A taste of Russian history

Skip Kendrick

It wasn’t long ago, at least in our minds, that Moscow was a

forbidden city harboring the evil power behind the “Iron Curtain.” No

one from the free world was allowed even a peek in to this remote

city. The sense was that it harbored a dark and oppressive society

full of downtrodden people.

That may have been true 20 years ago, but not today. My wife,

Sally, and I had an opportunity to take a day trip into Moscow, and

we jumped at the chance.

Passengers on the Song of Flower cruise ship docked in St.

Petersburg on the Neva River, we arose at 7 a.m. to board a van that

took 10 of us to the airport. Anticipating morning rush hour, a

police escort with flashing lights got us there in plenty of time.

Since I’m a white-knuckle flier, I was very apprehensive about the

flight after all the stories I heard describing the outdated and

overused commercial jets in Russia. This was not the case as we

boarded a clean, relatively new jet. The one-hour flight from St.

Petersburg to Moscow was like any commercial U.S. flight except for

the lack of air conditioning.

The next stop was the Kremlin. While we were waiting outside the

15-foot-tall, red brick wall, Russian President Putin and his

entourage drove through the gates in Mercedes with flags flying and

lights flashing.

Once inside, we went straight to the Armory museum, which features

ornate carriages used by the czars, suits of armor, as well as china

and finery from a bygone era. It also houses a beautiful display a

Faberge eggs. The docents are extremely vigilant and quick to

reprimand in a stern and almost police-like manner. None smiled or

gave any indication that they were pleased to have us there.

From there we went to Red Square. This was a great experience. It

is large, clean and offers a tremendous insight into the architecture

of Russia’s past. Lenin’s stark, modern tomb offers a striking

contrast to the ornate, gold-leafed spires and the Disneyland-like

spires of St. Basil’s Cathedral that surround the square.

Within walking distance of Red Square is Church Square occupied by

St. Michael’s Church, the Church of the Ascension and the Church of

the Annunciation. For shopping, there’s G.U.M. (pronounced Goom), a

multilevel collection of stores stretching for blocks and offering

everything from the Matrioshka stacking dolls and lacquer boxes to

Armani. It would take you days to visit every store.

Our guide for the day was a Russian attorney who was very

articulate in explaining the history of Russia and its people. When

asked about today’s Russia, she felt that the people are just now

beginning to trust the government and its policies.

The biggest obstacle, in her mind, is the bureaucracy. As an

example, she said Putin recently held a conference of the country’s

business leaders. He said it now takes more than 600 signatures to

get a new business license. His goal was to cut that in half.

There are few monies available for mortgages, as property

ownership is still a new concept.

We had a wonderful lunch at the Pushkin’s Cafe, where we were

served a cheese and tomato salad for starters, then cabbage soup,

chicken Kiev, and vanilla ice cream and strawberries for dessert. It

is the site where Pushkin, called the Russian Shakespeare, wrote a

lot of his works. Upon entering, you are engulfed by the warm glow

and charm of this 18th century building.

We then went to the old KGB headquarters (secret police), which is

now a museum. On display is some of the high-tech equipment they

captured from American and British spies. Of particular interest was

the pictorial history of the capture of American Gary Powers, who was

shot down in his U-2 spy plane over Russia during the Eisenhower

administration. The guide, a former KGB officer, said that “this

building is the tallest in Moscow -- once you were brought in for

interrogation, you could see Siberia!”

The trip back to Moscow airport was at the height of the rush

hour. Again, we had the police escort, only this one was very

aggressive, as our van was led into oncoming traffic cleared by

lights and sirens. Without it, we would never had made the flight.

Oh, for that kind of service to Los Angeles International Airport.

Visiting Moscow and St. Petersburg only gave us glimpse into this

vast country and its people. However, it was enough to whet our

appetite for more.

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Skip Kendrick is a resident of Newport Beach.

* TRAVEL TALES runs on Thursdays. Have you, or someone you know,

gone on an interesting vacation? Tell us about your adventures in

about 400 words, accompanied by a couple of photos to choose from

that do not have the Daily Pilot in them, and send them to Travel

Tales, 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; by e-mail to

[email protected]; or by fax to (949) 646-4170.