Sometimes one makes a quick decision only to regret it for a long time. Faced with another trip to Russia I decided to leave my camera at home. The last time in Moscow I felt I took all the pictures I would ever want to take. In addition this trip was in November, cold weather and short days were to be expected and since I do not function too well in the cold, I just could not see myself in the mood to take pictures. I was also planning to travel light, that is just cabin luggage and I was going to minimize the weight as much as possible. However, this trip was different. First of all, we were not going only to Moscow, but also to the Black Sea. Secondly, we were going to stay over the weekend and therefore have more time to look around. What I could not have known was that while the temperatures were low they were not forbidding, sky was clear and days were sunny and our translator turned out into a first class tour guide and took us far away from the usual places visited on the previous trips.

We flew into Moscow and after spending a night we drove to the domestic airport and continued south to the Anapa airport. From there by car through the port of Novorossiysk and on to Gelendzhik – a resort town on the east coast of the Black Sea. We stayed at an almost empty five star hotel, the season was over, even though the sea temperatures were a few degrees higher (17) than the air (15). If I had come from Canada I would have gone for a swim but my body is still calibrated to the Gulf of Mexico and so I only talked about it but was not able to convince any of my colleagues to give it a try. The whole area, about which most people in the west know little, has a very interesting and long history. This may be (according to the locals) where Jason looked for the Golden Fleece and it is certain that it was settled by Greek colonists – in fact Anapa is a Greek name. Later the area was inhabited by the Cherkess and the name Gelendzhik means “while bride” in Turkish, apparently women from this area were in high demand in Istanbul due to their fair skin. Presently it is a favored summer destination for Russian vacationers, including the rich and powerful. We saw a number of new apartment buildings under construction to be sold as recreational condominiums. Prices range from U.S.$ 100,000 to 1,000,000. If you are interested let me know, I jotted down somewhere the web site of one of the real estate agents.

After our short trip to the foothills of the Caucasus we returned to Moscow. We flew in late in the evening and were able to see most of Moscow as a large circular pattern of light – it was quite pretty, with its illuminated circular roads transected by straight prospects – it looked like a large spider web. The next day was a Saturday and we started at first by walking around the Kremlin and it was only because of our guide that my suspicions were confirmed. I always had the impression that on each subsequent visit I saw more churches but I assumed that this was because they repaired them, polished the spires and they stood out more. It turns out, however, that they have actually rebuilt a large number of churches that were destroyed by the communists. Including the one on the left as one enters the Red Square. We went in and I still have a hard time believing it is only a few years old. The appearance, the smells, the atmosphere all had an imprint of centuries. The most surprising aspect, however, were the believers. They represented a cross section of the society, young and old, men and women. The sheer number combined with the elaborate orthodox ritual of multiple crossing demonstrated to my surprise that the orthodox faith was still (at least in part of the population) alive and well, in spite of more than 70 years of communist rule. I can now imagine how strong it must have been in 1917 and understand why the Bolsheviks exerted such an effort to eradicate it.

We also visited the White Cathedral, which was also recently rebuilt. It was originally constructed to commemorate the victory over Napoleon and blown up by the communists in the 20’s. Apparently Stalin wanted to have a gigantic palace built in its place and excavations were started. It turned out, however, that the clay soil on the site could not support such a large construction and in order to save face they built a huge open air heated swimming pool. Well, today it is a cathedral again. In fact, this was the first time I sensed that the country has gotten over the recent past and that now the communist period is no more than just another chapter in history books.

Our trip coincided with the anniversary of the October revolution and the first year when the anniversary was not going to be celebrated. It was instead replaced by a day of National Unity, celebrated a few days earlier and commemorating the expulsion of the Polish army from Moscow in 16?? – kind of an un-event I would say. This lead to some flag waving by faithful communists, but they all looked very ancient – rather misguided pensioners. Because of a potential for troubles, however, the visit to Lenin’s Mausoleum was suspended even though a local entrepreneur promised to get us in for $10. I did not think it was worth it and so we did not get to see him this time. The Kremlin was also closed to regular visitors and we had to hire a guide to get in. It was worth it, because we could see it without the hordes of tourists, the way it was during the early years of communist rule, when it was closed to everybody except the top politicians and their families. Another sign of change is that there were three men dressed as V.I. Lenin, two as Nicholas II and one as Putin, just walking in front of the Kremlin and for a small fee one could have a picture taken with them. One of the Lenins was very good! The ultimate surprise came when we stopped in front of the statue of the founder of Moscow, Yuri Longarms and were quickly approached by the police. Their first question was: “Are you communists?” Apparently they thought we might be an early detachment of a communist demonstration expected for later that day. Once they found out we were capitalist foreigners they saluted and left us alone.

Since there is no way I can fix the lack of camera on the Russian trip I will leave you with a few photos of London getting ready for Christmas.
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