Gloomy Weather, but it's Navy Day (Weekend)

Where did the summer go?  I guess we were lucky to have a great June and 1st half of July.  But for the past week, there has been no sun & it has barely hit 60.  It's supposed to improve.  I hope so - we only get 3 months of good weather, and I'm not ready for summer to be over.

The city is gearing up for Russian Navy Day.  On the last Sunday of July, several navy ships show up in the city and dock along the Neva River.  You'll normally see some of the ship crews walking around the city.  On Sunday, they will have a parade of ships & fireworks, and I believe you can also tour one of the larger ships.

But the day is probably better known for a large number of Russian men who wear navy & white striped shirts ("uniforms") and drink throughout the weekend.  Drink a lot!!!  Some are former military, most are not.  It can be quite the scene.

I took these pictures right outside of our apartment.  The gray day matches the gray ships.  Unfortunately, we will miss the weekend events because we are leaving for vacation later today (YEA!!!!!!).

I walked by these guys and they asked me where they could get a beer.  I was proud of myself that I understood the question, and that I could actually tell them (in Russian) where to go!

British flag on the front (bow?) of the boat

These boys looks like they may be up to no good!

Cool statue of Peter the Great, appropriate with the boating theme. 

Saint Petersburg This Week

Before I share some pictures from the past week, here's a funny (but not so funny) story about my a recent doctor's appointment that I need to get each year in order to get a Work Permit. 

It came up in conversation today with my Russian language teacher, Nadezhda, because we were doing an exercise related to the human body & health, and practicing my use of nominative, accusative, and instrumental noun cases.  Yes, I take weekly language lessons & yes, they are HARD!!!

One of the exercises was about going to the doctor, and I learned the word дышать (dishat), or "To breathe".    And the imperative form is Дыши (dishi);  how you would tell someone to "Breathe!".  And I suddenly made a connection & realized that at my doctor appointment last week, the X-ray technician was yelling this at me!  "Дыши!   Дыши!  Дыши!", and getting progressively more angry with me.    And now I understand why she ran 4 chest x-rays to check me for TB.  Apparently, I was holding my breath or not taking in a large enough breath, and she was rejecting each x-ray. 

4 chest x-rays in one day?  Do I want to know how much radiation I was just exposed to?  And I find it a little funny that passing a TB test once a year is all it really takes to get a work permit in Russia, from a health standpoint.  It really makes you wonder.

On to some pictures................................................................

Peter & Catherine the Great, chowing down on some ice cream

Summer love

Preschoolers learning the hula hoop!

A bride and her harem

Dueling brides, competing for the same coveted position on a bridge for photos

From the back, Catherine the Great looks a little upset that this bride is stealing her spotlight!

 

 An unannounced fighter jet performance

 

 

 

McDonalds in the park. 

 



 

 

 

Stockholm

We visited Stockholm, Sweden last weekend.  I really love the Nordic countries - lots to do, great balance of culture & the outdoors, the people are friendly, super clean with a great focus on the environment, it's incredibly safe, and they have a really high standard of living (although it is expensive).  Neither Pat nor I had ever visited Stockholm, and I was super excited to get to visit somewhere new. 

Stockholm Cathedral

Main square in Old Town, Gamla Stan

Just in case you were not sure exactly where Stockholm is, here it is.  And the city is made up of 14 islands, making just a small part of the Stockholm Archipelago (which is 30,000+ islands & islets in total)

 

My 1st laugh of the trip was after I got through passport control, and saw this.  Of course I knew ABBA was from Sweden, but I didn't realize that I would see ABBA references everywhere .  And these puppets are too funny.

 

 

We stayed at the Hotel Rival, in the Sodermalm neighborhood.  I liked it a lot, a boutique-type hotel, nice bar & restaurant, cool design.  It is owned by..... one of the ABBA members (Benny Anderson).  Like I said, they are everywhere in this town

 

 

Cool nightclub at the hotel. 

 

 

 

My favorite thing about the hotel was the city park in front of it.  Nightly Boule tournaments (similar to Bocce, but the French version of the game).  Fierce competition by a lot of people who looked like they spent most days playing Boule (vs. working)

 

 

Sodermalm is on a hill, so we had a great view of the city

 

 

 

Here are a few pictures of a really interesting church located on the island of Skeppsholmen.  It's the Riddarholmskykan, or Riddarholmen Church.  It dates back to 1270, and is one of the oldest remaining structures in Stockholm. 

  

 

The church is the burial location of Swedish kings and other dignitaries for the past 400 years.  On the walls of the church, there are hundreds of coats of arms of knights of the Order of Seraphim, hung when the knight dies.   

 

 

Tomb of King Gustavus Adolphus and his immediate family.  Gustav II Adolf reigned in the 1600's, and is credited with making Sweden the strong power that they were for many years 

 

 

Walking home on Saturday after dinner.......

 



 

 Hedvig Eleonora Church in the Ostermalm neighborhood.  Cool octagonal shape.

 

 

We happened upon a Swedish army troop & decided to follow them.  And I like the name "El Maco" much better than Big Mac!

 



 

 They ended up at the Swedish Army Museum, and did a small performance before setting off on a city parade

 

 

I love food markets!   

 

 

Behind me is Norstedts, a large & old Swedish book publishing company 

 

I couldn't resist taking this picture.

 

 

 

Next was a tour around Gamla Stan, or Old Town.  This is the main square, Stortorget, surrounded by old merchant houses and the stock exchange building.  I could not figure out who the statue is

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Alfred Nobel was Swedish.  Now that I think about it, I do recall that they award the Nobel prizes in Stockholm.  But I hadn't made the connection.

 

Alfred invented dynamite, but also had 350+ other patents.  The story is that when Alfred's brother died in 1888, it was originally (and incorrectly) reported by French newspapers that Alfred had died.  The obituary stated, “Le marchand de la mort est mort” or, "The merchant of death is dead", and went on to say that "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday".  Alfred didn't want that to be his legacy, so he set aside the bulk of his estate to establish the Nobel Prizes.

 

Below is the Nobel museum, which used to be the old Stockholm Stock Exchange Building, right in the central square. 

  

 

After an afternoon of sightseeing, we were thirsty!!!  I had read in the SAS magazine about a place called Sodra Bar.  It was an outdoor terrace & bar, looking over the city.  This is why you should ready the airplane magazines!   

 

 

One of the kiosks sold microbrews from all over the world.  We sampled a few from Norway, and these from Missouri (?) & Sweden

 

 

 Final parting shot from our last night.  A weekend was not enough time to see everything in Stockholm.  I need to go back :)

 

 

 

 

St. Petersburg Canal Walk

I took a walk the other day after lunch to clear my head, get some fresh air, and enjoy the sunshine.  I walked along the Moika and Griboedova (Мойки и  Грибоедова) canals, which are fed by the Neva River.

Some people call St. Petersburg "the Venice of the North".  Although I think Amsterdam more deserves that title (my favorite canal city!).  Copenhagen and Stockholm also have great canals.  But who cares.  They are still nice to walk along, and very scenic.  The canals have some of the best architecture in the city.

Below is the Bank Bridge, along the Griboedova.  One of my favorites.  The gryphons remind me so much of the scene in the movie White Nights, when Isabella Rossellini's characters runs across a bridge to reach the American Embassy (leaving poor Gregory Hines behind to rot away & freeze in a Russian Gulag). 

The film was made in 1985, so it wasn't filmed in Russia.  I've wondered whether they filmed that particular scene on a sound stage or found a suitable look-alike in another city.
 

The Singer Building (as in sewing machines) along the Griboedova, with Kazan Cathedral in the background

 

Hard to read, but a bank.  "First Society Mutual Credit".  Nice bank!

Church of Spilled Blood, from a distance

A scene from the Moika

 

This is the back entrance to one of the University of St. Petersburg buildings,  It's along the Moika, and I walk along this section most days between work & Nevsky Prospekt

 

I'm not sure how much business the Cartier store is getting.  I have never seen anyone go inside.  Maybe in Moscow, but St. Petersburg isn't quite as rich or "about all that" (as I try to make my point nicely)

Beautiful colors

 

 

 

     

St. Petersburg this week

Here are a few pictures from the past week.  We're still enjoying great summer weather - mid 70's, sun.  By far, the warmest (and sunniest) that we've seen in 3 years.  No complaints from me!

On Saturdays, Pat & I go to "our" market.  It's not the largest in town, but it's "ours" because we have vendors who know us & treat us well.  I'm sure they laugh as "those strange Americans" as soon as we leave.  But who cares!

Over the past few years, we've learned that the only way to consistently get fresh fruits & vegetables is at the market.  It's more expensive, but worth the variety & freshness.  The grocery stores are a little dicey. 

The sign says it's the Vasileostrovskiy Market, "Only Fresh Produce".  In addition to fruits & vegetables, we normally buy our chicken and pork here, and sometimes dairy.

Our main vendors are 2 guys from Uzbekistan.  I wished I could have gotten their picture, but it wasn't going to happen willingly!  You can see one of the guys behind of the counter.  I never knew before how great the produce was in the Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan.  Cherries, pomegrantites, apricots.  The Uzbek melons are awesome and we are already eating amazing tomatoes.

Pat & I joke that they are 2 of our closest "friends" in Russia.  They actually let us pick out what we want & put it into our own bags.  I try talking with them a little, but it's a challenge.  They always wonder where we are when we miss a week, so I try to tell them.  When you tell them you are from the US, they want to share their view on politics (of course!).  I do know that they loved President Clinton, hated GW, and don't understand Obama.  Too funny to even comment on!

Here, they sell dried fruits & nuts (so much cheaper than the grocery stores), and they will fresh squeeze juices (соки on the sign).

We went to the Philharmonic as well.  The season (symphonies, as well as Ballet & Opera) ends in early July, and they do their summer tour in Europe in the US.

 After the performance, we stopped at the Grand Europe for dinner & drinks.  I love that it was still so light at 10:30pm

Now for some semi-creepy photos..... cover your eyes as needed. 

Once a year, we take a summertime walk around the Peter & Paul Fortress.  The fortress itself is a great place to visit.  It was founded by Peter the Great, and built between 1704-1740.  It's the burial place for most of the Russian Tsars, including Nicolas II & his family (the royal family that was murdered in 1917 by the Bolshevieks during the Revolution).  At noon each day, they shoot off a cannon. 

We didn't go inside any of the building this time, but here's a picture of the Grand Ducal Burial Vault

Peter & Paul Cathedral

Lots of nice walking paths in the fortress as well

So what makes it creepy?  The sunbathers.  Trust me, they are not French Rivera worthy!   They are not even Erie Peninsula worthy!  But it's like a car crash & I can't resist checking them out (& taking pictures). 

The men love to stand while they tan themselves.  And the thongs!!!!

Let's end this posting on a more pleasant note & with a more picturesque image......