Saint Petersburg was the last stop on our Russian adventure. My friends who had previously lived in Russia told me it was the most beautiful city Russia had to offer. It didn't disappoint. Despite the fact that we saw a swastika within the first five hours (Neo-Nazism is alive here), we had a wonderful time.
Saint Petersburg is the cultural center of Russia; bursting with cafes, high end restaurants, designer boutiques, and theaters. It is also home to some of the best museums we have been to. That includes that massive Hermitage, which I will write about shortly. After the rather gray city of Moscow, Saint Petersburg was a welcome breath of fresh air.
Day 1
We took an overnight train from Moscow, which meant we arrived at 8AM. We got to our hostel around 9AM, but we weren't able to check-in until around 1PM. So, we stored our backpacks and relaxed in the lobby until around 11AM. We were getting bored of watching Russian dubbed American television, so we decided to go out and explore a little bit.
We went to a coffee shop, where surprisingly the waitress spoke English. We encountered very, very few English speakers in Moscow. Afterward, we wandered down a pedestrian street. We ran into one of the many parks in Saint Petersburg, and quickly found ourselves at the Russian Museum. We didn't end up going in, because it is filled with European art, and we were only a day away from going to the Hermitage, which has enough art to keep anyone occupied for a few days.
As we walked through the park – which we later found out were gardens attached to massive palaces - we saw a very beautiful church at one end. I was nearly church-ed out by the time we got to Saint Petersburg, so I wasn't too keen on walking that direction, but Emily insisted. It turned out that it was The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood. That is one of the premier attractions in Saint Petersburg, and a sight we were going to see anyways. Upon entering the church, we were immediately glad we did. Unlike other churches around Russia, which feature extensive paintings of icons, these icons were all mosaics. They give the church a unique visual appeal. It is popularly known as the church that took 24 years to build and 27 to repair (after World War II).
For dinner, we had cafeteria-style Russian food. Not like school food; this is a common style of restaurant in Russia where everything is displayed in front of you and you point to what you want. It's fun to get a variety of things at a very cheap price. Mostly they have salads, soup, various meats and then potatos, rice, barley, or pasta as a side. Most places have draft beer, wine, and desserts. It's the only cheap way to eat Russian food.
Day 2
The Hermitage is easily the biggest sight in Saint Petersburg. It is a massive, multi-building museum that houses an extensive collection of 19th century housewares, paintings from all over Europe, a small medieval and Renaissance arms collection, and of course religious iconography. It is a museum like the Met, but on the scale of the Smithsonian. We knew that it would be an all-day affair, so we headed out a little early to beat the rush.
The museum opens at 10:30AM, so we got there around 9:45. We were near the front of the line, which was already forming. By the time 10:30 rolled around, the line was getting quite long. So, if you want to visit the Hermitage, buy a ticket ahead of time online, or get there at least a half hour before the museum opens in the off-season. I'm assuming you would have to get there much earlier during peak tourist season.
The museum was formerly the winter palace for Tsar Peter the Great. It was turned into a museum in the mid-1700s by Catherine the Great. I could write pages about the various paintings and rooms, but we were most impressed by the rooms of the palace that had been preserved, many of the palace decorations, and a couple of exhibits that are tucked away.
The first of these exhibits was comprised of items from the 7th - 6th centuries BC that were found in Siberia. They include a nearly perfectly preserved horse and various well-preserved pieces of clothing, hair, and tools. The next exhibit was from a city found along a detour in the Silk Road. It was a village that bought and sold silks from the Middle East, China, and Persia. Because silk was their main trade, the people of the village wore it as everyday clothing. Many of the pieces look like royal clothing, which is remarkable considering the village was poor. The dry conditions in the area helped preserve some of the extremely valuable silk. That is how they connected the village to the Silk Road trade route. Both of these exhibits were a bit difficult to find. We went downstairs from one of the many European art galleries and came face to face with a corridor full of boxes. We saw that there were exhibits behind the boxes, so we decided to just keep walking through. We eventually found the exhibits. I wouldn't be surprised if more than one person skipped them though, because some of the staff was standing about casually and the doors were left open.
The rest of the museum is impressive, but nothing you wouldn't see in a place like the Louvre or the Met. The only other things of note would be the two rooms dedicated to Picasso and one room dedicated to Matisse.
After over five hours at the Hermitage, we got a very late lunch around 3:30. After that we wandered around a little bit and decided to take a look at the Russian Vodka Museum. It is only a few rooms, but it gives you a quick rundown behind the history of vodka. After, you can do a three glass vodka tasting with a few Russian snacks thrown in. Not a bad stop, and it only takes about 40 minutes. We tried Russian Standard, Russian Standard Platinum, and Imperial vodkas. Our snacks were not as good: a pickle, pickled herring and onion on bread, and white fish and mustard on bread. Emily did not like them, although they are traditional vodka snacks.
Day 3
Today we crossed the main river (Neva) that runs through St. Petersburg. We made the trip to the Political History Museum, which was a pretty big disappointment. The museum used to be a famous ballerina's house. It was taken over by prominent members of the Communist party, it's where Lenin gave many of his speeches, in 1917. The layout is a little confusing, and we found out we missed half the museum when we were leaving. If the museum were laid out better, or if there weren't so many closed hallways, we would have probably had a better time. Emily felt it was a waste because we didn't see what we went there to see: Soviet propaganda posters.
After that, we made our way over to the Peter and Paul Fortress. Entrance is free anytime, but you have to pay to enter any of the buildings or to go on the battlements. We opted for the free stuff and loved it anyways. The fortress is right on the water, so you can step outside and take a walk outside the walls on the beach. The fortress is also home to the Peter and Paul Cathedral that has a 122 meter spire. Since the fortress was the city's original citadel, it is worth seeing.
We decided to hit a local spot we found in Lonely Planet, because it sounded hilarious. It is called Russian Kitsch, and it is definitely heavy on the kitsch. There are seven themed rooms that are all over-the-top. The only way to really know what we're talking about is to experience it.
Day 4
On our last day before we headed to Istanbul, we made it to two more sights: the Leningrad Blockade Museum and the Zoology Museum (See “Lions, and tigers, and bears...”).
The Leningrad Blockade Museum was one of our favorite Russian Museums. It is really only a single room, so you won't miss anything, but the layout is the best part. The outside walls house the military portions of the museum. In the center, they have the civilian portion of their collection. It is a clever nod to the way a siege works. The blockade of Leningrad by Germany was one of the defining moments of World War II for the Soviets. The museum does a great job illustrating this fact. They call the Germans fascists, not Nazis. It's an important insight into the way Russians study Nazi Germany. They do a good job outlining the military aspects of the siege in a way that isn't boring for non-history types. The museum also illustrates the way life goes on during wartime. Children still went to school, they still held sports competitions, and they even held a symphony orchestra concert. Aside from the Hermitage, this is the one museum in Saint Petersburg I would see.
Day 5
We got on a plane for Istanbul, but not without two pretty good stories. Both of these happened at the airport. First, we discovered that after St. Petersburg-ians get married and have their reception, they go straight to the airport in their wedding attire. We saw one of the drunkest brides either of us had ever seen. We will call her, Drunk Bride. When drunk girls say they are falling out of their tops, they're usually joking. Drunk Bride actually came out of her dress more than once. You usually have to buy a Girls Gone Wild video to see that. She also fell on multiple occasions, tripped over her dress, tripped over her suitcase, tripped over her husband, and in general had a difficult time staying upright. After she disappeared into the check-in room, we didn't see her, but we thought about following her to see what might happen. Thank God she wasn't on our flight!!
After we finally got in line to check-in, we saw a fight between a Turkish man and a Russian man unfold. This had to happen in the line we were in, of course. We really started to notice it when the two men started raising their voices. That escalated into a little shoving, and all of a sudden multiple people were separating the two men and security was showing up. We don't know any of the details, but women were crying and the men were pointing and yelling. In the end, everyone got checked in and everyone got on the plane. It couldn't have been too serious.
So goodbye Russia, and hello Turkey!
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