Russia Day 4 - Novogorod to St Petersburg

Novogorod was interesting, but I’m not sure worth it on such a short trip. Their Kremlin was cool – mostly converted into museums and arts-related buildings. Massive bronze sculpture in the center depicting Russian history. St Sophia church that was still in active use – got the Byzantine priest walking by with the incense burner deals as we were walking. Absolutely beautiful day – could have spent hours walking around the park and just enjoying (also not looking forward to what’s waiting in Houston for me). I’ll never trust weathermen again – the advance 10-day forecast on weather.com said rain every day. *NOT*

Off to a monestary (still working, but only 9 monks and 40 novices) where I hope I got some good pictures with the sun. Interesting story about how Novogorod was never conquered by the Mongols – they paid them off with fur, gold, and women. Then 5 minutes later Natasha is talking about all the monestaries that were around there and how it became a religious center. Connection there maybe?

Then to an open air museum with some old (church was 300 years old) all-wooden buildings. Very rustic. Next. Back into town center to drop off Natasha, grab a little food, and back on the bus. Should be about 3 hours to St Petersburg.

Our hotel is supposed to be nice, and is only 10 minutes from the airport, which will be very nice on the last day. It will also greatly complicate getting into the city independently for any bar/club/dance things, which some of us wanted to do. My book says the subway stops running at 12:!5am – very early. At that point its either cab or walk – need to ask Anya for advice. I also wanted to see the bridges get raised at 2am – supposed to be quite a sight. Should be getting closer to StP – maybe time to crack the vodka again…

More later...

Russia Day 3

Made it down on time with luggage in hand (screw the hour-early thing just to have the porter carry things). Quite a long bus ride today to Novogorod – wish we were flying. Time to put in the iPod.

Later …

Wow, what a drive. That has to be one of the worst excuses for a highway I’ve ever seen. And it was supposed to be the main highway in Russia connecting the two biggest cities. One lane in each direction with a passing lane in the middle. Lots of construction, potholes, very bumpy, etc. We should totally have taken the train (which Karel says is good) or flown, either to Novgorod or straight to St. Petersburg.

People cracked open the vodka on he bus and started doing shots. Very funny. Haley was slyly asking for some of the cups Lorelei brought, thinking Jennifer was doing the vodka on the sly. Turns out it was her dad’s bottle of Russian Standard, and he was bartender. Should be some good pictures. The bottle I bought back in Moscow is definitely lower quality – can’t wait to finish it off and get some better stuff.

Dinner followed by vodka at the hotel bar. Sad news is that Sergei is leaving us and going back to Moscow. He covered Moscow, and we had a one-day guide (Natasha) for Novogorod and another guide (Anya) for the rest of the trip. Sergei and Anya are both hottie/model quality – some wistful looks around the bus when it was learned he wasn’t staying on. ;)

Russia Day 2

Appointed meeting time was 10:30, but I met Lorelei and her mom to walk around beforehand. Crossed over to the space monument – little museum underneath was closed for renovation. Cool little market area around the monument and the metro station. Jeraldine looked a little concerned that we were being watched.

On the bus to start the day. I decided to stick with the group at least at first, as there were several things that were new for me. First stop – Red Square. All good, until we learned it was closed. No explanation, no guarantee as to reopening. So Plan B arrived. Drove to the Koskovo estate, which was a Versailles-like receiption place. Wooden little palace, grotto building, other things. Nice setting, but nothing jaw-dropping.

After that, on to Arbat street, which is a pedestrian area with stores, stands, etc. Had about an hour, and I took off on my own after the group stopped at the first stand. Nice to just walk a bit. Grabbed a pepsi and a snickers bar for lunch, then caved and grabbed some French fries from McDonalds too. Then it was over to Red Square via the metro. I though Karel was going to have a heart attack worrying about people getting separated and lost. And they were moving too slow – I have first-hand experience with how fast those doors shut. I think we did three stations before getting out just north of Red Square, the walking in through the gate. Just 30 minutes there – the shopping center GUM got cut out, which didn’t bother me at all. After a quick jaunt through St Basils, it was back to the bus and off to the circus. And did I mention that the box wine was cracked open fairly consistently during the time on the bus? J

Circus was interesting. Some acrobatics worthy of Cirque Du Soleil, but with no safety lines or nets for several of the acts. The animal acts were disturbing, even though I’m not a huge PETA-type person. The trained bears in particular were just strange to watch. They looked like stoned, old, hairy people with osteoporosis. The kids in the audience loved it all, and Karel explained that this was fairly authentic, and that the circus was one of the only acceptable forms of entertainment during the communist era. Many laughs on the bus during Sergei’s long, drawn-out explanation/apology about the need to leave the hotel at 8am the next morning.

Late dinner that was fairly good (not at a hotel, thankfully). Stroganoff, mashed potatoes, and a crepe-like desert. And of course some vodka and beer. Got the “Russian Standard” brand, which was Sergei’s recommendation, and it was great. Extremely smooth. I think I can recognize the bottle if I see it in the store here. Don’t know if it’s available for export, so I want to grab a bottle while I’m here.

Hit one of the hotel bars (the less-prostituty) for a last vodka before hitting the room to pack. Not a wild night – I think everyone was still tired. Maybe in Novogorod or St Petersburg.

P.S. Sergei identified the picture of the market I went to in ’95. “Izmailovo”. Said it was much more developed now, with some more permanent booths. Pretty far out on the metro, and I’m not really shopping for anything interesting.

Overall a good day, but it has me questioning the tour group thing again. Maybe because I’ve been here before, maybe because I know Moscow has a great metro, maybe because I don’t mind walking, it just felt more constricting today than any time in Turkey. Maybe that will fade once we leave Moscow proper. And I want to come back and actually go to all the subway stations individually – time to add that flight from Newark.

Russia Day 1

This could be about to get interesting. I’m at the airport – no problems getting out of the hotel or to the terminal via the shuttle. After I’m checked in and my bag is going up the conveyor belt, I ask about the Houston folks. Turns out their flight is late and they’ve all been moved to the later Moscow flight (which is operated by Aeroflot) at 11:45. After lots of trying and hand-wringing (got to give props to the Air France ticket agent here), they weren’t able to get me on the late flight. So with all of my weird travel gyrations, I’m on schedule and will get to Moscow 2:15 before the rest of the crew. It’s on that side that I’m a little curious. Don’t know if the Pilgrim Tour people will be there for the earlier flight, or just for the later one. I’m planning to wait outside of immigration for the 2+ hours they should be behind me. Kind of funny, and assuming no real problems waiting in the Moscow airport, not a really big deal (I’d kind of like to fly Aeroflot, actually). It means, I presume, that the optional subway tour won’t happen tonight, which is the real bummer.

Okay, so I get to the airport and start the long process of going through immigration. Pretty much exactly the same as I remember it – long lines that move very slow. No real problems, for me or anyone else that I saw, though. I was about 8 or 9 back in line when I saw a porter walk by on the other side with the “Pilgrim Tours” sign. Couldn’t signal him, though. Then I saw a guy walking with my bag (I had the green tag on the bag). Turns out it was Karel, the tour director. Finally got through and explained the situation to them. Karel was obviously surprised (said he’d seen bags get lost before, but not whole tour groups) and had to run around checking on things. Past customs was Sergei, our “local guide” with all the history knowledge and stuff. I didn’t really expect to have the bus drive just me, and a cab would have been way expensive – distance and rush hour – so I just hung at the airport. 3 double vodka tonics later and I was feeling quite superior. All of my worries about missing the trip, and my ass is sitting in Moscow while everyone else missed the connecting flight. J

Flight arrived, but took forever for people to come through customs. Turns out that a) Lorelei’s bag got misplaced and they had to file a claim, and b) some of the Americans let them get pushed aside in the immigration lines by more pushy Asian tourists coming through. I could see a few familiar faces on the plasma screens showing video from baggage claim – a cool feature more airports should add.

Finally saw everybody and hopped on the bus to the hotel - good old Cosmos. Same as I remember it physically, but much more crowded, whether due to the time of year or just improvements in tourism. Made it to the little grocery store across the street and grabbed some water, vodka, and a box of wine. :J Quick drink or two, and the newly arrived needed to get some sleep.