Everybody knows Russia from television and history books: a cold country full with rockets, bears and chess players. You see grey flats everywhere with sad people inside who drink their home-brewn vodka. Their writing looks like it can only be stamped or set in stone. No one has seen sunshine inside the Russian borders. Lenin is to be seen on every street corner, and the hammer and sickle is slammed into children from their early ages. In short, why would anyone want to go there?

To show the contrary.

First impressions in Saint Petersburg

After Berlin it was time for the greatest travel of my life sofar. I was nervous before I went to Berlin, but fortunately my nerves were somewhat calmed down with all impressions I've had in Berlin.
This journey starts in Saint Petersburg.
Being a Western European, Saint-Petersburg is a good start to explore Russia. It has a reason why this city is also called The window towards the West. When you look around a bit, you see many European influences. There are buildings and streets which you could potentially see in Rome as well, and the channels make you think of Amsterdam. But everything else looked new to me. I had to say it out loud for a few times to make me realize it: "yes, I'm really in Russia". When I saw a sign of McDonald's, one of the pillars of capitalism, spelled out in Cyrillic I was sure I was not dreaming.

Saint Petersburg is a beautiful city. For the eyes. Unfortunately, the traffic spoils it a bit: the center is quite busy (not a surprise for a city with millions of citizens), and most vehicles do not comply with the safety and environmental rules. Black clouds of smoke, noisy engines and drivers which allow themselves a rather 'sportily' driving style: it does not contribute to a nice air and sound quality. But it's the only drawback I could find in this city, it is absolutely no reason to stay away.

There's much to see. I got quite quickly impressed with the Nevsky Prospekt, the backbone of the center of Sint-Petersburg. This wide and long street goes from the Palace Square to the southeast. You'll find many shops, but every now and there's also a palace, railway station or cathedral to be found. It is very crowded, especially when you move towards the center.

Our hotel was just outside the core of the city (but still in the city's center). This was Hotel Atrium, located near the Nevsky Prospekt. There's a nearby subway station so you can quickly move from the hotel towards the center and back. My expectations for the hotel weren't that high, because, well, it's Russia after all. But I worried for nothing: it's a nice hotel with clean and modern bathrooms in every room. There was even a flatscreen TV in my room which allowed me to watch dubbed Southpark episodes.

Saint Petersburg Metro

The Saint Petersburg Metro was a very interesting phenomenon during my stay. It's incredibly deep underground, some stations are about 100 meters down. There's no other way around it, because Saint Petersburg is built upon a swamp and you have to make sure that your feet remain dry when going underground. These stations are build according to the horizontal elevator principle. You cannot see the trains from the platforms, they're hidden behind doors, about 20 doors at each side. The trains stop exactly at these doors and the train doors open automatically with the platform doors. (Closing these doors went with a big BAM, I seriously wondered how many people got hurt when they got stuck in between). These doors prevent the platforms to be flooded whenever there's an outbreak.

When you want to go by subway you have to pay 24 ruble (about 50 eurocents). Once you're inside, you can travel to any station you want. The metro is very time consuming: you spend the equal amount of time walking as travelling by the trains. The escalators are at least 75 meters long and there's a guard seated at every end of it. They shout through the intercom to keep your children with you or to stop running down the escalators. When you want to transfer from line to line, it's quite likely you end up walking for more than five minutes from one platform to another.

Saint Petersburg has five lines and the stations are quite far from each other, compared to other cities I've seen. In Berlin and Rome the trains cannot reach a decent speed or they have to stop for the next station already. The trains in Saint Petersburg reach speeds of 90 km/h. This makes such an enormous noise that eliminates the chance of having a normal conversation (thanks to the open windows everywhere). What annoyed me was that it is barely visible which station you are and which one you're approaching. It's only shouted through the intercom. After four days I still wasn't able to independently travel through the metro. It was a good thing there was always someone along my side who knew how to go from A to B. I thought I conquered Berlin's complex public transport network, but man, this one knocked me out.

Sightings

OK, enough talking about all impressions now. Is there anything to see there? Of course there's the Winter Palace where the Hermitage resides. It's difficult to miss this one, it's right at the heart of the city. Next to the palace there's the Palace Square with a high pole and an impressiving palace gate. When you walk along the Neva you'll always see this building standing out to the other buildings. Inside, there are a large amount of rooms with art items from all over the world.
On Thursday 6th of August we went to the Hermitage. It was the first Thursday of the month that day, and apparently everyone has free access to the museum. The resulting queue is long enough to bore you for some 1.5 hours. But well, a visit to Saint Petersburg is worthless without a visit to the Hermitage.

Besides the Winter Palace, there's much more to visit. The Neva guarantees some nice views with her bridges, huge ships and the countless amount of large buildings along the waterside. There's also the Bronze Horseman, a statue of Peter the Great. At the other side of the river you find the Kunstkamera museum, featuring a collection of objects from all over the world. There's a large collection of malformed embryos, some hobby of Peter the Great to collect such things.
Furthermore, there is the Saint Isaac Cathedral, with a climbable dome for a nice overview on the city.
At the Nevsky Prosekt you'll also find the Kazan Cathedral, and from there you can see the Church of the Savior on Blood. This church looks very similar to the Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow (at the Red Square).

On another island you'll find the Peter and Paul Cathedral. You can see the spire from far away. In this church you may find several sarcophaguses of several persons which had a significant role in Russian history, like Catherine II. The style of the church was quite different from what I would seen in the rest of my trip. This church was quite illuminated, in contrast to the average orthodox church which is more gloomy and darker.

There are also little attractions to be found in the city, you would easily miss them if you're a stranger. Near the Church of the Savior on Blood there's a little bronze bird down the quay. The goal is to throw coins towards the bird, if the coin remains on the platform, you can make a wish. It was a nice game with a high one-more-try rate. You can find luck on every street corner in Russia (in Moscow even in the middle of a subway station). There are statues all over the place where you have to throw coins at and make a wish.

Just outside Saint Petersburg there's an attraction which is not to be missed when you're nearby: Peterhof. There are trains going there, but they their schedule is on a quite low frequency. With a little bus instead, you'll be there in about 30 minutes. It brings you to a big palace with two gardens: the High Garden and the Low Garden.

I've only been in the gardens. The Low Garden is the most interesting one: many fountains, waterfalls, channels and statues. It's easy to spend quite some hours in this garden. The surprise act is taken care of by the squirrels, running near the paths. They're quite tame and are not afraid to eat straight from your hands.

During the Peterhof visit, the weather showed its best side. The weather in Saint Petersburg can be safely summarized as 'grey'. Because the city is at the seaside, the weather is quite variable. But in Peterhof the sun appeared from behind the clouds: for the first time in Russia I enjoyed a clear blue sky. The ultimate proof that the sun does shine in Russia.

Veliky Novgorod

After all the beauty of Saint Petersburg, it was time to leave the big city: the next stop will be Veliky Novgorod. After two cities with millions of citizens it was time for something smaller.

Veliky Novgorod shows the real face of Russia, this came much closer to the Russia I know from the media. Forget about the 70 meter wide streets, the palaces and huge churches of Saint Petersburg. Here you'll find simple flats, trolley busses, Lada taxis and holes in the road with the size of a meteor crater.

But Veliky Novgorod has a lot to offer: this is the oldest city of Russia as we know it today. The Novgorod Kremlin is crammed with historical sights: very old churches, the wall towers and the Millennium Of Russia. But the most important building must be the Saint Sophia Cathedral. This is the oldest church building in Russia, and with very few exceptions, the oldest building in Russia still in use today. Quite a miracle after the turbulent history of this area.

It was a big mess inside the Kremlin when I visited it. Much effort was put in tiling the streets and to renovate the buildings. Because in September the city would celebrate its 1150 year anniversary. The president will be there, and I was told that Bruce Willis will also join the party, for whatever reason. No idea what he has to do with Novgorod, but well, you'd better make sure to have everything arranged when he comes to visit you. So I was walking there one month earlier and I had difficulties with believing that the mess will be sorted out in one month. The person in charge of the renovation will probably be fired when it's finished.

The Kremlin is located along the Volkhov River. You'll also find a beach and a pedestrian bridge which brings you to the old market place. When I walked on this bridge I made it to Russian television, unconsciously, that is. A camera crew was shooting a weather impression (the weather was beautiful that day). We only heard about this in the evening, but we were too late to actually check it out. Near the market place there's a fountain to be found with all weapons of the "Hanzesteden" (a group of trading cities). Veliky Novgorod also belongs to this group.

The other full day residing in Novgorod I attended a wedding ceremony. Before I go into details, I'd like to mention the huge amount of wedding couples I've seen in Russia. In the Netherlands, you go to the city hall/church, get in the car and continue the day in the restaurant behind closed doors. In Russia, the couples are just a part of the street view. Many of them were inside a photo session, but often the attention is attracted by the noisy surrounding family. At a certain point, later this trip, I counted five or more couples on one square at the same time. It was a Saturday, a very nice day to marry, apparently.
Back to the wedding I was attending. This couple was already married in Moscow, but they did another unofficial ceremony for the bride's family who couldn't attend there. The ceremony took place in a open-air museum, a peasant town just outside Novgorod. Some women in national costumes were shouting in strange Russian dialect all the time, and guided the whole ceremony. It was a series of little traditions, like eating bread, drinking (fake) vodka and writing wishes for the couple. Fortunately, there was a translator by my side who explained all the tiny bits.
When the whole ceremony was done, the whole family went back to the bus and went to the market place, where we walked yesterday. At that moment, another wedding was going on, a part of the park was turned into an altar.
After that it was time to go to the restaurant, in the urban part of Novgorod (read: many flats). Much food, much drinking and incomprehensible Russian songs.
At the end of the day I was dizzy from all the impressions that day, it was simply overwhelming.

The next day was the last day already in the Russia's oldest city. That evening, at 21:30, the train was ready to bring us to Moscow. Armed with vodka and food, we had a nice start of the trip. The compartments are quite convenient, with pillows and clean sheets for the night. But despite this comfort (which I hadn't seen in Russian trains sofar), it did not contribute to my rest. This shaking noise-making train kept me awake pretty well. And when another train passes by, you're in the middle of a ghost train, with even more noise and flashes. Ironically, I managed to sleep for some minutes while I was listening to ""The Dawnseeker" album, by "Sleepthief". I noticed as soon as I knew I missed some tracks when listening to the last track.

Moscow

At 4:30 am the bright lights were suddenly switched on. There are no limits to subtlety. It's one hour before arrival, but the heavy blonde conductor reminds us twice to wake up and be ready. It was still dark outside and there was nothing to see. One half later I saw the first glimpse of Moscow: three smoking cooling towers. Nice. At exactly 5:30 we arrived at the Leningradsky Rail Terminal. This train station is located on a location with 2 other train stations. This little fact should've made me realize the size of Moscow, but due to the lack of sleep it didn't really come through. If the taxi driver didn't have that typical Russian driving style, I would have fallen asleep in the taxi. But instead I was packed in the front passenger seat and paid attention to every move he made. The driver was not afraid to push his gas pedal and the markers on the road were just rough indications of where to drive the car.
We drove for about 30 minutes to arrive at the front door of one of the thousands of flats in Moscow. At this place I would stay for the next week. The first five hours in Moscow I spent asleep.

Half of the day already had passed by when I woke up, but there was plenty of time left to go to the center. We had to go by metro, the nearest station was Vykhino. In order to get there we had to travel for about three kilometers by bus. Then you have to travel about 25 minutes while the metro speeds through the dark tunnels. It has much in common with the Saint Petersburg metro: the same trains which make at least the same amount of noise. The stations are even more decorated: these are almost like palaces: chandeliers, mosaics, statues and other decorations. Despite these places are very crowded, it was a pleasure to be there and look around.

We left the metro at the Okhotny Ryad station and walked along the Duma towards the most famous square of Russia: the Red Square. A great experience to actually see this square with my own eyes: the Kremlin, the GUM and of course the Saint Basil's Cathedral. The weather was beautiful and the cathedral looked amazing, I couldn't stop looking at it. The inside looks more gloomy, it's an orthodox church after all. There is also the Lenin Mausoleum, but it was a Monday and it's closed then. A pity, it would've been nice to visit it.

Around the Red Square there are other sights: the GUM, a shopping mall where it is legimate to only look and not buy, given the prices. There is also the Alexander Garden and the Manege Square. And of course the Kremlin itself. Inside the Kremlin you can visit a bunch of churches, and find some massive objects like bells with a mass of 150000 kilograms. The Kremlin was not as big as I thought, that is, the section where you are allowed to go. You need to comply with the rules, when you set one foot outside the legitimate region you'll hear a whistle right away.

These are of course the most famous attractions in Moscow, but this enormous city has a lot more to offer. Quite close to the Kremlin you'll find the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Also an orthodox church, but different from the churches I've seen sofar: well illuminated and lots of space. A nice church to visit for a walk.
When you walk through Moscow, you have to be blind in order to miss one of the Seven Sisters. These ominously looking skyscrapers origin from the Stalin era and are still in use today. One of the Seven Sisters is the Lomonosov State University. The characteristics feature a Soviet star on top and some hammers and sickles.
There is also the Pushkin Square, with a statue of Russia's pride: Alexander Pushkin. There are no thorough studies of Russia required in order to come across his name, he's mentioned everywhere. At the Arbat, a well-known street in Moscow, there's a house where he has lived for a while.
Furthermore, there's the All-Russia Exhibition Centre: a (former) commercial district. During the Soviet era, every Soviet state had its own building for trading business. The buildings are still there, but just for general purposes. At the back of this area you'll find a lost airplane, an old Russian rocket and a locomotive. It was the place to show off some Soviet power.
We also went to the Tsaritsino Park and its museum. It's a former residence of Catherine II. I was told that she didn't like the palace that much and so she barely resided there. To me it was an indication what a unpleasant person she must have been. Inside the palace is a museum, showing many portraits of Catherine II. She has reigned for over 30 years, but it's quite remarkable that on every portrait she looks equally aged. There are also construction drawings and archaeological excavations. These excavations are still work in progress as I write this, there's a wealth of objects to be found in the ground. Just in front of the palace you can see the contours of a building which used to be a church before (I believe).
Later that day we also went to Poklonnaya Hill. A 140 meter high obelisk is to be found which remembers to the Second World War.
The last day in Moscow I have been to the world-famous Tretyakov Gallery. Many paintings, including quite famous ones. I must say I'm not a wizard of fine arts, but sometimes I actually recognized some paintings from a far and fuzzy memory. Regarding the size of the museum, I had the same expectation I had as with the Hermitage. There are hundreds of paintings to be seen, but you can actually visit it in two or three hours, not that bad. It was a good thing, because later that day I had to take the train to the next destination: Kaluga.

Kaluga

After a few days in Moscow, the bustle of the city started to itch a bit and it was time to trade the big city for a city with 'only' 300000 citizens: Kaluga. This city is about 200 kilometers southwest of Moscow. In three hours the train will bring you there, but it stops at the most insignificant places. Sometimes a station was just called "165 km" because there was nothing else nearby to name it after. So this name simply says that you're 165 kilometer from Moscow.
Originally, Kaluga is a mercantile city, but these days the car industry is booming. There's also much dedication to the aviation and space travel, thanks to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. He teached in Kaluga during the 19th century and has written significant theories regarding aviation and space travelling. There are some statues and a museum surrounded by rockets to remember Tsiolkovsky in this city. By the way, the big rocket at the museum was the same type as the one at the exhibition center in Moscow.
Just like Veliky Novgorod, Kaluga shows the real face of Mother Russia. It's a simple city, actually it appeared to me as a big village. The area where I resided did not appear highly populated, despite the fact that the city center wasn't that far away.

Traffic

As I indicated before, Russian traffic is slightly different from what I'm used to in the Netherlands. I noticed that from the very first meters I made in Saint Petersburg until the last minutes in Moscow. Maximum speed? Hell no, as long as there's space and the traffic lights are not red: hit that pedal! Overtaking at the right? Well, there's space after all, so why not? Periodic vehicle tests? Why, the car still works and is able to bring me from A to B. And safety belts? That's for sissies. I think you have a rough indication how I felt when I sat in the passenger seat of a Lada taxi with no safety belts.
I asked about the amount of yearly road victims in Russia, because from what I've seen it looks like millions people die in traffic each year (with vodka involved or not). But I was told there are 'only' 10000 deaths each year, given the circumstances it didn't seem that bad to me.

Two faces

When you reside among the people, you clearly notice that Russia has two faces. The first face is well known in Western Europe: Russians are grumpy and egoistic. I noticed that right away when applying for a visa in the Netherlands: I didn't feel that welcome. Not a single smile. The metros in Saint Petersburg and Moscow are populated with people just silently staring in front of them or reading a book. The people at the ticket offices are machines, working 24/7. When you ask them something which does not exactly fit within their responsibility, they simply say they don't know. The problem is solved for them.
These are the people you encounter in public. At first I got a bit annoyed by it, but that's pretty pointless.
But I was lucky enough to also meet the people at home, and I didn't know what came over me. Never I have been received so hospitable as with the two families where I stayed. When you arrive after a long train trip, the dinner is ready on the kitchen table and you can start eating. At some point, I had eaten so much that I couldn't even start with breakfast the day after. It didn't feel right to refuse some things I was offered, but well, my stomach has a limited capacity.
It's true what they say: Russians are incredibly hospitable. Don't be scared of the angry people at the embassy.

Conclusion

The trip to Russia was simply the most impressive one I have ever made. In two weeks I have seen incredibly much and met many people. I'm writing this two months afterwards, and not a single day has passed by without thinking of all this. This holiday would've never been that great without the people which were with me all the time. I'm incredibly grateful towards them and their family. I felt at home, and not a single moment I wished to go back to the safe Netherlands, despite the lower standards of living in Russia.
After my journey, I heard several people thinking aloud about going to Russia someday, but you hear that typical reservation in their voice. Today, I can only recommend Russia for those who are willing to go there.

So what's left now? I got a bunch of pictures, a bottle of vodka and a beautiful remembrance in memory.

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