Photos from Russia Trip...More Photos

[Argos5]

We recently came back from a trip on the Volga river from Moscow to St. Petersburg...here are a few photos.


The structures, fountains and gardens at Peter the Great's Palace (Peterhof) were ransacked by the Germans during the Seige of Leningrad but restored magnificently after the war











For you woodworking enthusiasts, here's an all wood basilica on the island of Kizhi built in the early 1700's; rumor has it that no nails were used





Here's an interesting Stalin-era highrise






This is a corner of the Kremlin Wall, behind which is Moscow's Red Square




Red Square has a number of landmarks including St. Basil's Church





and Lenin's Tomb, on which the Soviet leadership would stand while reviewing the  parades of tanks and missiles





It was a great trip which definitely changed my image of Russia.

[kaz]

Looks like you got some good weather whist there.  Stunning architecture... European cities have some real treasures.  So... where to next?

[Jerry]

Excellent Tovarisch!

[Esther]

The structures are amazing. I am blown away by the intricateness of them.

[jw]

Spectacular buildings and so intricate  . The architects of old new how to build things with character  . Now everything is just boxy but good (like a Volvo) with no personality  . Glad you had a wonderful trip  .

[Jonna]

Sounds like a fantastic trip.  Do have more pictures?  I'd love to see more, did you stay on a boat in the river the whole time?  What did it look like?  I'm fascinated as you can see, it would be a fabulous trip. 

[miguynmkoi]

You got to see a lot of beautiful architecture of the old and new age.    I would love to visit Russia someday and seeing photos from a real visitor, who by the way takes great pictures, makes it more interesting! Thanks for sharing....do you have more photos?

[jclements]

Stunning! I went to St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Voronez in November of 1998 and 1999. Very cold and pre-digital camera era. Did you go to the Pizza Hut in red square? Was this a business trip?

[Mikey]

Yes, MORE photos!

It was a great trip which definitely changed my image of Russia.

How so?

[Argos5]

It was a vacation trip...we lucked out on the weather, particularly in St. Petersburg...we spent four days in Moscow, five days on the Volga with stops in various villages and four days in St. Petersburg...the ship had 145 passengers and served as our hotel for the entire trip... my previous images of Russia were formed by the gray drabness of photos that seeped through during the Communist era...I was surprised by the the cleanliness of the streets and parks, the bright pastel colors of the buildings, the youthful and chic appearance of the big  city inhabitants (walking the streets of St. Petersburg was like watching models on a runway)...overall, it seemed like a modern country on the rise...unfortunately, however, I got the sense that if I were in the Ukraine, Georgia or the Baltic States, I'd be worried about Russia's intentions...the architecture was amazing and the color and ornateness of the Russian Orthodox Churches was striking...many of the churches were neglected or reduced to warehouses during the Soviet era and now that religion is making a big comeback, a tremendous effort has been made to restore them...here are a few interesting churches...the "onion" shaped domes are supposed to represent flames.

Here's one from Red Square






I believe these are also in Moscow














Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (named after the murder of a czar at the site) in St. Petersburg





Here's one of Catherine the Great's Palaces





Here's Moscow State University, another Stalin era structure...Stalin had built seven of these  very distinctive "wedding-cake" skyrises in various corners of Moscow after WWII to dominate the skyline...they are referred to the "Seven Gothic Sisters"... an eighth was planned but never built.





Here's a gate in the Kremlin Wall

[MikeW]

Great photos.
I was there in the mid 90's, and also hit sunny, warm weather - actually it was over 100 in Moscow, and we just about fried. We had packed as if going to the ice age. My perceptions also radically changed.

The Peterhof is great. Apart from the opulence, what I took away with me was that it did not have corrdors / passageways - each great, gilded room let directly into another. Made me realize the Empress Catherine could not have been shy about bathing when calling for a tub of hot water to be sent up - oh yeah, that and my brother being semi mauled by a bear he was trying to feed in the gardens. It was tethered to a tree and looked very sweet. Turns out we did not quite grasp the difference, in Russian, of "Don't feed the animals", and "Sure, he is harmless".

Cheers,

Mike

[barb]

Beautiful pictures!  My son's longtime girlfriend is Russian.  (she has lived in the U.S. for 4-5 years) She recently visited relatives back home in Russia, and sent me the link to her online photo album.  Her pictures were just stunning too, she and some friends had done some sightseeing.  She is the sweetest girl, and hearing her stories about Russia, and seeing her pictures have really been fascinating.  As a result my dd is taking a Russian Culture class in college this semester.   

[Julles]

Thanks for the travelog.

What was the food like?

[jw]

More great pics  . My neighbor is Ukrainian and she corrected me once on calling Ukraine... the Ukraine..............says it is a  . Something about back when they were feuding w/ Russia .........not that they still aren't but anyway I stood corrected  .

[Argos5]

Janice, I made a worse faux pas a few months ago...I was at a dinner and the woman seated next to me had an obvious accent...I asked where she was from and she said "Ukraine" to which I responded with words to the effect "Oh, that's a coincidence, we're going to visit Russia in a couple of months"...after an awkward pause she curtly reminded me that she "had never been to Russia."

Julles, most of our meals were on the ship...the food was excellent but catered for Western tastes...we did have one meal given to us by a family who lived in a smaller town...it consisted mostly of vegetables, cabbage and potatoes with, of course, a shot of vodka or two..our interpreter was the family's 20 year old niece who had been a high school exchange student and spent a year in Corpus Christi, Texas...not surprisingly, she spoke more fluent English than many American teenagers.