
All in all, this tour of Russia was exciting, educational, beautiful,
and humbling. What a comfortable way to see Russia and experience its
people, culture, treasures, and history.
Click
Here for Our Russia Trip Picture Gallery and to Check Out our Current
Russia Calendar
|
