A Russian voyage of discovery
by Paula Prindle, Orient, OH
We’ve all heard Churchill’s description of Russia — “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma” — so my husband, David, and I were expecting culture shock on our August ’07 visit. But our biggest discovery was that modern Russia displays as many similarities to America as differences. Oh, sure, the differences are easier to pinpoint, and pinpoint them I will, but we were surprised and delighted by how comfortable we felt there.
At ease
We can attribute much of our comfort to our tour company, Grand Circle Travel (Boston, MA; 800/248-3737, www.gct.com). Our accommodations, our program directors, our tour guides and our itinerary: all were top-notch and made us feel at ease while still allowing us to discover “the real Russia.”
This might sound like we travel only to be comfortable and to enjoy American-style amenities. Nothing could be farther from the truth, but I do wish to allay the fear that traveling to Russia is only for the young, the daring, the intrepid.
We had been warned about spies, the Mafia, parasites, you name it. We experienced friendliness, openness, frank answers to our questions, and even an occasional smile, although they are still rare.
Preparing for travel
About the only thing I remember learning about Russia in school was how to crawl under my desk when the Civil Defense horns blew. So before going I set out to learn as much as I could, and am I glad I did! I found Russian history fascinating and read and watched as much as I could.
ITN reader Linda Lipson had recommended “Russka” by Edward Rutherfurd (Dec. ’06, pg. 80). I second her recommendation. The book provides an all-encompassing look at Russian/Ukrainian history and it greatly enriched our tour.
I also learned some necessary travel phrases in Russian and memorized the Cyrillic alphabet. That prepared me to lead friends through the Moscow metro, to s-l-o-w-l-y read signs and plaques that made bus rides and walking tours more interesting, and to communicate minimally with non-English-speaking Russians. (This is when the rare smiles appeared.)
Unique finds
Some of our discoveries on this trip to Russia were practical, some were charming, some were startling and some were delicious. Imagine eating ratatouille for breakfast! I ate it almost every day (even though the peppers talked back at about 10 a.m.).
I liked some of the other edible discoveries (piroshki, blini, red horseradish, liquid yogurt and borscht), and some I didn’t (pickled veggies for breakfast, and salo, or Ukrainian pork fat, spread on bread as an appetizer).
We discovered that Russian weather can be unpredictable. We all packed wrong, believing we’d be escaping the dog days of summer back home. Surprise! A heat wave broke records while we were there.
We were told that in the St. Petersburg area, normally only five to seven days a year are warm enough for swimming, but between Aug. 10 and Aug. 27, rarely was the high below 89°F. It’s one thing to put up with temperatures in the 90s when one is at home with the A/C fired up; it’s quite another to sightsee in those temps.
“The buses are air-conditioned,” we were told, “but it’s not American air-conditioning.” Definition of Russian A/C — you can hear it, you just can’t feel it.
Our most charming discovery was that Russian and Ukrainian newlyweds have their wedding photos taken next to national monuments, museums, historic churches and palaces and in outdoor markets — everywhere tourists congregate, it seems. We saw many, many beautiful brides, handsome grooms and formally dressed wedding parties with their decorated cars, limos and horse-drawn carriages.
More discoveries
We were delighted to discover that the streets and subways were litter-free and graffiti-free. The Moscow subways are user-friendly (if you can read Cyrillic) and very beautiful.
We’d been told how expensive things were in Russia, so we were expecting high prices for everything. Not so! Since our accommodations and many meals were prepaid as part of the tour, we found most other expenses (bottled water, snacks, subway tickets and souvenirs) to be reasonable. For example, 2-liter bottles of water cost about $1 and subway tickets about 70¢.
However, be prepared to pay for the privilege of photographing and videotaping the interiors of many churches, palaces and museums. The average rate for still cameras was about $4 and for video cameras, $14.
By the way, we found no need to take American dollars. The ruble is stable enough that there is no incentive to pay with dollars. Vendors gave no deals for dollars, although many did accept them. The exchange rate was approximately 25 rubles to the dollar.
Perhaps our most impressive “discovery” was the Kremlin. Our preconceived notions were way off base. “Kremlin” just means “fortress,” and the city began inside its walls. Every Russian town had a kremlin, not just Moscow.
The Moscow Kremlin is where many government offices are located, including that of the president, but it is also home to three major cathedrals, two churches, five palaces, the Armoury (where Russian treasures are displayed, everything from the crown jewels and Fabergé eggs to thrones, carriages and coronation dresses) and a lovely park! It was as if a wall were built around the White House, the Capitol, the Smithsonian and the Mall, with the National Cathedral and a few other churches thrown in for good measure.
A few last surprises
A highlight of our trip was meeting with Russian World War II veterans at the Central Museum of Armed Forces. They answered many of our questions about the war and invited our World War II veterans (we had eight in our group) to pose with them for photos.
While others headed for the bathrooms and gift shop, David held me back so we could take each other’s picture with the Russian veterans. In my halting Russian, I said “Pleased to meet you” to one medal-bedecked vet. He grinned and pulled a pin from his pocket and presented it to me, and I discovered how much it meant to him that an American took the time to learn a little of his language.
We discovered that Red Square is large and very beautiful, but it’s not nearly as massive as it seemed in the old Soviet newsreels.
We also discovered that somebody has big rubles, since we saw quite a few Lexuses, Mercedes, Jaguars, Porsches and even Bentleys.
We discovered matryoshka (nesting) dolls of Bush, Clinton, Putin, Goofy, Harry Potter, Elvis, Princess Diana, the Beatles, the Bengals and the OSU Buckeyes. We each learned how to drink vodka from a shot glass balanced on our elbow, and that Lenin‘s body is sporting a polka-dot tie.
We discovered that open containers are acceptable, but flushing toilet paper down a toilet is not. (This last discovery was perhaps the most difficult to get used to.)
We discovered that the double-headed eagle of Russia looks to both the east and the west, just like Russia. This land of 11 time zones does not belong to either culture but has characteristics of both.
Our 16-day “Russian Waterways” tour cost $3,095 per person from New York. This special sale price included a 3-night extension to Kiev, normally an extra $445, for free.
All in all, it was quite a voyage of discovery.