Iconic St. Petersburg Statue
We left Dulles airport at 6 PM Tuesday, connected in Paris, and arrived in St. Petersburg about 8 AM yesterday (3 PM local time). The flights were wonderfully boring. We were suprised at how easy it was to clear customs. We waited in a short line at passport control. My big challenge was to answer “You fru fro”, which was supposed to mean “Where did you fly from?”. Finally, the bored agent supplied my answer (“Paris”). From there, we picked up our bags and went to the “Nothing to declare” door, which lead to an empty room. Voila, we were in one of the most buerocratic nations on Earth.
St. Isaac’s Cathedral
We were in our hotel by 4. Petro Palace isn’t much to look at from the outside, but our room is quite nice. It includes ammenities we don’t find at the Holiday Inn – robes, slippers, and of course floor heaters for the bathroom. The breakfast this morning was an extensive buffet.
After unpacking, we walked around the block and found several restaurants. We select a restaurant with painted scenes on the walls and ceiling, bad popular music (in English), and delightful crepes.
St. Isaac’s Alter
The next order of business was to stay awake until bedtime. There is a choral group that offers concerts once a month, and tonight was concert night. They sing classical Russian religious music such as Rachmaninoff “O Mother of God vigilantly praying”. Or so they say, I never understood a word.
The cathedral was less than a block away. It was easy to get there an hour before concert time, which got us excellent seats. A group of Austrian language teachers came up and in their best Russian, asked me of the seat next to me was taken. I said something wonderfully cultured, like “Huh?” That’s how they knew to switch to English.
Alter Detail
The choral group is about 30 people. They sing a capallo, and they are very good. If the singers aren’t professional, they are as good as professionals. The conductor has a wonderful sense of voice and balance. Best of all, the concert was in St. Isaac’s Cathedral. With it’s 70- or 80- foot ceilings, domes and arches, and marble walls; it offers perfect accoustics for this kind of music. No recording could possibly reproduce the amazing music we heard. Plus we were surrounded by gold icons and artifacts, incredible statuary, and amazing painted scenes. What a wonderful introduction to St. Petersburg.