Kiev, Ukraine: Two Thumbs Up

Today's visit was to the Caves Monastery, which is a giant monastic complex complete with upper and lower parts and extensive catacombs.  The site is the center of the Ukrainian Christian population; as 78% of Ukrainians are Russian Orthodox, this was quite evident today--Sunday--as the monastery and its many churches were overrun with the faithful of all ages. We even saw services in some of the churches and in the catacombs, which are filled with the mummified bodies of monks.

After the monastery, we went to a 2009-erected memorial of the Soviet-induced 1932-1933 famines, during which several million Ukrainians died of starvation...even though the Soviets outlawed listing 'starvation' as a cause of death in Ukraine from 1932-1937.  It was a very well-done and moving exhibit, and wasn't without a certain anti-Soviet political twist.

Like Moscow, the metro stations in the Ukraine are very nicely decorated and kept up, as you can see behind Janine.  For this reason among many others, this small-town-feeling big city gets two thumbs up from us!

Kiev, Ukraine: A Whole New World

On our first day in Kiev (or, as correctly spelled, Kyiv), we elected to explore the city's many churches and pedestrian areas.  A moderated-sized city, we were able to walk most everything comfortably, though it is very hilly.  The picture above is on the main pedestrian boulevard, Andriyivsky uzviz (which translates as 'Andrew's descent'--St. Andrew's is the church at the top of this street).  This street is rather like a giant flea market--great for people-watching, but selling a lot, shall we say, less-than-desirable products.  At the end of this street, we were also fortunate enough to visit the Chernobyl museum--catastrophic disaster of an event, but an excellently put-together and informative memorial.

Some of the churches we went in to were actually still active Russian Orthodox places of worship, so we had to scarf it up!

This is the main street in Kiev, Khreshchatyk.  It is closed to traffic on Saturdays and Sundays, so it was like an extra little pedestrian zone just for us.

St. Michael's Monastery and church, an example of one of Kiev's many beautiful places of worship.  After being in Russia for a week, the positive, upbeat attitudes and smiles of the people are a refreshing change...sort of a whole new world.

Moscow, Russia: The End of Days

On our last day in Moscow, the first thing we saw was the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.  One of the most unique things about this church were the excellently sculpted bronze reliefs on the outside (above the doors in the picture above) depicting detailed scenes from the Bible.  Interesting tidbit: Stalin demolished this church to build the Palace of the Soviets, but that was never started, so the site was turned into the world's largest swimming pool, and then the church was eventually rebuilt.

Across the Moscow river we headed to the New Tretyakov, the state gallery of modern Russian art.  The museum was in an absolutely hideous building, and no pictures were allowed inside, hence the picture of the river instead.  The museum itself wasn't remarkable, with the exception of a multimedia display of what the museum termed as 'art of the Soviet myth'--fascinating.

After our last set of Moscow adventures, we hopped on the very old and very long night train to Kiev, Ukraine.  Our two compartment-mates were a nice young Russian couple on holiday, and it was a rather uneventful journey, aside from the two lengthiest passport checks and luggage searches that I have ever undergone (one for Russia and one for Ukraine).  All's well that ends well!

Moscow, Russia: A Tour of the Daily Life...

After many days of traditional sight-seeing, we elected to spend today getting more intimately acquainted with Russian culture and daily life by exploring the parks and the metro stations.  The first park that we went to was Tsaritsyno, the park and palace of the empress Catherine the Great ('Tsaritsyno' means 'of the tsarina).  The park was very nicely manicured, the palace was lovely, and they even had a musical fountain!  Of course, it was no comparison to the Grand Haven musical fountain (after all, no lights, and it was dancing to some not-so-fabulous tunes), but still nice.

Our next park is one of the oldest ones in Moscow, and dates from the early fifteenth century.  The Church of the Ascension, pictured above, is pre-domes and Russian Orthodox supremacy.  A note about the pose: a interesting fact of Russian culture (a daily fascination for us since entering the country) is that all people--regardless of age or sex--refuse to take a picture without first striking a pose (something like the one above) and putting an intense and/or smoldering look on their face.  Our attempts to duplicate this phenomenon are detailed above and below. 

About the pose: see above.  About the stained glass: it's in the metro station!  Many (I would say over half) of the subway stations in Moscow have gorgeous architecture and decoration: marble floors and columns, mosaics, bronze statues, detailed moldings, and stained glass are among the artworks we saw, a (good) relic of the Soviet days.  It was also a nice way to get out of the heat for a bit.

We rounded out our culture experience with traditional Russian food for dinner, and I finally got my Borscht.  I guess I can no longer claim that I don't like beets, because I gobbled this right up!

Moscow, Russia: The Red Square

We spent today exploring the Red Square and its monuments, the southern-facing view of which is pictured above.  Originally designed to be Moscow's main marketplace in the late fifteenth century, it has since served as a proclamation place for various Russian leaders.  It was named the 'beautiful square', but since 'red' and 'beautiful' are the same word in Russian, it soon became better known as the 'red square'.

Our first stop was Lenin's tomb, which is pictured behind us, and is surrounded by the tombs of many other Russian leaders of the twentieth century (Stalin, Krushchev, Brezhnev, to name a few).  You couldn't take pictures inside the tomb, but it was really creepy--Lenin is in a room of red and black granite, under red lighting, and he is embalmed and looks lifelike.  Definitely a must-see...but a creepy must-see.

The next stop was the State Historical Museum of Russia (also no photos), the anchoring building of the north end of the square.  Founded by Alexander II in 1883, the museum covers Russian history from the Stone Age until around 1880.  Well-done and extensive, it was a very informative visit (though the English audio guide was a must--all the signs are only in Russian!).

Our last stop on the square (aside from the huge Soviet shopping center-turned-designer mall, which is actually beautiful from the outside) was St. Basil's Cathedral.  This church is comprised of eight side churches build around a central ninth church, and a tenth one tacked on for good measure.  The outside is a rather iconic Russian symbol, but the inside was unquestionably the strangest church interior I have ever been in.  Not a single one of those ten churches could comfortably hold more than fifty standing people, so I'm still uncertain as to how any services were ever held...

Moscow, Russia: The Kremlin, in All its Glory

On our first day in Moscow, we visited the impressive past and present center of the Russian government, the Kremlin.  The walled fortress, used as a seat of Russian government from the fourteenth century on, was the locale of the grand dukes and patriarchs, the residence of the tsars, and was still important in imperial Russia, when the emperors moved the capital to St. Petersburg for two hundred years.  Despite all this history, its recent stint as the seat of the Soviet Union (1918-1991) is probably the strongest image evoked by the name 'The Kremlin'.  Above you can see us in front the city-facing west wall of the complex.

This is Trinity Tower, one of the twenty in the fortress's walls.

These are the bell towers of cathedral square, which has five different cathedrals built from the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries.  Housing the bodies of all the tsars (and many of their families) save one, and used for the coronation of all the tsars and emperors until the 1918 Revolution, these cathedrals had a myriad of frescoes and icons dating from the 11th until the 17th centuries.  Unfortunately, no pictures inside were allowed, and I couldn't get a good panorama shot, but imagine cathedrals completely surrounding me in the picture above, and you get the general idea.

About a third of the area enclosed in the Kremlin is forest, fruit trees, and flower-lined paths.  Since the tsars and dukes used to live there in the Grand Kremlin Palace, my guess is that the royalty and nobility used this area as a sort of 'palace grounds'.  I used it to consume my usual afternoon ice cream.

One more thing: congratulations to two very dear friends.  I wish you both a lifetime of happiness, love, and hockey :-)  Love you both!

St. Petersburg, Russia: A Capital History

Our last day in St. Petersburg was a fortress-church-museum day.  We started at the fortress of Peter and Paul, which contains the cathedral of Peter and Paul, picture above.  The fortress was founded by Peter the Great, the first Emperor of Russia, after the Russians regained control of the Neva lands (the area where St. Petersburg in situated) in the Northern War from the Swedes.  Built in the early 1700s, this fortress and all it contains was the focal point for the early St. Petersburg, which soon became the capital of Russia. Today, the fortress contains many of the original building and several nice museums, which I spend many hours wandering around in.  (In case you were wondering, the capital of Russia was transferred to Moscow after the Russian revolution in 1918).

Of particular interest to me was the space museum, which is housed in the laboratory where the initial testing and design of rocket engines was done (located with the fortress).  It was very cool to see all the old equipment, some models of the first satellites (including Sputnik!) and spacesuits, and some of the actual spacecraft.  The picture above is from a display of newspaper coverage of Sputnik from around the world, including the USA (I believe it was the Times).

I ended my day with two churches, St. Issac's Cathedral, pictured above, and the Kazan Cathedral, both of which are Russian Orthodox.  St. Issac's, which is now a museum, is modeled after the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome architecturally, but the interior is decorated in a much more Eastern fashion (aside from a to-scale replica of the Doors of Paradise, the originals of which are in Florence).  The Kazan Cathedral is the active cathedral in St. Petersburg, and it was very interesting to see a Russian Orthodox service in action.  Though I can see similarities to the Mass, there are certainly some stark differences.

St. Petersburg, Russia: Outside the Burg

Today, I took myself out of the city by metro and then bus to the impressively regal Peterhof.  This complex, initially designed and built by Peter the Great as a palatial complex outside of St. Petersburg, was begun in 1714, inhabitable a few years later, and added to by subsequent emperors and empresses until the revolution in 1917.  After WWII, it was restored, and is now a giant group of museums and gardens.  It was raining when I took this picture in front of the Grand Palace in the Upper Garden in the morning, but by the afternoon the rain cleared and it was beautiful!

This is a view of the Grand Palace and fountains from the Lower Garden.

The Lower Garden is littered with grandiose fountains of all styles and inspirations, as you can see from the Chessboard Cascade in the background of the picture above.  They are close enough to walk to, but far enough apart to not clash, and I spent a delightful afternoon walking the wooded paths and coming upon these fountains.

This is a view of the fountains in front the Grand Palace from the terrace.  I went inside the Palace, which was incredibly opulent and had a very interesting history (which I learned about because I discreetly tagged along with an English tour group), but unfortunately, you were not allowed to take photos, so I can not include any.  However, the channel coming from these fountains empties into the bay of Finland, and I walked down there...and I saw Finland!  Just kidding, it was St. Petersburg, but I thought it was Finland until the hostel receptionist told me otherwise, and I was really excited for a couple of hours.

For all of you non-Anastasia fans, this is the Winter Palace of the tsars, in front of which is the Alexander II monument.  It now houses a museum of Western European art.  For all of you Anastasia fan out there, this is it--the palace the Anastasia finds Dmitri in in the movie :-) 

St. Petersburg, Russia: The Venice of the North (?)

We finally made it to St. Petersburg at around 10:30 this morning, after the debacle of yesterday and getting up at 4:00 to get a plane.  Once we arrived, we began the sight-seeing route with a walking tour of half of the historical center.  They call St. Petersburg the Venice of the north, and having recently been to Venice, my initial impressions are as follows.  Similarities: lots of canals, beautiful old buildings everywhere, boat transport, a plethora of churches.  Differences: in Venice Italy, mullets are no longer in style (they are here); in Italy, men generally wear shirts (not so much the case in Russia--lots of unbuttoned and completely shirtless people); and in Italy, music is generally from the last 10 years (in Russia, 80s pop ballads seem to be a favorite).  I suppose time will tell if the 'Venice of the North' nickname is deserved...Anyhow, first on the list was the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood.  This Orthodox church was built in the last two decades of the 1800s over the spot where Alexander II (a tsar, I believe) was mortally wounded.  As you can see, the church is very unique, but absolutely gorgeous from the outside...

...and on the inside.  Though this picture doesn't do them justice, all of the artwork on the inside is intricate mosaics.  In fact, there are 7000 square meters (roughly 63000 square feet) of mosaics that cover every surface except the floor, which is itself a masterpiece in marble.  The sight is truly breathtaking.

This building behind me is the engineer's castle...not particularly noteworthy, but poetic, eh?

We ended our first day in Russia with a trip to the Conservatory to see one of the best-known Russian ballets, Swan Lake.  Despite the fact that we were oh-so-tired, the show was wonderful.  And when it finished at 11pm...it was still light out!  Gotta love the north in the summer :-)

Kiev, Ukraine: The First Big Glitch

Today we tried to fly from Bucharest, Romania to St. Petersburg, Russia (notice the signage in both English and Russian, which is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, which I have no hope of reading or pronouncing).  Unfortunately, there was a boarding pass/customs/airline-not-listening-to-us error, and we are stuck in Kiev, Ukraine :-(

The upside is that we have a nice hotel near the airport (yay travel insurance!), food, and are on the next flight to St. Petersburg at 7:00am.  So, to Russia I say...see you tomorrow.

Bucharest, Romania: A City of Contradictions

We took the train from Sibiu southeast over the Carpathian Mountains (which are very beautiful) to Bucharest, Romania's capital.  Our discussions and research about this city had left us wary--it has gotten anything but positive reviews--but I found it to be a city of contradictions.  For example, some of the buildings, such as our hostel, were built long ago, in a time where people were much shorter (for evidence, see the image of me standing next to the door to our room as evidence).

There is also a beautiful fountain- and tree-lined street in the city, modeled after the Champs Elysees in Paris, which was built in the 1980s.

However, when you see the Parliamentary Palace at the end of the street--which, though it is the second-largest administrative building in the world behind the Pentagon--you begin to wonder, as it's not all that attractive.  In addition, when you learn that Ceausescu (Communist leader of Romania until the revolution in 1989) tore down an entire district of historic buildings to build this street and palace--to the tune of 3.3 billion Euros, while the vast majority of his people were starving--you get a rather bad taste in your mouth.

Still, it does have its architectural gems, like these buildings in the 'old town'.  All in all, the brand-new metro/hoardes of cars because they just started giving loans/ridiculous inflation (literally double the cost of everywhere else we went in Romania)/new streets but ancient, broken sidewalks/outdoor cafes surrounded by packs of stray dogs left me more confused than anything.  Leaving this half pre-industrial, half trying-to-be-worthy-of-the-EU nation has given me more questions than ever about the past, present, and future of Eastern Europe.

Sighisoara, Romania: Land of Dracula

Today was one of Janine and my favorite days so far!  After our two-hour train ride from Sibiu, we decided to take a guided tour of the citadel, since much our research about this place was conflicting, and none of the signs were in English.  Our tour guides turned out to be these two local high school girls working at a non-profit organization, and they were very informative; even better was the fact that Janine and I were the only ones on the tour, so we were able to ask them lots of questions, not only about Sighisoara, but also about Romanian life in general.  I'm not going to relate everything they told us, but these pictures and text should hit some of the highlights.  First, the statue above is a bust of Vlad Drac, legendary Romanian king who was thought to inspire the vampire Dracula.  We found out today that though the story of Dracula does take place in Transylvania, the novel was actually written, then the name of the vampire and its setting changed after the author found out about Vlad Drac.  The real king, who held the throne a total of three times in the twelfth century, was quite brutual--he was famous for torturing his enemies by impaling them through the spine, so that it would take them 48 painful hours to die.  He also frequently tortured his subjects for minor crimes, particularly the Germans who were living in Transylvania.  Anyhow, Dracula is not based on him, but that apparently does not stop lots of people from coming and roaming the citadel where the real Vlad Drac spent his youth and ruled.

This is the only inhabited tower in Europe, and its tenant is Sighisoara's cemetery caretaker (who has a remarkable garden).  The citadel originally had nineteen towers (one erected by each craftsman's guild in the city) for protection, nine of which are still standing today.  This tower was erected by the shoemaker's guild.

After our tour, we went through the history museum, which is housed in the tallest tower in the city, the clock tower.  This tower was jointly constructed and maintained by all the guilds, and the view from the top was lovely, as you can see above and below.  We also visited the torture museum, and saw the racks and chains and foot and hand devices used by Vlad Drac and his contemporaries.  No pictures allowed though...which is probably a good thing.

Again, a view from the top of the clock tower.  All of the buildings in this picture are contained within the walled citadel.  It was a very unique and interesting day...well-worth the side trip!

Sibiu, Romania: An Old Town

Today we explored the small but delightful town of Sibiu.  One of the cities of Romania that was used as a garrison during the Austo-Hungarian empire, there are still traces of the medieval wall surrounding the city.  Sibiu is situated firmly in Transylvania, and only became a part of Romania with the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I.  The shot above is on the cobbled street leading into the town's many square.

On the city's main square, eating gelato in celebration of a quarter of a century :-)

The tower of Sibiu's Evangelical Church, one of the most important community centers in the city until the revolution in 1989, surrounded by local shops and residences (most buildings date from medieval times).

The other important church in the city in a to-scale replica of the Haggai Sophia (in Constantinople) which was constructed in 1906.  This is the Orthodox center of the town, and the walls are beautifully painted.  The locals kept coming in off the street in a continuous stream to briefly pray--it was very interesting.

Sibiu, Romania: Happy birthday Grandpa!

First of all, happy birthday from Romania, Grandpa!  I hope you can read the sign...I'm sorry it wasn't in front of something more interesting, but all I did today was take an eleven-hour train ride from Budapest, Hungary to Sibiu, Romania.  The landscape outside was nice, but it was dark outside by the time we got to the mountains.  Tomorrow should be beautiful, though.

It rained on the train ride, and there was a lovely rainbow, just barely visible behind the old, broken train (those seem to dot the tracks everywhere here).  I am quite excited to start exploring tomorrow--my first few hours in Romania have left me with many questions that I hope will be answered over the next few days.