Russia
To begin at the beginning…Russia. It seems so long ago. The main
purpose of the visit was a social one and, as such, our mission was
certainly accomplished. Russia seemed just a little bit friendlier
on this visit. Unfortunately, Nadia was sick through the entire
visit as well. Going out to drink with friends every night, while
exceedingly pleasant, did not help her health. But she lived
through it, the strong Russian woman that she is. We hung out with
Nadia’s friends and with their British pals. We will not delve into
details on those nights of debauchery. (They were fairly tame,
really, but this will stay our secret.)
Our hotel in St. Petersburg can be described in one word: Soviet.
Bathroom was down the hall (and leave the shoes on to shower), tiny
room, heavy wool blankets wrapped in fitted sheets. Our bath towels
were to be received from the floor attendant, and everyone coming
after a certain hour was admitted only after checking that they had
bookings at the hotel, which consisted, naturally enough, of an I.D.
card, separate from your room key. But, it was cheap, conveniently
located, just down the road from Masha and Nastia’s parents, and we
needed to get used to close quarters anyways, right? The hotel, too,
had a redeeming quality. Breakfast at the place, goodness, could put
any American motel to shame. Nadia had her fix of kasha (buckwheat),
kefir (a sour yogurt drink), and there were sosisky (little
sausages), coffee, tea, juice, cheeses, macaroni, salads, boiled
eggs, cabbage, beans, pastries, fruit, cereal, rice…and so forth.
Kept us well fed, for certain, and was pretty tasty.
The main event of our St. Petersburg visit, the wedding reception
for Masha and Mark, took place on Friday, July 6th, in the famous
Astoria hotel. The hotel, which is conjoined with its sister
establishment, the Angleterre hotel, in a building on St. Isaac’s
square overlooking the cathedral, is one of the most posh in the
city. It was, if we remember correctly, one of the first in the
city. Unfortunately after the WWII the interior was shelled and
reconstructed so it is not quite original. A very beautiful hotel,
nevertheless.
The banquet, while still very Russian, had a rather European
elegance. The food was delicious; cold hors d’ouvres like sturgeon
in cream sauce, pickled mushrooms, and beef tongue en gelee,
followed by hot roasted mushrooms in a savory custard, then salmon
with caviar-cream sauce or tournados au jus with potatoes au
gratin. Desert was, naturally enough, cake, and it was very good, a
frozen custard lightened with whipped cream and chock full of fresh
berries. And, this being 2007 and all, there was a chocolate
fountain, one of those contraptions that keeps the stuff just
molten enough to dip fruit in. Or fill up a glass with. But that’s
another story. And there was booze, of course, and a lot of Russian
pop music, and dancing, and the bride was kidnapped, and the M.C.
made Mark sing God Save the Queen and dance kazachok to get her
back, and we drank some more. The motto of Masha’s dad: “Beer
without vodka is like throwing money to the wind.” Great party.
We can’t forget a Russian tradition that neither the groom-nor we,
apparently-were familiar with. At the beginning of the banquet the
bride and groom are greeted with bread and salt. They each have to
tear away her piece. Masha went first, seemingly struggling with
the tearing part. Mark, the proper English gentleman, helped by
tearing a small bit, which he attempted to hand over to Masha. She
declined and proceeded ripping out a big chunk. She then
triumphantly displayed the trophy. It turns out that whoever tears
the bigger piece “wears the trousers” in the family. So, there you
have it… by hook or by crook…
After the reception, we went on a canal tour over the night St.
Petersburg canals. The breathtaking views of the city at night
can’t really be adequately described, nor are they easy to
photograph from the moving boat. Matt managed some photos that we
will share. This being the high summer, and St. Petersburg being so
far north, the sun really never sets. It was cloudy during our tour,
and the city got pretty dark, but you can still see a little light
in the sky. Around one in the morning all the bridges on the Neva
river are opened in succession to allow large river traffic to pass
(and to please the tourists), a site, which you really have to see
firsthand. A whole armada of tour boats was out, ours being one of
them. We took the food and drink from the reception on the boat and
both eating and drinking continued during the river cruise. When we
got back to Astoria a number of guests, including ourselves, had to
wait for the bridges to close in order to get home. They do so a
couple of times a night. We missed the first closing at 3 AM and
had to hang out at the hotel bar until 5. Nobody minded though.
We also spent a fair amount of time with Liuba and Vera, Nadia’s
half-sister and stepmother, respectively. We hope for Liuba to join
us some time in Europe over the next few months. Liuba will start
courses in computer design in the fall, and designs the most
fabulous jewelry. Her website is: http://www.art-kladovaya.ru
The sightseeing during this stay was fairly limited, as social
visits are wont to be. We spent a day at the Hermitage. Nadia’s in
love with the two Da Vinci Madonnas (Matt thinks that the kid isn’t
proportional, would have totally had to have been born by cesarean
section. Nadia thinks that’s the whole miracle. Matt remains
adamant.) Matt loves the parquet floors and the molded walls.
Priorities, priorities. He also appreciates the rooms of massive
Dutch still life paintings. Harbingers of things to come… It’s hard
to pick out a painting or even a group of paintings that is a
favorite at the Hermitage. Since the we visited a good number
regional museums, they are easier to take in.
The whole truth is that the Hermitage is the kind of place best seen
in small portions. It would be ideal to live in the city and come
for a couple of hours a few weeks apart. The abundance of styles
and the quality of the paintings are hard to take in at once. The
interior is also a masterpiece in itself. The richness of design is
overwhelming-the wealth or materials with precious woods for the
parquet floors, the semi-precious and precious stones, the gilding
are all used freely for decoration. It takes some time to process
and appreciate the tremendous amount of work and the craftsmanship
skill displayed in the single building. Indeed it’s a good
description of the whole city, it takes a while to comprehend just
what a gem it is.
We also took a walk through the city, including a stop at the Summer
Gardens and at Peter the Great’s first palace (modest, really, only
really small plafonds). It was also one of the very first stone
buildings in the city. The ceilings are fairly low, apparently
Peter didn’t like them too high, despite his height.
One day we made a brief trip to Pushkin (gardens only, no palace).
We’ll have to return, the gardens make Central Park seem like a
quaint little neighborhood greenspace. The city will celebrate the
300th anniversary of the palace in 2009, so, a lot of restoration is
underway. That same day, a sort of cap to our visit, we went to
Kirov to see Romeo and Juliet. Ironically, the principal dancer was
Diana Vishneva, whom we just saw before leaving New York in the Swan
Lake. All well and good, to be sure. They serve real caviar at the
theater buffet. According to Nadia, it’s tradition to get just such
a sandwich at intermission. Matt was just hungry. The theater itself
is a masterpiece beyond just sporting some of the world’s finest
dancers, wrought in the singularly elegant style that defines the
city architecture. The dancers… Vishneva herself is pretty easily
the best ballerina performing today, and she has a fabulous corps
de ballet to back her up. Vishneva dances as if pulled by an
exterior force. For the ballet, this was the first time that either
of us saw Romeo and Juliet performed. The choreography by Levrovsky
was not the favorite. It is just a bit out of, pardon the pun, tune
with the music. (Prokofiev score and in googling the information on
it just now Nadia found that Prokofiev actually objected to the
coreography as well. We feel justified in not liking it now.) The
first act was difficult to watch at times. The rest were better. We
would like to see the ABT performance when we get back. They dance
it with MacMillan's choreography.
Thus concluded the last night we spent in St. Petersburg. We took
the long way home. The next morning we had breakfast with Nastia at
her parent’s house. (Masha and Mark already having left for London
by then.) Then we went to the airport and flew out to Amsterdam,
got our camper and were on the road to Belgium the next day. We
plan on staying in Amsterdam in the winter when we return the van.
For the moment we were speeding toward the vineyard land but got a
bit stuck in beer country first.
As for Belgium...chocolate…beer…waffles…fries…mussels…um, do we need
to add anything? Oh yes, Flemish primitives and Rubens. Ok, that
sums it all up. We are done. Ok, if Nadia were to write this alone,
she’d leave it at that, but this update is also written by Matt, if
you can’t tell. So, expect another ten pages on Belgium. That,
however, will be in the next update. We are playing a thousand and
one nights here.
Oh, yes, France. That’s where we are now. Reims to be exact. That
will also come soon.
purpose of the visit was a social one and, as such, our mission was
certainly accomplished. Russia seemed just a little bit friendlier
on this visit. Unfortunately, Nadia was sick through the entire
visit as well. Going out to drink with friends every night, while
exceedingly pleasant, did not help her health. But she lived
through it, the strong Russian woman that she is. We hung out with
Nadia’s friends and with their British pals. We will not delve into
details on those nights of debauchery. (They were fairly tame,
really, but this will stay our secret.)
Our hotel in St. Petersburg can be described in one word: Soviet.
Bathroom was down the hall (and leave the shoes on to shower), tiny
room, heavy wool blankets wrapped in fitted sheets. Our bath towels
were to be received from the floor attendant, and everyone coming
after a certain hour was admitted only after checking that they had
bookings at the hotel, which consisted, naturally enough, of an I.D.
card, separate from your room key. But, it was cheap, conveniently
located, just down the road from Masha and Nastia’s parents, and we
needed to get used to close quarters anyways, right? The hotel, too,
had a redeeming quality. Breakfast at the place, goodness, could put
any American motel to shame. Nadia had her fix of kasha (buckwheat),
kefir (a sour yogurt drink), and there were sosisky (little
sausages), coffee, tea, juice, cheeses, macaroni, salads, boiled
eggs, cabbage, beans, pastries, fruit, cereal, rice…and so forth.
Kept us well fed, for certain, and was pretty tasty.
The main event of our St. Petersburg visit, the wedding reception
for Masha and Mark, took place on Friday, July 6th, in the famous
Astoria hotel. The hotel, which is conjoined with its sister
establishment, the Angleterre hotel, in a building on St. Isaac’s
square overlooking the cathedral, is one of the most posh in the
city. It was, if we remember correctly, one of the first in the
city. Unfortunately after the WWII the interior was shelled and
reconstructed so it is not quite original. A very beautiful hotel,
nevertheless.
The banquet, while still very Russian, had a rather European
elegance. The food was delicious; cold hors d’ouvres like sturgeon
in cream sauce, pickled mushrooms, and beef tongue en gelee,
followed by hot roasted mushrooms in a savory custard, then salmon
with caviar-cream sauce or tournados au jus with potatoes au
gratin. Desert was, naturally enough, cake, and it was very good, a
frozen custard lightened with whipped cream and chock full of fresh
berries. And, this being 2007 and all, there was a chocolate
fountain, one of those contraptions that keeps the stuff just
molten enough to dip fruit in. Or fill up a glass with. But that’s
another story. And there was booze, of course, and a lot of Russian
pop music, and dancing, and the bride was kidnapped, and the M.C.
made Mark sing God Save the Queen and dance kazachok to get her
back, and we drank some more. The motto of Masha’s dad: “Beer
without vodka is like throwing money to the wind.” Great party.
We can’t forget a Russian tradition that neither the groom-nor we,
apparently-were familiar with. At the beginning of the banquet the
bride and groom are greeted with bread and salt. They each have to
tear away her piece. Masha went first, seemingly struggling with
the tearing part. Mark, the proper English gentleman, helped by
tearing a small bit, which he attempted to hand over to Masha. She
declined and proceeded ripping out a big chunk. She then
triumphantly displayed the trophy. It turns out that whoever tears
the bigger piece “wears the trousers” in the family. So, there you
have it… by hook or by crook…
After the reception, we went on a canal tour over the night St.
Petersburg canals. The breathtaking views of the city at night
can’t really be adequately described, nor are they easy to
photograph from the moving boat. Matt managed some photos that we
will share. This being the high summer, and St. Petersburg being so
far north, the sun really never sets. It was cloudy during our tour,
and the city got pretty dark, but you can still see a little light
in the sky. Around one in the morning all the bridges on the Neva
river are opened in succession to allow large river traffic to pass
(and to please the tourists), a site, which you really have to see
firsthand. A whole armada of tour boats was out, ours being one of
them. We took the food and drink from the reception on the boat and
both eating and drinking continued during the river cruise. When we
got back to Astoria a number of guests, including ourselves, had to
wait for the bridges to close in order to get home. They do so a
couple of times a night. We missed the first closing at 3 AM and
had to hang out at the hotel bar until 5. Nobody minded though.
We also spent a fair amount of time with Liuba and Vera, Nadia’s
half-sister and stepmother, respectively. We hope for Liuba to join
us some time in Europe over the next few months. Liuba will start
courses in computer design in the fall, and designs the most
fabulous jewelry. Her website is: http://www.art-kladovaya.ru
The sightseeing during this stay was fairly limited, as social
visits are wont to be. We spent a day at the Hermitage. Nadia’s in
love with the two Da Vinci Madonnas (Matt thinks that the kid isn’t
proportional, would have totally had to have been born by cesarean
section. Nadia thinks that’s the whole miracle. Matt remains
adamant.) Matt loves the parquet floors and the molded walls.
Priorities, priorities. He also appreciates the rooms of massive
Dutch still life paintings. Harbingers of things to come… It’s hard
to pick out a painting or even a group of paintings that is a
favorite at the Hermitage. Since the we visited a good number
regional museums, they are easier to take in.
The whole truth is that the Hermitage is the kind of place best seen
in small portions. It would be ideal to live in the city and come
for a couple of hours a few weeks apart. The abundance of styles
and the quality of the paintings are hard to take in at once. The
interior is also a masterpiece in itself. The richness of design is
overwhelming-the wealth or materials with precious woods for the
parquet floors, the semi-precious and precious stones, the gilding
are all used freely for decoration. It takes some time to process
and appreciate the tremendous amount of work and the craftsmanship
skill displayed in the single building. Indeed it’s a good
description of the whole city, it takes a while to comprehend just
what a gem it is.
We also took a walk through the city, including a stop at the Summer
Gardens and at Peter the Great’s first palace (modest, really, only
really small plafonds). It was also one of the very first stone
buildings in the city. The ceilings are fairly low, apparently
Peter didn’t like them too high, despite his height.
One day we made a brief trip to Pushkin (gardens only, no palace).
We’ll have to return, the gardens make Central Park seem like a
quaint little neighborhood greenspace. The city will celebrate the
300th anniversary of the palace in 2009, so, a lot of restoration is
underway. That same day, a sort of cap to our visit, we went to
Kirov to see Romeo and Juliet. Ironically, the principal dancer was
Diana Vishneva, whom we just saw before leaving New York in the Swan
Lake. All well and good, to be sure. They serve real caviar at the
theater buffet. According to Nadia, it’s tradition to get just such
a sandwich at intermission. Matt was just hungry. The theater itself
is a masterpiece beyond just sporting some of the world’s finest
dancers, wrought in the singularly elegant style that defines the
city architecture. The dancers… Vishneva herself is pretty easily
the best ballerina performing today, and she has a fabulous corps
de ballet to back her up. Vishneva dances as if pulled by an
exterior force. For the ballet, this was the first time that either
of us saw Romeo and Juliet performed. The choreography by Levrovsky
was not the favorite. It is just a bit out of, pardon the pun, tune
with the music. (Prokofiev score and in googling the information on
it just now Nadia found that Prokofiev actually objected to the
coreography as well. We feel justified in not liking it now.) The
first act was difficult to watch at times. The rest were better. We
would like to see the ABT performance when we get back. They dance
it with MacMillan's choreography.
Thus concluded the last night we spent in St. Petersburg. We took
the long way home. The next morning we had breakfast with Nastia at
her parent’s house. (Masha and Mark already having left for London
by then.) Then we went to the airport and flew out to Amsterdam,
got our camper and were on the road to Belgium the next day. We
plan on staying in Amsterdam in the winter when we return the van.
For the moment we were speeding toward the vineyard land but got a
bit stuck in beer country first.
As for Belgium...chocolate…beer…waffles…fries…mussels…um, do we need
to add anything? Oh yes, Flemish primitives and Rubens. Ok, that
sums it all up. We are done. Ok, if Nadia were to write this alone,
she’d leave it at that, but this update is also written by Matt, if
you can’t tell. So, expect another ten pages on Belgium. That,
however, will be in the next update. We are playing a thousand and
one nights here.
Oh, yes, France. That’s where we are now. Reims to be exact. That
will also come soon.