Day Five...Walking and walking and walking....

(Note: this is an update to the original post on June 4, 2010)

The designers didn’t have class this morning so we decided to do a little sightseeing.  We left shortly after 9am and walked to closest metro station.  We hoped on the loop down to the closest station to the park.  Then we spent the rest of the morning walking around the park and taking lots of pictures.  All-in-all, I took close to 200 photographs today…and some of them are actually look pretty awesome.

Lock on a Bridge

Carrossel outside Gorky Park entrance

I’ll go to some things from the morning later but I thought I’d talk briefly about today’s class.  We had our first History of Chekhovian Costumes class today.  We have three total classes so our design project is just to design a costume for one of the characters in a Chekhov play.  This was also our first lecture type class with a non-English speaking professor so it was a little strange.  I don’t think I took as thorough notes as I would have liked but it was hard to keep up.  I asked about getting a copy of the Power Point she used so I could have some of the research images (plus, I hope to be able to translate the text to English using a translator program).

Statue among flowers in Gorky Park

Ok, back to random things from today…Gorky park was alright but one of the big things was wanted to see was gone.  They apparently had several old abandoned rides from the Stalin era but they must have taken them out since when the tour book that we are using was printed.  We think we found the spot but there was only bare concrete to greet us.   We also found a restaurant in the park that we want to go to some evening.

Cottonwood trees are pretty cool…except when there are thousands of them all in full reproductive mode at the same time.  It may be June in Moscow but it sometimes looks like December with all the Cottonwood seeds floating through the air.  Not only do they stick in your hair and on your clothes, but they also have a habit of flying into my mouth while I’m talking and walking down the street.  Not fun, not fun at all!

Exercise in Futility

This is a picture that I call “Exercise in Futility.”  They workers are sweeping up the cottonwood seeds while more just blow over the top the café and onto the sidewalk.

I’ve also noticed that the Muscovites have an interesting way of dealing with old falling apart buildings…they cover them up.  The erect some sort of scaffolding like thing to the front of the building and then stretch a loose weave of fabric across this with a new exterior painted on it.  Here’s an example.

The Cover Up!

Well, there is plenty more that I could add and there are few photos I want to put up here.  However, I think I’m getting low on my internet megabyte usage account and my new allotment doesn’t kick in until Monday.  So, I think I’ll just wait until them…it will be worth it!

Cathedral of Christ the Savior from afar

Another day, another show..

Today was a little later start than other days. Olga picked me up from my hotel about 1pm and we walked several blocks to a little cafe where we had lunch 

Philharmonic Hall, second level seating behind orchestra

It was a short lunch because we had tickets to the Philharmonic. Once upon a time, long ago, when it was built (in 1839) it was an Assembly Hall of the Noble. If I understood correctly it was not only a place for music but also for events like dances and social galas. But now, it is just used for the Philharmonic. There are two orchestras, the Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academic Philharmonic Orchestra. I'm not sure why the 2nd one is called "academic" because it does not have any students in it. Of course, many things over here have interesting names...

Second half of concert from just to the side of the orchestra

The music was all from the Strauss family performed by the Academic Orchestra (Olga's friend Sveta plays the Harp in that one). Polkas, Waltzes, and Marches galor! Some of the pieces sounded a little familiar but I could not recall their names (we didn't pick up a program). The only piece I knew the title of was "The Blue Danube." But the music was pretty good. Of course, we are seeing the same concert tomorrow night as part of our New Year's Eve celebrations so I get to hear it all again!

Salmon snack at the theatre

After the concert we had a quick coffee with Sveta before dashing off to the Aurora Palace Theatre where Olga was playing that evening for a ballet performance. While she was in getting set up, I sat in the lobby and enjoyed some typical Russian theatre food. They sometimes have some sweets (rarely anything like an American candy bar) but mostly stuff like Salmon, caviar, or some sort of meat on a slice of buttered bread with a few garnishes. I chose the salmon... and a bottle water.

Lobby of the Aurora Palace Theatre

The Aurora Palace Theatre is one of the theatres that Olga plays at regularly with the Russian Ballet (the Hermitage Theatre and Musical Comedy Theatre being the other two). This theatre is more similar to something you might find in America. Maybe that is because it was built in the mid-1900's (could not find a specific date).  It is a very modern style amphitheater.

Inside the Aurora Palace Theatre

The performance consisted of selections for one or two dancers from various ballets by different composers. There were pieces by Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake, Nutcracker), Chopin, and Saint-Saens to name a few... The dancers did a wonderful job. The only problem was that they tried 'mic'ing the musicians and it was not pretty. Several times there was major feedback issues and inconsistant mixing. Thankfully, for the second half, they didn't use the sound system and the orchestra sounded great!!

Dancers on the stage!

Tomorrow is the Nutcracker! Hard to imagine my trip is almost over...

I'm a tourist!

Statue in St. Isaac's Square

What a lovely day yesterday (Sat)! It was colder with some wind but no snow so it was not as wet as it was on Friday. There is a lot of ice on sidewalks and roads and it was a little easier to walk on it. Those that grew up in colder climates know that warm ice (with water on top) can be more dangerous and slippery than cold ice.

We started our day walking around one of the many shopping centers on Nevsky Prospect while we waited for our city bus tour to start. The tour was nice. It was a Russian tour but the bus had headphone jacks with prerecorded info in different languages so I was able to follow along in English (I think it was linked to some sort of GPS system so it knew when to start the next section). Olga said that the guide was very good, unusual, but good. She even learned a few things about the city she grew up in that she hadn't known. I think that is a key to a good, knowledgable guide.

We had a little lunch after that and then walked down to the Hermitage Museum. After we got our tickets and went in, we discovered that they were closing early that night! So we lost a few hours of potential wandering in the art world but it was still enjoyable. Since I had been there before, it didn't feel like a total lose. We made our way through some of the older sections while Olga told me stories about coming there as a young girl. She had often cried over the horses in armor on display in the military collection. As a young girl she was sad and worried about why anyone would "kill" a horse to put on display. And once, she and one of her friends had been locked in a room at closing time. She had been scared but her friend pointed out that there were far worse places to be locked in so they enjoyed the art in that room until they were let out...

Baby, it's cold outside (Hermitage in background)

We eventually made it to the late 19th and 20th Century wing, our main goal because she likes the impressionist. I wanted to go to that section as well. On my previous visit to the Hermitage in 2010, I didn't have much of a chance to see much of the 20th Century works on display. It was great to see that part of the museum. On our wanderings, we even stumbled upon a few displays that she hadn't seen before. There was even a whole room she had never been in because it had always been closed. It contained numerous books on display form various countries and cultures.

After the museum, we had a nice little snack of hot cherry strudel with a side of ice cream and some hot tea at a nearby restaurant. It was most excellent. I confessed that I have a bit of a sweet tooth and the strudle fit the bill perfectly.

The last big event for the evening was seeing Swan Lake at the Hermitage Theatre where Olga works. She was not playing that evening but had arranged a ticket for me. The sad part for me was that she had to go teach a harp lesson that evening so I had to watch the show on my own. She dropped me off early at the theatre and I was able to get a great seat. The Hermitage Theatre does not have numbered seats so it is a first come, first serve kind of seating, and I got a great seat indeed!

Panoramic view of the stage from my seat

I love painted skrims and a little fog to boot!

The theatre space reminds me of a modified Roman theatre layout. The audience seating is a terraced semi circle (half circle) facing the stage. The modified parts include a lowered area for the pit between the seating and stage. There is also a flat bottom section, that in a Roman theatre would have been used by a chorus, but they had chairs set up for the show. I had a seat in the from row of those chairs. There were two rows of bench seating (padded of course) infront of the railing but that was a little too close to the pit orchestra for me.

Curtain call! Beautiful Swan...

The ballet was exceptional! Being a classical music lover, I had always like the music to Swan Lake but I had never seen the actual ballet (other that a few parts for the recent Black Swan movie starring Natalie Portman but I don't think that counts). It was a very moving story... The dancers were very expressive not only with their bodies but their faces also show great emotion. I was very impressed! It makes me look forward to seeing the Nutcracker on New Years Eve at the Rimsky-Korsakov Opera and Ballet Theatre. Of course, one thing I worry about is that the only ballets that I have ever seen as a audience member have been here in St. Petersburg... I worry that they have set the expectation bar high!

Well, much to look forward for today. This afternoon we are hearing Olga's friend Sveta (also a harpist) play in a concert of Strauss music at the Philharmonic Hall and then she is trying to convince her conductor to let me see the show she is playing in tonight at another theatre in St. Petersburg! 

Holy Day...

Today kind of felt like a Sunday... Only because much of the day was spent at church... Ok, churches... My friend Olga took me on a sight seeing adventure of the several famous churches in St. Petersburg.

From June 2010

Jacob's Ladder in an archway

The first one was just two blocks away from my hotel, The Church of the Spilled Blood (one of it's many names). I had taken numerous photos of the Church the last time I was in St. Petersburg 2.5 years ago but I didn't get in to see the insides.  Well, it looks beautiful on the outside and just a much inside. If I had the time, I could spend all day in a Church like this taking pictures... Like St. Isaac's Cathedral (1/2 mile away) all of icons are mosaics. However, where as St. Isaac's icons are individual and surrounded by marbles, plaster, or gilding  the mosaics in the Church of the Spilled Blood cover the entirety if the walls. So the entire interior wall are covered in mosaics! It is pretty awe inspiring... Oh, and if you are wondering about the name, the Church was built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated! Well, he died in the Winter palace but the Church is where he was mortally wounded from a grenade explosion... It's an interesting story, look it up and read more about it!

Looking up into one of the domes

Nativity themed mosaics

Kazan Cathedral

Next, we went to Kazan Cathedral (a block away from the Church of the Spilled Blood). I had been inside before but it is still a great experience. This is a full functioning Orthodox Church so taking pictures is frowned upon. The first time I was here, I was new to Orthodoxy so I didn't fully appreciate the icons. In particular, this time I learned about the icon of the Theotokos on the Iconostasis called Our Lady of Kazan. It was found in the rubble and ashes after a fire had razzed a section of the city of Kazan. The Theotokos appeared to a little 9 year old girl in a dream (several times) telling her to go get the icon from the rubble. Finally they went digging and found the icon. It is now one of the most revired icons in Eastern Orthodoxy. I even had the honor of standing line line and then asking the Holy Theotokos to pray for me. It a very spiritual event!

Icon of Our Lady of Kazan

The next big one was the St. Alexander Nevsky Monastery.  Sadly, it was getting some major repairs done... Most of the nave was filled with scaffolding so most things did not look all that great. What was not covered up looked very beautiful, I will have to go back again another time to see and learn more...

Birds on a wire outside the monastery

We ventured into a few other non-Orthodox churches that we passed while we were walking.

Mikhailovsky Theatre

We capped off the night with a performance of La Boheme at the Mikhailovsky Theatre. I could go on for an hour about the models, costumes, and items they had on display in one of the lobbies but I'll spare you that... First time seeing a full opera that I hadn't worked on (so I wasn't taking pictures like the previous ones). It was a great show. I loved the set design and I plan on borrowing some ideas from it for some show in the future. I had some issues with the lighting but overall I was really impressed. I even ventured taking a picture of the closing moments (I was in the last row of the highest "circle" of seats so I didn't have anyone behind me to distract). 

Final bars of La Boheme

Tomorrow will include a bus tour of the city, the Hermitage, and a performance of Swan Lake!

St. Petersburg bound...

The day started early with a little last minute shopping to take advantage of some "day after Christmas" sales. Then there was the drive to the airport (thanks dad) to catch my flight...

Arrived early (2.5 hours early) just to make sure there were not any difficulties checking in because of the international nature of my trip. So, of course, I breeze through check-in, no problems getting through TSA, and arrived at my gate within 20 minutes of being dropped off...


And that is when the delays started arriving... The winter storm hitting pretty much everything East of the Mississippi might have had something to do with that.... Silly little wintry weather snow storm. The Detroit Metro Airport handled the snow pretty well and most flights in Detroit didn't have to much trouble taking off. It was the planes coming in from other airs that were causing most of the delays...

With out going into to much detail, let's just say I am grateful that I had a six hour layover in Washington DC because my 2:30pm flight didn't get off the ground until 8pm! We debarked the plane in DC about 9:30, grabbed our carry-ons, and all took off to our various connecting flight... And I just made in to my gate with a few minutes to spare. I was out of breathe and a bit sweaty form speed walking all the way from the end of one terminal to the central hub, took the underground rail line to the next terminal, and speed walked all the way back down to the end of that terminal to the very last gate... Not fun... BUT, I made it!

One of the challenges I have when traveling long distance is that it is very hard for me to sleep in a moving vehicle, especially if I am in a sitting position. If I can lay down flat, I can usually get a few hours of sleep but I can only lightly doze for short lengths of time. Planes are a big one, I think it has to do with the cabin pressure...

All that to say that, the 7:30 hour flight through the night was as good as it could be when you can't sleep... Try to catch a few zzzs but I just couldn't get comfortable... I watched a few movies, played some card games on my iPad, and started writing this post...

Had about an hour and a half layover... Didn't seem that long though... After getting off the plane, we actually had to check in again and go through security. International flight, makes sense... Had a little time to pick up a few little Duty Free things (first time doing that), got some Rubles so I already had some when I arrived in St. Petersburg, freshened up a little (Axe body spray and quick wash of the face), and sent out a few quick messages before boarding my last flight to St. Petersburg!




About three hours later, I was checking in at my hotel in St. Petersburg! Not to much longer after I checked-in, my friend Olga arrived to whisk me off to a late dinner followed by a lovely dessert at a different restaurant. The food was hearty and the desserts were decadent! Then she dropped me off at my hotel on the banks of the Moyka River (really more of a man made canal) so I could finally get some sleep before a day of walking about tomorrow...

Now I will wrap this up as I prepare to head off to bed...



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Detroit, Washington DC, Frankfort, and St. Petersburg

Lazy weekends...

I like weekends... I often get to sleep in as late as I want, which is really only an hour or two later than I get up during the week, but it feels much later. I am getting better at doing the domestic things in life, like laundry and cleaning, on the weekends when I have more time in my apartment. I guess it is a little sad that it has taken me until my mid 30's figure some of this out...

I've always been good using my weekends for fun stuff like watching sports, going to a movie or two (or three), and hitting the links (when the weather is nice) to get in a round of golf. But those easy things for me because I like them... The previously mentioned domestic things... I don't like them as well, but I see the value in doing them...

Christmas lights...

My Christmas Tree

One of my favorite parts of the Holiday season is the lights! I really like Christmas lights... But, I am a bit of a light snob, that is to say, I like a clean classic look. My personal preference is to use white lights. My Christmas tree has only what lights on it with simple, yet classic, ornamentation.

I prefer white lights for my out door decorations as well... Colored lights can work well outside, if used wisely, but I still prefer simple white lights. Although, I don't have any outdoor decorations... I haven't had a need or been able to use outdoor Christmas lights for years because of some of the place I have lived relegated me to not being able to have them anyway. So, I don't own any...

The front of my apartment

This year, I could have purchased some and decorate the outside of my new apartment but my upstairs neighbor already decorated the front porch... Much to my pleasure, she used all white lights! That made me happy! Although, I need to figure out how to turn them off late at night because they shine in my bedroom window... But that's a different problem...

Court house in the town square

I took some pictures of lights of some of the lights around town on my walk back and forth to school.  Some I like some I'm not a big fan of... especially hooky things...

Very simple and clean... I like!

Colleagues house... I really like!

Color lights are okay, but a little to much overall stuff...

I like the colored lights. Even the candy canes walkway and snowman are okay...
But the plane...

Yeah... the whole inflatable Santa, spinning propeller, and all that... not my thing....

So, that's my little Christmas light deal...

It's that time of year...

Well, it has been a long while since I’ve written anything on this old blog of mine…

Much has happened since that time but I will not regale you with all of that. I just thought that I would take this season of Giving Thanks to share some thoughts… That, and I’m sitting in my family’s rustic cabin in the woods with not much else to do… As least I have a little Internet access via my cell phone! So technological advances that let weird people like me do silly stuff like this are some of the things that I am thankful for…

Of course, my family is the biggest thing I am thankful for… When we lost my sister-in-law and niece in a snowstorm highway pile up over a year and a half ago has made family all that more important. They are missed dearly and we wish that they were still with us. However, we have the knowledge that we will meet again in heaven.

I love my job… I really liked my previous job at Bryan College but I feel really lucky to be teaching at my alma mater, Greenville College, even if it is just for this year. I hope I can convince then to keep me… and the theatre program…

I am grateful to live in the United States of America. We bicker with each other over political philosophies and moan about how stupid other people can be… But at least we can do that. I feel fortunate to live in country where my right to speak my mind is protected by the law. Not everyone can say that… We are the lucky ones…. Everything I say or write is rarely the best idea, news worth, intelligent, thought provoking, or other wise useful. In fact, I say a lot of stupid stuff, but at least I won’t get thrown in jail for it… hopefully anyway…

I really like my family’s hunting cabin. Like I mentioned before, it’s a little ol’ rustic cabin the in the woods with no running water and no electricity, and I like it like that… It reminds me of simpler times. I remember once coming up here when I was in grad school. I used the old oil lamps for light and spent my time drafting by daylight and lamplight. It was great.

When I lived in Michigan, I would come up here several times a year, often just by myself. Now that I live out of state, as I have for about four years, the only time I get up here is Thanksgiving weekend. So I try to make the best of it. Tomorrow (Thanksgiving day), I’ll get up with my dad and grandpa and go out to sit in the woods. I won’t be hunting but I just like to sit in the woods and think. I’ll probably do some reading as well… and I’ll take several naps… and I will enjoy it…

On the eight day after Christmas...

We departed on the tube nice and early to get to Windsor Castle just when they opened. And it was a good thing too bacause there was a long line to get in after just an hour or two. Started off seeing the Doll's House which was freakin' awesome! Great detail, but definitely not the kind of doll house you play which (which it was never designed to be played with). Then it was up thought the State Aprtments which where also very cool. Very nice to see all the different styles and stories behind them. The only stinky part was that photography was strictly prohibited. Interesting that you can take pictures in Hampton Court (minus a few rooms) but not in Windsor Castle... Oh well, I got a few exterior shots of the buildings...

St. George's inside the compound was also gorgeous! I just love all those wonderfully old architectural styles. The quire with all the knight's seats were nice, especially with all the coat-of-arms decorating the various knight's stalls.

The Windsor trip rounded out with a nice lunch at one of the many cafes near the Windsor Station. I had a nice two course meal that started out with a mushroom dish accented with spinach leaves and a mild cheese. The main course was a French variation on bangers and mash. Both were pretty good, especially the mushrooms.

The afternoon was a bit of a debacle... Elaine (the art professor) and I were planning on going to the Design Museum because Bernie (the other theatre professor) had a coupon for "two for the price of one" deal. He was picking tickets for a show tonight and there was a miss communication where we thought he was coming back to the hostel so we went back there and waited... and waited... and waited... Long story short, he was still out shopping for his family. So, not museum today, it got rescheduled for Wedensday morning...

Then several of us when out for dinner and a show. We ate at the Spaghetti House and were served by a waitress from Poland! One thing I've noticed here is that most of the people who work in restaurants are not English. It can make ordering and whatnot a little interesting at times... then we were off to the Criterion Theatre to see "39 Steps." It was hilarious! It's a four person show but way more than just four parts. One guy played just one character and the other three, a gal and two guys, played all the other roles (and one of the guys, the short one, played half the female roles). It's a rip roaring time, especially since it was an Alfred Hitchcock movie and the mentioned most of his movies as part of the dialog. Basically, if your get a chance to see "39 Steps," take it!

Well, it's past midnight and the coach leaves tomorrow at 8am so I'll sign off for tonight...

On the seventh day after Christmas...

Was another rainy day... Well, it started out just being overcast and it wasn't supposed to have a chance of rain until around 16:00, but this is London and it started raining about noon. The stinky part about this was that we had gone out to Hampton Court today (the estate that Cardinal Woseley "gave" to Henry VIII) and we didn't get to walk arrouond and enjoy the Gardens because of the rain.

The actual palace was great! We got to go through the whole Tudor era kitchen complex where they were actually preparing a meal for that afternoon so we got to watch them and see things like the roasting rack in use (picture to come later). Learned lots of cool stuff too, like approximately 70% of the court's diet was meat (because meat was expensive and Henry VIII had to impress the foreign dignitaries)! The court had to travel around the country and spend time in various places because it would literally consume all the areas resources, and they paid for it too, so nothing so the king didn't get any freebies. And did you know that the pies (a meat pie for example) were just another method of cooking? That is to say that when you got the pie, you cut off the top, ate the insides, and discarded the dough shell (which was just flour and water anyway). It was a very education experience learning about the dietary and culinary practices of the time...

The Tudor part of the palace was really interesting and it was great to see a lot of Tudor era architecture, furniture, and tapestries in person (and many pictures we taken for source material).

The Georgian era additions were pretty interesting as well. The layout was very familiar having already been to several royal palaces in St. Petersburg, Russia, but it was nice to see the darker, wooden textures used more at Hampton Court as opposed to lighter, plastered textures Peterhoff or the Winter Palace in the Heritage. All in all, it was a designer/architecture lover's paradise...

Following that, I went back to St. Paul's Cathedral tonight to hear an organ recital to began the celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year. It was a pretty interesting concert, although I personally felt that the acoustics hurt the softer sections of the music because it just kind of got all muddled together and the delicate details got lost in the vastness of the space. Oh, we'll... It was a free concert and it was enjoyable overall.

Alas, the alarm clock will be sound off in just shy of seven hours so I suppose I should go to sleep... Tomorrow, we are off to Windsor Castle!