Anabasis Ruskii: An Anecdotal Adventure Through Russia

[Hygro]

forgive me, but could you have had a statistical adventure through Russia?

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Looks like you had one great trip.
Thanks a lot for sharing this, good narration and great pictures. It brings back memories to when I visited that great country back in the 90s. It is worth considering going back some time soon.

I really want to, but I need to learn a lot more Russian first. And save some money.

I'm considering perhaps applying to a Russian university for my Master's. I would love to study in St. Petersburg.

Very interesting reading, I'm glad you enjoyed your travel!

I bet the subway was very much overcrowded.

It was crowded, but not really overcrowded. All limbs fit inside the cars.

Good choice, they make awesome "блины" - and this is the real Russian food!

It was delicious.

The first one is Czech
Beer, unlike vodka is not the thing which Russia is famous for.

Yes I found that out once I got home. But it was brewed in Russia!

The best Russian beer I had was Baltika No. 7. Tasty.

Very nice Cheezy. I hope this experience will force you to continue to travel. There's nothing like it.

It absolutely did.

I hope i warned you about the language issue! The best English speaker i met worked in a Moscow Pizza Hut(fine local cuisine i know).

i had a miserable time in Moscow. Was Lenin's mausoleum open or could you get in? I couldn't manage to see it, it has very specific hours that, in true Russian fashion, are completely covert to non native speakers.

Yes it was, and we went inside and saw Lenin. He is short! The ticket inside also included a walk along the Kremlin wall to see the graves of famous Russians and heads of state. There were many flowers especially in front of Stalin's grave.

Its true that the Moscow subway is spectacular though it made me nervous when i first stepped on and felt how rickety it was. My history teacher recommended touring the subway for its own sake and it was worthwhile.

I enjoyed it, both the subway and the stations. Did you see Komsomolskaya? Beautiful!

The thing strangest about Russia, and since I've returned i noticed it among the Russian immigrants, is they are very fashion sensitive. Any jeans and t-shirt wearing foreigner sticks out in the largest of crowds because they don't spend more money on their countenance then they do their sustenance.

Yes I noticed this also. It gave the impression that Russian fashion had not progressed since 1985.

How was Petrodverets/Peterhof? I went in the spring and it was frigid and the fountains were shut off for the season. Did you manage your way through the Hermitage? The square outside it is astoundingly beautiful.

The fountains were awesome, and the gardens were all beautiful. It was a wonderful day, and we spent hours just walking around the grounds, enjoying them and the day.

Finally, i agree that the amount of soviet imagery, still pervasive in both cities, is surreal. There are great murals in each metro station, huge engravings on building facades, pillars, squares, parks, tall buildings each have the ornate soviet star. I can see why a visceral admiration for the soviet regime is common among the youth of Russia. All that was beautiful about the soviet regime is carved in stone along the streets and all that was hideous about it is under cold ground and buried in libraries far from the sight of the common Russian.

This is true of many societies, I think. But I think Russians also look to the Soviet era as a time of Russian greatness, when they rivaled the great powers of the world, made them tremble at the sound of their rockets and the might of their industry. Despite the bad things about the USSR, compared to now it doesn't seem that bad.

Had you been there month earlier it would have been even lighter. And if you had then been above the arctic circle, you would have not seen the sunset.

In the most northern parts the sun has been on the sky for two months:


On the contrast at the mid of the winter the sun does not rise for two months there. They have "blue moment" when the horizon becomes dark blue.

Winter would be an equally unique thing to experience in Russia. Its certainly the first thing most people think of when they think of Russia.

Thanks Cheezy for sharing! I really ought to share the results of my meanderings travels through Asia at some stage.

I would enjoy that!

Not suprise, best Russian beer is Czech one!

Interesting reading, nice pictures. Thanks for sharing

Oh, how it was wonderful!

Now that you've completed your quest, I shall call you, CheeCom.

This boy is no longer a boy. He's a brave. He is little in body, but his heart is big. His name shall be "Little Big Cheezy."

Very interesting write-up, sounds like a great trip for the first time abroad. I plan on going to those two cities myself at some point.

I highly recommend it.

From what I remember from reading Moscow 1941 last year, the city's main roads radiate out of the city in a similar fashion, and the whole place is designed in this concentric fashion.

Yes, it is. Its a very logical and efficient plan. Easy to navigate. St. Petersburg similarly so. All the main boulevards converge at the Admiralty's huge gold spire, providing an easily recognizable landmark.

Thanks for sharing! BTW, with that characteristic cap on, you look slightly Lenin-esque, esp. from a distance, like here:

Spoiler :

The similarity is actually unintentional. I had a full beard, once upon a time, and decided to shave it off in sections to see how it would look. I liked the way the goatee looked, so the next time I grew a beard, I went with it.

I was in St. Petersburg when I was 12. I liked the luxuriousness of Nevsky and slightly more dark Dostoyevsky-like parts of St. Petersburg centre.
I visited Moscow myself on my trip to Prague the previous summer. I wasn't there much time, though. I did visit the Red Square. I found the insides St. Basily's Church gloomy enough for Ivan IV.

I never went inside St. Basily's. Did you go in the State Historical Museum? Now that was a cool place.

That's why I and some other people here advised you not to go far away from big cities in your first trip

And rightfully so! It wouldn't do to be stranded in Perm!

Sorry for the late comment, but only 4 days isn't really a bump. That looks fantastic. It's amazing how light out it was in St. Petersburg!

The picture is actually a bit lighter than it was, but yes, it was amazing to see it light all the time

Russia is very interesting and has lots of beautiful buildings. You got to see the whole spectrum, medieval, Enlightenment, Soviet, and modern! Very cool. I envy your ability for languages. Russian, Arabic, is there any language you can't learn?

I also know German, but I can speak none of them with any vague sense of fluency, though I probably knew German the best, when I was in my prime. I wouldn't dare engage in more than short conversation in any of them. I consider myself to be quite horrible with languages, actually.

I'm considering going back and re-learning my German.

forgive me, but could you have had a statistical adventure through Russia?

There was a 47.3% chance of that happening.

 

[Furiey]

Great write-up, thanks! It sounds like you had a really great trip. I have not been to Russia but have been to various other places around the world and the travel bug really gives some good memories and widens your outlook on life. I hope you enjoy the next one with hopefully an extra memory card and a spare camera battery!

 

[Richard Cribb]

I really want to, but I need to learn a lot more Russian first. And save some money.

Eh, actually I meant myself. Could be interesting to see what have changed since the mismanagement of Yeltsin. There are also some things I had to miss out that time. And then my wife has never been to Russia.

I'm considering perhaps applying to a Russian university for my Master's. I would love to study in St. Petersburg.

By all means, go for it.
I myself considered studying abroad but never came around to do it. Up to this day it vexes me a little.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I'm more determined now, since my Italian study abroad trip fell through at inception. I will need to know a good deal of Russian, though, since their website is, as far as I can tell, only in Russian!

 

[Rossiya]

Godwynn,

You have been blacklisted.

Much love,

J.L. Warner

 

[red_elk]

I enjoyed it, both the subway and the stations. Did you see Komsomolskaya? Beautiful!

I'm considering perhaps applying to a Russian university for my Master's. I would love to study in St. Petersburg.

It would be a serious decision.

I'm more determined now, since my Italian study abroad trip fell through at inception. I will need to know a good deal of Russian, though, since their website is, as far as I can tell, only in Russian!

If you will have trouble translating something difficult (slang or whatever), ask me, I can try to help.

 

[NKVD]

that trip is my dream!

it is my next trip!

I already took some russian course.

Did you speak russian ?
Did you ever feel scare for your security ?

 

[vogtmurr]

Just read through it all, very nice, and appreciate the honesty of your account. Petrograd looked especially nice. Someday I would like to take the Trans-Siberian railroad across all 11 timezones from Belarus to Vladivistok.
If you ever travel to Canada, consider spending a few days in the People's Republic of Saskatchewan. I can't offer this level of culture but a view of the open steppe off the beaten track, and in late June I can take you to a pristine lake where the sun never sets and the only sound is the call of the loon.

 

[Fifty]

Looks fun!

Nice write up too! (although that title is too self-consciously clever to be good )