Our month-long stay in Russia is coming to a close. The Russian wedding, which was the main reason we made this trip, was a lot of fun. We were looking forward to witnessing a real Russian wedding, but ironically, the theme was Las Vegas. I doubt any of the wedding organizers had ever been there. There was no beer at the wedding, so we brought our own. Surprisingly, all the vodka bottles remained full – apparently, whisky is the new drink of choice in Russia. Wedding guests warned us that beer is poison, and a waste of money. The next day at the picnic, what were they all drinking? Beer. We learned that beer is a hang-over cure in Russia. After the wedding we visited a monastery on Valaam Island – a beautiful natural habitat, and toured the huge Ladoga Lake. Then we spent a few days in St. Petersburg, five days in Moscow, and a week in Chernyahovsk – a small town 80 km from Kaliningrad – in former Prussia.
Wedding
Although some things about Russia seem pretty hard, we have seen some of the most amazing sights here. The view from our dorm-like hostel included a castle reminiscent of the one at the end of a Mario Brothers’ video game level. The Moscow and St. Petersburg metro systems were full of monuments that made the stations seem more like the interior of Hogwarts from Harry Potter than a subway system. The Kremlin with it’s seven gold-domed Cathedrals, including a 91-meter bell tower, is amazing. Not to mention more gold treasure in the Kremlin museum than most Americans can imagine. St. Basil’s Cathedral at the Red Square is more beautiful in life than I had thought from the photography I had seen, and the labyrinth interior was cooler and more fun than I had expected. I saw more fantastic paintings at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg than I had studied in all my years in art history classrooms. Overall Russia has such a wealth of history and unique culture. Although leaning a little on the dark side of life, there is a brightness to it that cannot be diminished.
View of Kremlin Cathedrals from the bell tower
Tomorrow we will ride a bus to Kaliningrad and stay in a hotel while we look for decent bikes for our touring trip. We’ll also need to get a smart phone, and some minor supplies such as a tarp, toilet paper, maybe a cooking stove, etc. These seem like easy tasks in America, but I’m afraid they will be quite difficult here in Russia. We will ride our bikes to the Polish border no later than August 17th because that is when our Russian visas expire. Our tour through Poland to Germany should take about a week. We have been warned about the dangers of touring in Poland by people who have never bike toured. Russians are really paranoid.
Maria, your notes are very interesting and cool. They are full of humour and excitement. I’m eager to read on!