by Roy -

I just got my Russian visa today and i’am super excited about it. For a long time it was not very sure if i’d get to travel to Moscow or not. But I’m not going to bore you with details and i cant tell you how excited I’m about going to this unexpected place.

Growing up, i had a strong connection to Russia. I remember all the book fairs in my school where most of the books would be from Russia. Stories about Tzars, valiant peasants, princes and princesses they were similar to any other fairy tales i guess, but i loved reading them and all the illustrations that came with the books. My grandfather in chennai also had a strong bond with Russia, he knew a little Russian and kept lots of Russian novels and magazines.

So that was then, long back before we got MTV and Discovery channel. Russia slowly faded away and replaced by a new found obsession with everything american. Not that anything is wrong with that, just that i know very little about russia now.

So before i travel, i’am planning to pick up a few books to read about the country, its history and its people. Ideally i prefer to read a story (either fictional or non-fictional) set it some particular time/place. And any background information can be usually found on wikipedia. Books like Wolf Totem, Kite Runner and Seven Years in Tibet come readily to mind.

So, here’s my short list of books on russia.. suggestions are welcome and the list is likely to grow a bit bigger over the course of the next few days.

My friend also talks highly about “Inside the KGB” but the review’s i’ve read on the net are not so great. Anyway, i think i’ll borrow it from him in Beijing, if he still has it.

Saravana

28 Aug 2009

http://www.kettik.com/go/europe/russia/stories/40

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 178 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

by Roy -

This article is written by Danielle Sharma.

Well we are now in Ekaterinburg. 2 hours ahead of Moscow. Quite a big city and our first real stop off on the trans-siberian route.

Ekaterinburg

Had a good time in Moscow – it has snowed a bit over the last few days which is how you imagine Moscow should be! Red Square was just beautiful – especially at night. We did a lot of walking so feel like we saw a lot of the city. The diet has deteriorated though – we have resorted to fast food several times now but there really aren’t that many options!

The journey here was amazing (I can already tell I will be over-using that word on this blog!). It was a real snow storm as we waited at Moscow train station. As we left the city there was more and more snow on the ground and pretty soon there was nothing around us at all. In fact there was nothing more than really small towns of shack-like wooden buildings until we got here. And we were on the train for about 26hours!! The landscape is beautiful though. So flat and bleak. The amount of snow outside varied as we went along but there was quite a lot at some points – those tiny wooden houses must get completely buried. It’s hard to imagine what life must be like so cut off from the rest of the world. It’s strange because it’s really warm on the train so you’re in your t-shirt looking out at the snow.
Being on the train is funny – its weird being so close in such a small carriage with complete strangers. especially when you can’t communicate with them at all! We were with a man and a woman this time. It’s just a tiny cabin with 4 beds – two bunks on each side. Not much room to manoeuvre though! Seemed like everyone else had meals included but we didn’t so we lived mainly on the provisions we had with us – there is a hot water supply (samovar) so you can make hot drinks and cup-a-soups and instant noodles. we have loads of dark choc digestives too! Steph came out with a classic quote when we were sitting munching on them looking out over the land “You’d really feel you’d contributed something to the world if you had invented these… Such a fantastic biscuit.” They say train travel encourages profound thoughts!

The train is great fun – Sanj me and you would have loved it when we were little, running around exploring! Its more like being on a ferry because you get really settled in – change into pyjamas and flip flops and you can walk around all through the train. The journey goes really quickly. sleeping is really nice with the motion of the train. we had some food in the restaurant car which wasn’t too bad. Everyone else on the train so far has been Russian. People seem to find us quite amusing wherever we go! I think it’s because we look quite young – like we’re runaways or something. Whenever the train stops all these local people – mostly quite elderly people come running up to the train trying to sell things. it’s quite a chaotic scene and they are trying to sell really bizarre things (maybe things that are produced on that town) like huge vases and chandeliers.

Anyway. We are back on the train tonight. This place has been a weird experience. We arrived about 8pm local time with no accommodation booked but we’d read about a few places so headed to the one which sounded like the best option for us. Picture us trekking loaded up like donkeys with our bags. Anyway finally found it but it has now become a swanky hotel. Next place we tried was full and it was dark by this point. next place had rooms but was quite expensive again so we carried on looking for a while but in the end had to give up and go back to it. It was splashing out a bit for us but we couldn’t wander the streets forever! So we just enjoyed it and had baths a good sleep and a really nice breakfast! it was like pretty woman! don’t think there are any hostels here because no one comes here! there is nothing to do! we’ve been here all day and just wandered around! the sights took about half an hour to see. we’re starting to think maybe there;s a reason most people don’t stop off much on this route! Its quite funny being in such random places though. i’m sure we’ll never forget them. next stop (just 1 night again) in krasnoyarsk will be the same i think. nice to break up the journey though.

anyway this is turning into quite an essay so i’ll stop, hope you are all well – keep in touch! xxxxx

Danielle Sharma

8 Apr 2011

https://www.beentheredonethat.in/wp-admin/post-new.php

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 243 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

by Roy -

In front of the Central Pavilion of Moscow’s All-Russia Exhibition Centre sits a statue of Lenin.

It’s a blazing hot August day in Moscow. At street-level, Muscovites are strolling around in shorts, linen slacks and minimal summer frocks. Yet in a gloomy netherworld beneath their sandals and stiletto heels, the temperature is a constant 18°C and the subterranean silence is punctuated by the drip of water. ‘Mind your feet, ’ says Olga Arkharova, as she steps over an underground stream.

Here, some 65 metres below the sundrenched streets of Moscow, lies a disused communications bunker. Like some Cold War bat cave, it was accessible only by a reinforced lift shaft concealed within the false front of a seemingly ordinary building. Its workers, who were sworn to secrecy, could have survived down here for three months in the event of a nuclear attack. Since 2007, the 7, 000-sq-metre site has been a museum. ‘This isn’t just part of Russian history, ’ says Olga, the museum’s director. ‘It’s part of world history. It shows how close we came to nuclear war.’ The sound of a passing Metro train rumbles through the bunker’s walls.

Above ground, Moscow has changed almost beyond recognition, but in Bunker 42, there is still the fleeting scent of another era. The rotary phones are clunky, the lifts and stencilled warning signs have a slipshod look. Here it is: the militarism, the sturdiness, the kitsch, the strangely uniform aesthetic that shaped a continent. Here, at least, remnants of the USSR are intact.

A generation is coming of age that has no recollection of the Soviet Union: its menace, its inefficiencies, its idealism. And yet the USSR was, inarguably, one of the defining entities of the 20th century.

The strange red empire that slipped away 20 years ago this Christmas had, among other things, its own smell. Cheap, cardboard-tipped Soviet cigarettes called ‘papirosa’ perfumed the arrivals halls of Moscow’s airports and were ubiquitous throughout the city. Now, like much else about the USSR, they have disappeared.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 298 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

by Roy -

This article is written by Geetika Jain

We’re in a boat gliding on St Petersburg’s endearing rivers and canals, taking in the classical and baroque facades of the buildings, and lowering ourselves every now and then to pass under a landmark bridge. The extraordinary thing is that it is 10.30 pm, and the sky is bright blue. A bewitching golden glow lights up the peach and ochre buildings. Couples stand on the sides of bridges, holding on to drinks. They wave when they see us. Groups of teenagers pass by on boats, screaming and waving with both arms at strangers. It is July 21 and at 60 degrees north, the day is being celebrated for its longevity.

In late June and early July, people come to St Petersburg to celebrate the ‘White Nights’, when the sun barely sets. This beautiful imperial Russian city was built by Peter the Great three centuries ago and there isn’t a more picturesque backdrop to enjoy the lingering light.

Celebrating White Nights in St Petersburg

A lot is packed into these few weeks: Newlywed couples are everywhere, surrounded by friends carrying flowers and bunches of balloons. Brides and grooms like to include the city in their festivities, stopping to take photos against their favourite landmarks – Palace Square and the Hermitage, St Isaac’s Cathedral, The Church on Spilled Blood, Peter the Great’s statue… Following a local tradition, they leave a lock with their names on the ironmongery of a bridge or lamppost, symbolising their own status of being locked in matrimony.

Natalia, our guide, tells us, “Here in Piter, we all do the same thing. All our wedding pictures look exactly the same.”

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 283 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]

by Roy -
Fireworks at Kremlin & Red Square, Moscow
Something wasn’t adding up. Catherine the Great’s coronation dress in the armoury museum at the Kremlin in Moscow had me gaping in surprise like other tourists around me. The garment’s waist was miniscule enough to make even an anorexic ramp model feel wide. Yet a few days ago, I had seen a portrait of the very same Catherine on a horse in the Hermitage at St Petersburg and there her cylinderical build definitely screamed Mrs Jaya Sawant. The handsome white horse also looked burdened. After becoming queen at 32 in 1762,  the good life had taken Catherine the Great from hour glass to ‘open the double doors so that the queen can pass’. In St Petersburg, there’s ample proof that Catherine had lived large. In fact,  the wealth in the Hermitage, Catherine’s private museum where she hoarded all her art and jewellery, could easily equal the GDP of a small country – twice over!
Vodka and Weddings

I had arrived in St Petersburg aboard a Globus coach on a road trip from Warsaw to Moscow to find the gilded city preening under a lovely summer day. That first day my coach co-travellers and I went for a canal cruise. St Pete’sb was often referred to the Venice of the east thanks to its canals. We floated past the Church of the Spilled Blood and the Peter and Paul Fortress. Most of my co-travellers, taken in by the festivity of the moment brought about by tambourine tapping, fair and lovely dancing girls, knocked back vodka shots like there was no tomorrow. So at disembarkation, there was much swaying even though the boat had already docked. Many could see eight gangplanks instead of the one. They, of course, crawled into their beds and called it a night. Massive hangovers were waiting to be delivered the next morning. But my five friends and I were bbuzzing with energy and started off on a leisurely walk around St Petersburg. Summer is a joyful time and there were many marriages taking place. Newlyweds gleefully ran on the streets fuelled by romance and champagne followed by tittering best men and bridesmaids. This mirthful entourage would usually be followed by a much harrowed photographer desperately trying to get that perfect shot to freeze all this gaiety for posterity. All the city’s architectural marvels were lit up. At the Victory Square behind the Hermitage, the revelry of the White Nights (as this time of the year is called) showed no signs of abating even at 2.30 am. Musicians played and fireworks went off.

On Nevsky Prospect, the city’s popular for-km-long thoroughfare, cafes spilled out onto the pavement. Laughter, music and the tinkling of glasses floated out of each. We felt fortunate to be part of this revelry during the best time of the year in this pretty city of the Tsars.

Big Macs near the Kremlin

Taking the train to Moscow was a good idea. The five-hour journey in the plush first class cabin of the Aurora Train gave me much needed blank time between sightseeing in St Pete’s and the Russian capital. Moscow’s most popular tourist site is the Kremlin – once the nerve centre of Communism. Tourists wander where Stalin once ranted. The State Armory with its collection of period garments, carriages, weapons and jewellery is open to tourists but the guards are fussy about letting cameras in. They let compacts through, but my big SLR was barred. Five hundred meters from the Kremlin is the popular Red Square. I did a double take as I saw Lenin headed towards the huge McDonalds right opposite the Kremlin. My first thought was that he had risen from his mausoleum close by and was storming to this most blatant sign of capitalism to deliver some stern ‘commie’ ideology. It was actually a look-alike going to get a Big Mac. Local look-alikes dress up and pose in costumes with tourists at the Red Square. Red Square is a crowded mela during the tourist season. There are souvenir, ice-cream and hotdog stalls, performers and visitors from the world over. At the Kremlin end, the daily changing of the guard with its high kicking and synchronised marching is a throwback to the old USSR.

A Metro Underground Train at Moscow

Moscow by Metro

But there is more to Moscow. We used the underground, whose stations with chandeliers and sculptures are an attraction by themselves, extensively to get to other less known but interesting sights in Moscow. Asking for directions involved a lot of miming and gesturing because our Russian vocabulary consisted of three words – ‘Da’, ‘Nyet’ and ‘Spaci-ba’ – ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘Thank-you’ respectively. But miniscule vocabulary notwithstanding, we managed to get to the Novodevichiy Cemetery. Composer Sergey Prokofiev is buried here and it felt good to pay my respects to the man whose fantastic musical work, Peter and the Wolf, thrilled me as a child.

Noisy Last Supper

My last meal in Moscow was in a packed and boisterous sausage and beer joint that we found close to our hotel. The juke box’s waiting list rivalled that of the Tata Nano. The waitresses were frantic like headless chickens and the double doors to the kitchen constantly clapped. All this because the food was superb. Our stocking-sized sausages arrived perfectly cooked and the beer arrived in tankards equaling small bathroom buckets in volume. That groaningly delicious meal in that chaotic restaurant, after which we had to be almost helped out of our chairs because we were so stuffed, was a fitting conclusion to my summer holiday in Russia.

Info Panel

_A confirmation from a registered hotel or travel agent is required to apply for a Russian visa.

_ A coach tour is an easy and convenient way to see St Petersburg and Moscow. Try Globus (www.globusjourneys.in) for their tours of the two cities.

_ A good place to stay in heart of all the action in St Petersburg is Hotel Ambassador (www.ambassador-hotel.ru) and they will also arrange a tour for you.

_ For a cruise combined with an indulgent meal and a special evening in St Petersburg eat at the New Island Restaurant, a floating restaurant on a luxury cruise ship.

Rishad Saam Mehta

15 Nov 2009

http://rishad.co.in/pdf/Russia-Mumbai-Mirror-15Nov2009.pdf

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 196 user reviews.

[ | | | | ]