I recently made a trip into Russia; Moscow and St. Petersburg. At the
time I was living in Hannover Germany although now I have returned to
the US. This is to record and inform others of my experiences in
Russia and hopefully to debunk some of the fears and apprehensions
that some might have when contemplating a journey into the heart of
the "Evil Empire" of the FSU. There is a lot of urban legend, fear and
unnecessary concerns that many in the west have when thinking of such
a trip. Many of the security and safety concerns that westerners have
are not warranted by the facts of the situation at least in my own
limited experience. Russia is very different to the west, it is a
different world and there are a lot of problems associated with life
in the FSU (as far as I can see) but there are no real impediments to
visiting.
I saw many of the major sites in Moscow and St. Petersburg but will
not spend much time here describing what to see. There is more to see
and do in this area than you can possibly have time for. Suffice it to
say for now that the kremlins, Churches, museums, architecture, etc.
etc. is all magnificent and far more beautiful than this humble scribe
can ever hope to describe. It is all described in voluminous travel
and historical literature. I had 10 days in Russia and if I had a 100
perhaps then I could start to scratch the surface of what there is
although perhaps a lifetime would not be enough, there is simply to
much. My intent here in this report is to describe some of the
cultural and social aspects of life there and as I said before to
allay some of the safety concerns that folks have. I will mention this
again at the end but for those who don't want to read that far and
want help to arrange a visit to Moscow and St.Petersburg.
Day 1
Travel day. First part is Aeroflot from Hamburg to Moscow. Yes,
Aeroflot. I wanted to see for myself directly if the Russian airline
was as "exciting" as their reputation. The flight was uneventful, I
was favorably impressed. The plane was clean, the service was good.
Nothing special to report about Aeroflot really; no problem
whatsoever. It was clearly a Russian airplane as markings were in
russian and the crew spoke german with a Russian accent. Most of the
passengers were Russian also. The guy sitting next to me was an
engineer going home to visit and was quite surprised to find himself
setting next to an "Amerikanski" Had a pleasant conversation with him
and he gave me some tips on how to survive in Moscow. He expressed
concern to me about an unescorted American wandering the streets of
Moscow and actually started to get me worried a bit as to what exactly
I was getting myself into here. He seemed ok and helpful but for some
reason he drew a bit of attention from the customs people at the
baggage claim area in Moscow and I distanced myself from him as I
wanted nothing to do with these folks.
Arrival in Moscow and going through customs into the country itself
was no problem. They didn't even look at the customs/currency forms
that I dutifully filled out. So I clear customs and then enter the
country. Where is the person that is supposed to be meeting me here? I
enter a different world, there is the crowd of taxi drivers that I
heard of, try to stay away from them, try to find the person that is
supposed to be meeting me without wandering to far away. The plane is
a bit late and it is about an hour after scheduled arrival that I
finally leave the customs area but surely my escort knows this.
I wait in the general area for at least another hour, nobody. Here I
am lost in a strange world, not knowing the language or where exactly
I am going, bad omen. I try not to draw attention, try not to look
like an ignorant, lost, American tourist, all the stories I heard of
Russia, Moscow, the Taxi drivers, etc. are going through my mind; what
to do? Darkness is coming on in a few hours, I want to be "somewhere"
by then. I'm gonna have to trust somebody. There's the taxi driver
that's been shadowing me, he seems a little less "rough" than some of
the others and he speaks a bit of English.
I show him the address of my host in Moscow, I am staying with an
older widowed schoolteacher and I have her name and address
thankfully, driver says no problem (standard answer, he actually
doesn't know where it is and has to spend a few minutes looking at a
map when we finally get to the car). Than we negotiate the price of
the taxi and write it down so no misunderstanding. Strange that it is
in cash US$, no problem I brought plenty of US currency with me (I
hope I still have it by the time we get where we're going ) So,
off we go. This guy is one of the unofficial taxi drivers using his
personal car to make money on the side. The fare ($50) from the
airport into town is about a months pay to the average Russian. I
think on a subsequent visit that I could get from the airport to
downtown Moscow for less than $5 maybe less than a $1 ; the key is to
get to the metro station. You can take a bus from the airport to a
metro stop and from there go anywhere. The metro ends not far from the
airport. Obviously some details are left out here but this is my
opinion and I'm sure it's possible.
The ride from the airport was "interesting". The car seems like it
routes the exhaust through the passenger compartment but it otherwise
runs ok and now I get to see a bit of Moscow and the local highway
system. Traffic is very heavy, lane markers are ignored. The airport
is far northwest side of Moscow and my apartment is on the southeast
about an hour or so away. I chat with the driver as best I can and try
to soak in my first impressions of Russia and Moscow. Lots of cars
stopped here and there for mechanical problems. The cars are all
beaters, not fancy, basic, bare bones generic autos of mostly Russian
and east European make although I see the occasional ford, japenese,
and German auto (the occasional big Mercedes really stand out, I'm
told these belong to "mafia") All the signs are in Russian (of course)
but there is a mixture of alphabets used; transliteration into the
roman alphabet is common. I see the sign for Leningrad and towns I
know nothing of. The air is oily with the texture of diesel as well as
the smell. Streets, buildings, cars all seem to be in poor shape. No
garbage anywhere, No graffiti at all. The whole place is both clean
and dirty at the same time if you can reconcile these ideas. I see
huge apartment buildings in the classical neo-stalinist design that you
see in pictures out of Russia. I think there is something like 10
million in the Moscow area and most all live in these huge public
housing projects including my host where we soon arrive direct without
any detour my driver takes me straight to the proper door of the
proper building. Good thing to cause I could never have found it on my
own despite having the address. One thing that quickly strikes you
about Moscow and Russia itself is the huge scale of everything. My
guide later describes this as a characteristic of Russian
architecture, style etc: The place is HUGE; buildings, streets,
monuments, the land everything is way overdone. The place is built
with a different sense of scale. I pay the driver (clean, US $
currency) he thanks me and is gone and now here I am.
My host is Lily and now I am where I need to be. I will be here 3 days
with her. She is expecting me so I'm sure I'm in the right place. She
speaks not one word of English and about as much German as I do
Russian. I am in an apartment in one of those huge public housing
tracts that are everywhere. The inside is neat, tidy. The outside
looks like public housing (public housing in the US paradigm) except
for being spotless, it is a clean, building and grounds in disrepair
with no frills, no trimming, no extras, no graffiti, no garbage. I
quickly learn that in Russia most buildings are in various states of
disrepair and are literally falling apart; the place looks like no
serious maintains done on poorly constructed buildings in years (the
best buildings in Russia are pre-revolution). But the apartment I'm in
is nice and Lily is a nice person and we can communicate a little bit.
I have a Russian phrase book with me (berlitz) I quickly learn the
russian alphabet, within a couple days I am reading fine in Russian
(really, it's no problem) and my phrase book starts getting a real
workout. My stay in a private apartment is costing me $25/day and
includes breakfast and dinner (Russian style food of course) I'm there
at dinner so she fixes me some food. The food is different but is
edible. The food is generally somewhat bland, different tastes etc.
and is in smaller quantities (than typical American style) This is an
observation, not a judgment. She did make me Borscht one night, boy
that was good! She even seemed pleased that I understood what it was
enough to ask for it when we were discussing food one time, same thing
with my Petersburg hosts. The kitchen looks like a normal apartment
kitchen. The interior of the refrigerator is a bit different in no
package foods, everything is homemade from basic raw materials.
Larisa, my guide from the Moscow agency, that was supposed to have met me at the airport
comes to the apartment later and apologizes profusely for having
missed me at the airport; her English is pretty marginal but I get
that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and she says
something about the flight not being posted properly and anyway
everything now is ok. Missing me is an error (and also a loss cause
somebody else got the fare for bringing me into town, $50 is a LOT of
money to a Russian) but she makes up for it later with extra services
as does Sergey. This is the only glitch in the whole trip and is
quickly forgotten.
The Next Day, Moscow
The agenda for today is to get oriented, get a train ticket for St.
Petersburg, mail some postcards, get a tour of the city. Busy day.
Larisa meets me early and we head out into the city. Using the bus to
get to a Metro stop and from there we go downtown. Public transport in
Moscow (and St.Petersburg) is first rate, really good, fast, reliable,
clean, cheap, crowded. I read somewhere that the Moscow Metro moves
something like 7 million people a day (some of this is probably the
same person traveling twice, after all getting there is only half the trip: still gotta get home) but it is a lot of people and was always crowded. If you miss the train there will be another in 60
seconds or less! They move really fast. It operates on tokens, you go
through these gates and if you try to go through without paying (or
move to quickly) a gate comes up and bars your passage (no cage, no
sirens, it simply won't let you in) once in the system you can go
anywhere on the same token. The metro system is absolutely
magnificent, the stations themselves are a work of art. I really like
it. It was extremely easy to navigate around (once you learned to read
Russian no, but seriously, I had no problem at all with the system
solo. You do have to know where you are going and counting stops is a
good idea as a backup to seeing/hearing the name of the station called
out.
Sending postcards home is a bit more of a special event than I had
anticipated. The mail operates differently: international mail is
strictly segregated from domestic. There are no mailboxes at random
locations through the city. To mail a postcard I had to go to the
main post office, buy the postcard and postage there and mail it from
there also. They sold me an envelope with the postage already affixed
to it, I wrote on the postcard placed it inside the envelope and
mailed it from that spot through the special international postbox.
Making phone calls out is also a special event that I didn't
experience first hand but I guess you have to make an appointment to
use an international line a day or so in advance and the rates are
EXTREMELY expensive.
Changing Money was another first day event. Fairly uneventful as one
can (legally) change money almost anywhere. The best rates
(legitimate) were found at the post office (where I mailed the cards)
and at the train station where I got the ticket for St.Petersburg.
DON'T change money at the western-style hotels: criminally rip-off
exchange rates there. One can (illegally) change money everywhere
also. I was advised against this even by knowledgeable Russians; it is
to easy to get screwed and the rates are not that much better to
offset the risks besides Russia is so darn cheap why bother? However
if you are tempted to do this based on what I saw/heard this is how to
do it even if you don't speak any Russian. First change only small
amounts at a time, must have US $ currency, clean, unwrinkled (10%
surcharge if your money is not physically in good shape) $20 is a good
amount (this is a lot of money in Russia) First, display the note you
want to change and then put it back in your pocket, with hand motions
indicate to your banker to count out the amount of rubles he/she will
give for that note, set the ruble currency down, put your hand on the
currency while simultaneously with your other hand reach into your
pocket withdraw the US note and hand it over simultaneously
withdrawing the Russian currency, Watch the ruble currency closely to
verify the amount is correct (if you can't change money in your head
you have no business playing these games). Note that money changing is
a mafia controlled operation, changing large amounts is likely to draw
the kind of attention you don't want and increase the risk of being
screwed. IMHO it simply ain't worth the risk besides you can spend US
currency directly on items of value and interest and negotiate better
exchange rates in that manner. At the flea market for example all the
stuff was priced in US $, At GUM department store everything was
priced in $ (To expensive, go only to look). On the way out I had a
few stamps on my paperwork and receipts for stuff but they didn't even
glance at it. Also Russian law has changed recently and you can
legitimately take out of the country a few million rubles ( I think up
to 3, why would you want to?) I "smuggled" out a bunch of ruble
banknotes as souvenirs (GREAT small gift idea) before I realized
nobody cared. If you're a Monopoly player it might be fun to get
enough Russian currency to play Monopoly with real money.
Mafia is another big subject popular in the western press. Here is my
experience with the Russian mafia in Moscow and in St.Petersburg:
Never saw them. I won't say it's a myth. I did see some rather
ostentatious displays of obscene wealth and people I asked flat out
confirmed their existence but for the casual visitor they don't exist.
If you are there to do business of any sort you will encounter them
but I was looking and didn't see them. My hosts laughed at me in the
same way I laugh at people who ask me about Al Capone and the
gangsters of Chicago (where I am from). Well, yeah but there is more
to the city than the mafia and even if you look for them you likely won't see them. (note, your mileage may vary)
The Train Station was interesting. Big statue of Lenin in the main
hall and some patriotic stuff here and there. Larisa bought the train
ticket for me at Russian rates (substantially cheaper than for
foreigners) First class ticket one way to St.Petersburg (daytime) was
about $8, more on the train later.
Went to the Kremlin and went through some churches. We had an
afternoon appointment to meet a guide for the city tour. Larisa was
marginal on her English and sub-contracted out the city tour to a
middle-aged woman who spoke excellent German; by this time I was happy
to find somebody I could communicate with. Anyway before that had an
interesting experience touring the Kremlin and churches therein. Every
building has it own admission charge, The Russians are learning
capitalism fast! But the rates for foreigners are typically 10-20
times the rates for Russians. Larisa would buy the tickets at Russian
rates and we would then visit the church, building, whatever. She got
me in one place on a russian student ticket for about 200 rubles (5000
= $1) and the American couple in front of us had just paid the
equivalent of about $20!! There was a sharp eyed gatekeeper at one
place however that kicked me out for not being Russian and trying to
get in with a Russian ticket. We discussed this later as to how she
knew cause I was keeping my mouth shut at all times while Larisa did
the talking. We decided it was my Ray Bans and my smile that gave me
away: Russians don't smile. So afterwards I tried to look bored,
unsmiling and was never caught again. I figure the savings on all the
admissions more than paid for the cab ride on the first day.
The city tour with the guide was great! We hired a "cab" and drove
around for a few hours all over town. Saw a lot of interesting sites.
The way one deals with cabs in Russia is interesting. Put out your
hand and flag down anybody who will stop and take you where you want
to go. Everything there is cash, under the table and on-the-side,
owning a car is to own a real money making asset. This is why you need
a Russian-speaking aide! We stopped at a new museum that had just
opened a few days previously as a monument to "The Great Patriotic
War" and this is something that really made a deep impression on me:
the Russian experience with the war. The museum was magnificent, I was
there in mid-May just after the 50th anniversary events. It was very
apparent to me from what I saw and the people I talked to that the war
represents some sort of really Holy event in the Russian psyche. I
knew this intellectually before going but actually seeing some of this
was another matter. My guide's father had died at Stalingrad. She told
me of the more than 30 million dead of the Russian people. Stalin said
that a single death was a tragedy but a million dead was a statistic.
I saw the mass grave of the dead from the siege of Leningrad and it
was larger and as impressive and moving as anything I ever saw in
Germany of the Camps or even Auschwitz which I've also visited
(another story for another day). Americans should consider this: in
ALL American wars from the revolution to the Gulf the number of
American dead is some 1,300,000 ; The Russians lost more than that
before the gates of Leningrad over 900 days. Consider that in the
Vietnam war over a 12 year period we lost some 50,000 ; The russians
lost more than that in individual battles and in single days. I have
studied American history since I was very young and cannot claim any
real expertise or understanding of the Russians after so brief a visit
other than that I understand there is something really different there
to be understood. All the people I met were really decent, friendly
folks. Nobody ever wanted war. It is incredible the amount of national
wealth that has been spent in the last 50 years developing the
capability to destroy these people.
We spoke of the recent changes and the prospects for the future. We
were mutually grateful that the prospects for mutual destruction are
almost gone. Life in Russia today is hard and she agreed with me that
the struggle of today is for the children of tomorrow. The people who
have it so hard today hope for a better tomorrow if Russia can hold
together. I talked politics every chance I could and found nobody
hesitant or unwilling to give me opinions. I tried to be
non-judgmental and objective and heard a lot of interesting stuff
that you don't hear in the western news media. One overwhelming
impression of Russia is that you can learn more there in one day than
you can from 20 years of the western press. There is no substitute for
seeing with your own eyes what an amazing country and people this is.
The markets and the manner in which the "consumer economy" (such as it
is) works for individuals is really different than in the west. There
are virtually None large department stores of any sort. Even GUM, the
largest in Russia, is really not all that impressive (except for the
prices, wow!) by western standards. The impressive thing about GUM is
the architecture, history and location, (borders Red Square). Besides
that I was under whelmed. Shops and shopping areas are few, far
between, small in size and location and for somebody with western
money generally very cheap. You see a lot of sidewalk vendors and
individuals selling individual items at unpredictable locations and
times if you live there and actually care about and need something
specifically. In St.Petersburg Sergey remarked to me as we went by a
small sidewalk vendor "They've got garlic here, gonna have to come
back later". No vending machines: you see vending people such as the
crowds outside every Metro stop. There would be an old woman with a
can of coke in her hand (for sale) , or another with a pair of pants
(have anything in my size? No, just this one pair? (!)), I saw a lot
of puppies and kittens in peoples arms for sale. The Russians are
really big on animals it seems; love pets. However, they want a LOT of
money for them. One vendor we talked to with a cute small animal
wanted some ridiculous sum over $100 (cash US $) This was for Larisa,
I had no desire for animals and only noted this as a curious custom.
Kiosk vendors are real popular and are everywhere. I though food was
rather scarce and only available in small quantities but it is
available which some pointed out as a real difference to a few years
ago even though now it is very expensive (for a russian).
Toilets are another area of concern to westerners. One guide book I
read advised taking western toilet paper on a trip to Russia. I did
and felt like a real fool too. Not necessary. The russian stuff is
fine, it's not cardboard or sandpaper and while it is not Charmin
either it is useable and not an item of concern. If you are real
sensitive you can always buy the western stuff at various vendors here
and there. The toilets there are set up and operated a bit
differently. If you want to use a public toilet (they are ALL pay
toilets 2-300 rubles) you must provide your own paper or figure out
how to say "Toilet Paper" in russian to the surly attendant Most
of the toilets are fairly conventional design, no big surprises except
one place they were just a hole in the floor. A curious custom in the
apartments is that the toilet itself is in a separate closet from the
sink, washing facilities. It was like this in Poland also (another
article)
Saw Lenin. He's looking rather well for somebody who's been dead 70
years. (most bizarre thing I ever saw)
Saw some cannons in the Kremlin that had been left behind by Naploeon
in 1812 , That was interesting.
Another Day
Travel day to St. Petersburg. I took the day train. Sergey and Larisa
both wanted me to take the night train. Overnight sleeping compartment,
really a nice way to travel in western Europe, I've done it many times
but this was Russia and the overnight train between Moscow and
St.Petersburg has a bad reputation and I was concerned. In retrospect
I think most of this is urban legend and I think if I went again I
would take the night train but my other reason for the day train is
valid also and that is a chance to see a bit of the countryside
between Moscow and St. Petersburg. This is interesting and is enough
of a reason in my opinion. It rained much of this day (only time
during my trip, timed that right!) The countryside was scenic and
worth seeing. There was a lot of things I didn't see such as roads.
Mostly small roads, no major highways crossed the train's path. The
houses were curious also; lot's of wood, log houses and an obvious
lack of any real wealth. Small Villages on the way. The occasional
military vehicles on other trains. Rusting steam engines on sidings.
The train takes about 8-9 hours between Moscow and St. Petersburg. I
had a russian ticket, Larisa got me on the train in first class, found
my seat and enlisted the standby help of a couple surrounding
passengers just in case. I bought a russian language magazine (with
lots of pictures) just in case so I would appear even more russian and
kept my mouth shut; no problem. First class 9 hour train journey for
$8 and when I got to the St.Petersburg train station my next host was
there with a sign and my name and took me straight through to my next
apartment.
Another Day in St. Petersburg, Russia
This is a great town! I loved it and I receieved excellent advice on
how to ratio a limited amount of time between Moscow and St.
Petersburg. If you only have 10 days to spend, 3 in Moscow and the
rest in St. Petersburg is a good introduction to Russia. My host
family was Olga and Alek with son Sasha and daughter Natasha. The
children spoke good English but the daughter was shy and wouldn't
speak much despite almost perfect speech, she had been taking english
since 6 years old and is now 12. The parents spoke virtually no
english but were very nice people and very good place to stay for a
few days. My first day there was the city orientation tour with Sergey
and was very interesting. Books have been written on the sights of St.
Petersburg and I will not rephrase them here other than to say that
the city is magnificent! Nevsky Prospect, Hermitage, Museums,
churches, etc. etc. magnificent!
I was on my way between museums and stopped in a park to have a bit of
lunch and to rest my feet. Bought a beer from the local brewery
(Baltika, very good) in a half liter bottle and sat by a tree watching
people walk by. A curious thing happened to me as I finished my beer:
an elderly woman walked up to me and asked for the empty bottle (in
russian, I'm sure that's what she said cause when I just nodded my
head she took the bottle and said Spaseeba, Spaseeba (thank you) which
I did understand) This happened to me everyime and anywhere I went and
had an empty bottle somebody would ask for the empty. Very curious. I
try to blend in with the local people as much as possible and try not
to appear as an American tourist when I travel so I can better observe
and learn more and I think I succeeded in Russia judging by the number
of people who came up to me and spoke Russian to me. Soldiers would
ask for a light or the time. Very interesting. I know I was in areas
and traveled in a manner that the typical American does not. I got to
recognize americans immediately myself. At one museum that Sergey and
I went to he was questioned by the gatekeeper as to being a foreigner
(he had on a Maryland sweat-shirt and some other American clothes,
very popular with Russians BTW), she didn't say a word to me! Guess I
learned something in Moscow!
Had a real adventure there one day. Took the bus to Novgorod, a small
city of historical significance about 3 hours south of St.Petersburg.
It was nice but not worth a whole day in my opinion. Another assortment
of churches and historically significant stuff but most of it was
closed for renovation and even if open I don't hink it worth a full
day but I went. The adventure was the trip home. This was a regular
bus I took, not a tourist or excursion bus and everyone on the bus was
russian who needed to get back to St. Petersburg. I'm traveling with a
russian ticket right (thanks again Sergey!) and I don't speak russian.
I showed it to the driver as I get on with a bored unsmiling typical
russian expression (me and the driver) and we head on down the road.
At one stop he came to me and said something in russian that I didn't
understand except for the word "Bilety" (ticket), I start reaching
into my pocket with a bored expression that tries to communicate the
thought "What, are you asking me this for, I already showed you my
ticket" I think I was successful cause he made a dismissive gesture
himself as in "ok, now I remember" and goes back to the drivers seat.
Later in the journey problems start to develop with the bus of a
mechanical nature. He stops several times, goes back and tinkers with
the motor until one stop he can't fix it and there we are stuck out in
the middle of nowhere north russia. Shit! (excuse me) what am I gonna
do now!!! I don't know where I am, surrounded by people who speak a
strange language and the bus won't go. What to do? Everybody gets off
the bus, a few curse the driver and bus company (I know that's what I did but not out loud) and a few stick out there arms to wave down
traffic and attempt to get back to St.Petersburg. A group of about 5
others had succeeded in waving down an empty mini-bus. I made the sign
language gestures for "Room for one more?" They waved me in and it's
off to St.Petersburg to the nearest Metro Stop and then I can get home
ok. He takes us all to the first Metro stop on the far south side of
St.Petersburg and from there no problem. We each give him 10,000
rubles (about $2) He's happy, we're happy and as far as I know that
dam bus is still sitting back there at the turnoff for Murmansk!
Well, I still have a lot more to say but I think I'll save it for
another posting. There's a lot I've left out here certainly. My brief
time in Russia gave me memories for a lifetime. I found the country
far superior to my pre-conceived notions. It was safe, clean, the
people were very friendly. It was all magnificent my only regret is
that I didn't have more time and I didn't get a samovar or one of
those great hats! I'll be happy to answer any questions and fill in
the gaps of what is missing from this report.
Costs: Everything I spent in Russia for 10 days came to something
between $500-$600 (USD) (except for airfare from Germany via Aeroflot)
This covered lodging, food, trains, buses, metro, museums, souvenirs,
miscellaneous. Russia is CHEAP (unless you insist on "American Style"
which is VERY expensive but you miss the real country then).
I hope I can return again but have no idea now when that could be.
Tom
Click here to visit Tom's website.
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