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Not just a trip but a whole experience!
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The first ever St Catherine's trip to Russia was a great success. Seventeen Sixth Formers and three members of the History Department set off at the start of the Easter holidays on a 6 day trip to Moscow and St Petersburg.
Two of the staff had last visited during the soviet era and so were very interested to see how different life in Russia was today since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Many of the students are studying History A Level, a big component of which is devoted to 19th and 20th Century Russian history. Those girls studying other subjects such as Art, Politics and the History of Art also found much to inspire them on this visit which as many of the girls said quite independently, 'It wasn't just a trip it was a whole experience!'
The first three days were spent in Moscow, staying in one the hotel complexes built for the 1980s Olympics, so our accommodation was definitely of the 'soviet' sort with 'key ladies' on each floor and no bath plugs! However, with so much to see and experience we were all pretty tired by the end of the day and the food, if not exactly gourmet was passable.
Our first port of call was Lenin's Mausoleum and whilst we queued we were able to watch the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown warrior. Clear instructions were issued that we were not to 'smile, cough, speak or stop!' Vert severe looking guards reinforced these orders just in case too. Emerging from the darkness we visited memorials to other soviet era personages including Stalin, Kamenev and Yuri Gagarin.
As can be seen in the picture we stopped off at St Basil's Cathedral in Red Square which was quite spectacular with its technicolor domes set against a brilliant blue sky.
After lunch on Arbat Street and a city tour we made our way back to our hotel which, very conveniently, was situated only a few minutes walk from a huge souvenir market where we strolled around stalls offering matroushka dolls both traditional and modern, lacquered boxes, furry hats etc.
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The Kremlin
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This was definitely one of the highlights of the whole week, especially the royal treasures housed in the armoury building. We saw Russia's largest collection of genuine Faberge eggs, the imperial crowns, gifts from all over Europe including a collection of 17thC. English silverware which is very rare indeed as much of it, in our own country, was melted down during the time of Cromwell. There were beautiful carriages and a costume display including dresses worn by Catherine the Great.
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Tretyakov Art Gallery and Moscow State Circus
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After lunch we headed for the Tretyakov Art Gallery where we spent the afternoon with our very accomplished guide Lena who took us through a potted history of Russian art from icons through to the works of renowned Russian artist Repin. We derived a tremendous amount from this afternoon and many of us could have stayed much longer. Next time we will make sure we also visit the New Tretyakov which has a collection of early 20thC works.
The experience at the Moscow State Circus left us feeling very sorry for the many animals used in the acts including bears and hedgehogs (!). Having had a very moving end of term lecture from Virginia McKenna about her work with the Born Free Foundation just a few months ago, the sight of dancing bears and performing elephants brought home to us the plight of animals in captivity.
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The Night Train to St Petersburg
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Verdict: girls loved it but the staff did not! Mrs David said
'I'd sooner have sharp pins stuck in my eyes than ever do that again' (but we will, don't worry 'Russia 2009' Sixth Form!).
Apparently the train we caught at 10p.m. was a more luxurious one than usual because it was going through to Helsinki. Well, what can I say about the night train. Spacious? No. Comfortable? No. Sleep-inducing? No. Ablution facilities? Minimal.
We arrived in St Petersburg at 6a.m. sleepy and disshevelled but the view of The Winter Palace lit up in the darkness made it all seem so much better and moreover, our hotel was able to allocate us our rooms there and then and so hot showers and breakfast lifted our spirits.
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St Petersburg
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We were met by our new guide Tanya at St Peterburg's new railway station and whisked off to our hotel which proved to be excellent despite some poor reviews on Trip Advisor. We spent our first day in St Petersburg on a guided tour of this beautiful city visiting St Isaac's Cathedral, the fortress of St Peter and St Paul where many of Russia's tsars are buried including what are believed to be the remains of Nicholas II and his family. Despite the cold weather the historians amongst us had to have our photos taken beside the Cruiser Aurora for very obvious reasons! The girls then had some free time to explore the Nevsky Prospekt and eat lunch. We were also fortunate enough to visit a Russian Orthodox Church where a service was underway which was a very moving experience.
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The Hermitage
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On a visit where it seems superlatives are just the natural order of the day, the Hermitage Art Gallery has to take one of the top accaolades since it really is one of the greatest art collections on the world. The palace iself is incredibly beautiful with marble staircases, gilt mirrors and chandeliers and on the walls some of the art world's most priceless masterpieces. We heard that to stop in front of each exhibit for one minute would take 12 years; we had approximately 3 hours! We could not do it justice and next time we plan to spend more time there.
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Yusopovskiy Dvorets
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Despite the opulence of the Hermitage and its world-renowned masterpieces we still found time to be blown away by another of St Petersburg's palaces; the Yusupovskiy Dvorets. This is a tardis-like building with a rather plain facade fronting the Catherine Canal but behind the pastel yellow walls lies a myriad of salons, ballrooms and even a private theatre which captivated us all. However, the Yusupov Palace is famous, or rather 'infamous', as the scene of Rasputin's violent end. The dashing Felix Yusupov and three accomplices lured Rasputin back to the Palace one December evening in 1916. After offering the 'mad monk' poisoned cakes and wine they finally resorted to bludgeoning him to death and then throwing his body into the frozen River Neva, all in a vain attempt to salvage Romanov rule.
That evening the group split into two with half returning to the Hermitage Theatre to watch a performance of Swan Lake whilst the 'non-ballet' group stayed behind at the hotel and toyed with the idea of karaoke but only Franky and Jess actually had the courage to go through with it, paying tribute to Britney in their own very special way!
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The Final Day: The Memorial to the Siege of Leningrad
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No time to waste; it's Wednesday, final day and so it must be the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad and then on to Tsarskoe Selo, the tsars' summer palace. After the benign weather of Moscow, it had become decidedly chillier in St Petersburg and finally on our departure day the temperature fell to sub-zero and it snowed!
For everyone living in St Petersburg, the Siege of Leningrad is an important part of their heritage and for older generations it rekindles terrible memories. We visited the site where the brave citizens of that city finally repulsed the Nazis after a siege lasting 872 days, in which up to 800,000 people died.
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Tsarskoe Selo
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Tsarskoe Selo lies in the village of Pushkin, 15 miles south of St Petersburg. It is a settlement which consists of a number of buildings amongst which are the Lyceum (where Pushkin went to school) the Alexander Palace and the Catherine Palace. It was the latter which, once again in this city of magnificent architecture and past-opulence, bowled us over. Those of us who have studied 19th and 20thC Russian history know that it is the place where the last Romanovs retreated when political tensions ran high in St Petersburg; once again it did not fail to impress.
Russia is a fascinating country. A number of our students, quite independently stated that it was not at all like they had expected; 'it feels more foreign'. There is something about this country which penetrates deep into one's soul. The history is, of course, fascinating and the future is still in the balance. We look forward to 2009 when we will make the journey once more.
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