LHP MAG MAR 13 2/11/13 12:09 PM Page 11
dachas was formed. To encourage people to come, small plots of land were given as incentive. On these were built small summer/weekend places with enough land for kitchen gardens. Although they were never intended for year-round use, some have been “winterized” and upgraded as full time residences in order to escape the big cities. Many have managed to gain a second plot, so that the homes could be enlarged and some even rival our large homes. They are visible throughout the country. Few in St. Petersburg have forgotten the terrible Siege of Leningrad by the Germans during the war. In an effort to gain the land, the Germans surrounded the entire city hoping to starve them into submission. St. Petersburg was never surrendered, even though for over 900 days nothing went into or out of Leningrad. More people died of hunger, exposure and disease than from artillery fire. They were reduced to eating the cats and dogs! Interestingly, following that siege, the city of Yaroslavl sent truckloads of cats to Leningrad to “replenish” their supply and to control the rodent population. To this day cats are special and the tri-colored cat, seen everywhere, is considered lucky.
The beautiful palaces and museums, have virtually all been restored. To say that their tumultuous past has rendered this necessary would be an understatement! Originally built almost entirely of wood, much was destroyed by fire. The Tartars sacked, looted and destroyed many of the old structures, follow by Stalin, Bolshevik uprisings, unstable tyrants, religious fervor, two world wars and incredible economic depression/recession. To their credit, what they have restored has been done with loving and talented hands and as true to the original as is humanly possible. Our first visit was to the famed hermitage. The Hermitage is actually five buildings set side by side along the Neva River. It is several museums in one. The Winter Palace was originally the residence of the first Czars, and the museum, founded by Catherine the Great to house her 225 paintings, purchased from Berlin. Since then there have been three million works of art displayed there. Our visit included the palace, the “small hermitage” and The State Museum or Grand Hermitage. Ravaged by a fire in 1837, nearly all the rooms were burned out. It is said that to see it all with 1 minute per display would take 11 years. We spent four hours visiting palace rooms and the magnificent French Impressionist, Old Masters, and Modern art exhibits. Traveling by bus to the suburb of Pushkin, we passed row upon row of small, shacklike structures on the outskirts of the town we assumed were the equivalent of slums. It was explained that these are actually garages. Given the dense population of the cities and the limited parking, those who have cars were forced to park them off-site. They not only house the cars, but provide some storage for fruits and vegetables put-up for winter use. The men visit the garages to allegedly work on the cars, but they have become the “man caves” of Russia with their use mainly as an escape to drink vodka, eat pickles (one never drinks Vodka without pickles!) and play cards. In Russia, drinking is a pastime not only for celebration, but for everyday life. The park and residences of both Peterhof and the Catherine Palace in Pushkin demonstrate the opulence and extravagance of the Imperial rulers. Their excesses far exceed that of Versailles! The Catherine Palace is a Rococo masterpiece, and by the end of the 18th century was a popular summer residence of nobility. The palace was a gift from Peter the Great to his wife Catherine. It is painted the blue so
The Hermitage. The Hermitage interior, notice the stoves at the doorway.
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