The airport is eriely quiet when I arrive. I get some cash at an ATM and book a taxi at the cab counter. Turns out I have a hired a black Mercedes sedan for $20.00. It's a 45 minbute ride into the city, so the ride feels cheap. I see policemen waving down mototists for spot checks. I have heard this is a common bribery collection technique.
I am staying at a Marriott that is impecable and only costs about $50 a night. The in house bar has good food and a better piano player. I had tipped the car driver and now the piano player. Their reaction was as if I had cured cancer. I guess tips are rare in Russia.
I become adicted to cabs in Leningrad because they are cheap and the sidewalks are mostly covered with slick ice. The wind howls at times, the sun never shines through the grey clouds and the temps never vary more than a degree or two from freezing. It is VERY slick walking. My knee doesn't like the unsure footing.
I visit the Hermitage area a few times, and make two attempts to get into the Leningrad Great Patrioic War Museum before I am successful. I learn to navigate the subway system and some streets around the hotel. The wether limits me to about three miles of walking a day.
I like Leningrda for its Georgian architecture, which is almost the universal style here. It gives the city a Parisian feel. There is a complex canal system that goes everywhere. Its not Venice, but its halfway there.
I am very impressed by the beauty of the Rusian women. They put Paris to shame. I never knew what slavic peoples are supposed to look like, but this looks as much like Europeans as any place I have ever been in Europe. Maybe its the fact that everyone is bundled up. I have to say that certain leaders of the 20th century were just plain wrong.
Since I am covering nine days at one time I have more than the normal number of photos. I hope you can understand indulge me.
Two guys ice fishing on the large river that leads to the Baltic Sea
This guy was checking the ice for safety. His partner drove around in an air boat.
Inside the Hermitage. Good stuiff, very ornate. Amazing parquet floors.
Outside of the Hermitage. As big as Versailles.
A good example of common Leningrad Buildings. Limited skyline.
Inside the Leningrad Museum of the Great Patriotic War. Strictly out of the 1950s and 60s. Some of the diplay cards were typed on a manual typewritter. But worth it for me.
Poster fom the war. The museum never mentions that about one million people died of starvation, in part because Stalin refused to evacuate civilians from the city. The DOES point out that the secret police did an excellenent job of controlling unfounded rumors, catching defeatists and punishing those engaged in unsocial paractices (they specifically mention eating the dead.)
School kids on an outing. The museum is in pretty sad shape now, but I'll bet it was a mandatory school day for the young in the past.
I had a heck of a time finding a place to do laundry in Leningrad. There is a bar/laundromat that is not open (but is rumored to have hosted the Rolling Stones and others), but I enetually found this place. The operator was very understanding, honest and hospitable. No English, but she did my laundry for about four dollars. And she even offerred me coffee or tea while I waited. She did all the work, including the folding.
After y time in Leningrad I start working my way towards Kyzyl, via Moscow.
