Spell of the Wild

20 April: Up at 4:30am, on the bus to the airport at 5:30am. Our flight goes from St. Petersburg to Paris then after an hour and a half lay-over on to Chicago then to Minneapolis.

While transferring aircraft in Paris, we had to go through another security check. I was pulled aside to have my carry-on pack searched. The X-Ray had identified something. Alas, it was my Leatherman, a full size model with pliers and several blades. None of the 6 previous flights had found it and I had completely forgotten it. OK, now 1 hour before take-off, 1/2 hour before boarding. If I want to have it shipped, I must take it to flight check-in in another part of Charles DeGaulle Airport. Broken english and undeciphered french seemed to require that I go to the far end of the building, down the long escalator, take the shuttle train to E-08, through passport control, find the Air France check-in counter, wrap and ship the thing then make my way back in time for my flight. Betty gives me my passport and boarding pass so the others don’t have to wait for me. I decide to try; 55 minutes and ticking. Down the escalator onto an empty train, finally it fills and moves out, first stop a sign reads 16-32, I want 08, I wait for the next stop. After some minutes, the train moves, damn, its going back to where I started. Everybody gets off, I’m back on the same empty train at the same place eleven minutes later; now 44 minutes. OK, back again, get off at 16-32, ask a young guard about passport control, he understands my urgency and escorts me around a long line, through a locked door and points toward the ticket counters; 34 minutes and the clock is ticking. I by-pass a line of folks waiting to check their bags at the Air France counter and ask a young clerk about shipping the Leatherman, she looks at my boarding pass then at her wrist watch, registers some concern and tells me it will have to be placed in a box, wrapped and labeled. Of course, she does not want to be the cause of me missing my flight, so two minutes later the knife is zipped in the pocket of the fleece jacket I was wearing since I had no box, the jacket got stuffed in a plastic “Air France” bag, this was wrapped with wide packing tape, I filled out a sticker, she put on the flight info and it was gone; 28 minutes to go. Hey, this is a piece of cake now that I know my way around the airport. Betty saw me approach so she started to board. I caught up with her in the boarding tunnel; 20 minutes to go.

Epilog: The flight was delayed 30 minutes while they de-iced the wings. And, yes, I did get the little package three days after we got back, delivered by Fed-Ex, no charge.

Arriving in Minneapolis, we were met by Wayne Bernikel and all made it home safely.

It was a great trip. We all thanked Betty for the time she has spent during the past year to plan and coordinate this rather complex round the world trip. Also, thanks to Jerry for arranging the flight to Saigon, the flight home from St. Petersburg and the transportation to and from the Minneapolis Airport. Plus, thanks to Fran for collecting from each of us and presenting our “group tip” to each guide, driver, conductress and selected others. My personal thanks to each of our group for being so agreeable, tolerant, and understanding. What a great group of travelers.
Betty: My thanks to everyone too, for a great trip and for making my “job” so easy!! Many thanks too for the beautifully crafted Saint Nicholases. Let’s do it again.

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I’m in favor of that!! Fran

Up at 4am, my plan is to meet the train from Moscow at 5am. It is the same train we arrived on two days ago. It is right on time. I go to car #10 and see the very same conductress helping her passengeers off the train. When she was free, I asked if she knew anything about the camera. She convinced me that she knew nothing about its disappearance. She had found a pair of running shoes that Betty had inadvertently left in the compartment. I thanked her and departed even more convinced that the camera had been stolen rather than lost. The morning was cold but clear, I walked back to the hotel. Betty- The morning we arrived in Moscow, Chuck helped unload much of the luggage of our group. He remembers putting his coat, camera and backpack on the bunk. It would have been easy for someone to have come from a different car, see the camera and snatch it.

This is our last full day in St. Petersburg, actually, the last day of our trip. We visit the Hermitage Museum. The third largest art museum in the world (behind the Louvre and the Metropolitan). It has over 3 million art treasures. Ourtourguide said it would take over 6 years to see everything, of course, much of it is in storage. They had lots of originals from all over the world: Monet’s, Picasso’s, Van Gogh’s, Renior’s, Rembrandt’s and on and on. The guide said many of the collections were donated by wealthy Russian noblemen. Later, we had hints that these donors had an offer they couldn’t refuse; donation or confiscation.

The old portion of the Hermitage was the Winter Palace. Much has been added. The Hermitage was commissioned by Elizabeth I, but she died 3 months before it was finished. Catherine was the first to live there.

We said goodbye to Pauline and she left. Again, by the time our visit was over we felt as if she was part of our group.

The plan was that we could spend as much time as we wanted in the Hermitage then make it back to the hotel on our own. After another hour or so, Betty and I caught a taxi back, Fran headed for a couple of shops she wanted to revisit and Charlotte had split off hours ago to meet a friend, Olga, who lives in St. Petersburg. Somehow, the Johnson brothers and their wives disappeared without me being aware of it.

Back at the hotel Betty linked up with Charlotte and Olga. The three of them had met 3 years ago when the cruise ship Betty and Charlotte were on visited St. Petersburg. Olga will be immigrating to Canada and has been in contact with Charlotte for several years.

In the early evening at the hotel bar we all gathered to toast our last evening together. The group surprised Betty with two colorful and beautifully carved statues of Saint Nicholas as a token of their appreciation for arranging the entire 6 week trip. We had dinner at the hotel and went to our rooms to pack and get a few hours sleep before a very early pick up to go to the airport.

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Today is the last day in St. Petersburg, AND it is the last day of our trip. It is difficult for me to think in terms of being at the end of the trip. It has been such a continuing series of encounters and events and wonders I feel like going back to LeRoy will feel almost as odd as starting out on this trip did six weeks ago.
Today we go to the Hermitage. The third largest collection of the world’s art. It is hard to describe such a thing. It can’t really be described, just as it can’t really be absorbed in the short amount of time we have to devote to it. There is a collection of paintings of the Romanovs as they were the ones who “organized” the core of the collection. There are the Dutch masters, Van Gogh, Picasso, Paul Gaugan, and on, and on. There were two paintings by Da Vinci, and a sculpture by Michealangelo, and it is just hard to absorb all this work in the few minutes we get to see each piece – oh, yeah, I already wrote that.
Our group said good-bye to our guide, Pauline, then after lingering a while longer in the museum, we went our separate ways to finish up what we needed to do to be ready to end our trip. I headed back to a souvenir shop to look at a couple of things, hooked up with the Johnsons and Johnsons and returned to the hotel late in the afternoon. I ran into Betty and Chuck, and in a short time we all assembled in the bar where we made an effort to thank Betty for all the work we knew she had put into this fabulous trip. There really are no words to thank someone for the opportunity to see and experience all the things we did on this marvelous, exotic trip. It gave substance to so many books I have read, classes I’ve taken and taught, and it not only has provided great memories of the places and people I’ve met and traveled with, but it has also challenged me to go out and learn more about them. Thanks again, Betty AND Chuck!! -Fran

18 April: Today we take the van about an hour SE of St. Petersburg to a world treasure called Peterhof. This is a huge complex of palace, grounds, ornate buildings, gravity fed fountains and more; all overlooking the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki, Finland is about 20 miles away, just an hour by boat. Pauline said many in St. Petersburg go to Helsinki for a weekend get-away or to shop; it is closer and cheaper than Moscow.

We have a late lunch at a wonderful grotto restaurant on the edge of Peterhof.

It is still well below freezing and the fountains are not yet operating, the gardens are not yet blooming. Workers are shoveling ice and snow to clear areas that will be repaired and made operational within the next month. The first buildings in Peterhof were constructed as the summer palace for Peter the Great. Everything is lavish and overdone: statues, art works, mirrored halls, gold covered walls and ceilings, large ballrooms.

At 9pm we were in a grand old hall of the Nikolaevsky Palace. As we walked up wide staircases, a stringed quartet played Russian classical pieces. We watched a wonderful folkshow with singers and dancers in festive traditional costumes. Intermission included free champagne and caviar. It was a memorable evening.

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Yes, the summer palace of Peter the Great was impressive – patterned after Versailles. It was a different time, I guess. Maybe not so much either when we think about the enormous and increasing gap between those who are wealthy in our own country and the increasing number of Americans who truly live a paycheck or two from disaster.
We did have a lovely lunch which began with coffee and kahlua for many of us to warm up after our chilly morning tour. On our way back to St Petersburg we stop at a cathedral where we see crowds of people getting ready for the Russian Orthodox Easter. We were given gifts of sweet breads and eggs to celebrate the upcoming holy day.
Back at our hotel Betty and I set out to find a shop specializing in Russian folk art and souvenirs. We gave the cab driver the address which turned out to be an apartment building. The girl at the desk in the foyer, helps us (after much confusion) locate another shop called Babushka’s. We strike out to try to walk there – which we do, and we both end up finding a “few” things we need to take home with us. We walk back a couple of blocks to a bar, order a beer and ask the waitress to call us a cab — in a half an hour. We manage to even have a second beer before our cab arrives. How clever of us to time it so well! Fran

17 April: We arrive in St. Petersburg at 5am, find our driver immediately and go to the hotel. It is about 5:30am, we have a chance to shower and rest a bit before breakfast.

As we prepare to meet our new guide and see the city, I cannot find my camera. After searching all the luggage and the room, I go looking for Betty hoping that she either has it or knows where it is … NOT! Damn, I have lost a good camera or it has been stolen; a Canon Rebel XT, digital SLR. But even worse, all the photos and memory cards since midway through China are in the carrying case.

Our guide, Pauline, takes us on an introduction tour of St. Petersburg. The Peter and Paul Fortress, the first building of the city is the burial place of all Russian Emperors. Then we see the awesome St. Isaacs Cathedral, the forth highest in the world, beautiful.

All morning while in the van, Pauline has been on her cell phone checking with the “Lost and Found” at both the Moscow and St. Petersburg railway stations. She also called the transfer company that provided our van and driver early this morning. Nothing.

In the afternoon we visit the Ethnography Museum. They have displays representing the lifestyles and cultures of many of the 60 or more ethnic groups in Russia. It was really interesting, we could have easily spent the entire day.

On the drive back to the hotel, Pauline got feedback from the various places she had asked to look for my camera. No luck.

Natalia, our travel and visa pro tour contact in Russia, was also busy trying to find the camera and sent a person to the Moscow railway station to talk with the conductress on the train.

With a couple of free hours remaing in tne late afternoon, Fran strikes out on her own to visit some shops she had read about. Someplace along the way she started walking back toward our hotel. About this same time, it started snowing; big wet flakes. During this time, I walked a few blocks to an ATM for more rubles. By the time I returned I was pretty much wet on the outer layers. As Steve, Betty and I sat in the warm hotel bar having a beer, little did we know that Fran was walking the streets of St. Petersburg, wet and cold trying to find our hotel. A beer or two later, we saw a cab stop and a cold, wet Fran got out and headed straight to the warm bar. The stories of her adventures flowed like the beer.

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We arrive at 4:30ish. The driver is unable to speak English and has to stop and ask directions. When we arrive at our hotel there is no breakfast which we had been told there would be, only one room is open – Charlotte’s and mine, and Chuck has lost his camera. Betty asks the manager to call her superior and amazingly, everyone has his and her rooms. Unfortunately the problem with the camera isn’t so easily solved. We start our tour at 8:00 with a drive around St Petersburg to see the beautiful buildings. The Peter and Paul Fortress, Naval Academy, St. Isaac’s Cathedral – the forth highest in the world. It is Russian Orthodox and is beautifully decorated with paintings, mosaics, and icons. I lit a couple of candles – a poor substitute for an Easter service, but —-. We also went to the Cathedral of the Spilled Blood – not open to the public. Many churches were destroyed during WWII and have undergone major if not total rebuilding. St. Petersburg (then called Leningrad) was under siege for nearly three years. Furthermore during the communist regime all religion was suppressed and churches were converted to offices or storage facilities. We also visited the cathedral of Peter and Paul which is where the Romanovs are buried.

The last site of the day was the Museum of Ethnography. Our guide Pauline, had not conducted a tour to this museum previously. She said mostly school children went there. It portrayed the daily lives, customs and costumes of the many peoples in the former Soviet Union. I could have easily spent much more time there!
We had the rest of the day free so I walked around the city for two and a half hours – lost in a snow and sleet storm. I finally gave up hope of finding the hotel, so I went into a couple of shops trying to get someone to call me a cab. At the first place – a warm delicious smelling bakery, I got a hot cup of tea, but no cab. Back out on the street. At the next place – a men’s dress shop – two young sales girls took pity on my poor bedraggled self and figured out I needed a cab, which they called, and while I waited for the cab, they made me a hot cup of coffee. They were sweeties! Got back to the hotel at 6:30. Fran

16 April: It has been about five days since I started taking antibiotics and I am feeling much better; no chills but the Chinese chronic cough continues. These seem to be two separate issues, about half our group has “the cough”, it seems to come in spells for most of us.

Today we visited the Tretyakov Gallery, a branch of the State Art Gallery which is one of the world’s largest museums. In the afternoon we left Jennifer, Fran, Linda and Charlotte at a large outdoor market while Betty, Jerry, Steve and I went on a Vodka Tour. We learned a lot about the history, making and marketing of Vodka but none of this made it taste any better. They had free samples after the tour, supposedly “all you can drink” which was meaningless because one or two shots was all we could drink. Later, Jennifer informed us that the brand makes all the difference. She recommends “Baluga”.

By late evening we were in the Moscow Railway Station boarding Train #56 to St Petersburg, an overnight trip. We were in car #10 with only two berths per compartment, it was clean and nice; western toilets.

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We have a free morning, so Betty and I hop on the subway to try to find the Moscow Harley Davidson store. We find it, but it doesn’t open until 11:00 and it’s only 10:30 —so— tea time. At 11:00 we are there! Betty finds a cute little top for Kaylee, and I’m trying to pick out t-shirts. She calls me over. “Do you know this t-shirt for Kaylee is $78.00, American?” The short sleeved men’s t’s started at $80.00. We left. Who knew??? We get back on the subway and meet our group at the Tretyakov Gallery. Many art works, dresses and outfits of royalty, religious artifacts, and a floor dedicated to carriages and horse equipment. Lunch. Then an outdoor market and the vodka tour, and back on the train for St. Petersburg. Fran

15 April: Breakfast at the Sovietsky, meet Dan, our guide, and we are off to see Moscow: Red Square, Lenin’s Mausaleum, KGB headquarters, the Kremlin, St. Basil’s Cathedral, the Armory and much more. Betty- Our guide Dan is an absolute wealth of information and knowledge. Our tour was more than we could have ever hoped for.
This evening, Jerry and Linda, Steve and Jennifer went to a market then to Red Square. Charlotte, Betty and I had dinner in the Sovietsky’s large formal dining room.

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Today is a lovely day. We went on a bus tour of the city with our new guide, Daniel. He pursued a degree in Russian studies to work in a museum, so he had a broad base of knowledge about Moscow and Russian art and history. We drove around Red Square and saw the buildings and the wall from several perspectives. We heard about the accomplishments and the abuses of many of the leaders of Russia up to present time. It was not easy to live in this country.
We saw the KGB buildings. Daniel commented that in the periods of glasnost and perestroika, the KGB has really resisted change and Putin is a former KGB officer. He describes their present government as “managed” democracy. Interesting.
I found a couple of HD t-shirts for the boys – not “official.” Also got a couple of matryoshka dolls for Sophie and Kaylee. Fran

14 April: Had a good night’s sleep, awoke early feeling great, had a shower and started getting this journal up to date. Jeez, it feels good to feel good. And, yes I will stay on the antibiotics for the prescribed time.

Today, about 1pm we crossed the Volga, the longest river in Russia. Now as we roll westward through Europe toward Moscow there are more cities and much more heavy industry, more apartment buildings, more decaying buildings and more vehicles on the roads, more communication towers, more trash, more graffiti.

We were at the edge of Moscow right on schedule, but for some reason were put on a side track and waited for nearly an hour before moving into the station.

As always, we all scanned the crowd waiting for the train to stop and trying to identify our guide. Even though several of those waiting were carrying signs with the name of their group, none was ours. In the past our guide would have a sign saying “Betty” or “Betty Wilson”. Finding none this time, we all watched closely as we walked down the long platform, through the station and out to the street. Nothing! We positioned all the luggage near what looked like a main entrance. Then some of us fanned out to search for our guide while others guarded the baggage and watched all who entered and departed. After about 30 minutes we spotted a bus with a sign in the window; “Betty Wilson”. The driver spoke no English, but was overjoyed to link up with us. There was no guide. We were delivered to the historic Sovietsky Hotel, an older but classy hotel. Opposite the registration desk were dozens of large pictures of world famous people who had been previous guests: Stalin, Brezhnev, Ceausecu, Indira Gandhi, Konrad Adenauer, Margaret Thatcher, Pierre Cardin, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwartzenegger and many others.

The “Moscow by Night” tour had been cancelled because, we are told, it duplicated our scheduled day tour so Betty, Fran, Charlotte and I decided to take the subway to see the lights at Red Square. Moscow is a large city of 16 million. It has 9 large railroad stations, 6 airports and an elaborate subway system. Some of the subway stations are over 500 feet below street level and many of the underground stations are huge with ceilings over a hundred feet high and constructed of elaborately carved marble, many frescoes and statues. When constructed, the subways had a secondary purpose as bomb/fallout shelters.

Before returning, we toured the classy GUM Department store looking for a place to eat. It was nearly 10 pm and all the shops were closing. We did find a great old restaurant at the edge of Red Square. It was in a vaulted basement, the food and service were great. And, best of all; live music. Two guys in traditional dress played a guitar and a lute. We had a great time.

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Woke up today with the remains of a strange creature in my bed. Returned it to Jen for breakfast with a fork in it. We crossed the Volga River during breakfast. Still frozen and many ice fishers were out trying their luck. As I look out the windows, I don’t see a lot of difference from the countryside around Irkutsk – little barricaded farms, log houses with the painted shutters, lots of birch, a little more pine, people dressed in winter clothes going about their chores.

We checked into our hotel – a ponderous thing – marble arches – high ceilings, etc. Then we walked to the subway and rode to Red Square. It was all lit up and amazing! Walked around St. Basil’s and through the Gum Department Store. I could do some serious shopping here.
We had a superior late supper of salads and wine and beer in a neat restaurant just inside the gate to Red Square. A man dressed in a caftan with a staff showed us into the restaurant and two musicians were playing Russian folk music. Really fun! Fran

13 April: The train just keeps rolling.
Russia is one big country, the largest in the world. Just in Siberia there are over one million lakes, one of which is Lake Baikal – the deepest lake in the world. Even though Lake Baikal has a slightly smaller surface area than Lake Superior, Baikal is so deep that it has more fresh water than all five Great Lakes combined; one-fifth of the worlds supply of fresh water.

We will be on the Trans-Siberian Railway for seven days total, (five time zones) for a distance of 7,857km (4,715 miles) from Beijing to Moscow. And, we missed the portion of the railway that continues east 2,180 miles to Vladivostok on the Pacific Coast.

Today, I started self medicating with an antibiotic, Amoxicillin. This, not because I know it is a good choice but it seems the best of what we have available and I really don’t want to see a doctor, especially a Russian doctor.

All day we have been anticipating crossing from Asia into Europe, somehow most of us were in the dining car having dinner when it happened and we missed it. Charlotte and Steve saw the monument but didn’t know what it was until I explained.
Betty and I did see it 6 years ago. The crossing from Asia into Europe is marked by a granite oblisk about 15 feet high alongside the railroad tracks.

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There’s a fresh smattering of snow on the ground. Still in the birch forests just east of Tyumen. We went through Omsk at 1:40 in the morning. I missed it.

AN IMMENSE EXPANSE!

I jumped off the train in the afternoon and bought some M&M;’s and 5 bottles of Stella. Chuck got a bag of snow and cooled his beer. We both attracted quite a lot of attention but the Stella and M&M;’s were worth it. Fran

12 April – EASTER SUNDAY: Happy Easter! We are going through thousands of miles of birch forest. Some places the ground is covered with a foot or more of snow and some places the ground is nearly bare with only patches of snow. Every few miles (10 – 50) we see small villages with mostly unpainted wooden buildings. Dark weathered wood homes, some with a whispy string of gray smoke rising from a small stove pipe, a snow covered garden just outside the back door and very few people to be seen; this scene is repeated over and over.

Every four hours or so our train stops for a short time (3 – 30 minutes). Usually the stops are just long enough to get off and buy a drink or snack from a platform vendor. Neither our compartment window nor the windows in the aisle open so the fresh cool air outside is a welcome change. Our group has become very aware of the train’s schedule because the doors to the toilets are locked about 5 – 20 minutes before stopping and are not unlocked until about 5 or more minutes after we have departed the urban area. Sometimes this can total an hour or more and can cause “scheduling problems” for older beer drinkers.

Our tickets include two meals each day from a very restricted menu. This includes 2 drinks which can be a couple of large bottles of beer. The down side of this is that I have been feeling so badly that even the thought of beer is less than appealing. My misfortune is another’s gain, someone in the group would always step forward.

The Chinese chronic cough continues: periodic coughing spells (Jerry and Linda also have these symptoms) and I am still having one or two fever-chill episodes each day. This has been off and on for two weeks and doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Fran gave me a list of doctors in Moscow and St. Petersburg that honor Blue Cross/Blue Shield Insurance. If I am not better when we get to Moscow in two days I may have to contact one of them.

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Today is Easter Sunday, and because we’re on our way to Moscow, we’re all on Moscow time, and I got up at 4:30 AM. First time in decades Ive been up for Sunrise Service and was actally happy about it!
Going through forests of birch and white pine and cities of log houses and fancy painted shutters. We are trying to get our bearings with a combination of up-to-date tourist guides, an out-of-date map of the Soviet Union, and our train schedule – all in Cyrillic. Best as I can figure, today we are between Krasnoyarsk (old name) and Sverdlovsk (old name for Yakaterinberg), more or less.
I am working on sudoku puzzles not very successfully. I spent all afternoon on about eight easy ones and could only get two done right. I need a lesson. Fran