Laura’s Russian Adventures

Oh Yeah Baby! The Alexander Palace! Here I COME!

Since I didn’t get to go to the Alexander Palace on Friday (with my tour-group setting). I decided that I was going back on Sunday myself. My roommates Leah and Ross came with me (which is also great because their Russian language is awesome, and they always help me out when I get stuck). So together, we left the dorm at 9ish, and arrived at the train station around 10ish. It was a very interesting experience getting tickets for the train (let alone taking the train) because it was technically ‘Women’s Day’ (a national holiday) so a majority of the station was closed. We meandered around the station, and thankfully, found a ticket station for local trains. After fumbling through getting the tickets we walked out to the platform and got on the train. It was actually a cool experience in itself.

We arrived in Tsarskoe Selo/Pushkin just before noon. After getting off the train (the time to get off the trains at particular stations can actually be quite short – less than a minute – so you have to move fast).. Anyway… after we got off the train we took a local city bus to the Catherine Palace. We had a little brunch inside the Catherine Palace’s ‘buffet’ cafe (which was really small and disappointing actually). On our way out (towards the Alexander Palace) we passed by our friend we made on Friday

Now I must ask your forgiveness. The Alexander Palace is one of the Imperial residences that I am most interested in, and as such, I took hundreds of images. So please bare with me. I thinned the images I was going to post in half, and then in half again, there may still be too many photos, but I did try to thin them out.

That said… please let me introduce the Alexander Palace!

This is the back of the Alexander Palace. The Alexander Palace was built by Catherine the Great for her grandson Alexander I. Alexander I was the Tsar who defeated Napoleon, but this isn’t what interests me. What really interests me is the occupants of the Alexander Palace! From 1895 till 1917, this was the residence of Nicholas II and his Family (His wife Alexandra, his daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and his son, the heir to the throne, Alexis)
Many of you fine folks know that Nicholas II and his Family is my ultimate Russian interest (which is why I ended up doing my History degree and taking Russian, and… eventually coming to Russia!) so getting to this palace was one of those life goals.

I had written up a little history on the AP, but I have since found a lovely write up on the AP that I will include. For those interested, read on, for those not, just pass the huge block of text.

When Nicholas ascended the throne in 1894 he and his new wife Alexandra decided to make the Alexander Palace their principal residence. As a result, Nicholas II and his wife made the most significant changes to the building since the reign of Catherine the Great. Extensive renovations were made to the building and new systems, such as electricity, telephones, washing machines, elevators and flush toilets, were installed. One whole wing of the palace was completely redone in a strikingly domestic and luxurious way. Nicholas and Alexandra’s principal objectives were to create a comfortable and elegant family home.

Later changes to the palace in the reign of Nicholas II included the erection of the two finest Imperial Art Nouveau interiors in Russia and delightful rooms created for the Tsar’s children.

At the time of the Russian Revolution and the exile of the Romanov family to Siberia it was decided to convert the Tsar’s palace into a museum which documented the life of the Romanovs in the palace throughout the 19th century . Naturally, the strongest emphasis was placed on events in the reign of Nicholas II. Soon after the departure of the Romanovs for Tobolsk in August 1917 parts of the palace were opened to the public by it’s first curator, Lukomskii. After the murder of the Romanovs in Yekaterinburg in July 1918 some of their personal possessions that hand followed them to Siberia were returned.

The museum in the Alexander Palace showcased the interiors as closely as possible to their state in August 1917. They appeared as if the Tsar and his family had just left and might return at any moment. The tragedy of the story of the Romanovs and the intimacy of the private rooms created a lasting impression on those who saw them, creating sympathy for the Tsar and his family and this ran counter to the intentions of the Soviet Government. In 1919, soon after the Bolshevik coup, a part of the palace was converted into a Children’s Colony, but this experiment proved to be a disaster and these rooms were returned to the museum. Extensive restoration enabled these rooms to be reopened to the public. In the mid-1920’s Nicholas’ and Alexandra’s historic rooms in the Winter Place, which had been open as a part of the museum there, were closed and their furnishings disbursed. Some items were transferred to the rooms of the Alexander Palace where they were merged into the collection.

The Alexander Palace museum proved to be one of the most popular museums in Russia and was a must see for all foreigners who made it to the new Soviet state. Unfortunately, the government had an indifferent, even hostile attitude toward the “Romanov Museum”. Officials began to pilfer objects and furnishings from the palace for sale to foreigners and for the use of party officials. Later the secret police demanded the use of a part of the palace as their private resort. In order to prepare for this transition these rooms were emptied of their contents and the treasures sold off in stores for foreigners in Russia and by Hammer in the USA.

Throughout the 1930’s there were frequent threats by the government to close the rest of the museum and sell off its treasures. Somehow, the museum workers and public managed to dissuade the government from this step and the museum operated right up until the beginning of World War II.

At the outset of Hitler’s declaration of war on the Soviet Union in 1941 the Director of the Alexander Palace Museum, A. M. Kuchumov, received orders to evacuate around 300 objects from the path of advancing German troops. This was a tiny selection from a collection totalling tens of thousands of objects. Frantically, and with great courage and improvisation, the museum workers were able to pack and ship out of harm’s way a significant part of the museums’ collection. Sadly, thousands of precious treasures and items of extraordinary historical value were left behind.

When the Germans occupied the town they immediately looted the palaces. What they didn’t cart away for use in their military quarters was shipped off to Germany and Spain, where many of the palace treasures remain to this day. The palace itself was converted into an SS hospital and was heavily protected by German troops. An SS monument and graveyard decorated with Nazi symbols was erected in the palace courtyard.

The palace was heavily damaged during the war by shell fire and reckless abuse by the Germans and their Spanish allies during their occupation.

Still, considering the ordeal it had been through after the war the palace was discovered by returning museum workers to be in remarkable shape. It was the best preserved of all of the suburban palaces that had been behind German lines and was chosen to become the depot for works of art returning from Siberia to Leningrad. Ambitious plans were made for the restoration of the palace as it had been before the war. At this point the government, perhaps Stalin himself, made a critical decision about the future of the palace – it was not to be a Romanov museum. The palace was to be stripped and restored as a generic 19th century palace – any restoration that presented the private lives of the last Tsar and his family were forbidden. This restoration began and interiors which had survived the German occupation were brutally stripped and destroyed. Before this work was completed Stalin changed his mind and made another decision that the museum was to be closed altogether and the building presented to the Navy for their use. [Laura's Note - Half of the Alexander Palace is still occupied by the Russian Navy today -- Rumors that the Tsarskoe Selo Museum Fund recently bought it out do circulate though]

The invaluable and unique collection of the palace was dispersed among many museums. Pieces went to Pavlovsk, the Catherine Palace, the Hermitage and elsewhere. Most personal items associated with the last Tsar and his family were simply locked up and placed in indefinite storage. – Source

When I went this weekend, I noticed that there was more construction and scaffolding around the Palace. I can only hope that this means things are going to be taken care of for good, but one can only guess. Another rumor as to why the palace may be being restored is because next year (2010) is the Tercentenary of Tsarskoe Selo, so I imagine they’re going to want to spiff it up for the onslaught of tourists next year. (Hopefully me included) I have a shot taken a bit ago showing the current condition between the Navy’s side of the Alexander Palace, and the side that is currently used as a museum:

As you can see, there is some serious work needed on the other side.

Anyway, Here is the outside of the Alexander Palace from the front, taken this weekend: (And yes, for the parties interested, I have them available in much better resolution)

I zoomed in on the last one so you can see some of the damage still on the building.

….
Yes! I did thin out the images, don’t give me that glare!

As you can see, it was an absolutely beautiful day at Tsarskoe. The sun was shining and the weather was pretty good, which also means there were quite a few people hanging around too.

A few years ago, they put up a plaque outside of the Alexander Palace commemorating the Imperial Family. Although some find it tacky, I thought it was nice, and took the opportunity to get a shot of me in front of it:

Ross, Leah and I went into the palace and got our tickets. (Student discount baby! Only 80 Roubles). They have a coat check in the basement (as well as the bathrooms) I tried to get photos of the basement but without flash nothing turned out. I will try again the next time I go.

Upstairs again, Leah, Ross and I tried to pass our tickets in to go see the Palace. They, however, saw that our tickets said ‘Russian Student’ and told us to wait for the Russian Tour Group that was going through momentarily. I am not sure if they were doing that out of kindness (giving us a free tour — because they thought we were fluent Russian citizens) or because they didn’t want three students meandering about the palace without a guide. Either way, since we got stuck with the guide group, I decided to stick to the back (mainly so I wouldn’t be rushed through, and so I could try to take shots of the Palace without 30 people in them).

The part of the Alexander Palace that is currently viewable, I’ll show on this map:

The tour itself follows these lines:

So with these floorplans in mind, I will show you the current interior (matched with the Romanov interior).

The Multi-Purpose Room
The first room we enter is rooms 74, 75, 76, and 77 on the Floorplan map. According to the floorplan, these rooms used to be:
74. The Dressing Room (of Alexandra)
75. The Bathroom
76. The Maid`s Room
77. The Wooden Staircase (to the mezzanine and to the second floor)

However, it is all now one room. And a pretty empty room at that. Here it is in the current condition:

Here is a little video I got of the room:

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The Imperial Bedroom
The room right next to the multi-purpose room was Nicholas and Alexandra’s Imperial Bedroom. Before being completely demolished later in the soviet era, it used to look spectacular (although the tapestry pattern was a bit busy). Here is the Imperial Bedroom as it looked in the Romanov’s time:

These are all of Alexandra’s Ikons above their bed. A few of these ikons still exist and are now lined on two walls of the room currently (as you’ll see later)

This is the infamous Anastasia sitting inside of her parents room.

Now here is the Imperial Bedroom in the current condition today:

And… of course, here is two videos:

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The Mauve Room

Right after the Imperial Bedroom comes Alexandra’s Mauve Room. This room was designed for Alexandra shortly after she married Nicholas and it was used mainly as a family room for the years the Romanovs lived there. It was a common spot where Alexandra would lie down to write letters, do handiwork (sewing, knitting, etc).

Here is the Mauve Room in the Romanov’s time:

Alexandra in an accidental over-exposed photograph, sitting in the Mauve Room.

Another stunning image of the Empress Alexandra in the Mauve Room. This last one was Coloured by Ms. Lisa Aubry.

Here is what the Mauve Room looks like today:

And of course, here is a video:

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Pallisander Drawing Room
After the Mauve Room, we come to the Pallisander Drawing Room. This room was the primary sitting room for Nicholas and Alexandra during their first years in the palace. Throughout their reign this was kept as part of the private wing of Nicholas, Alexandra and family.

Here is photos of the Pallisander Drawing Room in the Romanovs time:

And here it is currently:

And Video:

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The Maple Drawing Room

This next room gets my blood boiling. During the Nicholas and Alexandra’s occupation of the palace, this room was one of the most stunning. Beautifully designed by Roman Meltzer with Alexandra’s oversee, this room was two levels. On top, there was a children’s room to play or sit, and below would be a sitting area. It honestly was stunning. “The walls were painted a warm dusty pink. Ornamenting the walls were carved and moulded white-plaster trellises of German cabbage roses which climbed and entwined themselves about a pale green circle set in the center of a high ceiling”(source). So, without further ado:

Here are images of the room, Romanov era:

This last one is a close-up of the details that could be seen on the walls. It honesty looks stunning. *sigh*

This room, remarkably, survived WWII (and Nazi occupation). But sadly, it would not survive Stalin. It was ripped apart, stripped and split into two rooms between 1947 and 1951. Not sure when, but this is what it looks like now:

Video:

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……
I have nothing more to say on the condition of this room currently. Such a shame.

The Maple Drawing Room (Part Two)
So this next room used to be apart of the old Maple Drawing Room, but a wall has since been put in here, and it now holds the suits of the Tsarevich Alexei, as well as some things from his room. Along side these items are some toys of the children and Tatiana’s regiment suit:

Tatiana’s Regiment Dress. (As can be seen here – She’s on the right.)
and a video:

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Alexandra’s Formal Reception Room
The largest personal room belonging to the Romanovs. In the 1900s, Alexandra had the room redecorated with a combination of 18th Century furniture and items. This was also where Alexandra would receive ministers, ambassadors and deputies. The Imperial Family participated in concerts that were also held in this room. The interior was heavily damaged during WWII and restored in 1947-51. At that time a new doorway leading to the left wing of the palace was built.

Pictures during the Romanov’s occupation:

Here is Nicholas II and Alexandra’s beautiful daughters. From left to right: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia.

The Grand Duchesses again, Left to Right: Anastasia, Olga, Maria, Tatiana.

And here it is currently:

…. to be continued……

(March, 27th 2009) – Note:

I have been working on these blogs since Novgorod and due to lack of Internet or the images I want to upload, the blog hasn’t been updated in sometime. I am leaving for Moscow tonight and I figured I would put online what I have, and finish it when I come back. And… hopefully have some tales about Moscow!

So.. updates that will still be coming are:

- The continuation of “Best Weekend Ever. Part 3″
- My Birthday Night!
- Tsarskoe Trip 3
- Moscow!

Laura Mabee Uncategorized

On Saturday, my roommates and I decided that we were finally going to hit up the Peter and Paul Fortress! I have been waiting to go to the Peter and Paul Fortress since I got to Russia (as well as Tsarskoe Selo). It just so happened that this weekend was the best weather we’ve had since I got here. The sun was shining beautifully and it was still cold enough to keep the ice frozen and the snow beautiful on the ground. Ah! Amazing weekend weather.

Anyway! So we headed off to the Peter and Paul Fortress. Luckily, since we’re students of the State University, we get free admission! (actually, this is the rule to most Russian Museums. If you don’t get in for free, you get a seriously reduced price)

Here I am in front of the Gates to the Peter and Paul Fortress. Check out those double eagles. Ahh.. could I ask for more? I was in heaven.

The Peter and Paul Fortress, as some of you may already know, is a massive fort built in 1703 to protect the area from possible attack by the Swedish army and navy. The Swedes were defeated before the fortress was even completed. For that reason, from 1721 onwards the fortress housed part of the city’s garrison and rather notoriously served as a high security political jail. Among the first inmates was Peter’s own rebellious son Alexei. Later, the list of famous residents included Dostoyevsky, Gorkiy, Trotsky and Lenin’s older brother, Alexander. But what’s important to me, is in the middle of the fortress stands the impressive Peter and Paul Cathedral, the burial place of all the Russian Emperors and Empresses from Peter the Great to Nicholas II and Family.

So without further ado, the Peter and Paul Cathedral:

This is one of the few pictures that turned out of the interior. Because I take all my photos with flash off (one has to preserve the artifacts!) not many turn out like I would hope

What’s important to me however, is that it was the place in 1998 where Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna, three of their five children (Olga, Tatiana, Anastasia) and three loyal friends (Dr. Botkin, Trupp, and Demdova) were buried.

Here is a photo Leah got of me looking at the graves:

And here is a photo I took of the graves:

It was a very interesting feeling to know I was standing where Nicholas and Family were buried. The silly thing is, I don’t really feel like they are buried there, in the Peter and Paul Fortress, rather, I still feel like they are in Ekaterinburg.

Regardless, it was one of the things in Russia that I had been looking forward to seeing. As the roommates and I went through the Fortress, I got to explain who was who inside the vaults, it was a nice feeling knowing the history behind each vault. I feel that I can better appreciate this trip because of it.

After we left the Fortress, I took a parting shot, you can see how beautiful the day was in the shot too:

After this, the roommates and I headed towards the Trubetskoy Bastion. The Trubetskoy Bastion is a jailhouse first built in 1703 (later additions and renovations were made), but it housed some of the most famous opponents of state. A.I. Ulyanov (Lenin’s older brother), L.D. Trotsky, Anna Vyrubova, and the participants of Kronstadt uprising of 1921, to name a few. It was interesting to see the cells of the jail, as outside of each cell was information on who was detained in that cell, for how long they remained in the prison, and their ultimate fate.

A good friend at home does research on Anna Vyrubova, so this one is just for you Joanna:

This is Anna Vyrubova’s cell. She was detained in 1918 for questioning regarding her part in the Rasputin scandal (as well as her involvement and “sway” with the empress during Nicholas II reign).

After we finished with the Trubetskoy Bastion we headed out for Dinner. Since it was my birthday on the 11th, my roommates were going to take me out to dinner at one of the best restaurants in St. Petersburg (at least in my opinion). ‘The Idiot’ is the name of the restaurant, and it serves vegetarian cuisine with a Russian twist. I’m taking that the name of the restaurant is what Russians think of vegetarians

It truly is the restaurant for me. It had everything I could want in one Restaurant. Its four rooms are decorated with antique furniture, oil paintings and bric-a-brac, it also has of chess and blackgammon sets available, as well as my favorite part, an English-language bookshelf on Russian History! (and Russian poetry).

Ross and Leah grabbed some inside shots of the place, it was amazing. Cozy, great food (truly! the food was amazing) and great company.

Ahhh… a truly welcome sight!

I grabbed this one off the net. We didn’t get a full picture of the room, but this is the exact room we were dining in (in the top right corner).

I know I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating. The food was amazing! I got Bilini for starters, followed by a mushroom Alfredo pasta for the main course, and ice-cream with caramel for dessert. I drank freshly squeezed lemonade (amazing) as well as a shot of vodka they include for free with every meal.

It was a great dinner, and my roommates paid for me! What a treat! A great dinner, for free! I am truly spoiled by them.

After dinner we made our way home and conked out, because we had a very busy day coming up.

I sign off now, so I can take a deep breath and start the huge post for the next days events!

♥ Laura

Ps. Here is one more shot of the Peter and Paul Cathedral I took on the walk away:

Laura Mabee Uncategorized

Since last Sunday, not much outside of school and new roommate has happened. About 4 hours ago our hot water stopped working (ie. not the hot in the water, but the hot and the water all together — when you turn the tap, nothing happens), but hopefully that will be solved by tomorrow (according to the people who run the show here). Anyway.. this weekend was the best weekend I have had since I’ve been in Russia.

On Friday I went on a tour trip put on by my campus to Tsarskoe Selo. The trip was only to the Catherine Palace (or so I found out on Friday). It was interesting to see the Catherine Palace, but it wasn’t the palace in Tsarskoe that I wanted to see.

I personally think the Catherine Palace is not as great and amazing as people make it out to be. It’s a nice palace, don’t get me wrong, but I think there are more interesting palaces in Russia (*Hint – My favorite is yellow and is down the road from the Catherine Palace *)

Anyway! Here are a few shots of the Catherine Palace that I took, I won’t bore you guys with a lot, since it’s one of the biggest tourist attractions this side of Russia, there are many photos of it online that will probably look exactly like everything I’ve taken.

So without further ado –

Okay.. so I lied, I put a few more pictures up than I meant too.. but I thought the palace was pretty in sections.

After we left the Catherine Palace, my roommate Ross and I found a stray dog and made friends with it. He was super friendly and very cute. I grabbed a picture of Ross and the pup!

Once we left our new puppy friend, we walked the ‘garden’ area for a bit. I put garden in quotes because the ‘garden’ isn’t much of anything but snow at the moment. But it was still a nice walk. We piled into our bus and drove for home after that. It was a nice, but too short first trip to Tsarskoe Selo. But oh! this was just the beginning of my weekend. It honestly was the best weekend.

So now.. I will take a break, and work on part two of my weekend post! Saturday!
Cheers Mates!
Laura

Laura Mabee Uncategorized

The one good thing that did come out of this week was a scheduled trip to Novgorod by our campus.

We set out at 8:00am on Saturday (Feb 28th) towards Novgorod (it was about a 4 hour drive). We arrived around noon.

It was a nice drive down, but we did have interesting hiccups. Outside of the city, Russia looks to me like the Russia I imagined of the early 20th Century. No brick houses that are cookie cut on a street, no, no, no… these houses look like the little wooden village towns that you see in movies. (except more elaborately coloured). I tried to take some photos of the towns to show you guys, but my window was disgustingly dirty due to the dirty slush and heavy snow, so I took a little video:

It’s hard to show in the video the detail of these houses. The wood is carved with interesting patterns on the side of the houses, and a lot of the time, there are a few burned/ completely dilapidated houses between the ‘good’ ones. I used the term ‘good’ loosely, because a lot of the ‘good’ ones had their houses half dilapidated too.

This is the best photo I got showing some of the house damage, mainly because the bus driver was actually going to fast for me to capture the houses I wanted too.

Anyway… as we drive along towards Novgorod, we notice the driver slow down and eventually pull over to the side of the road. After he gets out and disappears for a little bit, we noticed what caused us to pull over…

Yep! That’s our driver in the back of the police car! It seems (as we were told later) that our driver was doing 82 KM and hour when the limit was 80. As it seems, police here are either bored, or they take speeding very seriously.

After 10 minutes of the driver arguing with the police man, the woman who is our Russian coordinator went out and apparently talked our driver out of the trouble:

After a little more driving, we finally got to Novgorod and set off for our first excursion. The Yuriev Monastery.

A little background on this Monastery, It was founded in 1030. According to legend, the monastery was founded in the eleventh century by Yaroslav the Wise. The Cathedral/Church of St. George is one of the largest in Novgorod. It is a tall (105 feet tall) with three silver domes, which is somewhat unusual for Russian churches which usually have five (the main dome representing Christ, the four smaller ones representing the evangelists). Some remnants of the medieval frescoes remain, but most of the church was refrescoed in 1902.

The monastery was ravaged during the Soviet rule. Five of its six churches were destroyed by 1928; the monastery was closed in 1929. During the World War II, the buildings were occupied by the German and Spanish armed forces, and were seriously damaged. In 1991 the monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, and parts of it have been renovated since then. However the western part, including a church there, are still in ruins.

With that said, here are some pictures:

This is the Cathedral/Church of St. George. Outside it’s huge, but doesn’t look to elaborate. Inside however, is absolutely stunning. I tried to take some pictures, but my camera did not want to work inside. So please bare with the following images:

After we left this Cathedral/Church we walked around the grounds a little, and I took a lot of pictures, but I won’t bore you with all of them, here are two:

After the Yuriev Monastery, we hoped back in our van and drove to the Museum of Wooden Architecture. It was amazing. Not many people fancied it, but I loved it for it’s old Russia feel.

The Museum of Wooden Architecture if found near the shore of Lake Ilmen. The museum represents a village street with houses, churches and household buildings placed in the outskirts of the village. Two churches of the 18th century – the church of the Transfiguration and the church of the Resurrection are the compositional center of the museum. Unfortunately the churches were closed to us, because they apparently don’t like opening them in the winter (Snow + Wood = Bad) but I did get some pictures of them (along with the rest of the ‘city street’)

But not everything was wooden! The bathrooms were actually made out of an old bunker which looks like it remained after the war:

The last stop of our Novgorod trip was to St. Sophia Cathedral within the Novgorod Kremlin. But before we ventured there, our coordinators managed to get us a wonderful and amazing dinner!

We dined inside the Kremlin wall at the Detinets restaurant!! If anyone should happen to be going to Russia, I would highly, highly recommend this stop. It feels like such an authentic medieval Russian experience. The restaurant is actually located in the cellar of one of the defensive towers of the Kremlin wall. The atmosphere is amazing. The lighting however is very dim (mainly just the candles at your table and a few candles from the hanging medieval chandeliers, so when I tried to get photos they didn’t turn out so well. However! Here is what I got:

This was the first course of a five course meal that we had. I had meant to take a photo of each course, but I was rather hungry, and once I started eating it was all downhill from there

Here are the shots I grabbed of interior:

And here is a shot from the outside:

After the amazing meal, we walked towards the St. Sophia Cathedral. But before we got there we ran into the Bronze monument to the Millennium of Russia (built in 1862)

Here is an image of it from 1862:

And here is the monument in 2009:

During World War II, the Nazis dismantled the monument, and prepared it to be transported to Germany. However, the Red Army regained control of Novgorod and the monument was restored to public view in 1944. Here are some other shots of the monument:

Along the base of the monument were sculptures of people who shaped Russia. They had poets, writers, warriors and Tsars. Of course, my favorite side of the bottom sculptures were the Tsars. Here is the who’s who of Russia’s greatest Tsars:

I don’t really know why they stuck Nicholas I on there. Maybe it was because it was less than 10 years after his death, and they wanted to give him some commemoration, but in general, I wouldn’t personally say Nicholas I did anything to really help the Romanov reign.

After we finished with the monument, we headed over to view St. Sophia Cathedral. It is an eleventh-century cathedral and apparently is the centrepiece of Novgorod’s religious buildings. The 38-metre-high, five-domed, stone cathedral was built by Vladimir of Novgorod. Construction took place between 1045 and 1050 (making it the oldest church building in Russia proper and according to Wikipedia, it’s the oldest building of any kind still in use in the country). Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed inside the church, so here are some shots from outside:

After we finished the church, we left for the bus. I grabbed these shots on the way back to the bus:

We got home in good time, left around 6pm, and made it back around 9:30pm. When we got home one of my roommates, Natasha, realized there was new luggage in her room. We had a new roommate! She wasn’t home yet, so we all sat and ate and drank a little soviet champagne while we waited.

She arrived pretty late (around midnight) and said quick hellos. We all went to bed after that, and that concluded my weekend. The next day (Sunday) I just did homework and got to know this new roommate.

Laura Mabee Uncategorized

What a week! I realize I am in Russia, so I shouldn’t complain, but I have to admit this week has now set the bar for the rest of my trip.

Last Monday (February 23rd) was “Men’s Day” or better known as Defender of the Fatherland Day. Naturally, everyone got the day off for school. What can be bad about that I hear you say…. well, what sucked was that since that Monday I have found that our school doesn’t believe in giving their students time off (regardless of holidays) and require you to come in on your weekend time to make up the lost time on the Holiday. This in itself stinks, but is not the deal breaker for me. What has been the biggest disappointment is the news that came with it.

We were told by many (including our trip coordinator) that in this program they will give you a week or more to see the sites of Russia. This was fantastic news to me, I had made plans (including getting permission/reference letters for GARF — a Russian Archive –, meeting with various professors to talk about fonds and research methods at GARF, read up and understood the rules/regulations of researching at GARF, etc, etc, etc, etc). I have now been told by our Coordinator here (in Russia) that there is no ‘break’ time. Which means I can’t go anywhere unless I can do it in 4 days. (ie. skip class on Monday and leave Thursday night). One of the main purposes of this trip (aside from see Russia!) was to get my feet in the pool of historical research.

I debated for a while about just skipping a week of class and deal with the consequences, but I have been told by professors and researchers that a week is not enough time to research at GARF (they like to take their time retrieving fonds, etc). And then I was told by the student ’supervisor’ here that if a student misses a percentage of class a week, that he has the authority to send them home.

I am at a loss of what to do. I feel like I’ve put so much time and energy to get here, I don’t just want to sit around. I feel frustrated at this program, if I wanted to just intensively learn Russian I could technically have done that at home. What is the point of sending students to Russia if you don’t give them the time to see it.

Okay, so I am more than a little frustrated, I am bitter and angry about the whole thing. I have people who are waiting for me to do some research, and now ….. I don’t know.

I still have my thinking cap on, and I am going to see if there is anyway I can get to GARF still. There has to be, I’m in Russia, and GARF is closer to me than it’s ever been before.

Anyway… I went to Novgorod yesterday. I’ll make a post about that soon.
Cheers Mates!
Laura

Laura Mabee Uncategorized

Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to my humble abode!
This beautiful apartment complex is not ours, but the smaller, ugly dorm beside the nicer apartment complex is!

Here are some more shots of the building:

This is our Gostinitzsa/Гостиница! (ie. the student hotel).
Come on in the front door and see our apartment!

Once you step in the front door, this is what you’ll see.
Looking straight ahead you’re looking at our toilet room (In Russia, there really isn’t such thing as a western bathroom. In one room is the toilet, and in the other is the sink and shower. Gross for hygiene, I know). The square footage of our bathroom is probably 3 Feet wide, by 5 feet long. The toilet and plumbing take up at least 4 feet of that five foot length, leaving a few inches for you to fit your knees when you sit down. TMI, I know… but it was just such a small bathroom, I had to tell someone! The cherry on the cake for the bathroom is that the door doesn’t really fit the door frame, so if you want to have privacy in the bathroom you have to ram the door shut (which sucks when your bed almost next to the bathroom door – you wake up when people go to the bathroom) but when you want to get out of the bathroom, you pretty much have to bodycheck the door. We’ve named our toilet room ‘The Gas Chamber’… Although it sounds rather nasty, I am enjoying it all as part of my Russian experience.

To the left of the bathroom door is my (and Jessi’s) room! and right across from our room, to the right of the bathroom, is Leah and Ross’s bedroom. But before I talk about me and Jessi’s room, you may notice the other doorway to the right of the hallway (before the bathroom).
This is our Kitchen! I’ll show you guys!

Yes, I know, our stove is uuuuugly!
Well, actually, I should call it a cook-top, as they took off the knob to our oven so we couldn’t use it. At first we just thought it was broken, but when we inquired about it, they told us that they take the knobs off the ovens in the winter because they have found too many students using the ovens as apartment heaters… So…..
At the time this picture was taken, the only thing we could use to cook with was one pot and two working elements. Since then, we have since gone in together on a microwave. I never thought I would be so excited to get a microwave.

Anyhow, back to the bathroom hallway..

So this is the ‘bathroom hallway’. To the left is the toilet room that I already grossed you guys out with, and to the right is our shower/sink room.

And now… to my room!

Jessi and I were both taking pictures of the apt, so I almost got her in every shot I took of our room.

This is the messy part of the room. Much of our stuff is piled somewhere near the front of the room. We kind of split the room into two. Everything from the middle of the TV (kind of where the cubbard doors come together) and to the left of the TV is Jessi’s area, and everything to the right of that is my space. (aside from the clothes cabinet on my side).

You might notice the not so new blankets on my bed. They are made of 100% wool and are very heavy. They were the blankets that came with my bed. They can be uncomfortable, and there are unidentified hairs on them, so all my other roomates went and purchased new duvets from IKEA for their bed. I however, did not get a new duvet. I wanted to save the money for books and history trips. Nerdy I know… but I need to prioritize!

This is my side of the room. Very cozy!

And this is the final picture of my room. This is my looking through my eyes when I sit in bed. The Clothes cabinet at the end of the bed is shared between me and Jessi, and our TV doesn’t really work. It will get one or two channels a bit, but it’s all fuzzy and it’s hard to watch. But! On top of the TV, you might notice a family and Tsar! Let’s look a little closer….

Thank you so much Joanne!!!! Your generosity has followed me to Russia in many ways! I have two of the Imperial Family Ikons you kindly gave me with me for this trip.

And that concludes the tour of our little dorm room. Rooms not showcased were Leah & Ross’s, as well as Natasha’s.. mainly because that is their private space, so I don’t want to invade it with my camera and be all KGB on their butt.

So until next update guys!
♥ Laura

Ps. Post update – Since I wrote this blog out, and took these pictures a few changes have happened, I cleaned and rearranged a bit of my room and I need to get a better picture of our kitchen (now with microwave). Since I got internet now, I will try to do that sometime this week!

Laura Mabee Uncategorized

On February 14th Leah, Ross, Jessi and I had tickets to go see The Nutcracker at the Mikhailovsky Theatre. It may not be the Miriinsky, but it was the start of a very interesting weekend.

Here is the group before we left for The Nutcracker!
From left to right, Me, Jessi, Leah and Ross. Leah and Ross are the cutiest couple I have met. They have a great sense of humor and are so much fun to be around. I am so very lucky that they became my roomates. They both have very good understanding of the Russian language as well as Russia’s Soviet past. It makes for good debate and ribbing between parties (since I am an Imperialist).

Anyway.. So we left for the Mikhailovsky in a taxi around 5:00pm, and arrived at the theatre around 6ish. Traffic is crazy in St. Petersburg. However, since we agreed on a price with the taxi driver before we left for the theatre, traffic made no difference on the price of the ride (400 Roubles from our dorm to the theatre.. only 100 per person). Getting there was okay, I got a glob of car dirt on the back of my leg when I got out of the cab, so I had to clean it with snow… *brrr*.

Once we got inside the theatre we checked our coats and purchased programs (only 30 roubles) and went upstairs to our seats. However, since we were so early, we had to wait outside the main theatre room until closer to 7:00pm. Outside they had a nice little cafe and mini museum of the theatre. The mini museum was very interesting, and Leah and Ross took part in the cafe appetizers (which looked amazing and delicious).

Closer to game time, we entered the theatre.
Leah and Ross were kind enough to share their pictures with me that they took (I forgot my Camera – I didn’t realize that we were allowed to take photos inside). So, without further ado, here is the inside of the theatre:

The stage and stage curtain.

I just thought that the theatre itself was beautiful, the stunning light fixtures and the architecture of the rows.

This stunningly beautiful Angel is above the stage

Me and Jessi inside the theatre during the intermission. It was a very interesting first experience in the Russian theatre system. The seating is not as comfortable as Centre in the Square (for those in Kitchener/Waterloo area who know what I am talking about). The seats had no arm rests and they were stuck chair leg to chair leg, so in some cases, you were rubbing legs/arms/buttcheeks with your neighbour. It was a very uncomfortable seating arrangement. However, the show itself was amazing. The actors were fantastic and the live orchestra was half the show to me. So the live orchestra of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker was worth the money alone

One of the rather funny situations that happened was during the ballet, there was a little girl who was sitting next to me, and because of the older women sitting in front of her, she couldn’t see the stage, so she ended up almost on my lap trying to see the show (which blocked by view of the stage). Eventually, after the intermission her mother held her on her lap on another seat (so I almost had arm room beside me!).

It was a great night at the ballet, and after the ballet things got even better.

This is the Mikhailovsky Theatre after we left it. As you can see, it was snowing pretty heavy. But it made for such a beautiful night.

After the show, Jessi, Leah, Ross and I went to dinner at a sushi house and it was the best dinner I had had since being in Russia. It was so fantastic (and expensive – $40) but it was worth it, and it totally made the night.

The walk home after the show was a little brutal (my only dress shoes were flats that I had not worn before, so they were cutting into my feet, and it was cold and slushy outside) but Jessi was a Jem and she swapped me shoes so I could have as comfortable walk home as possible. We arrived home at midnight, and although there were shortfalls with the evening, I think it was one of the most enjoyable nights I have had in Russia. At least so far…

Well ladies and gentlemen, that about makes this blog update! My Valentine’s date with Tchaikovsky went wonderfully.

Until Next Update!!
♥ Laura

Laura Mabee Uncategorized

What a Sunday!
It had the potential to be fantastic, and it seemed to be going that direction only to be completely ruined by mid-day (roughly 5 o’clock)
So, let’s go through the day in themes! Starting with Amazing:

So today was the first day I had the chance to visit the Hermitage. In the early afternoon we did some boot shopping for Jessi (she needs a good pair of boots here in Russia!) and around 2 o’clock we headed toward the Hermitage. Entrance to the Hermitage is free since we’re students (which is flipping amazing!!!) so I have a feeling I will be visiting it quite often.

Anyway, arriving at the Hermitage was a little surreal (you hear and read so much about the history, to be the place of some of the biggest historic events is really something else).

So, let’s start with a little film. Below is Nicholas II annoucing World War One to the Russian People:

And now, here is the same balcony:

So much happened in this palace square. Before WWI was Bloody Sunday (not a topic that’s very happy) but the consequences of the event forever changed Russia!

A little back story… in 1905 there was a lot of unrest in Russia. On January 9th 1905 (Gregorian Calender) a peaceful protest to the Tsar positioned itself here in this palace square:

After the protesters arrived, they were faced with lines of military. What happened was Tsar Nicholas II was not living in the winter palace (the Russian people always assumed he lived there) and so he was not present for this protest, so the local police and military were ordered by some government officials to get the situation under control. Problem is, the way military soldiers get situations under control is appropriate when you have crowds of men, women, and children.

Needless to say, the military fired on the crowd. The number of those killed still hasn’t been agreed upon, but many people were killed. This was an important event because before this, people viewed the Tsar as the “little father” who would always look out for them, and cared for them unconditionally. After the 1905 Bloody Sunday and the way Nicholas II reacted to it, I believe that Revolution was no longer a possibility but a definite.

Anyway! That was just the history outside of the Hermitage, inside it was amazing. Since we arrived at 3:00pm, and the Hermitage was only open until 5pm, we only got to tour the first floor. Luckily, since I am now a local student, admission to the Hermitage is free, so I can go back as many times as I want to take it all in (which is great, because there is too much to take in for one trip). One of these days I will make a post just on the interior of the Hermitage, I feel I would make everyone fall asleep if I went into detail now about how amazing it is inside.

So overall, the visit to Palace Square and the Hermitage was amazing… Once we left the Hermitage, that’s when things got awkward (and worse).

Outside of the Hermitage, there are a couple touristy things within Palace Square. (as well as Tourist Traps) Lucky for my group, we didn’t get nailed with a negative tourist trap, only an awkward one!

Two people dressed in Imperial Garb walked towards our group and started talking to us in French. (I guess we look French?) After we responded in some broken french he realized we were English speakers and asked us if we wanted a picture with him and his co-worker (wife?). I felt a little guilty for having chatted them up a little and say no to the picture, so for 100 Roubles (about $4Cdn) we agreed to take one picture with them:

This isn’t too bad, sure it isn’t my best pose, but at least I got a group shot with Jessi. (I really dislike it when all the attention is on me)… but then, after that group picture, as I tried to get out my 100Rbls and pay the guy, he grabbed my hand and would not let go.

He asked for another picture and said it would be a good memento of my trip. I told him it was okay, and thanks, but that I really had to get moving. At that point the picture op moment went from awkward to downright embarrassing. I get really flustered when men pay attention to me, having this guy grab my hand and not let go turned my face beet red. And then to make it worse, he did this:

Leah grabbed a picture of the moment, and if you look closely you can see how red my face was. Awkward moment!! After he was satisfied with Leah taking the picture, I quickly gave him his roubles, thanked him for his time and quickly ran off further out on Palace Square.

We left through the archway of the General Staff Building, and inside this archway were tourist vendors. This was when things went from alright (albeit awkward) day to an awful, awful day. From a distance I could see a hawk tied to a stand, and two men offering photoshoots with it. I also noticed that these men seemed to be holding dolls. I was confused at this, but kept walking.

As we passed these men, I realized that these ‘dolls’ where not dolls at all, but monkeys trapped in what looked like stiff snow suits. These suits had no movement to them at all, and these monkeys were trapped so tourists could take pictures with them. What broke my heart even more was the faces these monkeys had as we passed them. They looked so sad. Overall the whole thing really upset me and the only thing I could think about after that was what I could to to help these monkeys. I realize now that there really isn’t much I could have, or can do. It’s not like I can take a monkey outside of Russia back home, and I know my roommates would not allow me to bring a monkey into the dorm. But the whole idea of these poor monkeys in suits that they can’t move around in, put in the hands of strange people all day makes me really upset. I’m sure some of you guys know where I stand on animal rights, it’s hard for me not to want to do something when I see particular things. Russia is not the place if your faint at heart for animals.

Anyway! That’s one long update!
I hope that everyone is doing well! I think of you guys a lot!
Until Next Update!!
♥ Laura

Laura Mabee Uncategorized

I have a date on Valentine’s Day!

Since my boyfriend at home is reading this and probably wondering what the heck I am talking about, let me show you my handsome and dashing date!

Does anyone know who that guy is?

I’ll give you three guesses:

1. Pushkin

2. Tchaikovsky

3. Tsar Nicholas II

That was a pretty easy give away eh? No? Maybe?

I have a 7:00pm Date with Mr. Tchaikovsky! Well, kind of. I more or less have a date with Jessi to go see The Nutcracker at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, but a girl can dream right? It would be a dream too, as far as I know, because I don’t think Tchaikovsky played the ladies field anyway.

Anyhoo! That’s my plans for Valentine’s Day! I wanted to go to the Mariinsky Theatre, but they didn’t have any ticket sellers for the Mariinsky at my school the day I bought my ticket (of course they were there the day after…..) but that’s okay. I have been checking out the schedule for the Mariinsky Theatre too, it seems they have a showing of Eugine Onegin (spelling?) March 10th. I think it would be an awesome birthday gift to myself to go see it. I will see what money I have when the time comes. But I would like to plan on it.

I now sign off, leaving you with an even more ridiculous picture of my date:

Laura Mabee Uncategorized

Since before we landed in Russia, my roomate has always wanted to see what is left of Rasputin (in a jar). Our Russian Revolution professor included it in one of our lectures, and it’s been on the itinerary since.

**warning**
The following may be offensive to some and disgusting to all
**warning**

So yeah…. On Monday Jessi was pumped to go see Rasputin’s alleged junk in a jar. The museum that was holding it was called the ‘Museum of Erotica’ which was based out of a still working venereal disease/proctology clinic. Even that sentence makes me want to go get another shower. The place was interesting to say the least. It really wasn’t a museum either, it was more of this clinic with some obscene figures in a shelf on the wall. Finally, at the end of the hall, there was Rasputin’s junk in a jar.

Jessi got her picture with it, Leah and Ross got their picture with it, so I tried to make the best of it, and got a picture with it. (I’m linking it, because looking at it might make people loose their lunch). Also I realize I look awful in this photograph, keep a sympathetic heart, I was really sick, I normally don’t look this bad.. really.

For those who are historically interested. I don’t actually think it’s the real Rasputin junk. Rasputin was buried (fully intact I believe) in 1916. He was dug up again many months later (after the revolution) and burned. I do no think that before he was buried he junk went missing. And.. whatever is in that jar is too well preserved to be his junk when he was dug up months later.

So anyhow…. that was monday.. (maybe that’s why I felt so sick to my stomach tuesday? …no? )

♥ Laura

Laura Mabee Uncategorized