TravBlog: Back to the Motherland

Russia...it was my first time visiting the country since I left exactly 14 years ago, so needless to say it was a bit of a sentimental trip as I went to visit my grandpa, meet my distant family, and see Moscow and St. Petersburg while I was at it. Not going to lie, I was quite nervous going there a) because I wasn’t sure that they will let me in (and most importantly out) of the country with my new Russian passport, and b) because I didn’t know what to expect. Luckily for me, both concerns were unjustified—I had only minimal trouble at the border, and I found that the country hasn’t changed at all – it’s still very cold, a little backwards, but has a lot more Western brands now!

Not going to gush about how lovely my newly met distant fam were (especially my aunt who took a week off work to take me everywhere and ensure that I ate really well...crepes with caviar, who can refuse!), but not having many relatives, it was nice to know that the few that I have are good ones. The number one thing that I had to get used to right away was the cold. I went at the end of March, but it was still -10 and snowing every single day...at least this made for great tobogganing weather! My Canadian wardrobe, and especially footwear definitely weren’t made for such climate hehe. But it’s all good because I was shown how you can stay warm by taking a shot of vodka mixed with honey and horseradish (by my aunt out of all people). The number two thing I had to get used to was the transportation system. My family lives an equivalent of a 40 min drive from Moscow, but it takes 3 hours to get into the city by car, and 90 minutes by train. Non-stop traffic jams and sporadic train schedules are to blame (supposedly in Moscow they have a tendency to block roads when Putin needs to leave Kremlin to go somewhere, bringing anything to a standstill. Hehe, I wish I had that kind of authority!) The third thing I had to get used to was that you can get a fake anything in Russia...for example, a fake iPhone or a fake Mercedes. These goodies are made across the border in China and then promptly imported into the country.

I was only moderately impressed by Moscow. I’m sure I would’ve been more impressed if I went in the summer, but c’est la vie. The Kremlin, the Red Square, and the churches around it are stunning, but other than a few other pockets within the city, I didn’t find it particularly appealing. It was very busy, people were very rude, it was hard to find decent food...but the Moscow girls were quite a sight lol. I would recommend any single (or not?) guy to go – even in the middle of winter, I was amazed by how many stiletto heels and fur coats I’ve spotted trotting through the snow and ice. I did a tour of the Kremlin and what’s inside, the Red Square, the churches, and took a very touristy but educational bus tour around Moscow. I’ve also done a very solid tour of the Tretyakovskaya gallery, reuniting with the Russian art. I was blown away by my aunt, a scientist by profession, but who acted better than a museum guide telling me about the art and the history behind it. No wonder they say Russia has a great education system. Of course, no experience in Moscow would be complete without going to the theatre or the ballet, so I opted to see Master and Margarita by Bulgakov – a great production in my native language. My experience is Moscow wasn’t all cultural, and my 2ndcousin took the time to show me what the young people do for fun. This included a proper Russian dinner/vodka get-together, a visit to banya (that lasted 5 hours and included a lot of beer, naturally), and a re-introduction to the Russian pop scene.

I’ve also managed to do a day trip to St. Petersburg, taking an overnight train from Moscow, and the same deal back. It’s actually a pretty convenient way to travel as you sleep on beds in little 4-person cabins...and sleeping on the train is the best thing because you literally get rocked to sleep. St Petersburg is nothing like Moscow both in terms the look and the feel. Peter the Great did a great job ripping off the best European architecture to build the city, and it looks like a proper Western European city, well equating in beauty to Paris...in fact, much nicer than Paris and also cleaner, but minus the Eiffel Tower. In terms of the feel, it was less hectic, the people were nicer, and the food much better than in Moscow. We did a lot of sightseeing on foot, taking in the buildings, the monuments, the churches and the museums, and finished off by spending 2 hours at the Hermitage. The Hermitage was the imperial winter palace and is now a museum housing both the royal apartments and a vast collection of art. In fact, not being a big fan of palaces/museums, this was the only one that ever blew me away. Even after seeing the museums of Florence, Versailles and Le Louvre, hands down the Hermitage kicks all of their butts in grandeur, beauty, collections and accessibility to it all. I couldn’t believe that Da Vinci’s rare art was at eye level simply behind glass for everyone to see without any ropes, when you had to fight tooth and nail to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa at Le Louvre. I hear the city is absolutely stunning in the spring and summer when the many parks around the city are green, especially around the ‘white nights’ where it’s pretty much daytime 24/7, a phenomenon observed because of the city’s close proximity to the North Pole, and these are the things that I missed out on in the cold month of March, but it gives me a reason to come back!

I left for London early Sunday morning after exactly 1 week stay with a jar of caviar, several boxes of chocolates and Russian sweets, and my childhood bear that my aunt saved for me in tow. Here’s a recap of my reunion with the Motherland in pix:

The mighty Kremlin