First Night in the City of Peter the Great

St. Petersburg is often dubbed as simply Peter by the Russians. The city was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 as the window to Europe; it was uniquely situated to become the marine gateway to European ports and open Russia to European traders.

Geographic benefits outweighed the geological challenges the builders faced. The city is built in a giant swamp, and at the time the idea of building a city and a port here was sheer utopia. Yet the it was built, and became one of the most beautiful cities in Russia and Europe.

If you look back at the history of Russia, utopia might just be the leitmotif for it. Making impossible happen at the cost of thousands of human lives for the sake of some glamorous idea - that's the secret recipe there, and it was exploited by many of the cooks in the Russian political kitchen from the early earls of Moscow Russia to Stalin.

Over the years, the city changed many names - Saint Petersburg, Petrograd (the city of Peter), then Leningrad (the city of Lenin), and it got around back to its original name shortly after the Perestroyka times.

St. Petersburg is dubbed the Northern Venice for abundant rivers and immediate proximity to the Baltic Sea. The downtown area consists of 600+ islands divided by those rivers and artificial waterways.

We met up with the Doolittles at the airport, and after a fairly long ride in the hotel's minivan (traffic was horrible) we were at the Petro Palace hotel. The hotel is situated in the historic center of the city, only a few minutes from St. Isaac's Cathedral, Nevsky Avenue and Neva river.

One checked in - and it was quite late in the afternoon - we went to have some food in the nearby Baron restaurant. The restaurant had a traditional Russian flavor, and featured a Gypsy live performance by a small group of people. With the traditional Russian fare, which included Beed Stroganoff, Roasted Duck, Venison and many traiditional appetizers, the place offered good service and steep prices. For a dinner for four, we ended up paying about $300.

Here's the first picture to the Funny Pictures of Curt Fund.

London

We were staying at Jurys Inn Heathrow, a decent airport budget hotel. It was clean, convenient to the tube and only 1 subway stop from Heathrow terminals. I definitely recommend the place to anyone who needs to spend a night close to the airport. A night there cost me about $120 - which isn't bad for London at all.

The subway ride is normally 3 GBP from Heathrow to Hutton Cross where the hotel was, but we opted for a day pass for 6.70 GBP each, which covers unlimited tube rides on the date of issuance.

This was our first time in London - both for me and Olga. We only had 20 hours to spend there, and despite a sleepless night on the plane we decided to go into the city to explore. After about 40 minutes on the tube we were at Piccadilly Circus station in the heart of downtown London.

We didn't have much time, so we went with The Original Tour Bus. We only wish we had more time - 20 pounds covers 48 hours of the hop-on-hop-off experience as well as a river cruise. Definitely a good economical way to see London.

Now, food and service. Not surprisingly, the food is generally expensive and bad. It just doesn't taste right, you know. But that was something I expected anyway. What came as a surprise was a big brand, which is Starbucks. I felt like I only could function with enough caffeine in my bloodstream, and we headed towards the very first green-and-white sign we found. I asked for a double tall breve, and Olga wanted her usual "not too hot not too sweet raspberry latte". Well, they didn't know what breve was, and even when I explained that it's just a latte made with half and half - they said they couldn't make one for me. As to the raspberry request, they said it wasn't on the menu, and that they would try to make one. Unfortunately, with raspberry juice - as they didn't have such a syrup! We truly are spoiled in Seattle!

We both loved London. To me it was the experience of coming back to a place where one can breathe history, live in it, all without the museum exhibit aftertaste, if you know what I mean. It is just part of everyday commute if you will, something that we don't get much of in the young city of Seattle. We came back to the hotel exhausted but inspired.

London reminded me of Moscow, and now even more so of St. Petersburg. I have never been particularly excited about history, but it just seems to me that being surrounded by it just changes my disposition and perspectives on many things. Maybe I'm just getting older. Do you ever feel that way?

On Glass, Sculpture, and Buildings

Dear Blog,

On Glass

I now understand the European fascination with glass buildings: the poor people live in concrete apartments. The glass offices and such are a reaction to that aftereffect of fascism, communism and socialism: they are anti-egalitarian statements wrought in liquefied sand. They are a coming of age movie. A first car. An expression of freedom. They mean "we are wealthy enough not to live in concrete". Concrete in most of the world has become a replacement for mud-brick and thatch. personally I hate glass buildings. They're loud, they're hot or cold, and you can see almost straight down. Gimme brick, stone or concrete, preferably two feet thick or more, and an air conditioner. I want it quite, and cool. Besides, and this should be important to Italians: sculpture is an extension of architecture. The reason that concrete doesn't look good is the absence of sculpture. Build concrete buildings and make sculptures to adorn them. Cast them in concrete like they did in the nineteenth century. but rebuild your craft in concrete and stone. Glass is simply an anti-human building material that destroys the craft that sculpture prolongs: the visual mythology it communicates, and creates uncomfortable spaces the are hard on energy consumption.