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Finland & Baltic Russia

July - August 2019
July 2019 Read more
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  • John BickerstaffFinland & Baltic Russia
    Day 12

    Cathedral bagging

    August 5, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Early morning run showed up how much busier the roads were on weekdays. Equally a lot of business types were hurrying to work - not keen on having an unfit plodder getting in their way. The challenge today was to avoid queues - some hope but you never know. Didn't get to the first cathedral quite as early as hoped but the surrounding area did seem a little quieter - could it be that with the Hermitage being closed tour groups would be less keen / less booked. Nope. Though the queues did seem shorter. On entering it became apparent that they were all inside or so it seemed. Not the most peaceful of places but certainly one of the most ornate and decorative. Every wall was covered in colourful mosaics - must take some maintaining. The ticket claimed to be a museum but that was stretching it a little - a few placards & everything else relied upon the audio guide - 200 rubles extra. Stopped in at Kazan Cathedral on the way to St Isaac's. Amazed to find a place of worship where there was some worshiping going on & there was no charge. What really took your breath away was the smell of incense. By now I was a bit churched out & the hope was that we could go up to the collonade at St Isaac's without having to pay to go in the church as well. Again queues weren't too bad & the ticket agent complied so just the views without the god squad stuff - also meant earlier lunch which got Liz's vote. Views of the river, the Hermitage & the distant stadium were very good.Read more

  • John BickerstaffFinland & Baltic Russia
    Day 12

    More general naughtiness on view.

    August 5, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Sarnies consumed, it was off for a walk, primarily to see the lighthouses on the other side of the river but also in an effort to get away from the endless traffic & enjoy the bizarre feeling of sunshine. Crossing the bridge to the lighthouses proved about the busiest stretch of the walk but offered views of the Hermitage & the bustling river traffic - mostly pleasure cruisers with the odd hydrofoil shuttle to Peterhof - each time I tried to get a photo of them mid foil they either throttled down or they were gone too quick - camera shy. The lighthouses were surprisingly big & rather like Finland, it seemed like all maintenance work is carried out en-masse in the summer 2 of the 3 cathedrals & the lighthouses were having work done. Walking back through the fortress - traffic free but not crowd free. Nice walk along the beach & got into a little political talk with former history lecturer - sales pitch for tours but interesting nonetheless. Couldn't quite square his take that Trump was a bit mad but Obama was a liar & warmonger. I guess when Putin owns the press... Back to the hotel & settled in my perch. Intrigued by some comings & goings outside our hotel. Eventually sussed that a car had blocked in a couple of people. They were not happy. Eventually managed to manoeuvre their way out. By way of a thank you they deflated not 1 but 2 of the cars tyres & all 3 spat on it. The Russian way... Couldn't wait see the response since the car was know parked in the middle of the road with 2 flat / soft tyres. All through cooking & eating tea we kept checking. Got distracted by planning getting to the station for the Moscow leg - looked out & it had gone. No beatings, guns or going after the tourists who saw what had happened & did nothing. Ah well off to the bizarre hidden maze of a supermarket to replenish stocks.Read more

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  • John BickerstaffFinland & Baltic Russia
    Day 13

    Midnight madness

    August 6, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    A little investigation prompted by a memory of seeing something about multiple drawbridge movements at midnight. Revealed that indeed the 2 local bridges were due to go up at 1.10 & 1.20. Branded as utter lunacy by Liz. Suggested by mulriple websites that viewing both is very challenging - bring it on - alarm set. Skulked out as quietly as possible & dashed down to the river front. The first to draw was the Palace bridge - further away. Lots of people perched on the river wall suggested something was happening. The advent of piped classical music confirmed this & the bridge began to open. Once done loads of boats flooded through, prompting a dash to our local bridge. Made it with a minute or so to spare. Happy days. No classical music this time - just traffic chaos - St Petersburg now separated by the river. Back to bed - a bit warm.Read more

  • John BickerstaffFinland & Baltic Russia
    Day 13

    Bring on the revolution.

    August 6, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    A visit to St Petersburg without visiting the Hermitage is supposedly sacrilege. On a rare sunny day spending it indoors seemed equally like sacrilege but the culture won out. The plan was to get there early to mitigate against the worst of the queues. On approach that seemed a forlorn hope, a mammoth queue snaking out of the front. Thankfully that was the tour parties. Took a punt on the machines - didn't seem too bad, though there was little movement. Transpired the automatic machines didn't start till the manned terminals. Bizarrely, just as we were getting close the family in front seemed to opt for the long manual version. Better for us. Made it in by 11 - 30 min wait - not bad. Maze like structure of the place meant mapwork was essential. Spent a bit of time awestruck by the oppulence of the place - completely understood why there was a revolution - the riches seemed obscene but also impressively ornate. Managed to take in the Peacock clock & the Da Vinci room but by now the tour parties were taking on the persona of the devil. If I got out of here without inflicting pain on someone it would be a major achievement. Blocking corridors, barging in front of you, taking vast amounts of unnecessary photos... Retired to the rammed cafe, with nowhere near enough seating, for a sarnie - floor would have to suffice. Liz was keen to see some impressionistic stuff so up & down we traipsed through the French & Dutch sections. Turns out it was in the Workers Quarters - a separate museum. Tried to find the Golden room - turns out that was a guided tour that had to be booked separately. To top it off the Feberge egg that was supposed to be in room 302 was nowhere to be seen. Time to go. Back to the hotel to cool down.Read more

  • John BickerstaffFinland & Baltic Russia
    Day 13

    Culture overload.

    August 6, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Since Liz was keen to see the Faberge egg at the Hermitage it seemed that to rectify that omission a visit to the Faberge museum might help. Once rested & a station bound cheap taxi booked for the morning, a pleasant walk through the park got us to a quieter end of town. A little ticket confusion at the entrance & then straight into the eggs. As a museum they kind of shot their bolt though because everything seemed a little tame by comparison - a decorated cigarette box?? Not sure I'll be able to cope with another gallery but the eggs were quite nice - was that what Faberge was aiming for as a response from the Tsars. Ambled back via a recommended Georgian restaurant and the bizarrely named Fields of Mars (a memorial to fallen soldiers)Read more

  • John BickerstaffFinland & Baltic Russia
    Day 14

    Traffic lies.

    August 7, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Silly o'clock start as the bargain taxi firm said traffic could be bad. So bad that the taxi was early or in fact there was no traffic & got here with time to spare. Said our thanks & within 5 mins we were at the station - unsurprisingly no change was offered. We were at the station before the taxi had been booked for & were just under 2 hours early. Oops. Settled down for a long wait, well sort of - went for an explore. Tried to establish what platform the train was leaving on. Google helped a little & found that she didn't know - wait 40 mins. Once that was sorted battled through the tour parties to the platform & waited some more. Unsure where our carriage would be - agonised for a bit & stayed put. As it happened we were right & made it to the carefully chosen seats - by the baggage rack & plug - forward facing. Settled in for the 4 hour journey. Plenty of leg room helped & free wifi with films also helped - well for one of us. Good job because the dominant feature outside was trees - lots of them. Picked out when we crossed the Volga & that was about it. Into Moscow & it was noticeably warmer. Down to the metro & a very helpful lady battled with her English to get us the right ticket. Not too busy & our first sight of the famous lavish Moscow metro. Short walk to the hotel & relax.Read more

  • John BickerstaffFinland & Baltic Russia
    Day 14

    Mellow Moscow

    August 7, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Once rested, hunger needed dealing with - a couple of biccies for lunch does not cut it. Decided to head towards Red Square stopping at a supermarket on the way. Handily enough - picnic sorted, we found a nice little park & enjoyed what little sunshine we could. Onwards & in the distance could be seen the tips of St Basils Cathedral - probably the most iconic sight in Russia. Little bit excited. Unfortunately, as everywhere else, there were road works, so a detour had to be made. For the best though - ended up walking through Alexandrovsky Park, along the Kremlin to Red Square - far more peaceful than the main road. Disappointment at Red Sq. though - vast swathes of temp stands for a miltary tattoo on the 15th. The square was swamped with stalls & food hawkers - some dumb yank seemed to think it reminiscent of Glastonbury - on what planet? At least the cathedral was not shrouded in scaffolding. Was closed mind. Headed back picking up tea & breakie stuff.Read more

  • John BickerstaffFinland & Baltic Russia
    Day 15

    The shittiness of the human kind.

    August 8, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Having a little house keeping to do, it felt rash committing to doing too much so a day of bits & pieces was agreed upon. The first of which was having a look inside St Basil's Cathedral. Topped up the metro card with loads of remaining shrapnel & we were away. Except on arrival it became apparent there were 2 big pulls in Red Square today - Lenins Mausoleum & St Basil's - not sure which was the bigger but we weren't spending hours in either queue. Pushed onto the Bolshoi which unfortunately wasn't conducting tours until Sept. Nice enough building - no tour groups - even better. Onwards to the darker side of the day - the Gulag History Museum. Came highly recommended - still, wasn't going to be a laugh a minute. The idea was to get a better understanding of what life was like at that time. The initial intro talked a lot about doors & their significance & proceded to tell 15 stories attached to 15 doors. The traumatic stories just kept coming. A very grim time & one I knew very little of. The darkness of the museum perfectly fitted the sombre subject matter. Like to think that the open window looking out onto a park at the end is showing there us cause for hope. Even so looking at the oldies that lived through that & some of the constructions created during that time & you wonder...Read more

  • John BickerstaffFinland & Baltic Russia
    Day 15

    Majestic Metro

    August 8, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Found a park to eat our sarnies & try & recover. Decided to head to the famous Gorky Park - a stretch of the Moskva River where there isn't a busy road. Admittedly there was the suggestion of a theme park but some of it should be a bit calmer. Wandered to the next metro stop - guide suggested that this was one of stops not to be missed. Of the stops so far it was certainly ornate & I wasn't the only nutter taking photos. Headed for the sculpture park where a number of communist statues have been rehoused. Plenty of shade helped & eventually being able to get a drink also helped cool off. By accident the statue of Peter the Great was found. From that point forward it couldn't be missed. Apparently it was a statue rejected by the Yanks which doesn't endear it to the locals, it is a bit bizarre looking & the siting of it is a little questionable since he apparently detested Moscow. Talking of detesting - onwards towards the theme park, except it was nowhere to be seen, just more parkland the other side of the bridge. Good news.Read more

  • John BickerstaffFinland & Baltic Russia
    Day 16

    Cosmic Boulevard

    August 9, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    A wet and dreary morning revealed a more realistic climate for a city on a similar latitude to the dreary city of Manchester. Such weather required an indoor plan. Perfect for the Museum of Cosmonautics at the VDNKh park - a sort of Russia / Communism theme park throw back to the 70's that still seemingly engenders a sense of pride in the locals. Managed to get to the metro relatively dryly - almost certainly got a few strange looks because of the shorts - or maybe just the habitual Moscow sour face. Indoors is all well and good but getting to the indoors involves the outdoors. Got a bit damp getting to the museum - not looking good for the rest of the site. The museum proved to be interesting but not quite as informative as it could have been - inconsistent English. Again what was strange was some bits equal billing, others clearly very abbreviated & others none existent. Annoying but understandable I guess. Photos outside were hampered by wind, rain, wonky eyes & the threat of falling slabs of granite. It would seem that such a prestigious monument is not getting the care it requires. Such a shame. Pushed onto the Space Pavillion in the main site, which has a Soyuz rocket outside but by now hunger was an issue, as well as shelter. All food options seemed to be stalls outside - not good. Outside - bad, inside - good. Found a soviet style canteen, which was interesting - no clues at all. Couldn't go wrong with kebabs & had some rice & veg which had a cursory warm in the microwave. Feet by now were soaking but made it to the space pavillion & had the bonus of free entry - god knows why - sympathy because of the bad weather or distracting the youth from protests - who knows. Spectacularly organised & presented artefacts. Loads of stuff about the moon missions, planetary missions & other assorted trivia. Better English options meant a lengthy stay - by the end Liz's patience was being tested. Back the way we came via some photo ops with the rocket. Very wet by time we got to the hotel.Read more

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