Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Fulbright–Hays Group Project Abroad Short-Term Seminar in Russia

Week Five
11–17 July

Understanding Russia through Everyday Life
Week Five has arrived and Monday night we travel to St. Petersburg by train, where we will stay until Thursday evening when we travel to Moscow.
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Sunday, 11 July

Patrice and her host: these certainly weren't the only tears that were shed as the group left Murom for Vladimir — and for the farewell dinner and train trip to St. Petersburg.

Kicking up our heels at the farewell dinner at the Traktir Restaurant right next to the American Home.

Several of the fellows were called upon to "help" with the floor show; Joe didn't seem to be complaining...

The group left on the night train for St. Petersburg after the dinner. It was supposed to depart at 10pm, but it was over an hour and a half late. However, it made up all the lost time, and we arrived in St. Petersburg on schedule.

Jessica and Mark Johnson on the train.

Monday, 12 July

Today the group visited St. Isaac's Cathedral, then had some free time to explore. Our hotel, the Moskva, was located at the end of Nevskii Prospekt, the main street in St. Petersburg. This put us just across the street from the Alexandra Nevski Lavra, or "chief" monastery — which we visited the next day.

We also visited Yusupovo Palace today — where Rasputin was killed. Jeff examines a photo of Gregory Rasputin.

Tuesday, 13 July

The group at Tchaikovsky's grave in the cemetery right next to the Nevski Lavra. A number of famous Russian artists, authors, scientists and other prominent people are buried here.

I told the group the the little known story about how right after Tchaikovsky was buried in 1893, people began hearing strange music in the vicinity. No one could identify any of the music, including some very prominent musicians. Finally, a very knowledgeable professor of music happened by. He listened carefully and then said, "That's Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony being played backwards."
In other words, Tchaikovsky was decomposing.

I had to tell the story quickly to keep from breaking out in a broad grin. I in fact succeeded in surprising the group with the ending. (Most of them thought the joke was bad enough for them to tell it to their students.)
— Ron Pope, Trip Leader

A reflective moment along the wall of the Alexander Nevski Lavra.

Later in the day we visited the Hermitage Museum, where we were given a very interesting tour by Natalia Krollau, a senior scholar at the museum. She began by informing the group about the museum's very impressive outreach program for children — which serves more than 6,000 a year. She then gave us a tour of the Winter Palace, focusing on the lives of the tsars. (It was a strange feeling to be standing in the room where Alexander II died, after being mortally wounded by the eighth or so attempt to assassinate him).

A bride hurrying back to her wedding party — in front of the famous statue to Peter the Great.

Jessica, Jeff, and Jill at Peter the Great's statue,
also known as "The Bronze Horseman."

We attended a performance of the ballet, "Swan Lake" this evening. Even Jeff — who was sure he wouldn't enjoy it — was impressed with the production. Here, Jessica and Pat get seated in the theater. Pat managed to purchase everything she wore this evening here in Russia — including her amber necklace and bracelet.

Wednesday, 14 July

We began today with a tour of St. Petersburg focusing on the 1917 Revolution, led by Boris Kolonitskii, a professor of Russian history. He was able to intermingle his family's history with other interesting information that the teachers said they would definitely be able to include in their courses.

The group near the balcony where Lenin delivered his famous speech to a group of revolutionary sailors.

The cruiser Aurora — it fired a blank shot as a signal to storm the Winter Palace during the Revolution, and it kept a key bridge from being opened. (It's interesting to speculate on the possible course of Russian history if the coups against the Provisional Government had failed!)

A five-story high mosaic captioned, "Workers of the world, unite!"

In contrast to the reminders of the Soviet past, a variety of commercial advertising has flooded Russia's major cities, in particular. For example, this billboard ad for a Russian version of Rolling Stone magazine.

In the afternoon we were given a tour of the Russian Museum by one of the Museum's senior scholars, Alexei Kurbanovskii — who has lectured at the University of Illinois. His knowledge of Russian art and history is impressive. Once again, the teachers indicated that they had been provided with fresh information that they would be able to add to their lectures. (Throughout the trip participants have commented that they were going to need to alter and/or expand on many of the things they had been telling their students previously).

A visit to the mass graves of those who died during the Siege of Leningrad during World War II (known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War) was very sobering. Our St. Petersburg guide, Tanya, discussing the history of the Siege in the small museum at the entrance to the grave site.

Recently-installed stone tablets presented by various groups in memory of those who sacrificed so much during the Siege.

A tablet presented by "teachers and students of the 21st century" in memory of the teachers and students who died during the Siege.

Jeff and Terry talking with a guard at the cemetery. His English was quite good. (Jeff bought a scarf for a Moscow soccer team from a vendor in St. Petersburg — which he probably should have waited to wear until he got to Moscow...!)

Thursday , 15 July

Today we visited Peterhof, Peter the Great's summer palace. Unfortunately, it rained all day...

The main fountains at Peterhof

Some photos of what was left of the summer palace after the Nazis were driven back in World War II. Almost everything that the Russians had to leave behind was destroyed.

In the late afternoon we visited the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which is inside the fortress of the same name. Most of the members of the Romanov dynasty, the last hereditary rulers of Russia, are bured here. This now includes Nicholas II and most of his family. After extensive DNA testing to verify their authenticity, their remains were placed in a separate alcove in 1998.

We had dinner in a Pizza Hut! (Thanks to the host families in particular, the group had plenty of experience with authentic Russian cooking in Vladimir and Murom. But Pizza Hut and McDonald's are a growing part of "everyday Russian life.".)

At the folk concert that evening at the Nikolaievskii Palace, once again a member of our group was called upon to help entertain.

Patrice and Jessica on the "Midnight Express" train to Moscow

Friday, 16 July

We began our first day in Moscow with a visit to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the national police) museum. The visit was arranged by General Boris Gavrilov. (His daughter, Anya, was one of the participants in the law enforcement exchange program that included the University of Illinois Police Training Institute).

General Gavrilov by one of the machine guns on display in the museum.

A printing press for counterfeit Soviet rubles. The person responsible for this counterfeit operation printed 33,000 rubles in the 1970s, which was a substantial amount at the time — you could buy a car for 4,000 rubles then. But he received only a three-year sentence.

During the question-and-answer session after the museum tour, Gen. Gavrilov acknowledged that under the old Russian (and Soviet) criminal code some sentences were too light and some, especially for petty crimes, were too harsh. A major effort has been made to update the criminal code.

During the discussion, Gen. Gavrilov was asked about the difficulty of making the transition to the new system. He acknowledged that adjusting wasn't easy for people of his generation in particular. Among other things, life had been less "complicated" for the police under the old system. But when asked which system he would prefer his two grandsons to live under, he replied without hesitation, "the new system." He then explained that, for example, under the new system it was possible to travel the world — just because you wanted to and without having to get the government's permission.

Christ the Savior Cathedral. It was rebuilt on the site where Stalin had torn down a church by the same name and had planned to build a skyscraper topped by an enormous statue of Lenin. When they excavated for the foundation, however, they found that it wouldn't be solid enough for such a large structure. Instead, they built an outdoor swimming pool. The new cathedral was finished only a few years ago — at a cost of more than $250 million, most of which was provided by donations.

A great deal has changed in the former Soviet Union, especially beginning with perestroika in the late 1980s. But some things do remain the same. This McDonald's advertisement states: "The world is changing. But the Big Mac remains the same. Why change perfection?"

Among the things that haven't changed in Russia is the overwhelming hospitality — in private. Unfortunately, there is sitll a shortage
of well-developed customer service in the public sector. For example, when our group tried to go to breakfast on our second day
in Moscow, we were told that only two of us were scheduled to eat in that restaurant. The rest had to go to a different restaurant
in the hotel. This, of course, didn't make sense — and no one on the Russian staff tried to quickly deal with the problem. Fortunately,
improvements are being made even here. For example, the service at McDonald's in Russia is often better than it is in some McDonald's
in the U.S.

Saturday, 17 July
Today we visited the relatively new park commemorating World War II. There were wedding parties EVERYWHERE!

A wedding party at the base of a statue that includes a giant bayonet and St. George, Russia's patron saint, slaying the dragon.

Some of the members of our group posed with another wedding party.

The group speaks with two World War II veterans. One of them showed us his sets of medals.

After the park we went to the Kremlin, where we saw the Armory with its impressive collection of tsarist carriages, clothing, etc. We also toured the Kremlin grounds and churches.

Mark Johnson and Joe with our Lena, our Moscow guide.

Mark Johnson with one of the many Kremlin churches in the background.

An ice cream break.

The famous Tsar Cannon. It was meant to intimidate Russia's enemies, but it turned out to be too big to be fired.

Jessica with Nadya just outside the Kremlin wall. Nadya, who has worked with American Home groups since 1993, was our very capable and conscientious escort for St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Dinner on our own. Most of us ended up at the "food court" in the spectacular underground mall just outside the Kremlin Wall.

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