The time has come. Following a lot of anticipation for a year away from the city I've grown to know for two years, it is merely a month away from my first trip out of two or three for my year abroad. The first destination is St Petersburg. I've never been to Russia before and have been picturing the country, the way the country acts and how different St Petersburg may be from a city such as Newcastle or London – I've seen researched images and the culture, the journey (clearly, as I am incapable of getting from one place to another without SOMETHING going wrong, even on the tube – I am the scourge of public transport, do not trust me to get you from A to B without a minefield involved) and this brand new city seems something else. I think, by the looks of it, it will be too big for me, but that I'll grow to love it, just as much as I love Manchester, even though the two strike me as complete polar opposites. Anyway, this entry wasn't to explain my presuppositions of any British cities – here is what I expect of St Petersburg.
Firstly I researched the flights. Obviously. Well, not exactly. Wanted: flight from Bristol or Cardiff to St Petersburg. Simple? You'd hope. Flying from London Gatwick, it's about £220 to fly out, at the cheapest. Erm...though it would be simpler to do this...no, let's try another way. I rarely buy flights, it was never going to be easy, add to which I am one of those people who double- triple- etc checks the details and STILL something goes wrong. So, rather than trust my better instinct, ('better instinct' – ha. I don't think so.) after trying a load of combinations, asking many many people and PANICKING at the reliability of some of the sites that are trying to sell me cheap flights, I opt for an easyjet plane to Helsinki – that's cool, right? I know Easyjet, tried Easyjet, encountered some dodgy turbulence but still alive touchwood! Always wanted to go to Finland and St Petersburg is a tiny bit across the sea, which opens me out to using trains, ferries, planes from Helsinki – I choose the latter after a lot of trouble with convenience and things (getting a train from Helsinki to St Petersburg would have meant staying around Helsinki until 7am the next morning, not getting into Petersburg until about 1pm ish. NIGHTMARE.) So, plane it is. God knows if I'll have problems connecting etc...let's not even tempt fate.
So, now that that excitement was over, I finally thought WOW Ok. St Petersburg. I am going there in 32 days (at the time – now 30.) Oh wow, I know nothing of the city. Bits of, not a lot. More research needed before I find myself getting attacked by a gang or jumping into a dodgy taxi ('gypsy taxis', as they're referred to – I sound like I'm some panicky tourist – I am, somewhat. I am unfortunate, not scared of rape hanging around each corner, but hell yes I'm precautious, I'd be a naïve pillock to think otherwise. Anyway, they warn you about these things before you go – xenophobia, directed attacks towards tourists...I'll explain all in this blog entry)
Rah Rah Rasputin, lover of the Russian Queen
The utter vastness of Russia is what terrifies me quite a bit. Spain and France have the same timezone, 1 hour different from the United Kingdom. Russia has nine different time zones and its mass is more than 17 million square km – specifically 16,995,800 square km. You can't even imagine a size that big. Well, if you can imagine a place with the mass of two USA's together, that's how big. That must be basically as big as the continent of North America, surely? It's not even conceivable. The major religions in Russia are Christianity and Islam – two rather different religions, by ritual, which just again reflects the vastness of Russia, that two such separate religions can act as major prominent religions in the same country. Similarly reflected by the populations – 140.9 million people – and the expansion of Russia is reflected by its export of oil, products of oil, gas, wood, wood products, metals, chemicals, weapons and military equipment. This just shows how much of a necessity Russia is to us. Its solidarity and power is further shown by its use of the rouble as opposed to the Euro – again, Europe and its exports need Russia far more than Russian needs us, doubt Russia even needs us at all, except for trade, which they have the upper-hand in.
Andropov, Brezhnev, Chernenko, Gorbachev, Lenin, Medvedev, Putin, Stalin, Yeltsin
I then researched the current leaders, the prime minister and president of Russia – Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, respectively. Medvedev, the 3rd elected president since the collapse of the USSR, won by just over seventy per cent of the votes. Despite having a low-key campaign for election, he was a clear favourite from the beginning, with considerable backup from the media. Although he has maintained the foreign policy since Putin's rule, he has made considerable changes in the attitude towards democracy ('democracy should not be compromised for the sake of prosperity' – April, 2009), yet in the previous year he had stated that, referring to the Russian conflict with Georgia, Russia did not want a new cold war, but was not afraid of one He had worked closely with Putin since the 90s and managed Putin's presidential campaign in 2000, and as a result, became Putin's protege and had Putin's backing for the presidential election, after Putin was barred by the constitution from running a third term as president in 2008. Therefore, he was appointed as Prime Minister the day after Medvedev was brought into power through subtle transition, showing that Putin remains at the helm of power of Russia. Medvedev has promised that Putin will be a 'key role' in the country's development, while Putin has promised to improve the economy, which he has successfully achieved during his presidency.
And then there's St Petersburg itself
Well now, I have not been to Russia before, let alone St Petersburg, so as well as getting a thorough travel guide about St Petersburg, I have also done some non-extensive (I'm not going to lie) vague research about St Petersburg and the sights there are to see. I don't want this to be based around fact as such. This is merely what I view the city as before I go, having read titbits, what risks I am afraid of and what to do while out there, that will correspond to my interests....
St Petersburg is often referred to as 'Piter' to its native and 'Venice of the North', as it's known on a far wider scale. By this, I deduce that Petersburg has a lot of culture to offer, with art, dance and theatre being high on the 'to do' list in Petersburg travel guides. It was renamed Petrograd duing the first world war and renamed 'Leningrad' in 1924, following the reign of Vladimir Lenin, after which many famous Russian locations are named. It is renowned as Russia's most cosmopolitan city, which does not surprise me as due to its architecture and strong connections with art, it attracts a lot of tourists and foreign people, who want to experience the life of a typical Russian.
June is Petersburg's peak time for the tourist season. During this time, all day performing, concerts, festivals and parties occur and therefore the city attracts the masses and people flock to see all matter of artwork in the busy city. Another appealing feat during the June until July is the white lights, where the sun only sets for a brief time during twilight and the streets stay vibrant around the clock. Between July and early September is the time to get Mediterranean weather, despite the many showers that might hit the city, it's the warmest time of year, yet from late September until October, the weather is beautiful yet the wind is moderate and sometimes forceful. Therefore, due to the weather changing completely, there are few tourists that go out to Russia from November till March and the city is beautiful during this time as the streets are covered in what sounds like a sweeping sheet of snow and ice, the latter of which can be dangerous. I plan to get a furry hat with flaps and a fur coat that will make my frame a few inches wider, so that I can feel warm rather than the cold that will surround me, as temperatures can apparently go as low as -25c, WITH wind, which I am not really anticipating with joy, have to be honest.
The noisiest time of year is New Year's Day, as there are so many large crowds and noisy celebrations, which makes me think everyone comes together, like in UK and USA, but to a greater extent and the celebrations are for everyone's involvement – I am disappointed that I am not staying out in Russia for new year's day as it would be interesting to see how the Russians celebrate, but I imagine it will be a relief for me to get back, given what a risk-infested city St Petersburg seems to be, if it lives up to the scary expectations that guides have given me...
The danger that a foreigner can face in a country that is not their own (which is the same in any unfamiliar place you may go to, as foreigners are generally more vulnerable in a place they don't know, which goes without saying) is further heightened, given that the only thing that we were warned about in our risk assessments (apart from riots and acts of protest in Moscow – not really a threat) was xenophobia – Russians are not the biggest fan of foreigners, unfortunately for me, a person who loves to embrace cultures different from my own, and who is, I hope, a relatively open-minded person. In addition to this, there is pickpocketing and petty scams that ensue on public transport and notorious tourist spots. You are also advised not to travel alone or jump into any dodgy taxis that hang around the tourist spots and not to display any wealth, as you are more likely to become the target of a Russian robber. These descriptions of these encounters do not scare me so much currently, as you can get that in any big city in the UK – it's not the type of person, it's more that you're the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time – unfortunate, but you have to remember that it does happen. The most trouble I would face in St Petersburg would be getting hassle from groups, crime affecting tourists and street children that may beg or try to steal aggressively. Nevsky Prospekt is renowned as one of the favourite spots for robbery and pickpockets and the targets are people with photo equipment, which scares me quite a bit, because as most of my friends know, I am quite the photowhore and if I see something nice, then I have to take a picture for memory's sake. However, Nevsky Prospekt is also the safest concerning physical abuse in St Petersburg, which reassures me a little, as are the downtown western parts and south central parts of Petersburg. The driving in Russia also seems pretty worrying, as statistically, 99% of pedestrian crossings in St Petersburg are ignored and the traffic police is very well-known to be corrupt. Countries like France and Spain have looser rules than UK, so I have been forewarned about not expecting the same level of security in the European (ie outside of the UK) so I think I might be alright, though the risk of being run over is much higher in Russia. The only other thing that might worry me is that the Russian water is not completely clean, and I was shocked to find that cold water is much cleaner than the hot water. We are told to use bottled water or filter tap water and hopefully I will not come back home with dysentery....
And so, with fear inspired, this is my introduction to probably the first experience into Russian culture, and an introduction to me, Helen, a third year Durham student who is planning to survive the scary city of St Petersburg, notoriously intimidating Russia – hopefully, through living the Russian life and working my way into learning the culture and meeting the natives, I will be able to come back, showing that it's not all that bad and scary with people getting threatened and shot on your doorstep by gangs – who knows! Watch out Rossiya, not long to go now....
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