"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle
wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
- Winston Churchill
I'd never
heard this famous quote when I was in College. On my 19th Birthday,
as I began my Sophomore year as a Pre-Med student, the Soviet Union
launched Sputnik; and the 'Cold War' intensity went up a notch.
Like most young Americans during that time, all I knew about Russia
was that for some reason, they had become our implacable enemy. But
later that same year, I discovered the truth of Churchill's
statement, and much more as well. That was when I read Dostoevsky's
Crime and Punishment. It was the first book that I had to read (as
part of the curriculum for a required Literature Course) that I
actually wanted to read; and simply devoured in a couple of
days.
Who was this guy, Dostoevsky? And this fascinating and incredible
place in which he lived? It was then that I began to learn of
Russia's long and complex history. I spent a great deal of time in
the library researching Russian Literature and History. And shortly
thereafter, I changed my major from Pre-Med to Literature.
As the years went by, I immersed myself in Russian Culture: I read
the Russophobes like Richard Pipes, and the Russophiles like James
Billington; I attended the movies, listened to the music; looked at
the paintings, even went to the ballet. But most of all it was the
literature - Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Solzhenitsyn, but always
in translation; the language itself remained a mystery. It just
didn't seem possible I would ever see this far-away "Land of the
Firebird".
When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 90s, it began to seem
possible. But I always seemed to lack enough time, or enough money,
or simply enough courage. Then the death of my absentee father
revealed that his parents were Russian immigrants to New York at
the beginning of the 20th Century. Now it became truly
personal.
On Christmas Eve, 1994 I converted to Orthodoxy,
and became a Liturgical Reader. Along the way, I picked up some
Church Slavonic and a bit of more modern Russian from some of our
parishioners. In 2004, I retired and discovered my finances were
better than I'd reckoned. Still I procrastinated. Finally I decided
it was time to really go there. I convinced my wife that it was,
indeed, possible to do it. We set 23 days aside from May 17 through
June 8 2008 as our target.
Through the internet, I was fortunate enough to discover the
TravelAllRussia company. It was through their fine associate,
Natalia Pakhomova that we planned the entire journey, even though
several parts of it wound up being handled by other firms in Russia
and England. The keystone of the trip would be the Golden Ring,
those ancient towns and villages located within a few hundred miles
east of Moscow. In addition to many sights there, and in Moscow
itself, we traveled to Novgorod, St Petersburg, Pushkin, Pavlovsk,
Peterhof, and a river cruise along the Neva to the Lakes of Karelia
and the Valaam Monastery and Kizhi. It was literally "the trip of a
lifetime" and everything I thought it would be, and even
more.
Here is my list (Americans are obsessed with lists and rankings,
you realize) of what I experienced in Russia....
Most beautiful church visited (location, exterior, interior):
Church on the Spilled Blood, SpB
Oldest church visited: St Sophia in Novgorod, 1050 (couldn't really
tell it from those built in 1130 or so)
Favorite monastery visited:: Tie between Valaam and Aleksandr
Svirsky (Svirstroy)
Favorite cemetery: Aleksandr Nevsky Master of Arts Necropolis in
Spb
Favorite metropolis visited: Sankt Peterbourg
Ugliest town visited: Ivanovo (did not stop)
Favorite towns/villages visited (in order of appreciation): Plyos,
Rostov-Veliky, Kizhi, Yaroslavl, Abramstevo, Suzdal
Favorite art museum visited: Tretyakov in Moscow (Russian
Impressionism is my favorite painting)
Favorite historical museum: Dostoevsky House in SpB
Favorite Gardens visited: Peterhof
Favorite Palace visited: Tie between Pavlovsk and Yusapov
Favorite Hotel stay: Plekhanov's Manor in Rostov
Since the journey, I've been invited to join Russia Travel Club and
share my experiences on its website. As of the first of the year, I
have created 19 Blog posts. These cover mostly Moscow and the
Golden Ring. More will follow. They describe in detail our Russian
experience in text and some vivid photos. They're stored in reverse
order, where the oldest post is (1) CLUE THE CAMERA. Hope you enjoy
them.
[
RJs blog on Russia Travel Club ]
RJ FEnsterman
1-800-884-1721
