USSR Visit Draws to a Close
Page 7-THE NEWS-March 1990
cont*d from preceding page
the theater two nights later with
tickets costing half of what
Intourist would have charged.
We assume he made a nice profit
on this deal and could just
imagine how much Intourist
must make.
Outside the theater we were
ready to board our bus when we
bumped into Murry Glickman,
a tourist from Florida, whom we
had met in Riga. We invited him
to come back to our hotel and
he joined us on the bus. After
a long day everyone came to our
suite to have a snack before bed.
Out came the leftover cherries
from the Farmer’s Market in
Riga and the dried fruit and
nuts, still good, from home. We
sent a few “runners” to the bar
for soft drinks and had the
makings of a party. Murry
couldn't believe the huge size of
our suite and neither could we.
However, we would have traded
the extra space for some pure
water to drink. The water in
Leningrad is so bad that we
could not even use it to brush
our teeth, and the mineral water
is the most foul tasting liquid I
have ever tried to swallow. So
we tried using Perrier. This was
an amazing experience that I will
not describe other than to say
that there is absolutely no room
for Perrier and toothpaste at the
same time in one mouth.
It was on to Petrodvoretz the
next morning. The spectacular
grounds at the summer palace
are filled with hundreds of
wonderful fountains. One sec
tion, the Great Cascade, is made
up of three waterfalls, 64 foun
tains and 37 statues. It is amaz
ing that the system of water
works built in 1721, without
pumping stations, is still work
ing unchanged today. It was a
sparkling, sunny day and I felt
like Alice in Wonderland walk
ing through the garden being
sprayed by trick fountains and
looking at huge fake flowers that
became fountains. Just outside
one of the pavilions were some
people dressed in 18th century
court costumes. Our daughter
Marcelle and I took pictures
with them and wished we could
speak Russian, or they English.
Amazingly, the interior of
Petrodvoretz is almost com
pletely restored from near total
destruction by the Nazis. In each
room is a picture of the condi
tion in which it was found before
restoration. Apparently the So
viets had the craftsmen and were
willing to spend the astronom
ical amount of money necessary
to restore the malachite, silk,
lace, gold leaf, bronze and art.
The results are wonderful to
behold and no visitor should
miss this.
The next day our cousins from
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Wrought iron Star of David gates in front of Leningrad Synagogue.
Moscow, Michael, Alla, Boris,
Larisa and Artem met us at the
hotel. They looked very Amer
ican in their jeans, jean jackets
and tennis shoes we had given
them while in Moscow. Boris
really looked great, wearing a
hat to complete the “look." We
all left the hotel to look for the
Leningrad Synagogue which
was difficult to locate and closed
when we arrived. It is enclosed
within a brick wall and large
wrought iron gates which are
joined in the center by two large
Stars of David. Tall trees are
behind the gates and shelter the
ornate. Baroque style building
topped with a green dome. There
were long stained glass windows
of which it was difficult to get
a good view. The interior will
have to remain a mystery until
the day we return and find it
open.
Walking to the bus we passed
one of the many former palaces
now being used as government
offices. This one had been the
residence of Prince Felix Yusop-
ov. We went inside to look and
saw a magnificent hallway and
curving grand staircase with all
the acoutrements of that “palace
look.” There was a lady who
wanted to know what we want
ed. We told her we were just
looking and we left. Our cousins
told us that it was Prince Felix
and his friends who murdered
Rasputin, the evil monk who
manipulated Empress Alexan
dra. They shot him, rolled him
in a carpet and threw him in the
canal across the street where he
was found the next day. Alla said
that her father’s friend was there
when he was pulled from the
water.
That evening was spent at the
Baku Restaurant where we had
another typical dinner of zakus-
ki (cold hors do’oeuvres) and a
non-descript main dish. The
floor show was fun with live
music and lots of costumed
singers and dancers.
The next day found us and our
cousins on Nevsky Prospect,
Leningrad’s main shopping
street. Michael and Boris wanted
us to see the park on Nevsky
where the artists come every
weekend to display their wares.
There were probably 100 young
artists trying to sell prints,
watercolors, pastels and oils.
Some of them had set up easels
and were doing portraits of
customers seated on stools or
folding chairs. Shelton and Jeffs
wife Bari sat to have their
portraits made while the rest of
us shopped for art to bring
home. Alla told us not to speak
to the artists because if they
knew we were Americans, they
would charge more for their
work. She and Larisa negotiated
for two lovely watercolors which
we purchased for very little
money. 1 needed her negotiating
skills in Charlotte at the frame
shop. It cost considerably more
to frame the paintings than what
we paid for them. Our next stop
was an antique book store and
Dom Knigi (The House of
Books), Leningrad’s main book
shop and formerly the offices of
Singer Sewing Machine Co.
Books are hard to come by, and
because the best ones get sold
out immediately, shopping for
favorite books is a popular
pasttime.
We walked two blocks from
Nevsky Prospect to the Metro-
pole Restaurant where we had
reservations for dinner. This is
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Entrance of former home of Todd standing at spot on canal
Prince Felix where Rasputin was where Rasputin’s body was found,
murdered. Photos/Patty GoreUck
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