Arctic Adventure Part 9 - Rooshia

Spent two days in St. Petersburg, Russia. 

Russia is an amazing place to see. Lots of interesting old buildings and museums. Lots of great art. And,,,,,I couldn't stand the place. The problem is that Russia is full of Russians. As individuals, Russians are terrific people (I think, I only got to know our guide - and I was paying her).  As a society, things seem to have gone off the tracks. My take was this - "Ve suffered for years, now it's your turn to suffer". Really?  All I want is a cup of coffee. How hard is that?  It seemed to me that the whole Russian society is passive/aggressive, dour and mistrusting. It's pervasive. In a lot of places I've visited across the world I stick out as a Westerner - easily.  Not Russia.  My complexion blends right in. Didn't do me any good though. Every encounter I had felt like a competition. "You vant coffee? Vy should I make it for you?" How 'bout because you're standing behind the counter in a coffee shop wearing an apron and I'm holding money?

Don't do any of these things - that includes blowing an air horn at a statue's face (bottom right)

I may not have felt welcome, but there sure was lots to see. To really appreciate the place it is vital to understand the history behind things.  Otherwise they make little sense. 

Stalin buildings

Putin buildings (I may be wrong)

Dreadful.  Keep in mind that there may be multiple families living in the same apartment.

Stalin buildings - note all the wide open spaces not being used

So why do most St. Petersburgians live in giant concrete apartment complexes? Simple, they're cheaper to make and cheaper to heat in the brutal Russian winter. As I said before, you really have to know Russian history to make sense of things.  Which meant that I was at a real disadvantage. Most of what I knew about Russian history I learned by reading ponderous Russian novels. The only thing I remember about having to read Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) in college is that it's 864 pages long, each page more depressing than the last. The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky), more of the same. War and Peace, you get the idea.

Tolstoy
 By Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky - Журнал "Записки Русского технического общества", №8, 1908. Стр. 369. URL: http://prokudin-gorsky.org/arcs.php?lang=ru&photos_id=818&type=1, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2324270

Here's Bill's Abridged Version of St. Pete history:

1703 - Tsar Peter the Great

By Paul Delaroche - 1. - 4. Unknown5. Bildindex der Kunst und Architektur, object 00031228., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32937

recognizes the need for a Russian port.  He takes over Nyens from the poor swedes living there and names the city after himself (Russian kings have huge egos).  Builds the city using tens of thousands of "conscripted peasants" (read - slave labor). Most of them die.
Peter moves the capital from Moscow to St. Pete.

1725 - Peter the Great kicks the bucket.

1728 - Peter the OK (Peter II) moves the capital back to Moscow

By Iohann-Paule Ludden - http://www.varvar.ru/arhiv/gallery/rokoko/ludden/ludden2.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32879792

I took this picture in the Hermitage.  May or may not be him.

 

1732 - Empress Anna moves the capital back to St. Pete

1732 - 1914 - a buncha stuff happens

1914 - WW I pisses off the government and they decide to 
get rid of the German in the name and start calling the place Petrograd.

1917 - Nicholas II abdicates the throne ending 300 years of monarchy rule (no loss, the Romanov's were spectacularly self-centered).

Nicky 2
By Boissonnas & Eggler, photographer, active 1902-1923, St. Petersburg, Nevsky 24. - Royal Collection, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35263906

1917 - Lenin 

and his henchmen take over and establish the communist and Soviets.  They find a good deal on Craig's List apartments and decided to transfer the government back to Moscow (actually the threat of German invasion precipitates this)

1924 - Lenin takes a dirt nap (without dirt) and the city is renamed Leningrad.

1925 - Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili takes over.

WW II - Germans try hard to take Leningrad.  

They besiege the place for 872 days but the Russians don't give up easily and 1 million people starve to death.

1945 - 1953 Stalin "Purges" Leningrad 

(meaning - murders almost everyone).  Keeps the capital in Moscow - this means he didn't have Leningrad bulldozed and lots of the cool cultural buildings remain.
Side note - the name 'Stalin' to a Russian holds much of the same stigma that the name 'Voldemort' 

holds to everyone in Harry Potter.  No one will say his name out loud (he-who-must-not-be-named).  Instead, they'll use the euphemism 'Soviet' to refer indirectly to him. I'm not exaggerating.  In the two days I spent with our guide she did not say his name once (and supposedly she was giving us an overview of Russian history - a waste of time with an ignoramus like me).  When I questioned her on this at the end of the tour, she blanched and changed the subject quickly without answering.

Took the tour over to Catherine's summer palace.  Just getting there was wild.  Catherine's summer palace is 20 miles south of St. Pete. It's most easily accessible by boat. Flashback to 1960's technology.

Russian hydrofoil

Riveted aluminum shell with twin black-smoke belching diesels.  Good for 30 loud, shaky knots.

The hydrofoil dock was typically Russian, but for some reason they felt compelled to put English translations on the signs.

During the Stalin era the penalty was firing squad. 

On the way to the palace you get to see some controversial sights.  

Zenit stadium under construction - supposed to be home to the 2018 FIFA World Cup (soccer) finals.  Lots of accusations of bribery by the Russians to Seth Blatter.  May or may not take place here. 
68,134 seats when completed

 Loved this bridge under construction.  There are actually two bridges like this one under construction.  Each seems to have reached the same stopping point.

I think they're on track to meet up precisely. This photo angle is a cool optical illusion. 

The bottom humps you see are the engine room intakes on the hydrofoil.

Ironically, Catherine's Palace wasn't actually commissioned by Cathy.  It was Empress Elizabeth in 1756

Liz - arguably not too bad of a ruler
By Vigilius Eriksen - http://korolev.msk.ru/books/919/kalendar2008_08/kalendar2008_08/h02-t.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10599585

who tore down her mom's place and re-did it in rococo style.
The place is simply stunning - which, of course, was the whole point. It gets worse - Liz wasn't satisfied with the construction until the 7th iteration. Liz had it torn down to the foundation 6 times before it was to her liking. You can only engage in this type of lunacy behavior if:

1. You're at the very top of the aristocracy..
2. You hold the power of life and death over your subjects
3. Your laborers are only paid 7 cents per day.
4. You're a recklessly extravagant whack job. 

So are you seeing the 7th version of the palace today?  Of course not.  That'd be too easy. Today you see a mixture of 7th and 8th (mostly 8th). The Nazis intentionally destroyed most of version 7 retreating from the siege of Leningrad.  Almost all that was left was the shell.

 

That being said, what you see today is mind-boggling:

If you look closely you'll notice the facade is orange, not gold. Originally it took 220 pounds of gold to gild the facade.  Guess who stole all the gold in WW II.

The gilding here is really gold.

Catherine took over the palace upon Liz's death, and about had a heart attack herself when she got the bill for finishing the gold statues:

Sadly, as beautiful as Catherine's summer palace is, it hasn't yet been fully restored.

The administration occasionally rents out the grand hall to raise restoration funds.  Elton John held a concert there in 2001. In 2005 they had a huge party that attracted Tina Turner, Bill Clinton, Sting, Whitney Houston, me (not).

The inside of the palace reflects the opulence of the outside and gardens. 

Every room has the beautiful blue corner pottery piece. It isn't a "water closet", it's part of the heating system. Delft pottery is made in Delft, Netherlands.

Normally you only see Delft pottery this sizeBy Kim Traynor - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37650587

Care for dinner? Don't show up in a t-shirt and sandals. This is the gold dining room reserved for the very top of the food chain.

The "candles" here are electric.  Back in the day they used very expensive "smokeless" candles (no paraffin wax) to avoid blackening up the room paint.

One step down from the top aristocratic dining (silver instead of gold)

Inside the palace you will come across incredible wood works made by the masters.  This single desk took 10 years to make. Look closely at the craftsmanship. 

I would love to see this piece come through the door of "Pawn Stars" (Las Vegas pawn shop featured on the History Channel).  Rick's head would explode.

This desk only took 9 years to make.  If you ever see it in a garage sale, bring several million dollars with you.

The ballroom holds a special treat.  The ceiling has a very convincing optical illusion.

which you can't see in this shot

 OK, here it is

The ceiling looks curved - except that it isn't.  It's flat, but the painting illusion is so well done that until someone (tour guide) points this out you will not notice it's really flat.  In fact I had to back off to the side before it became apparent.

You can see it in this shot where I very carefully caught the light such that the ceiling painting is obscured slightly

OK, I'm lying.  I didn't set up this shot of the ceiling.  I just got lucky.

I'll conclude this posting on Russia with a projectile vomiting lion: