Russia Revisited

Russia is in our minds a great deal these days, with Trump sidling up to Putin before the election and Putin basically endorsing Trump's presidential candidacy. This can feel both bewildering and frightening. What is it about Russia that has seemed so threatening to Americans for generations?

Russia Revisited asks that question as it delves into a bit of Russian history, spinning a travelogue of a tour to Ukraine and the fabled cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Less frequently visited towns along the northern rivers of Russia, with their Scandinavian heritage, add intrigue to the trip narrative. This is intended as the first in a series of travelogues with the general theme, "Come Take a Tour with Me." Full color illustration illuminate observations and commentary about Russia's history and culture.

The Russian Bear was depicted as a menace to America during much of the twentieth century. A moderate thaw occurred during WWII, while the Soviet Union was an ally. The fear intensified again after the war, as Russia developed nuclear weapons and created an "Iron Curtain" to separate Communist Eastern Europe from the "democratic" countries of Western Europe.

A thaw came with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the replacement of Communist apparatchiks with elected officials. Somehow, though, authoritarian rule seems to have reasserted itself. Why are Russians so susceptible to autocratic governance? How will the new Russia and the new America relate?

Find some answers and enjoy the journey!

This booklet is intended as a teaser for a more serious book on Russia and its history, in progress, hopefully to be published later in the year. In that book, I include stories from fabled Western travelers to Russia, such as the Marquis de Custine and John Steinbeck. I also include journal entries from a back-packing trip taken to the "new" Russia in 1992, along with travel commentary from my parents' two trips to the "old" Soviet Union during the 1970s.

Moscow Revisited

6/3/10

The Moscow Kremlin, or fortress, which protected the seat
of Russian government from the time of Ivan III

The morning of the third full day in Moscow, we visited the State Armory of the Kremlin, with its treasures from the tsars and its military exhibits. We saw, in particular, the glittering crowns and gowns and swords of the tsars and tsarinas, the elaborate silver platters and goblets given to tsars (including Catherine II) by ambassadors from all over Europe, and books with jewel-encrusted silver or leather covers. We saw coronation gowns and thrones and carriages, each more elaborate than the next, of all the monarchs from Peter the Great through the unlucky Nicholas II. And the Faberge eggs – one celebrating the 300 years of the Romanov dynasty and one celebrating the children of Nicholas II – were particularly beautiful and sadly ironic. It’s a wonder that these treasures were preserved and not melted down for coins or destroyed out of spite during the Russian Revolution. Apparently, many treasures were sold to European and American collectors by the Soviets to raise cash for the early regime. Obviously many of them were saved.

St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square, built by Ivan IV to
 commemorate the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan. A parking
lot mars the view of the church, built outside the Kremlin walls

After that, we visited the cathedrals inside Kremlin Square – an impressive aggregate of white churches with gold domes. We went into the Cathedral of the Dormition, with its large, thick, circular pillars supporting arches high above the floor, layer upon layer of frescoes covering the walls and pillars, all telling some story, now lost on most viewers. The cathedral was built in the late 15^th century, and it is the church where the coronation of tsars and emperors took place. A throne of Ivan IV stood before the iconostasis, crowded with silver-bordered icons. We were not allowed to take photographs, but for an idea of views inside the church, you can see photos from Wikipedia here

We did not go into any of the other churches.

Golden domes of the churches/cathedrals within the Kremlin

The communists destroyed churches throughout the Soviet Union, but somehow they didn’t destroy many Moscow churches, except for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The cathedrals within the walls of the Kremlin, itself, seem to have been spared. Outside the churches, and outside the Kremlin walls, we saw the Tsar’s Bell and the Tsar’s Cannon, neither of which ever functioned. Afterwards, we had a pretty good lunch at the Hard Rock Café, although it didn’t come up to the standard of food on the ship. That evening, I didn’t participate in the group activity (a singing concert).

Church of the Dormition, oldest of the Kremlin cathedrals,
constructed under orders of Ivan III by an Italian architect.
Closed under Communism, it was reopened in 1990.

The last day in Moscow, I went with part of the group to the Tretyakov Gallery, a marvelous collection of Russian paintings from medieval times (icons) to modern (impressionist and post-impressionist). The largest and most interesting paintings in the collection (for me) are those of the Russian Realist style – artists from the 18^th and 19^th century who depicted authentic landscapes and social situations, artists whose names are scarcely known in the west: Perov, Vasiliev, Kranskoi, Surikov, Repin. I had previously seen a couple of the paintings that I remembered – one in a book on religion in Russia, the other at an exhibit at either the Met or MOMA. I believe the latter may have had an exhibit on Russian Art two or three years ago while I was visiting New York.

Cathedral of the Annunciation, Cathedral Square

I also visited the Tretyakov Gallery nearly 20 years ago when I was first in Russia, and I remember particularly the landscapes from that time, as well as a life-sized portrait of Leo Tolstoy in peasant garb.

That afternoon we set sail down the Volga Baltic Canal. This Russian landscape along the water is so soothing, so inviting; it generates in me an intense sense of nostalgia and longing.

The Volga River and Moscow, Day 2

I'm picking up the thread of a travel blog that was interrupted over a year ago by several months of illness and by catch-up activities afterwards. The entries are from the journal and photos of a trip to Europe and Russia in 2010--my last overseas trip--during which I tried to see all the places still on my bucket list. It was a wonderful, if exhausting, trip. The previous entry was posted in September of 2014!

6-2-10 (continued)

That first evening in Moscow, I didn’t go on the optional “Sunset tour” of Moscow but rather chose to get some more sleep.

The following morning, we took a bus tour through Moscow to several well-known spots, including Sparrow Hill, where Moscow University rises in stern prominence with its Stalinist main building – one of the “seven sisters” of Stalinist architecture in Moscow. There I bought a couple of souvenirs from a vendor who had a table set up on the edge of the hill overlooking the city. I understood the numbers he told me when I asked him, “Skolko stoit etot?” the Russian is beginning to come back.

 
 

Souvenir vendor in the Sparrow Hills;
Moscow University in the background.

 We also went to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the main cathedral in Moscow, which had been destroyed by the Communists, but was reconstructed (1994 – 2000) in brilliant white stone topped by golden domes. The interior of the church was beautifully painted and gilded; the alter was covered by the largest, most elaborate baldaccino I remember ever seeing. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs inside the church.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Moscow

 

Afterwards, we visited the famous Novodevichy cemetery (new maiden cemetery), where we happened to see Nadeshda Yeltsin enter by car and place flowers on her husband’s grave. Our guide, Natasha, was almost overcome at the sight of her, and she couldn’t stop talking about Nadeshda and Yeltsin during the entire walk through the graveyard. We saw graves of entertainers (a ballerina, a comedian), politicians (Khrushchev and Stalin, besides Yeltsin), writers (Pushkin, Gogol, Chekhov), musicians (Shostakovich) and many others I no longer remember.

Nadeshda Yeltzin laying flowers at her husband's grave

Anton Chekhov's gravestone

 

 

Shostakovich's memorial

 

 

Khrushchev's grave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That afternoon, we heard stories from veterans of WWII (“The Great Patriotic War”), including a man who had participated in the fighting in Stalingrad, and a woman who had been an army nurse and had been captured by Germans. The person who introduced them was one of our guides (we have six for the 214 people on the trip), and she seemed quite overcome by the idea of these great patriots. She actually wept as she introduced them. Another woman was with the group of veterans, apparently an academic, and her presentation had a Soviet-style flavor to it.

In the evening, I opted out of going to the circus, having already seen the Moscow Circus the last time I was in Moscow (1992), and also because I really don’t much like to watch trained animals, especially not big ones like bears and elephants that are not really domesticated.

The Volga River and Moscow, Day 1

6/2/10

We left the dock at Northern River Station yesterday afternoon around 2:00 PM and took the Volga River channel through its locks yesterday afternoon and last night to the Volga River, which we’re now sailing along. It’s a wide river, even this far north; deep green forests line the river side, dotted with small villages. It is such a peaceful feeling to sit in a comfortable chair, a cup of hot chocolate near at hand, watching the water flow smoothly by the side of the boat and the forest inch past the window.

Along the Volga

So now, I’ll try to catch up on the four days we spent in Moscow, with the ship docked at the Northern River Station on the Volga Canal, not far from where the canal joins with the Moskva (Moscow) River. Each day, buses took us to our destinations in the city and brought us back (most of us – a few took the subway back from the city). We could choose where we would go and when, within limits.

St. Basil's Cathedral, Red Square.

The first day, Saturday, nearly everyone went to Moscow to walk through Red Square and see the GUM department store (and use its bathrooms). I was able to get rubles from a cash machine in GUM. And I remembered, from my 1992 trip to Russia, how vast that public area is. Hundreds of tour groups moved about in herds of twenty to fifty people, and still there was plenty of space between the groups; the square looked almost empty. 

Clumps of tourists on Red Square

Inside GUM department store

We passed to the other side of the square, out past the equestrian statue of General Zhukov, a WWII hero (Great Patriotic War). Through a fence, we watched the changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was no big deal. One of our group waited in line to view Lenin’s tomb; the rest of us dispersed, to meet again in ¾ hour at the statue. I went back into the square and wandered around GUM and other shops but bought nothing.

General Zhukov, WWII hero, Red Square

We then took the metro to the Arbat (two metro stops away), getting off at the intermediate station just to see its decorations. The metro stations in Moscow are like palaces, each with a different theme and décor. Stalin destroyed many churches and most of the homes of nobility, and he used some of those materials and artifacts in constructing metro stations.

Moscow subway map

Remnants of Stalinist decor in a subway station

The Arbat is a street lined with shops; it and the area surrounding it are considered the artistic center of Moscow. Its many shops sell crafts and fairly expensive souvenirs; outside the shops, painters and caricaturists work at easels and sell their wares along the pedestrian walk way. And, of course, there are restaurants and coffee shops filled with tourists and starving artists. I ended up having borscht at a very crowded restaurant called “Moo-Moo” (My-My in Cyrillic), later followed by a great cappuccino at McDonalds! There was a Hard Rock Café along the Arbat, where our group had lunch the following day.

Hard Rock Cafe, The Arbat, Moscow

In front of McDonald's, The Arbat, Moscow

(Later) We are now plying the waters of the Reservoir, such a huge body of water that I cannot see the shore on the left side of the ship, and land is only a thin ribbon of hazy green on the right. The sun is playing peek-a-boo behind the clouds, the water is calm except where churned along the side of the ship. An altogether pleasant setting.

Sunset over the Reservoir

Northern River Port, Moskva River

5/29/10

Northern River Port, Moscow River

On a lounge chair on the ship docked at the Northern River Port on the Moskva River, near Moscow, looking toward the elaborate terminal building in the Stalinist, wedding-cake style, arches and pillars along the piazza/promenade of the two upper stories, the long, broad staircase leading to the main entrance surrounded with slate-covered stone arches into which are set large ceramic, plate-like discs depicting glories of Soviet achievement (e.g., a dam, a pillared hall, a locomotive, an enormous statue). A four-tiered tower of concrete rises above the main central section, topped by a bright, metallic (tin?) spire, the uppermost point of which is a radiant, five-pointed star, upon which a hammer and sickle, suspended before it, casts a shadow. Clouds, grey and white, frame a swath of blue sky behind the tower, as if in a Stalinist propaganda poster. And the thin tail of a jet trail crosses the blue and disappears quickly.

Later. A very peaceful scene on the river as the sun goes down. Most of the others have gone to see Moscow at night, but I have chosen to stay on the boat/ship this evening in deference to my lungs (which have been giving me trouble since London, and my legs, which have been giving me trouble since the last day in Kiev. My left leg developed a charley horse in the calf muscles with all the walking I did that day, and is now stiff and swollen. I may have developed a deep vein thrombus in that calf, which is, I believe, the same one I had trouble with a couple of years ago, the day before my previous trip to Berlin.

We will spend our four Moscow nights here on the ship. Busses transport us from the ship to the city for tours. No doubt it’s difficult to run herd on a bunch of American tourists in the big city of Moscow and to make sure they’re safe and don’t get into trouble with authorities. Natasha mentioned that there had been some difficulty with a couple of tourists during a similar tour in a Moscow hotel the previous year.

 

The port building, erected around the time of my birth, inspired this commentary in quasi-verse.

A Ruin in the Making

1933 – VOLGA = MOSKVA – 1937

Columns and porticos
Balconies and balustrades
The not yet ruined marvel
Of an empire not long gone,
Gone a tyrant's imperial dreams
Grandiose, ephemeral,
As this decaying monument.
Some distant archeologist
Might unearth, awestruck, stone,
Plaster, a lichenous surface
Long buried, eroded,
Scoured to the bones.
Stalin would be furious to see
Crumbling cement atop the rotunda.
Jesus would be furious to see a
Gold and marble cathedral.
(JAVS)