Highlights from the Russian Museum

The art in St Petersburg is mainly divided between two galleries: the Russian Museum for Russian art, and the Hermitage for everything else. Russian art is very different in its early and later periods. The collection of early art in the Russian Museum consisted mainly of Orthodox Christian icons. It was really interesting to see their depiction of God as a young angel (usually with golden curly hair) and the frequent portrayal of the "old testament trinity" (which I looked up later: the word, the wisdom, and the spirit). Then there was a period where Russian artists just copied Western Europe. And then in the 20th century things diverged again (I especially liked Vrubel).

And the above paragraph is why I should keep all of my thoughts short. So short thoughts:

I enjoyed Nicolas Francois Gillet's (1709-1791) plaster sculpture titled "Painting." I thought that was very ironic.

19th Century Aivasovsky painted some of the best maritime scenes I've ever seen. Two paintings in particular stood out: "The Wave" and "The Ninth Wave." They stood next to each other, though, and there seemed to be something lacking. Maybe seven other paintings?

Ivanov liked painting naked boys too much. Otherwise he was a good painter.

Backstage at the Mariinsky

My host took me backstage at the Mariinsky opera house in St Petersburg. It was really cool.

I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

Public Transportation in St Petersburg

I'd like to explain how the buses in St Petersburg work. Unfortunately, I haven't figured it out myself, so I can't do that.

However, today I took one of the sketchy vans with numbers on the sides that serve as buses (the "real" buses are more limited and move slower). By myself. I was so proud. Basically, the vans drive around their respective routes, and you wave them down when you see them. Then you get on and while they're driving, you pay them. Then you shout "STOP" when you want to get off.

The Hermitage

I just went to the Hermitage museum this morning. Eh, look it up. Nothing I can say will do it justice. It is huge, grand, amazing... did I mention it is huge?

I went with S and her mother (my host family), and her mother has connections at the Hermitage, so she was very annoyed when we couldn't get in through a special entrance. This was mostly because she didn't want to wait in the enourmous line for tickets. So instead, she walked right up to the ticket office (cutting in front of a half-hour wait), and emerged with tickets within about a minute. Then she pushed us through security (no coats allowed, you have to check them) to go to a special place for checking coats with no line. This woman was unstoppable.

I also got my first real taste of Petersburg weather. It was cloudy all morning, and it was sleeting when S and I got out of the Hermitage. Apparently this is normal.

Dear Visitors...

Making fun of awkward English is too easy. What I was really interested in were the illustrations of what was prohibited, which were unfortunately only captioned in Russian.

Looking over the picture I took of the sign, I can find only one interpretation for one of them: committing suicide by jumping off of the fort (fourth picture, first row).

(Edit: after asking my friend, it actually says no climbing on buildings... Not as exciting. However, the skiing one is real, since people used to sled down the fortress walls.)

Russian Audiences

They are worse than American audiences. One of the people in my group answered her cell phone during the opera, I sat next to a woman whose cell phone went off, and I had to shush the couple behind me (maybe it's physically impossible to whisper in Russian?). Also they clap between arias, but I think that may be standard among all but the most German of audiences (by which I mean Wagner...).

Finally (and this is not restricted to musical audiences, as I later saw on Russian television during a fashion game show...), applause in Russia is synchronized. They all just clap a beat together. Interpret that as you will...

St Petersburg

I don't think I can keep up with my small facetious posts in a place like St Petersburg. Being here has already been an amazing experience, and this is just the end of my second day (and only my first full day). Russia, first of all, is a strange place. I'm staying with a family, and many of the Russians I've met and seen have been completely over-the-top. My first night I went to the Mariinsky's new theater to see a new production of Rossini's opera "Barber of Seville." The daughter in the family (I'll call her 'S') had been showing me around, but she worked at the Mariinsky, and was working that night, so I sat with her mother. Her mother was entertaining several friends, and their interactions were absolutely nuts. They were all decked out in furs, jewelry, designer bags, designer glasses, and in at least one case, braces... and they were all middle-aged. The production was not very good, and they all left after the first act, but I stuck around (the singers did a very good job), and had an after-show snack with S and one of her friends from school (he was studying CS, so we had quite a bit to talk about).

Today, all of my experiences pale in comparison to going to the old Mariinsky theater to see Tchaikovsky's "Queen of Spades." So perhaps some of you reading that have reached this point are writing me off as a complete classical music dork. Perhaps you are right, but that does not mean that had you been in my place you would have been any less impressed. The theater is beautiful. The orchestra was huge. The sets were traditional. The singers were amazing. I wish I could even begin to describe it, but I think it may have been too recent for me to do that (I got back about 30 minutes ago).

Final thoughts on Milan

Euro 2,90 for a bottle of Moscato!? Too bad I was alone and worried about traveling the next day. I wasn't able to take advantage of the sale.

Brief thoughts for a brief visit to Milan

I'm only in Milan for a day, but I managed to do some decent sight-seeing. Several observations:

1) Security likes to check bags. When I went up to the roof of the cathedral, there were two security guards next to each other. Each of them checked my bag once.

2) Going up to the top of the cathedral was definitely worth it. It's the largest gothic cathedral in the world, and when you climb it, you can walk along the flying buttresses and over a lot of the roof. There were a ton of pictures begging to be taken.

3) Castello Sforzesco has a lot of cute stray cats.

4) In the center of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a huge and grand looking shopping arcade off the cathedral plaza, there are four brand name shops: Bernasconi, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and McDonalds. Go America.

Italy, Museums, and Moscato

At the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, I was stopped by security because I accidentally left a bottle of wine in my bag. The sign next to security explicitly said no wine (yes, actually no vino...), but as I took it out of my bag to give to them, the two security guards seemed to debate taking it away from me. In the end, they handed me a card, put my bottle in a little cubby next to them, and told me to retrieve it when I was done.

After I got out of the gallery, I gave the guards the card, and one of them handed me back my bottle asking, "Is that for tonight?"

My (female) friend replied, "It's for right now."

The guard said, "Are you going to open it?"

I replied, "It's already open."

Then the guard gave us a knowing smile and a nod, and we left.

Laundry on the move

Laundry will probably be one of the most difficult things I will have to deal with on this trip, I've come to realize. Even more difficult than figuring out how European keyboards change from country to country.

I should say a word or two about Florence. It really is amazing, but just about every square inch of it is touristy (square millimeter I guess, since I'm in Europe). The center of town can be located by the massive Duomo, a gothic cathedral that is amazingly decorated in white, green, and red marble, with an amazing facade of intricate sculptures and reliefs. From the outside, it is amazing. The dome (engineered by Brunelleschi) is probably the highest point in Florence and is quite imposing.

We climbed to the top of the dome yesterday. My legs still hurt.

Bicyclists in Florence

People in Florence have no idea how to ride bikes. I've encountered a couple of them, and all of them weave from side to side, even with no one around. And if anyone is around, it's up to the pedestrian to avoid being randomly swerved into.

Time difference in Italy

I tell time differently in Italy. I find it much more effective. Instead of 7am, 8am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm, and 10pm, I have wake-up time, breakfast time, lunch time, gelati time, nap time, coffee time, wine bar time, dinner time, and bed time. It's a tough existence.

I've really enjoyed Rome. We hit Villa Borghese and Piazza del Popolo today. And I'm officially addicted to Moscato. We're off to Florence tomorrow!

Vatican in Record Time

I'm in Rome at the moment. I should mention that I used to come here quite frequently while my grandfather lived here, but he moved to Toronto when I was about 14, so my practical knowledge of the city is nil. My first re-impression of the city was that it was really dirty, and that the infrastructure was falling completely into disrepair. Well, that continues to be true, but you really just forget it all the longer you stay here. Rome is such an amazing city, as much of a tourist trap as it has become. As I walked back to my hostel with my friend, we passed a building that was raised OVER a series of ruins. It was rather surreal.

Oh, and to explain the title of this post, our time from lining up at the Vatican to getting through the ticket collector was 8 minutes. I'm going to guess that's close to a record. That's through security, up to the ticket booth, and through the ticket-checker. We rock.