“[Leningrad] sits astride the Neva, frozen in time, a haunting mélange of pale hues, glorious façades and teeming ghosts.”
Today is another sunny but chilly day. Last night was downright cold. I would never guess we are so close to the beginning of May without a calendar in front of me. Fern has the right idea: stay inside nice and warm and stretch in the sun on the floor. My breakfast place filled quickly and many were golfers. Four men in polo shirts in a single booth were a dead giveaway. I guess I’ll take that as one sign of spring.
The saga continues.
We arrived in Leningrad and went to the hotel where we were to meet the rest of the tour group which had flown in from Copenhagen. We went to the desk to check in. The woman at the counter wanted our passports. I was okay with that until she said she’d have to keep them while we stayed there. I panicked. Too many movies had me thinking I’d be stopped by the KGB who’d want identification, and I would have none. They’d haul me off to prison and I’d be gone for ever. My family would call the embassy, but the Russians would deny any knowledge of my whereabouts. I said no, an emphatic no. She then said I couldn’t check in at any hotel. I folded quickly. I wanted a bed.
The first guide we had was wonderful. She was friendly, knowledgeable and courteous. My tour group was multi-national: 4 Americans, a couple from Italy who didn’t speak English, some Argentinians, a couple of guys from France and a couple more from England. We dutifully followed Natasha (I know, really?) from sight to sight. We saw the winter palace of the Tsar, the Peter and Paul Fortress and cathedral, the Hermitage ( one of my favorite places), Peterhof and we also took a ride down the Neva River. We were told no one in Russia is ever unemployed. That made sense when you saw that each room in the Hermitage had its own woman sitting in a chair keeping an eye on everything while other women sat in other chairs at the bottom of escalators in the metro. I have no idea what they were supposed to do. We noticed no one ever smiled. Once we bought an ice cream and a woman smiled at us, and the guy from Argentina said she must be a foreigner.
My friend and I and one other American were supposed to go to Tbilisi, but we were told that trip had been cancelled, and we were going to Kalinin instead. We were furious but stuck. At the tour office, we complained and also wanted a refund as the other trip had been more expensive. We were told they knew about us in Moscow. I replied that the tsar knew about the Bolsheviks and look what happened anyway.
The good guide left us at the train station in Leningrad, and the worst guide ever took us over for the rest of the trip. We rode the train together to Kalinin. At one point I asked the guide what river we were passing, and she said she didn’t know. The Frenchman said there were trains in France like the one we were on but they were in museums. The tour group had become quite irreverent.
Kalinin was sheer misery. The two tour stops were a printing plant and a dentistry school. At the plant we watched machines print. That was it. We were given literature about Lenin as souvenirs when we were leaving: just what we all wanted. At the dentistry school we walked through rooms filled with chairs which had people sitting in them with their mouths opened while their teeth were being fixed. It is number one as the worst tour stop ever, including every trip I’ve ever taken. The one good think about Kalinin was it is on the Volga River. We walked along it and hummed the Volga Boatman.
Next, we took the train to Moscow. When we got off the train, we saw that whole city was filled with thick smoke. We asked the guide why there was so much smoke. She said there was none.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: dentistry school, Kalinin, Leningrad, Moscow, passport, printing company, train travel
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
April 28, 2013 at 11:46 am
Hi Kat,
Not de Volga: De Nial.
Sorry. 🙂
That Kalinin trip sounds awful. A tour of teeth.
And the cheesy threat that they knew about you in Moscow. Like that was news. I love your response. I would have been too slow to come up with that one. 🙂
It’s lovely here right now. The sun is out and it is pleasantly warmish. I got sidetracked on laundry and vacuuming and raking the yard but even that was pleasant. The birds were checking out what I was doing in case I was putting out some food. They were disappointed. I wasn’t. I’ll pick some up later. I think I have done enough for the day.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
April 28, 2013 at 11:52 am
Hi Caryn,
Ha, at first I thought you were telling me it was the wrong river then I read it again!
It was laughable in retrospect.
I went out for breakfast, got a call from Ghana and then finished Coffee. I do need to put out suet and do some shopping as I have appies for tonight’s Amazing Race night.
April 28, 2013 at 11:53 am
One of the funniest movies I have ever seen is “Moscow On The Hudson” with Robin Williams. In the first part of this 1980s movie Robin Williams is a sax player in the Moscow circus band. He lives with his retired comedian grandfather, which is a funny thought in itself, in a small drab apartment living a very non funny existence in Moscow. Later he defects while on a tour of the US and the funny parts begin.
I really feel sorry for the Russian people. They suffered under the Czars for centuries who where replaced by the Commissars under whom they suffered equally until their version of Communism imploded. And, now they suffer under a Capitalistic free for all where law and order is dependent on your status and your wealth. I wonder if Lenin and Mao are scratching their heads at how things have gone so wrong. We know that they are not rolling over in their graves because their remains are on display under glass.
Yesterday was wonderful with clear skies and warm temperatures. Today is forecast to be a repeat performance with temperatures reaching 80 degrees. I love this beautiful weather but we can use the rain. I know it will rain and storm the two weekends that they play the Colonial golf tournament in Ft. Worth and the Byron Nelson in Dallas. Soggy golf is a Texas tradition in May 🙂
April 28, 2013 at 1:10 pm
Bob,
I remember that movie as being really funny too especially his getting acclimatized to the U.S.
The one thing which is more positive is there is a middle class which never existed before. There is competition and there are goods which were never before available, Not only that but food is more plentiful and there are no shortages which used to cause the huge lines at the stores. People can actually buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
Today will be around 65˚ inland and around 55˚ here along the coast. I was just out on the deck, and it was cool even in the sun.
Golf here where May is the perfect month to be on the links!
April 28, 2013 at 2:18 pm
Of course things are better than under the Communists. But the Russians haven’t changed. They are still very wary of the West and long for strong autocratic rulers to tell them what to do and what to think. They may have found their man in a former KGB leader, Mr. Putin.
April 28, 2013 at 2:46 pm
Bob,
I think for the Russians who had little in the old days, things are much better, but they definitely are wary of the U.S.
April 28, 2013 at 12:26 pm
Much the same weather here today as it was yesterday, without the thunder so far.
I love Your response 🙂 🙂 🙂 I don’t think I would have dared that 🙂 But I wouldn’t have worried about leaving my passport, they would already know all about You, if You talked with Yourself while doing things and if You farted during sleep 🙂 They had microphones and cameras everywhere. I’m not surprised that the guide said there was no smoke, if the part said the air was great no one would say anything different 🙂
The signs in Finland are still in both Swedish and Finnish, the Swedish language is protected by their constitution since the beginning so it would be hard for the True Finns to change that 🙂 But they are very polite in Finland, even if it is impossible to understand what they are saying 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
April 28, 2013 at 1:12 pm
Christer,
My nose i cold-I was just outside on the deck for a while and found it chilly.
I was young and daring back then. The cameras and microphones come into a story about my last night in Moscow.
I found Finnish way too difficult!
April 28, 2013 at 1:56 pm
Thanks for Russian saga pt.2 !
Leningrad / St. Petersburg is definitely worth a visit. Never heard of Kalinin before, at first read I thought you meant Kaliningrad, but no, worse. Soviet propaganda at it’s best and these rebellious American girls just couldn’t appreciate it 😉
April 28, 2013 at 2:43 pm
Birgit,
It is a beautiful city, and I loved the ride down the river.
Nope, I just didn’t appreciate all those open mouths and the noise of the machines as all that propaganda printed.
April 28, 2013 at 2:02 pm
OMG, Kat, still laughing! School of dentistry on a tour!! Too funny! No thick smoke in Moscow! I can’t believe you gave up your passport. I can see the film now starring Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz.
April 28, 2013 at 2:44 pm
Erin,
I had to give up my passport in every hotel. It was standard procedure. I didn’t have a whole lot of choice.
The dental school was hysterical!!
April 28, 2013 at 6:13 pm
Now they just take a copy of your passport.
April 28, 2013 at 6:16 pm
I, too, laughed good and hard when you got to “dentistry school.” Must’ve been horrid at the time but what hoot!
April 28, 2013 at 7:35 pm
Rowen,
It will remain in my memory forever. I can close my eyes and still see the largest room with all the dental students and their “victims.”