Russia; Exploring St. Petersburg

Impressions of St. Petersburg.

It starts of course, at the airport, even before the seat belt sign is turned off, as the plane taxis down the runway past the rusted hulk of an earth mover pushed just far enough to be out of the way and left to rot. Then past the carcasses of the decommissioned aircraft, neatly parked and seemingly waiting for something - but it's not clear what. Would they ever be brought back to service? Who in their right mind would board a flight on a plane that looks like it has not been used in 10 years? If they are junk, why not move them? It's a lot like now disappearing Carquinez moth ball fleet. And it sets a tone.

It is a tone that recurs somewhat frequently throughout St. Petersburg. There are many relics of a previous time that look like they don't quite work and don't quite belong in a modern Russia. Parked next to brand new BMWs you'll see a 30 -year-old Lada that looks like it will collapse into parts at a stiff breeze. Walking around St. Petersburg you are impressed with the spectacular at nearly every turn. The architecture is mostly classical European, the buildings are generally well maintained as are the roads. Notably, the sidewalks are not. Uneven footing everywhere, asphalt covering coarse granite, pot holes everywhere. The streets are crowded, but seems most of the foreign tourists are gone. The groups in the church today all seemed to be conducted in Russian.

St. Petersburg is not hard to get around it. We have found English speakers to help us everywhere we have ordered food (okay maybe that's not a stretch at Mickey D's) but the other place was a real restaurant.  We are starting to recognize words and letters, but reading is not speaking. That is still tough.  Breathing is tough, too. Everybody smokes. Walking down the street we move from cloud to cloud. Some of the clouds are auto exhaust. Clearly they have not adopted California emission standards. The smell of exhaust is pretty constant.

Negatives do not overwhelm stunning views however. St Petersburg is a beautiful city. Water almost always improve the beauty of the city. San Francisco certainly benefits from a watery separation from Oakland. That watery space creates vistas for appreciating the structures beyond.

If you can believe the guidebook, St. Petersburg has more bridges than any other city. It makes sense. St. Petersburg was built on a swamp, drained to become a series of islands. Its existence is a testimony to the will and power of a single man - albeit a man who was Czar. Peter the Great hated  Moscow and so he decided there would be a new capital. And he decided it would be here, the swamp and the difficulties be damned.  At one time he decreed - Czars can do that, just make it so - that no building of stone could be built anywhere in Russia, save in St. Petersburg.   In St. Petersburg they could build, and so they did. The architecture is beautiful. It reminds one of Renaissance France and in some cases Holland. Fitting, considering the great influence those countries had on the 18th century Russian court.

Odds and ends: Young women in St. Petersburg have a penchant for wearing the most impossible shoes. Five-inch stiletto heels are not at all uncommon, and they wear them in the most unlikely places. In the Hermitage we walked almost 8 miles viewing the exhibits and at the end of the day my feet were killing me. Yet we saw plenty of women in five-inch heels. Why? They must be tough, and given the conditions the streets, blessed with great balance.