World Traveller: 7 Continents, 90 Countries, 871 Days Overseas
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Thursday 20 July 2006
Highlights: Russian Cathedral, Parliament Building, Tallinn town Hall
Tallinn is a city with a lot of history especially in the old town. The USSR didn’t really destroy anything and I found the old town and the surrounding city walls catching my attention.
Wednesday 19 July 2006
Highlights: Museum of Occupation, Walking next to the black Baltic Sea
We started the day with a tour of Riga. I found that our local guide actually lost control of the group at one stage asking if people wanted to just get a coffee (not good). It was interesting to see a protest called ‘No Pride’ which was against the proposed Gay Pride march. The cartoon picture representing the anti-gay message was a classic, was struggling not to laugh at this anti-gay protesters 🙂
In the afternoon I had some free time so I visited the Museum of Occupation. This museum covered the period from the start of the Russian occupation at the start of WWII, then onto German occupation until 1944 and back to the Russians. The underground resistance moment from 1945-1958 was fascinating, I had no idea how hard these people fought for their freedom.
It almost goes without saying that the locals for the most part don’t like Russia. I also walked for awhile along the Baltic Sea; which is very black in appearance. The wind coming of the water made it seem colder then it probably was. The first day in quite a while that I wish I still had my jumper.
Tuesday 18 July 2006
Highlights: Trakai Castle, The moving Hill of Crosses
On the way to Latvia in the morning we visited Trakai (Lithuania). This is the site of a stunning old castle. The defences of this place are amazing; they had at least 4 different sections they could fall back into. The castle dates from the 14th century and actually never fell to an enemy. Trakai Castle was the capital of the former Grand Duchy which ruled this area. One of the best castles I’ve seen in Europe.
On the way into Riga we stopped at the Hill of Crosses which represents those who died or disappeared between 1940 and 1989. Under the USSR the displays were pulled down periodically but locals kept coming back. A lot of the crosses only have birthdates as no one knows the exact death dates for those who disappeared.
Monday 17 July 2006
Highlights: Gediminas Square, St Peter & St Paul Church
We left the dark and dreary Belarus for the more energetic Lithuania which is the first of the Baltic States and a former republic of the USSR (Belarus is not Baltic and wants to be a republic again).
The first thing you get from this place is just how much people are bitter at the former USSR. Over 25% of the population was lost in WWII and in many ways the country is still suffering from this and the efforts of communism up until 1989. Lithuania was the first ‘republic’ to declare independence from the USSR and at first suffered for this declaration (this was 2 years before the breakup of the USSR).
Lithuania however did enjoy a good period of independence between the two World Wars. Vilnius has embraced the capitalist world these days. The busy streets are full of traders is probably the best demonstration of this fact. Highlights during the day included; St Peter & St Paul Church and the Jesuit University. In Gediminas Square I stood on the stone / step that says if you make a wish it might came true, we will see!
Sunday 16 July 2006.
Highlights: Buying Beer from Government Shop!
Belarussia President Lukashenko certainly runs this country in and interesting fashion. While Russia and other countries around have taken great steps forward this President has managed to only move the country a little bit past the USSR era which he longs for a return to.
In order to do this tour you need to come through this country, as a result of this, and the need for hard currency (yes it is that bad) the Belarussia government charge you $61 USD for your visa and crossing from Russia to Belarussia felt like a step back in time. It was intriguing to see a country that was close to the old communist system.
The local hotel was very basic (but one of the best here), which was fine for me after all the hostels I’ve stayed at, but some on the trip were not impressed (our tour guide had warned us from the start). I went for a walk around the city and you can see that the current system is hurting the locals. BTW you can only buy beer from the Government, and they say that State Government’s in Australia rely on ‘sin’ taxes too much!
Saturday 15 July 2006
Highlights: Borodino Panorama Exhibition, The Kremlin
We started off by visiting the Borodino Panorama Exhibition. This exhibition highlights the 1812 war with France and in particular a key battle about 100 kms outside of Moscow.
Friday 14 July 2006
Highlights: Moscow Red Square, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
The Moscow Red Square, site of all those army marches I still remember as a child. Today I got to visit this incredible place which included Lenin’s tomb just outside the Kremlin. It’s hard to take in just how much world history has come from this place. St Basil Cathedral has to be one of the most famous sites in the world.
An unusual feature of the square is no venders are actually allowed inside it (they are however at the gates). One of the walls of the square contains a fantastic shopping mall (and that is saying something from me!), Stalin must be rolling in his grave as you can buy all the latest fashions. I’m not sure how the locals can buy from this place however given the prices.
I also got to see other famous sites in Peter the Great Statue and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. This place is amazing; I think I’m falling in love with this city. Everyone should visit.
Thursday 13 July 2006
Highlights: Moscow Metro System
Setting off from Novgorod we briefly stopped at the small town of Volga which highlighted how the majority of people live outside of St Petersburg and Moscow. The roads are not very good, it takes a lot longer to travel distances in Russia for example one 200 km stage of the day took 3.2 hours. It much cost their economy a fortune as trucks can’t go the speed limit, I think the country would get a great efficiency dividend by fixing the main roads. It was many hours of being bumped all over the place. We are staying at a upper class hotel, “Sovietsky” which like most hotel’s doesn’t have air conditioning but otherwise is probably the best one I’ve stayed at.
Tonight we went on a tour of the Metro system. The communist certainly know how to build grand projects when they wanted to. At times you would think you are in a museum. The photos I took don’t do it justice. The trains themselves are cheap (about 6 roubles or 25 cents AUD) and they go very fast (about 100 km/h between stations). At the end of the tour we briefly saw the outside of the Kremlin and Red Square however they were closed due to a concert just finishing. Heaps of troops obviously helped with the crowd.
Wednesday 12 July 2006
Highlights: Hermitage art collection (St Petersburg), Kremlin Fort (Novgorod)
On our last day in St Petersburg we visited the Hermitage art collection. Started by Catherine the II (the Great) as her personal art museum in a structure linked to the winter palace it now covers the entire palace area. The collection is the best I have ever seen (yes including the Louvre). The only reason it isn’t known by most people in the West is due to the Soviet era restrictions and you still have to jump through hoops to get a visa (however it is worth it for this place alone).
The paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci are worth a look, but so too are the sculptures and state rooms. I was very impressed. The palace square was also stunning; Peter the Great had a great vision for this city when he created it.
In the afternoon we left for Novgorod and on arrival did a city tour. Highlights include the Millennium Monument (for Russia), the Kremlin Fort, and St Sophia Cathedral, which is the oldest in Russia (but was having reconstruction work done). Novgorod was initially the biggest city in Russia. Ivan the IV (the Terrible) however almost destroyed it completely due to their independence (and democracy arrangements). During World War II the town was occupied by the Germans and in the fighting the town lost over 250,000 residents which is more than the current population.
Tuesday 11 July 2006
Highlights: St Isaac’s Square & Cathedral, Eternal Flame, Yusupov’s Palace
After the very big day of yesterday I had scheduled a tour of Yusupov’s Palace which was the home of Felix Yusupov and his noble family. Three months before the revolution on 16th December 1916 Felix conspired to kill the infamous Rasputin. Rasputin believed in sinning (mostly though sex, apparently he organised orgies) and repenting bought you closer to god. He had a lot of influence of the Romanovs (Tsars) which caused public unrest and also with the nobles as he was a commoner.
