Cake buildings

April 2013

Every morning in Moscow, my guide told us where we were going.  When I heard we were going to see skyscrapers, I thought he probably had not been to Hong Kong (HK); tall buildings are everywhere in HK, I did not think I wanted to see more.  While I almost stuck my tongue out, I held it, because I was told they were in the Stalinist style and looked like a layer cake.  So I licked my lips and went on this sightseeing tour.

 




Hotel Ukraine, 2013

Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, 2013

There are seven skyscrapers in the city, so they are also called the seven sisters.  The tallest sister is Moscow State University, the next one is Hotel Ukraine, and then Kotelnicheskaya Embankment building.  They are enormous and magnificent, bigger than a castle.  I had to stand far away from them, otherwise I could not see the whole building.  If you played hide-and-seen in one of them, even if it was empty, you might never find your friends.

 

The last one I saw was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  We walked down one side of the building to get to the front.  It was quite a long way.  The wall was plain and there was nothing to see, I wished I could finish this long boring walk quickly.  At last, I turned the corner and stood in front of the building.  It looked like a huge robot, a transformer, in the film.  It looked as if it had been kneeling on the ground, and had suddenly stood up and showering dust all around.  The wings of the building were its hands and these were armed with heavy weapons.



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2013

Although the idea of a building that changing into a robot may have been filmed before, if the story is good enough, the tickets would sell like hot cakes.

Mind your step

 

April 2013

A corner of the restaurant, 2013

After dinner at a luxury hotel in Moscow, a member of my group was unlucky and had an accident.  I heard about this the next day.

 

Just outside the restaurant, there were three steps covered with a creamy carpet.  A bit further on, there were another three marble steps.  Perhaps she did not see them, or perhaps, she was talking to her friends and not looking where she was going, or perhaps, she tripped and fell down these steps.

 

She was in pain and could not sleep at night, so the guide took her to hospital while we were sightseeing at Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square.  When we finished the sightseeing and waiting for our guide, they appeared and we found out what had happened to her. 

 

A model of Moscow, 2013

She had cracked a bone in her arm, near the elbow.  Her arm was in plaster, and she had a medical report for her insurance claim.  She also needed an x-ray, but she could not wait any longer, so she had to go back to hospital next day. 

 

She looked as if she had lost one and a half teeth in the accident, but I did not dare to ask.  I thought she did not want anyone to see it and I had better mind my step.

While I was waiting, I went to a supermarket to bought these kind of snacks. 
They were sweet, Moscow, 2013.

 

Onion domes

April 2013

 

Before I was in Russia I imagined there were lots of big onion domes of different colours everywhere.  In fact, I saw several beautiful churches with the onion domes.  The churches I liked most were Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow and The Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in Saint Petersburg.  I wanted to climb up to each of the multi-coloured domes and look at the details to see how they were built and painted. 

 

Saint Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, 2013

The Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Saint Petersburg, 2013



The Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Saint Petersburg, 2013

Both of these churches are quite similar, they are red-brick building.  The latter is reddish-brown, so it is darker.  There are many ornaments, floral patterns and coloured bricks, they are finely decorated on the surface of the building.  I admired the architects who produce on such elaborate designs. 



Saint Basil's Cathedral & the Kremlin, Moscow, 2013

 



Red Square, Moscow, 2013

The most famous church with onion domes, Saint Basil's Cathedral, is bigger than the others and stands beside the Kremlin and on Red Square, so people can find it easily.  While the large open area of Red Square which gives it a relaxed atmosphere.  I very much liked the shape of the building; the towers were all of different heights.  It was superb.

 

I do not know why but when I saw this church I immediately thought of Aladdin.  I looked up expecting to see a flying carpet and hopefully find the Aladdin's lamp, which he might have left on the floor.  Actually I was stupid enough to mix up the religions; Aladdin is set in Persia (now Iran) and they believe in Islam, Russians are Orthodox Christianity.  But I stubbornly kept on looking for a flying object in the sky.  Of course, I finally found one, a plane.

The Kremlin

April 2013

 




Churches, the biggest cannon & cannon balls in the Kremlin,
2013
 

The Kremlin is the ancient sit of government in Russia and a popular tourist attraction.  Inside there are lots of historical things, such as churches, cannons and cannon balls, a broken church bell, etc.  They are remarkable, but what I remember most is the rules and regulations. 




A broken church bell, 2013




A metal inside the bell, 2013

When my group stood in front of the entrance gate, the guard sternly asked where our guide was.  Once he knew that our guide was not around, he asked the same question again and again, saying something we did not understand, and pointing to the long queue.  He held up his hand and indicated at another group to go in first.  When our guide got back, they talked together and the guard softened his tone a little.  I did not understand why he was so angry.  He just asked us to step aside and wait for our guide.  Then, we had to wait in another long queue for the security check. 

 

The next thing was you were not allowed to stand in the road that ran through the Kremlin.  A man was standing at the edge of the pavement, taking pictures.  A soldier stared at him, and got ready to whistle, if he step in the road.  As soon as he did, the soldier whistled loudly and pointed at him.  If you did not hear his whistle and get back on the pavement, he would whistled again until you did.




The road run through in the Kremlin, 2013

 

This road is lined on one side by historical buildings.  On the other side by plain blocks of old building that are not open to public.  From time to time a squad of soldiers marched and military vehicles drove passed.  Since it is part of their office, they made us play by their rules and we had to obey them.

A boy was riding for a fall!?

April 2013

 

Novodevichy convent, Moscow, 2013

When I got to the Novodevichy convent in Moscow, it was closed, so I could only see the outside of the building.  It looked like a country house standing on a rise and enclosed by high walls and towers.  Parts of the buildings had been repaired or rebuilt as they were slightly different in colour and style from the rest.  There was a narrow side path beside the convent leading down to another path, which encircled a small lake with ducks, there was a line of trees around the lake. 

The lake at convent, Moscow, 2013

High tower at the convent, Moscow, 2013



There were some children playing on the path; a little boy of around four years old was holding a scooter.  Grinning with delight, he asked his dad to look at him.  He put his hands on handlebars and one leg on the scooter, and got ready to set off from the middle of the slope.  As the scooter ran faster, it began to wobble.  His eyes opened wild and he became very nervous.  He struggled to get control of his scooter and looked at the lake, afraid he would fall in.  I would have run to him and given him a hand or asked him to turn his handlebars, but I was standing a little too far away and did nothing.  As he got to the end of the path, he turned slightly to the side and fell onto the ground beside a tree.  His dad walked up to him and helped him to get up. The boy did not cry or even appear to be bad temper.  He joyfully pushed his toy back to the same place and played another time.  He made it this time and controlled his scooter well.  He was determined to get it right.



A beautiful creature at the convent,
Moscow, 2013

Novodevichy convent, Moscow, 2013

St. Isaac's Cathedral

April 2013

St. Isaac's Cathedral, St. Petersburg, 2014.

St. Isaac's Cathedral is one of my favourite churches.  It likes St. Paul's Cathedral in London.  When you look in front of it, there is a dome, a triangular pediment and a number of large marble columns.

The arched ceiling at the portico of St. Isaac's Cathedral,
St. Petersburg, 2014

As I walked up to few steps to the portico, I saw plenty of beautiful things I liked; side doors with bronze statues, an arched ceiling with a repeated white floral pattern, and even the bases of the columns were attractive. 

 

Inside, I thought it was not only a church, was also a museum or art gallery.  It is full of stunning pictures, some of these are exquisite mosaics, they caught my eye, many of them are quite large. 

 

My guide asked whether I could count how many pictures of Jesus there were.  I did not know the answer and she did not tell me. 

 

The columns and the walls are inlaid with different coloured stone, and the floor is inlaid with patterns.  I do not how many pieces of coloured stone were either.

 



Either the North or the South doors,
St. Isaac's Cathedral, 2014

The North and South doors were very impressive.  Each one was 42 square meters in size and covered with bronze relief sculptures was depicting scenes from Russian religious history.  If it was my front door, I could not move it an inch, because it weigh over 20 tons. 

 



One of the scenes on the doors,
St. Isaac's Cathedral, 2014.

Another thing I liked was a spiral staircase in the bell tower.  There are 262 steps.  I don't know why I like spiral staircases and why I always count their steps.  But unfortunately I lost count of the steps as well.   

I suppose I should try to keep count of how many churches I have visited. 

Inside of the St. Isaac's Cathedral, 2014.

One of mosaics with Jesus, St. Isaac's Cathedral, 2014.

Another one of mosaics with Jesus, St. Isaac's Cathedral, 2014.

A garden in Russia

April 2013

Peterhof was a summer palace of the tsars in former timer.  There is a garden that people called the Russian Versailles.  This garden and the garden at Versailles are fairly similar, so people like to compare them.  Both Palaces were built on hills overlooking their gardens.  There are large fountains in front of both palace surround by a garden.  There is also a broad path leading to the fountain with the watercourse in the middle. 

 

The garden at Versailles has more hedges and they are trimmed very well.  It is pretty quiet and it is pleasure place to wander around. 

 

Peterhof is more sumptuous; there are over 150 fountains and 200 gold statues.  There are lots of trees along the paths, which leads you to various  features such as a maze, a lake, and a rose garden.  There are also a statues gallery, a museum and a lighthouse.  If you feel tired, you can have a sit; there are many benches.  Sometimes you can see newly weds with their friends taking pictures.  The only thing I was not happy about was there were so many people, so it was rather noisy. 

The things I liked most were the fountains, which kept through high into the air, unlike those Versailles many of which were turned off.  I also liked the many large flower beds, planted with colourful flowers arranged in patterns. 

It was a gorgeous garden, and I did not see anyone picking flowers, so everything in the garden was rosy. 

The Hermitage Museum

April 2013

The entrance hall of the Hermitage Museum,
St Petersburg, 2013.

The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg is the museum I like most.  There are 3 million works of art, given to the Russian's Tsar.  This was the main reason I enjoyed being there. 

Every piece of art was beautiful and the building itself was attractive too; there were rose windows, marble columns decorated with patterns or gems, chandeliers decorated with crystal and many different gold patterns and a patterned ceiling which exactly matched the floor. 

One of the mosaic table tops,
the Hermitage Museum, 2013

The exquisite mosaic table tops were one of my favourite things.  The patterns were made of small pieces of valuable material - such as stone, mother-of-pearl, there were smaller than a grain of rice.  I suppose they might easily get loose, so they were covered by glass. 



Small parts of the pictures at a corner,
the Hermitage Museum, 2013.

There was a great quantity of pictures.  I could not tell whether they were good or bad.  I only knew that I did not have time to see them all and looking at a painting for just a minute, wouldn't be doing it justice. 



The Crouching Boy by Michel Angelo,
the Hermitage Museum, 2013.

One memorable sculpture was the Crouching Boy, by Michel Angelo.  The boy is crouching on a brick, his head hanging down, his left was laying on his right toes, and the other one touching the floor.  The artist wanted different parts of his body to be visible from different angles.  I think it was because the shape of the sculpture is more like a cube, so you can only see one side of the time.  Actually, I am not quite sure what his was trying to get across, but I like it.  It is fascinating.

I really enjoy seeing all those priceless collections, but I do not understand why some of the pictures and statues are naked.  I am not comfortable looking at nudes and I do not think they are appropriate to show the public.  Perhaps it is because I do not know anything about art or perhaps it is because I am myself is a museum piece. 
 
 
 
 



One of the beautiful ceiling at the Hermitage Museum, 2013.

   
 
 

 
  

Night shopping at Nevsky Prospect

April 2013

When I am on holiday I like to walk in the street and see every day city life, eat the normal food and see the people how to live and work, what they eat, how they dress, when they go to work.  If I have time, I go to McDonalds and supermarkets and look at the prices, and see if there are any special items that you only available get in that country.

 



A book shop at the ground floor of this beautiful building,
St Petersburg 2013

Nevsky Prospect is a main street in Saint Petersburg, there is mix of modern and historical buildings.  You can walk into these beautiful old buildings.  One was a book shop, another one was a coffee shop.  In the coffee shop window were several colourful attributive moving puppets that caught the eye.  In the side street, I could hear people selling tickets for river cruises.  I kept my head down to avoid eye contact with them, because I do not like buying things from hustling.

 

Natura Siberica, 108 Nevsky Prospect,
St. Petersburg, 2013 - www.naturasiberica.ru

To my surprise, I could not find a boutique selling clothes made in Russia.  My guide told me they generally imported, but I found that their prices were higher than HK.  The only locally made item I could find were skin care products, so I bought a bottle of hand cream, but have not tried it yet.

 



A night view of Nevsky Prospect, St. Petersburg, 2013

After eleven o'clock, the shops were nearly all closed, but the street was busy than ever.  Some people were going home, others were finding food, and some were meeting friends in restaurants.  The seats outside the restaurants were full, the heaters were all on.  The customers wore red scarves, provided by the restaurants, for warmth. 

The sky was not totally dark even after mid-night; it was like eight o'clock on a summer's day in HK, so I went window-shopping every night until late.  Since quite a lot of restaurants stay open until late, I went into a pancake café, the prices were quite reasonable; a pancake was 37 roubles and a small pot of tea was 46 roubles.  The food was delicious, it was better than the food at the hotel.  Perhaps I was hungry or perhaps the café was just right up my street.



The entrance of the pancake café at Nevsky Prospect,
St. Petersburg, 2013

Inside the pancake café, St. Petersburg, 2013

 
 

A pancake, 37 roubles, 2013

A small pot of tea, 46 roubles, 2013

A Sapsan train

April 2013

 

Sapsan trains, Moscow, 2013. 

Most people probably fly from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, but I chose another way, the Sapsan high speed train.  It travelled at a speed of 250 kilometres an hour, taking around five hours to get to the destination.  It was not just a matter of saving time, the railway stations are in the centre of cities, so it is more convenient.  I had also heard that on domestic flights every single piece of luggage would be opened for security.  I also heard that people have claimed their possessions got lost after they had checked in their luggage. 

 

Although the train is convenient, I was confused by the name of the stations; the station in Moscow is called Saint Petersburg and the one in Saint Petersburg is called Moscow. 

 

The name of the station in Moscow, 2013.

Both stations were very similar and simple.  I went through the entrance, passed the security check, and now onto a long platform, where I found my carriage.  An inspector told us to wait in front of the door and I joined the queue.  While I was waiting, a group of Russian came and waited next to my carriage and chatted with the inspector.  Later on, he let them get on the train first even though we got there earlier.  I suppose that because they spoke the same language. 

 

After I got into the train, I wanted to go to the toilet, which was in the next carriage, where the Russian were .  Half of them were busy taking care of their luggage.  Others were standing in the corridor, waiting for their seats.  There were two doors to go into the toilets, but they were block by people leaning against them.  I was wondering how to get in, where a man dressed as a cowboy, that standing at the end of the group, suddenly turned to look at me and then said something with a grin which I did not understand.  Not knowing what to do, I wanted to go back to my seat.  At the same time, he asked me where I wanted to go, I told him and pointed to the toilet.  He spoke to his friends in a loud voice, stepped aside and pushed me forwards.  They stopped talking and laughing and turned to look at me.  The man kept talking until one or two ladies stood aside and let me in. 

 

After this happened, I did not dare to go to the buffet car or stretch my legs when the train stopped at a station.  I felt I was in somebody else's train, I had better sit tight. 

 
 

The train normally travelled around a speed of 200 kms./hr,
from Moscow, 2013.

 


The Sapsan train system map, from Moscow, 2013. 

One of the stations during the route, from Moscow, 2013.