f
USSR: A Country of Contrasts — — cont’d from preceding page
Page 1S-THE NEWS-February 1990
sive as one walks slowly toward
it in Fortress Square. The for
tress was begun in 1703 by Peter
the Great in order to secure the
mainland and Russia’s outlet to
the sea. Today, he lies buried
inside this cathedral as do most
of his successors.
Our next stop was St. Isaac’s
Cathedral. This is the largest
church in Leningrad and took
40 years to build. No expense
was spared in creating the mag
nificent interior with its fantastic
frescoed and gilt domed ceiling,
marble-lined walls and mala
chite and lazurite columns.
There were exquisite marble
busts, each done in five or six
different colored marbles to
imitate uniforms or clothing.
Surely this elegant building was
a source of inspiration for the
worshippers.
Back on the bus it was time
to return to our hotel. Along the
way we had political discussions
with Tatiana, our chief Intourist
guide. There were two other
young girls who also accompan
ied us as guides but Tatiana was
apparently in charge. The others
seemed to resent her authorita
tive manner and made disparag
ing remarks to members of our
group. As far as I was concerned,
she was assertive, organized,
knowledgeable and managed to
get us exactly what we wanted
with the least amount of hassle.
With my being the trip coordi
nator, those qualities were most
important and counted a lot in
her favor. I tended to discount
the second-hand messages I
heard from her subordinates and
wondered if the open discord
among the Intourist ranks was
a new phenomenon bom with
glasnost.
My son Todd and Tatiana
were having a heated discussion
concerning the students* protests
in Tibilisi that spring. Todd says
that she was giving him a “stock”
Communist Party answer that
was cold and unfeeling. 1 am not
sure that I agree as we each
interpreted her answer different
ly. The arrival of our bus at the
hotel ended the politics and
everyone piled out to head in
different directions.
Scott, Jeff, Todd and Rael
took off for the two large Be-
riozka stores on either side of
the hotel. They were looking for
the hottest new Soviet item —
watches. We heard they were
Baubles, Bangles, Beads,
Belts, Earrings, Scarves,
Accessories and Gifts
We have an excellent
selection of colors
and thousands of
styles to choose from
EVERYDAY
UNBELIEVABLE
LOW PRICES AT
WHOLESALE OR BELOW
Also Visit Kristi’s Komer {in front of Kristi’s Jewelry
Warehouse) — “Creative cbthing for the discriminat
ing woman”
m m KrirtiV
Jewelry
Warehouse
935 E. Main St.
Rock HUl
(803) 324-8754
(803) 324-7779
Open 10 a.nn.-6 p.m. Moo. Sat.
Take Exit 77 off 1-77. Turn on Hwy 5 West
Go to Traffic Light at Food Lion, Turn Rt., Go 3 Bkxks.
Don Knigl (The House of the
Book): Leningrad’s main bookshop
on Nevsky Prospect.
available and priced right at the
Beriozka. These stores will sell
their merchandise only for hard
currency, which means no ru
bles. Only foreigners are permit
ted to shop there. There is more
variety, from groceries to art
objects, and better quality mer
chandise available than in most
Soviet shops.
Meanwhile back at the hotel
Intourist office, Tatiana and I
were discussing schedules for the
next two days. After deciding on
plans, I left Tatiana to make the
arrangements and headed for the
Beriozka store. The only items
I was interested in purchasing on
this trip were the miniature
lacquered boxes done by artists
from four small towns near
Moscow. My research was done
at home and I was armed with
a list of their best artists. How
ever, a major problem arose the
moment I tried to read the
artists’ names inscribed in Cy
rillic on the boxes. My prepa
ration in Charlotte did not
include learning the Cyrillic
alphabet. The day was saved by
Tatiana who had come to look
for us. The boxes were selected
and made a nice collection with
the additional ones purchased in
Moscow. Scott also bought
several boxes to surprise his wife
Dana on their upcoming anni
versary. We were both very
pleased when we later saw these
same boxes at a duty-free shop
Marble bust and Bill at St. Isaac’s
Cathedral, Leningrad.
Photos/P. Gorelick
in Amsterdam for many times
over what we paid. And al
though we teased the guys for
buying so many Soviet watches
(some fell apart immediately),
they were the “in” accessory at
Bloomingdale’s upon our return.
That evening we went to a
disco at a large hotel. The hotel
was so large that when our
daughter Marcelle went in
search of a bar to buy Perrier
(regular water was forbidden to
tourists due to a parasite) it took
her almost an hour to return. In
fact, we were so concerned that
we sent a search party — Todd
and Jeff — to find her. Much
relieved at. Marcelle’s return,
dinner was served successfully
with the translating skills of
Tatiana. The crowd filled the
dance floor to the disco music
of a live band. Thjs Soviets love
dancing and really get into the
spirit of having a good time —
we even got Tatiana on the dance
floor. The women were quite
glitzy in their disco attire and
enjoyed watching us while we
were watching them.
A good time was had by all
as the evening came to a close
and we walked to the subway on
this cold June night. When we
reached Tatiana’s station, she
explained where we would find
the bus to our hotel. A few stops
further and we emerged from the
subway. In a few minutes from
our bus window the huge silhou
ette of the Pribalticskaya ap
peared against the ‘’white night”
of Leningrad. It took the last bit
of energy to walk across the
broad expanse in front of the
hotel and up the scores of steps
to the entrance. I fell into bed
looking forward to our final few
days with our Russian cousins.
Dreams of the Hermitage and
Petrodvorets danced in my head
as I drifted off to sleep.
— to be continued —
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