October 2010 : hiking, then Ostankino and VDNK

Before talking about Ostankino and VDNK, I will show you some photos of hiking done with a Russian group : 3 in North-East of Moscow (50 km far away), and another in the south, not far from Domodievo airport (below).

First Leninskaya - Volodarskovo (and yes, it goes up the hill !)

Then Friazino-Tavarnaya with a Russian guy who went swimming in a small lake ! (Outside temperature around 0 ° C)

And Yaroma - Morozki with the channel and the mountain environment : there was even a small ski resort !

And to complete these hikes, Valentinovka - Balashikha :

These rides are often at a quick pace, like that from October 24th where the GPS watch recorded an average speed of 5.8 km / h (this count down time, meal breaks, fire breaks, ...) .

Now, we will discover Ostankino and VDNK parks.

Ostankino Park is located in northern Moscow near the VDNK subway (take a tram in front of VDNK park entrance). Ostankino Palace (18th century) is located near the Trinity church (17th century) and from there you can see the television tower.

In the park there is a small lake with paddleboats, a dance terrace, attractions for adults and games for children, and some dining areas.

In the years 1791-1799, Count Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev, a great lover of theater and music, began construction of Ostankino Palace. This palace was built entirely of wood, but it seems plaster with stone walls.

The particularity of this palace is to have a theater (eighteenth century).

Nicolai Sheremetev was passionate about theater and had formed a band with a vast repertoire : it was his summer residence and he preferred to Kuskovo park.

For faithful readers, they will remember the post on Kuskovo Palace which indicated that the son of Piotr Sheremetev (Nikolai) spent summers at Ostankino palace instead of the family one at Kuskovo... and those 2 palaces are made of wood !

And then is even a small Egyptian house !

Outside is a landscaped garden with trees, including a large cedar tree and an artificial hill with a temple.

Not far from the Ostankino Palace is the VDNK exhibition park (over 230 ha).

From Ostankino, there are 2 ways to go there :

- Take the tram towards VDNK and walking in the park

- Or use rollers and cross the Ostankino park and then VDNK park which is quite large.

Of course, we tested the 2 options !

The opening ceremony of the VDNK exhibition park held on August 1, 1939 : the show lasted two months and a half and there were over 3.5 million visitors. The organization was very important with 2000 guides, including 200 dedicated to foreign visitors. The exhibition was originally conceived as a unique event, but it was decided to continue to use the buildings. In 1940, the show lasted five months, with over 4.5 million visitors. During the Second World War, the exhibition was no longer used.

This site was originally a large agricultural fair grounds. Above the entrance arch, one can see a statue of two peasants raising a sheaf of wheat.

Various pavilions have been erected as those of the Baltic Republics, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and those of Soviet republics : in total, there were over 250 buildings.

Three years after the war ended, it was decided to reopen the exhibition. Reconstruction of some buildings was necessary because most were expected not to last long (the duration of the exhibition !)

In 1954 the "friendship of peoples" fountain was built. It represents the farmers of the 16 republics of the former USSR, dancing with traditional costumes. The sculptures are in bronze, with golden parts and a wreath of gilded copper .

VDNK subway station was opened on 1st of May 1958 and it does not seem to have changed much.

In 1959, the park was transformed by Nikita Khrushchev in a large park to the glory of economic achievements, scientific and technological country. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the various pavilions were taken over by private companies. More than 70 of them are now exhibition stands for industrial products.

Now, the VDNK park became an amusement park where families come with their children and access is free ... but the attractions are not free of charge ! We can eat brochette (shashlik), walking on foot, run bicycle or rollerblades (there are spaces for rentals).

Attention to the brochette price ! It is sold by weight and they have a strong tendency to put a good weight for foreigners ... and in addition, all additives such as salad, sauce, etc. ... are charged ...

Some buildings are a bit rundown but all invite us back in time to the days of the Soviet Union ... It should be seen because it is part of Russian cultural heritage.

And do not forget to go to the bottom of the park to see the small Orthodox church ... more than a half hour walk ... that's why rollers is an interesting option!

September 2010 : St Petersburg

A new destination after a hot summer in Russia : St Petersburg !

The famous "Venice of North", called by Russians Peter, has also known a heat record last summer with 37,1°C on August 7th.

Nearly unharmed by the 1930-50s period of Stalinist reconstruction, downtown St. Petersburg

is crowded with splendid palaces, impressive historical monuments, tree-lined avenues and beautiful bridges. Nearly 300 years old, St. Petersburg is a city full of historical and cultural places.

"City sumptuous city poor

A servile mind at the sight harmonious

The arch of his pale skies,

Boredom, cold, and granite[...] " Alexandre Pouchkine, 1828

A bit of history ?

St Petersburg is a relatively young city, which was only founded in 1703 by Tsar Peter the Great. After the victory on Swedish army, he wanted to build a new town which should be a showcase for foreigners and opened to Europe. It was the capital of Russia until 1914. It was renamed as Petrograd in 1914, then Leningrad in 1924, and again St Petersburg in 1991.

During the reign of Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, St. Petersburg developed into a fine European capital to rival those of any in the West. 

The Imperial splendor of St. Petersburg is best reflected in its royal residences like Peterhof Palace or the Smolny Cathedral in baroque style.

Elizabeth commissioned the lovely Smolny Convent and the Winter Palace, though she died before both buildings were completed. Ironically, during Elizabeth's reign the area near the palace, which was later named Palace Square, was used as a grazing land for the royal cows.

Unlike some of her predecessors, Elizabeth preferred to appoint Russians and not foreigners to the highest positions in the country and being a patron of the arts and sciences, she established the Russian Academy of Arts. Elizabeth was a very lively and social personality and organised regular balls, receptions, and firework displays. And she spoke fluently French language !

Then, Peter III's wife (Peter was the son of Elisabeth), Catherine II, promoted the cultural life of St Petersburg. Catherine II was passionated of west european culture and she invited to St Petersburg many artists like writers, painters, sculptors, ...

The Yekaterininsky Palace in Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin town) was turned by Catherine II into a magnificent royal residence with a vast garden. We didn’t have enough time to visit it : it will be for next time !

St Petersburg is a fascinating destination and historically one of the important European cities that we should visit.

3 days to visit it ?

When arriving from Moscow by night train there is the solution to take the metro which looks like Moscow's one (but without announce of stations ...) or to go out on the «Nevsky Prospect » avenue which is 4 km long.

We noticed the good confort of rail couchette car with teppish on the floor, all bedding provided and the coffee / tea corner at the entrance of the wagon where a lady is selling hot drinks for a reasonable price whenever we want during the trip. At the arrival, a lot of people on the platform !

 

Nevsky Prospect is very lively during the day but quiet when the train arrived at 7am. Not easy to find an opened coffee shop to get breakfast if we want to avoid McDonald's !

Wonderful, there are even city maps and an indication (in Russian) where you are. We discovered the first channels:  it seems there are 342 bridges (over 400 in Venice to compare).

 

On Nevsky Prospekt avenue there is the cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, which was built in the early 19th century and was thought to be a copy of St. Peter's Basilica. Inside it, the volumes are impressive and you can see the banners of Napoleon's army taken by Russian troops during the overthrow of Berezina.

 

Come on now at the end of Nevsky Prospect to see the Palace Square and Alexander Column. It is the heart of St. Petersburg and the main square of the city with the beautiful Winter Palace in baroque style.

  

Now let’s enter the Hermitage Museum in the Winter Palace. It takes half a day to visit it : a few pictures below give an idea of the richness of these collections.

Returning to the Palace Square, the coach awaits us ... No, we will not visit with this option but will do a boat trip in the canals and the Neva.

A walk in the evening to end this first day ... oh, surprise, trams are off ! Normal was a big power outage in the city, what had not happened for over 5 years ... 2 hours later, everything was running !

Let's go to the Admiralty : it is here that were built some of the first ships of the Baltic Fleet of Russia. The building was renovated in the early 19th century to be a wonderful example of the Russian Empire style, with white columns, stucco and arrow bright, visible from afar.

While going towards the Neva lies the Bronze Horseman. This impressive equestrian monument was commissioned by Empress Catherine the Great in honor of Peter the Great, the founder of the city. The statue has been the subject of a poem by Pushkin : it represents a brave Roman hero.

The second day was devoted to the visit of the estate of Peterhof. By taking the metro then a bus it is quite easy to access.

A luxurious imperial palace was built in 1710 on the shore of the Gulf of Finland by Peter the Great. Known as "The Russian Versailles", the palace has some well restored interior and a beautiful park full of statues, pavilions and fountains.

We understand why when asked where was Peterhof, the Russians in the bus were talking about the park fountains ! 

Inside the Palace photos are banned but it can be found on the Internet ...

The third day was devoted to the Fortress of Peter and Paul and surrounding areas.

The fortress was built to protect the city from the threat of Swedish attacks and it is now the emblem of the city and the resting place of most of the Russian Tsars.

But before entering, we had a look at some sand sculptures on the beach next the fortress.

We must be careful not to be close to guns at 12 o’clock as this is surprising: we almost got thrown in the sand !

You can see the tombs of the tsars in the church and visit the prison (no longer used).

We will now see the hut of Peter the Great.

It was the first wooden house built in St. Petersburg and the home of Peter the Great between 1703 and 1708. What is curious is that it lies within a stone house ... to better conserve it.

Let’s continue in the district to board the cruiser Aurora. This vestige Russian boat was built in the late 19th century and served in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. From this cruiser has been given the signal of the October Revolution in 1917.

We'll finish our tour of St. Petersburg by the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, which was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in 1881. It has a profusion of colorful bulbs and a remarkable interior in mosaic. St. Petersburg had to answer the St. Basil Cathedral in Moscow !