Hello All! It’s Andrew again.
Today I am writing about my trip to Russia. I studied abroad in Spain, but after my
program ended I spent a week in St. Petersburg before coming home. The trip was a great experience in which I
learned a lot about Russian history – and bureaucracy.
Before my trip, I had to get a visa. The process was almost a clinic in
bureaucracy involving lots of paperwork, delays, and travel back and forth
between my host city on Spain’s southern coast and the Russian consulate in
Madrid. A bright spot was this amusing
error on one of the forms:
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Does
everyone have to work making fruity sweets and no one told me?
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In any case, despite the red tape (and having to spend an
extra night in Madrid because my visa was not ready on the date I was told), I
did get my visa and at the end of July was off to Russia.
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St. Petersburg from atop one of the city’s many cathedrals,
with some symbolism in the foreground.
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Something that stood out to me was that much of the Russian
tourism sector is geared toward attracting visitors from the former Soviet
Union. The staff at my hotel spoke
little English, and in the city most clerks, waiters, etc. were content to talk
with me in my unpracticed Russian.
Likewise, “foreign” food in Russia takes a different meaning, with
restaurants serving food from the Caucuses and Central Asia (I went to one
restaurant with a page titled “Uzbek Cuisine” in its menu).
It is
difficult to exaggerate the number of historical treasures in St. Petersburg. I
got to see the homes of Russian writers such as Alexander Blok and Feodor
Dostoyevsky.
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Plaques commemorating the homes of Blok (L) and Dostoyevsky
(R). Blok’s plaque also notes that he
died there in 1921.
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Additionally, there is a host of statues, monuments, and
palaces from Russia’s imperial and Soviet pasts. Catherine the Great’s Winter Palace still
stands in downtown St. Petersburg (today it is one of the world’s great art
museums). Likewise, a statue of Lenin
remains in front of one of the city’s principal rail stations.
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The Winter Palace.
Today the Hermitage Museum.
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The Lenin statue in front of the Mosckovsky rail station.
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Visiting
Russia was a great way to learn about people and places that were new to
me. I had read about Russian history,
but the opportunity to see the places where it happened was an incredible
opportunity. History buffs, literature
aficionados, and people who just want to see something different will have a
great time in Russia. I highly recommend
a visit.
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