Inside the Kremlin and Stalin's Bunker

Today we were supposed to see the inside of Lenin's Mausoleum, but Red Square was closed because the Police Academy was having its graduation ceremony. From what little I could see or hear, it seemed comparable to the US Service Academy Graduation ceremonies.

The ceremony concluded with the singing of Russia's National Anthem which resulted in a moment of shock because the anthem's melody is the same as it was under the Soviet Union. It turns out that there was a brief change of national anthems following the collapse of the USSR. However, the anthem was restored after a couple years, but the lyrics were significantly changed.

Although we didn't get to see Lenin's Mausoleum today, we did enter the Kremlin. In case you don't know, "Kremlin" means "fortress" in Russian, and most major cities in Russia have a Kremlin (although the Kremlin may be called a different name), so it's just a "fortress" inside a city.

The first thing we did inside the Kremlin was visit the Kremlin Armoury. The Armoury houses a significant portion of Russia's history from just before the Mongol occupation and Ivan the Terrible to Nicholas II. It holds 10 Faberge eggs, the thrones of the Tsars, carriages, crowns, dresses, weapons, and other royal and religious regalia. I was extremely impressed by the history and vastness of the Armoury's collection, and I think everyone interested in religious artwork would have a profound experience if they saw the Armoury's collection.

The Tsar Cannon was made in 1586 and is the world's largest bombard by caliber according to the Guinness Book of World Records. While it's presence is largely symbolic, it does bear traces of being fired at least once (likely a test firing). The ratio of it's barrel length to it's caliber technically makes it not a cannon, but more of a stylized mortar (but who am I to judge?).

The cannonball, which you can barely see in front of it, weighs one ton and was made in 1834 as a decoration. Legend has it the cannonballs were made in St. Petersburg in order to emphasize the nature of the friendly rivalry between Moscow and St. Petersburg. If it were fired again, the cannon would likely have to fire grapeshot because the cannonballs are too large to be fired from the cannon.

This was just a row of 2-pound cannons that I thought looked cool. There is a plaque behind it but I didn't have time to read it because I needed to catch up to my group.

This is the Tsar Bell. It's a massive, bronze 200-ton bell made in 1735 but was never rung because of a mistake during the casting process. A fire occurred and the flames were doused with water. However, the extreme change in temperature caused a massive crack to occur that led to an 11-ton piece of the bell to break off (it's on the other side). The artwork on the bell is filled with Baroque angels, plants, and near-life size representations of the Empress Anna and Tsar Alexey. Napoleon, when he occupied Moscow during the War of 1812, attempted to seize the bell as a trophy, but he couldn't because the bell was too heavy. It is said that the bell is so large that if it were rung, it's sound could be heard for 50 miles (roughly 70 km). 

This is the Grand Kremlin Palace which currently serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation, and was previously the Tsar's official Moscow residence. However, the President and his family normally reside in the country than in the Palace. Personally, I think this palace looks a lot more impressive than the White House.  However, I could be biased in this regard because I used to live in Silver Spring, MD., which is a relatively short car ride to Washington, D.C. and it's major buildings.

This is one of the cathedrals in the aptly named "Cathedral Square." Cathedral Square features three major cathedrals, two churches, and the Palace of Facets. Cathedral Square is famous as the site of solemn coronation and funeral procession of all the Tsars, patriarchs, and Grand Dukes. Today, it is used as the site of the President's inauguration ceremony. The Cathedral of the Dormition is the site where many patriarchs and metropolitans of Russia are buried, such as Ivan the Terrible. 

And finally, there was a trip to Stalin's bunker. The above picture is the bunker, now converted into a museum, where Stalin hosted a famous meeting of the Red Army generals as the Nazis approached Moscow. This was the site where General Zhukov (hero of the Soviet Union) proposed that the Soviet Union gamble its fate and withdraw its armies from the East that were protecting Russia's border with the Japanese Empire and redeploy them in Moscow. The strategy worked and the Nazi invasion stalled. A few years later, the Nazis would be completely pushed out of Russia and would go on to lose the war.

The area in the middle of the room was designed to amplify Stalin's voice without a microphone. The farther you are in the center, the more your voice is amplified. To the left of the table is Stalin's private study which contains a map that shows the lines of the Red Army and the Nazi Army as the Battle of Moscow approaches. Once the Battle of Moscow was over, Stalin left the bunker and never used it again throughout the rest of the war.

I probably won't write a blog post after tomorrow's events because I'm only supposed to be going to Lenin's Mausoleum and the Russian equivalent of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. Instead, I'll write a blog post Monday night as I'm returning to Petersburg that will recap tomorrow's and Monday's events (Monday will feature a visit to the Battle of Borodino Panorama). 

From Petersburg, with Love

It's just over the halfway point in my 8 week study program. It's hard to believe that August 11th is only a month away and then I'm flying back to the United States. One thing's for sure, I'm growing to love Petersburg, which is a first because cities have never favorite.

I've lived within easy reach of Seattle, Washington DC, San Antonio, Columbia, Boston, and many more and I've never felt particularly interested in being there for an extended stay. But Petersburg is different and I'm not quite sure why. I've been developing relationships with Russians in the city and they've been extremely great, and in some ways, Petersburg isn't like my normal idea of a city

The skyline historical center of the city is much smaller than most normal US cities since no building can be taller than Peter and Paul's Fortress. Since the city is more spread out as a result, it feels less cramped (although, this impression goes out the window if you ride on the metro during rush hour). But the longer I'm in Petersburg, the more interested I am in trying to spend at least a year here after Dartmouth.

But enough of that. The real reason you're reading this blog is to learn what I'm doing in Moscow at the moment. We're here in the capital of Russia for a grand total of 4 days, having arrived this morning by the night train (it was the first non-metro, non-tourist attraction train I've ridden since I was 4 and my family was living in Germany). The bed on the train was surprisingly comfy, much more so than my roll-out couch that I'm currently sleeping on.

Upon arriving in Moscow, the first major location we stopped by was Red Square.

The top building is the State Historical Museum whose towers closely resemble the Kremlin's and the bottom building is St. Basil's Cathedral. We also stood next to Lenin's Mausoleum and saw different statues. There's also a statue of Field Marshal Zhukov from World War II that has caused controversy in the past because of the presence of the Nazi Swastika at the feet of Zhukov. Apparently, the controversy is more of a misunderstanding because the symbolism of the statue is to show how Zhukov helped defeat Nazi Germany and bring about its collapse.

Red Square was our major stop of the day but we continued to visit some other places (when I say visit, I mean drive by or maybe stop for a couple minutes to take a break from riding the bus). However, we did spend about 45 minutes in Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow's most famous cemetery (excluding Red Square). While there, I visited the graves of famous Russians like Chekhov, Gogol, and Bulgakov.

The grave that impressed me the most though, and stood alone from all the other graves, was Boris Yeltsin's, whose grave was covered by this representation of the flag of the Russian Federation.

Tomorrow will be just as interesting, if not more, as we'll be visiting the Kremlin itself! 

Things get more interesting every day

I think I'm long overdue for another blog post considering everything that's happened. I completed a weekend trip to Novgorod, starting volunteering to help teach English, and visited the Museum of Artillery, which stands across the street from Peter-Paul's Fortress.

Oh, and yeah, there was also a visit to the Baltika Beer Factory as well. But I'll leave the details to your imagination. I will tell you though, that they gave me a glass tankard with "Baltika" written on the side, which will likely be going to my dad.

Last weekend, we visited Novgorod for two days. On our tour around Novgorod, we saw Saint Sofia's Cathedral, the Millenium of Russia monument, walked around the outer wall, experienced some fountains (one of which we could walk on), and a small World War II memorial that listed the names of people from Novgorod who died in the war. Next to the list of Novgorod's fallen, there was a tank and two artillery pieces (howitzer sized). On the hill behind the memorial, there was a large monument that memorialized the Red Army and Partisans who fought in WWII as well as soldiers from Russia's pre-industrial age.

After the tour, I decided to take my couple hours of free time to purchase some souvenirs for my family. I purchased a green scarf, a matrushka doll, and some magnets since my mother collects them. Then I hung out with my friends on the beach right behind the Novgorod walls where many of them were taking the time to soak up some sun or jump in the water.

On Sunday, we visited a monastery and saw the inside of another Eastern Orthodoxy church. I took the opportunity to purchase a couple of icons, one for my mom and one for me. My icon is of Saint Gregory defeating the dragon. We then visited a small village where we had dinner (and I was pulled into a dance by a performance group) before heading back to Petersburg.

The next day, Monday, I started volunteering at a foreign languages center on Vasileyevsky Island. So far, I've attended four classes, and I intend on helping at every class. However, I will be forced to miss one because I'll be in Moscow that night.

But I've met some very interesting and extremely nice people in the class. I've already been able to have long conversations with some of them about our respective cultures, politics, and what I think about Petersburg. And at the beginning of class for at least the new two weeks, I'll be giving short 10-minute presentations about American culture and my experiences. My biggest hope is that I'll actually be an effective enough teacher that they'll improve their English comprehension and knowledge by a lot.

And finally, this afternoon I visited the Museum of Artillery with my friends. It was a pretty fun and interesting experience, and because I'm currently a student at St. Petersburg State University, I was allowed to enter for free.

Next weekend, I'll be going to Moscow for four days. Something that I'm curious about though: In Russia, the name is "Moskva" but in the US, we say "Moscow." I wonder what lead to this word transformation.

Petersburg Landmarks and the Siege of Leningrad

This past week was filled with a whirlwind of events, from visiting the Hermitage and a scavenger hunt around the city to the 72nd Anniversary of the Siege of Leningrad (known is Petersburg as "Blockada Leningrada") and the annual "Scarlet Sails" festival for graduating high school students. This will likely be a long blog post but bear with me a little.

On Wednesday, our program completed our first true excursion, which was to the Hermitage.

In case you don't know, the Hermitage was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and was opened to the public in 1852. It's one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, and contains precious paintings and other pieces of artwork by Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael, Rembrandt, and more. It's also the site of the famous "Amber Room" and is made with slabs of white marble that were converted into perfect pillars or giant pieces fashioned out of pure gold.

Of everything that was in the Hermitage that I had a chance to see, my favorite exhibit was probably the "War of 1812" gallery which displayed hundreds of portraits of officers who served in the war. It was probably my favorite room because I read Tolstoy's "War and Peace,"to which the war served as a backdrop.

Then on Saturday, we had another excursion where we took a tour visiting major sites from the Siege of Leningrad. Saturday marked the 72nd anniversary of "Operation Barbarossa," which was the Nazi Germany invasion of the Soviet Union. Three months later, the Wehrmacht would lay a siege on Leningrad that would last for almost 900 days. Hundreds of thousands of Russians died in that siege, many from starvation.

Many Russians were buried in mass graves in an area that would later become known as "Piskarevskoye Cemetary," where a giant statue of the mother of Russian and an eternal flame overlook the grave mounds. To mark the 72nd anniversary, numerous wreaths were placed around the statue in a manner reminiscent to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

Visiting the cemetery was a profound experience because it showed just how much the citizens of Petersburg/Leningrad suffered during the war, and how Russia continues to commemorate the memories of those who perished in the siege.

On a somewhat lighter note, Sunday night, the day after the 72nd anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Petersburg had its giant festival "Scarlet Sails".

The tradition started at the end of World War II when several Leningrad schools united to celebrate the end of the school year with the symbolism of the popular 1922 children's book Scarlet Sails by Alexander Grin, which is the story of two young lovers.

The main event, preceded by a series of concerts and other events, is a lights and pyrotechnics show (fire and fireworks) that highly the old, wooden frigate Standart, as it sails down the Neva river with its majestic scarlet sails.

If you click on the video link above, you'll see just how amazing and impressive a celebration it is.

Be prepared for next week's blog post as I'll be visiting Novgorod, Petergof, and the Tsars' village at Pushkin, St. Petersburg. Also, later this week, I'll recap the scavenger hunt that saw me and every other city travel around the city.

Have a great week!
Josh

My life in Saint Petersburg starts with a bang...

It took a while for me to actually start writing my blog, mainly because I've been busy traveling around Petersburg and hanging out with my fellow classmates. If you want to see where we're going to be taking classes, look at this picture:

It's a beautiful looking building, especially up close. It's known as the "Smolny Cathedral" and it's got a beautiful mixture of light blue and white. Out of the cathedrals I've seen, Smolny, St. Isaac's, Kazan, and the Church of the Resurrection of Christ (alternatively known as "Church of the Savior on Spilt Blood"), Smolny is the nicest looking one. It also helps that most of Petersburg's architecture is fascinating and outstanding. By tradition, in the historical center of Petersburg, no building is allowed to be taller than Peter and Paul's Fortress (this is the landmark where all the Tsars from Peter I [also known as "Peter the Great"] to Nicholas II [last of the Tsars] are buried).

But today was our first time working in Smolny because we needed to take placement tests to be assigned the appropriate group. Because we met our host families last night, we needed to navigate St. Petersburg by metro, bus, or on foot in order to arrive at Smolny. Due to a series of unfortunate events, what was supposed to be a 30-40 minute trip turned into a 3 hour tour of Saint Petersburg.

Normally, our host mothers take us to Smolny on the first day so that we know how to get to Smolny for classes. However, I misunderstood what my host mother was saying. I thought she said that she had work and would be unable to take me and that I needed to go on my own (it turned out that she was planning on taking me. I just couldn't comprehend every word she said).

Making it to the metro station was the easy part. I knew that I needed to arrive at "Chernishevskaya" so that I could take a shuttle to Smolny. There was just one small problem.

For those of you who don't know, I'm color-blind. I have what is called deuteranopia, which means that my green cones in my eyes are deficient (the eyes have rods and cones, and the cones help distinguish colors. Ask an optometrist or wikipedia for a much more accurate explanation).

According to Google Images, this is what I see:

Anyways, I was riding on the Blue line and I needed to switch to the Red line. To transfer onto the Red line, I needed to switch trains at Mayakovskaya. However, the station after Mayakovskaya was Alexander Nevskij Square, which was the transfer station for the Orange line. I failed to correctly distinguish the Red and the Orange lines (the red looked orange and the orange looked red) and I ended up at the wrong location.

As time passed, I started to get mildly confused, so I decided to leave the metro at Nevskij Square. However, I didn't have a map or an active cell phone so I was forced to set out in a direction that felt right, so I chose Nevskij Prospekt in the hopes of finding a business that's open so that I could ask for directions in English, except every business that I tried didn't have english speakers, nor did they know Smolny Institute's location (bad luck on my part).

Ninety minutes and several kilometers later (including 2-3 kilometers followed by a Russian policeman, which was horrifying because I didn't have my passport since I needed to give it to Smolny so that they could make my student documents), I found the "Rassilon Royal Hotel" where the receptionists speak English and gave me a map and showed me the direction I needed to head. If you google map Saint Petersburg, you'll notice that I chose a wrong direction from Alexander Nevskij Square, but at least it didn't take me in the completely opposite direction away from Smolny.

After I received the map and directions, I had the world's easiest time finding the Smolny Institute, where I met up with all my classmates, took my placement test, activated my cell phone, had lunch, and walked around Petersburg and down Nevskij Prospekt (again) with my classmates Rory, Grant, and Alice. In all, it turned out to be a very good afternoon.

I learned three lessons from this accidental excusion:

1) I've got a decent understanding of the Russian public transportation system, as well as vital experience navigating St. Petersburg.

2) I had a chance to observe various cultural differences and similarities between Russians and Americans, something I'll probably post about at the summer progresses.

3) I have a tendency to get lost in cities when I'm alone for the first time in them for some reason (i.e. Washington DC two years ago).

On a side note, if you're ever in Saint Petersburg, I recommend the Rassilon Royal Hotel because it looks super nice and clean and has an amazing staff.

On another side note, I'm going to sign off as "Apollo", which is my Phi Tau house name, based off the character Lee "Apollo" Adama from Battlestar Galactica.

Until next time,

Apollo
"So Say We All"