So without further ado, here is my first post from Russia.
A large part of our tour to Russia was based on experiencing life in its cities, and there is no better way to do this than simply wondering around. We had several opportunities to see different neighborhoods of St Petersburg. One of out tours took us to the neighborhood where Fyodor Dostoyevsky lived and worked. We saw Haymarket Square, the canals of the city, as well as the house where Dostoyevsky wrote Crime and Punishment. We also saw the house Raskolnikov is supposed to have lived, as well as the place where it is believed he murdered the pawnbroker and her sister. We ended this tour by visiting the nearby (St. Nicholas' Cathedral).
Another day we went on a walk with a Russia reporter who wanted us to see ‘Russia-behind the façade.’ St Petersburg is very much a city that maintains a pleasant appearance on the outside, but which is not always as pretty on the inside. We saw many of the backyards of the building, as well as the inside of markets where Russians do their shopping. We also visited a very run-down communal apartment, the likes of which were prominent under the Soviet Union, when each person was allotted 9 square-meters of living space.
Everything in this photo is pickled...
Nevertheless, St Petersburg also has more than its share of grand buildings and monuments.
There is a statue of Lenin located on Moscow Square.
There is the enormous St Isaacs’ Cathedral.
There is the candy-like Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood.
There are also many other beautiful buildings.
Overall, St Petersburg is a city that, like most of Russia, is full of paradoxes. It was created to be Russia window into Europe, and so has been heavily influenced by European Art and Architecture. But it was still part of the Soviet Union, and was very much changed during that period of time. It was a city that in many respects resembles the rest of Western Europe, in its design and layout, but it is still inhabited by a population that does not comport itself as the rest of Europe does. It has a different culture, history, attitude, and way of living, learning of which made my trip to Russia truly unique.
