Okay, I'm back! And I have an absurd number of pictures to show you, so I'll try (and probably fail) to be somewhat brief.
Where was I? Oh, right.
The Neva River at nightfall.
On the third day we were given a tour of some of the less tourest-y aspects of Saint Petersburg, which was really cool and gave me an even more in-depth understanding of the city that I might not have received otherwise.
This is the outside of the main market building in Saint Petersburg, which was built in the 1920s (as you can probably tell by the Communism-themed decor). We were given some time to go in and look around.
The market was full of people selling all kinds of food, as well as some other things like clothing and jewelry. Most of the venders, we were told, tend to be immigrants from the poorer ex-Soviet states, like Kazakhstan and Moldova. And many of them are living in Russia illigally. Both Saint Petersburg and Moscow have huge illigal immigrant populations, which the government hasn't really put much effort into dealing with. One sign of Russia being less uptight than the US.
Russian Skittles! I resisted the urge to buy them.
Then we went to see a typical communal apartment.
There are many buildings with communal apartments- apartments shared by multiple families- in Saint Petersburg that were built in the 1800s Contrary to popular belief, these were not a Soviet invention. Most people nowadays don't live in communal apartments, but some still do and we were luck enough to get to visit one.
In a communal apartment, every family gets one room. The room we saw had just one person living in it, so the living conditions weren't actually that bad. And he had managed to install a little kitchen in the corner, which meant that he didn't have to use the communal kitchen.
This is the apartment's communal kitchen.
This is the tsar's Winter Palace, which was built and altered and added-to over a period of about a hundred years, starting in the early 1700s, during the reign of Tsarina Anna I. Nowadays it is known as the Hermitage- one of the coolest art museums in Europe. Man, I want a house that color. A big Russian flag on top would be nice, too.
So. In 1812 Napoleon decided it would be a good idea to invade Russia. He had control of most of Europe at that point and Russia seemed like the next logical step. So he got together a massive army and led it across the Russian border.
As my Russian history teacher likes to point out: whenever Russia gets involved in a war it is never prepared. The Russian generals, realizing that they didn't stand a chance against Napoleon's army, took their hurriedly assembled forces and retreated eastward, away from the border, trying to put off having a battle for as long as possible and allowing Napoleon's army to march further and further into Russia. The only action the Russian army took was to use up or destroy any resources they came across. Once the generals realized the benefits in this they decided to just keep at it and claim that it had been their strategy all along.
With the Russian army's continuous retreat and Napoleon's army's constant advance, before too long Napoleon had almost reached Moscow (he didn't turn left and take Saint Petersburg because apparently he thought Moscow was cooler). Now, some of the Russian high command didn't like the dishonorable way the Russian army was doing things, and with the French so close to Moscow they insisted that the army turn and fight. This resulted in the Battle of Borodino, which took place just miles from Moscow and ended... basically in a draw. Both sides suffered huge losses, and in the end the Russian army just decided to leave even though they technically hadn't lost the battle yet. They retreated past Moscow and allowed a thrilled Napoleon to just waltz into the city and take control of it. He then proceeded to do what he had done in every other conquered city- sit just outside and wait for someone- in this case the tsar, Aleksandr I- to come and officially hand over control of the city, and maybe do a little bowing and groveling too. So he waited. And waited. And Aleksandr I never showed up- an uncharacteristically bold and decisive move on his part (since he was, in general, a bit of a wet noodle). And then winter arrived.
The Russian winter is so intense and militarily talented that over the years it has been given the name "General Winter". As in: "No, I didn't run away because I was cold. I was defeated by General Winter". It has saved Russia's bum on many occasions. The French army was not properly equipped to deal with this kind of weather- and the winter of 1812 was a particularly harsh one- so they moved into Moscow as a welcome source of shelter. They also did a lot of looting, because by this time they were so far from the border and their supply lines had been stretched so thin that they were in need of things like food. And it may be that during this process someone was a little clumsy with a lantern because shortly after the French army settled down in Moscow, the city caught fire. No one knows how it happened. It could have been an accident, it could have been done on purpose by the French because... well, I'm not sure why they would do it, actually. And a lot of people think that the Russians burned it on purpose to deprive the French of the only source of shelter and food they had. I like this version. Anyway, the French fled back toward the border pursued by the Russian army, and by the time Napoleon's forces got out of Russia they were much, much fewer in number than they had been at the beginning of the invasion. In the end Tsar Aleksandr I was allowed to march triumphantly into Paris with his troops, and for a short while there everyone (except France) thought Russia was pretty darn awesome.
This is the base of the monument. The plaque says "To Aleksandr I from a grateful Russia".
Awww. How nice.
But however nice the monument is, what the square in front of the Winter Palace is most known for (at least, by me) is the Bloody Sunday Massacre of 1905. Storytime, kids!
Once upon a time- actually, in the beginning of the 1900s- things were starting to heat up in Russia. People were beginning to grow more outspoken about the need for reforms and the problems of having an absolutist form of government, and the revolutionary groups that tsar Nicholas II feared so much were threatening to take violent action, the way they had in the 1870s when they blew up Tsar Aleksandr II. The gap between rich and poor was, of course, huge, and Russia still did not have anything like a constitution, and this made a lot of Russians angry. Then in 1904 Russia got involved in a disastrous war with Japan that resulted in the decimation of the Russian navy and general embarrassment and shock all around. So things were really tense in 1905 when a peaceful rally took place on the square outside the Winter Palace. It was attended by large numbers of people, including children, some carrying religious symbols and all trying to see if there was any chance at all that they could maybe possibly get Nicholas II to make a little reform or two. Pretty please. Nicholas II wasn't actually in the Winter Palace that day, but that's beside the point. The palace guards, who were already edgy about the growing threat of violent revolts and who therefore didn't like the big crowd gathering outside the palace panicked and opened fire on the protestors. There was much bloodshed. Not surprisingly, this didn't do much for Nicholas II's already low popularity, though ironically this was one screw-up that wasn't actually his fault. Not long afterward, largely because of this event, the riots that became the Russian Revolution of 1905 began.
I was surprised to see that there was no monument in the square commemorating the Bloody Sunday Massacre, and I asked my teacher about it. He told me that in Russia they tend to only put up monuments commemorating good things. Which I thought was interesting.
Whoo. Enough Russian history for one post? Sorry about that. I hope you're finding it at least a little bit interesting. I could talk about Russian history for days... but I'll try not to.
Anyway, despite its bloody history, the Winter Palace and environs is really awesome, particularly on a sunny day like the one we had. The turquoise color of the palace is really bright and cheerful- almost absurdly so considering the fact that it's an important and serious historical building- and the square... well, I tend to like squares in general. There can be a lot of people in them without things getting crowded. It's one of the things that makes Red Square in Moscow so awesome. But more about that later.
The inside of the palace was, of course, as opulent as anything. The Romanovs weren't a dynasty to skimp on the gold and pillars and curly bits that were necessary for palaces of a certain time period. They had a lot of important foreign nobs to impress- including the French royalty with their ridiculously over-the-top Palace of Versailles (see other post)- so they needed to go all out.
The staircase you go up to enter the main part of the palace.
The smaller of the two throne rooms in the palace.
This is a painting of Peter the Great and... apparently that's supposed to be Athena. Unless my teacher was just pulling my leg.
This is a room that's full of symbolism that's supposed to show how huge, mighty and awesome Russia is.
This is a sculpture depicting the staffs and placards that were traditionally carried in Ancient Roman triumphs (triumph= victory parade). Because the Romanovs were subtle.
This is a room dedicated to portraits of all of Russia's most glorious military leaders, with the center of attention being a huge and most excellent portrait of Tsar Aleksandr I on a horse.
Aleksandr I on a horse versus the obnoxious overhead lighting.
Who will win?
The main throne room.
On the throne and the backdrop there is a double-headed eagle, which is Russia's national symbol. The eagle motif is borrowed from Rome and the two heads looking in opposite directions originally had some religious significance, but as a Russian national symbol it represents the country's immense size and the fact that it is part of two continents- one to the east and one to the west.
More fanciness.
An awesome mosaic. Curse you, highly reflective floors!
So. There was some art in this place too, in case you were wondering. I took lots of pictures for my grandparents, but I'll just put pictures of some of the more interesting pieces here.
There are two paintings by Leonardo da Vinci in the Hermitage and this is one of them. It's called the "Benois Madonna" or "Madonna and Child with Flowers".
This is the other one. It's called "Madonna Litta" (reflective glass! Arrgh!).
Drinks are not allowed in the Hermitage because one day some crazy person walked into the museum with a drinks container full of acid and dumped it all over this painting, after learning that it was one of the most valuable pieces of art in the museum. The painting has been heavily restored, but you can still see traces of acid on it and the woman's legs in particular are a bit wonky.
Napoleon!
Catherine the Great, one of Russia's premier patrons of the arts. Her collection was the basis on which the the Hermitage art museum's current collection was built.
One of the coolest things we did while in Russia was meet with Yuly Rybakov, who is famous for his rebellious activity during the Soviet era (for which he was imprisoned many times and finally sent to a labor camp in Siberia) and for his defense of and arguments for human rights in modern Russia. To get to him we were led back into one of the apartment building complexes, where he has the culture center and art gallery that he helped to found. The stairs leading up to his apartment were filled with art.
The entrance to the art center.
Getting to have an intimate meeting with someone who had had such an eventful and extraordinary life was really incredible. He is an artist as well as a human rights activities, and he told us about the constant attempts that he and his friends made in the 1960s to have exhibitions of art that didn't follow Party guidelines. This led to them being frequently arrested and harassed by the police. Over the years he struggled with the authorities in order to develop a venue where dissident artists could show their work, which finally resulted in the creation of the art center in the apartment building where we went to have the meeting. He also told us about the role he played in recent years in helping to deal with the violence in Chechnya. He no longer gets involved in politics, and instead focuses on running the art center, but he told us that he feels that modern Russia is still severely lacking when it comes to human rights.
I tried to subtly record the conversation on my video camera because it was so interesting. He was very funny and a good storyteller, and possibly one of the most impressive people I have ever met. It was definitely a highlight of an already awesome trip.
Finally, before I stop babbling on about Saint Petersburg and move on to Novgorod, let me tell you about this guy!
As you may or may not be aware, April 12th of this year was the fiftieth anniversary of the first human space flight. The human's name was Yuri Gagarin and he was from the Soviet Union. And of course, after his trip into space he became a huge celebrity. Anyway, these posters were all over our hotel in Saint Petersburg on April 12, and there were a ton of specials about the Space Race and the Russian space program on TV, which was really cool despite the fact that I couldn't understand what they were saying.
All right. I would be more than happy to keep talking to you about Saint Petersburg but I have covered all of the main bits and we need to move on. There's more awesomeness ahead. Next time, Novgorod!
Пока!
