End of Russia, Germany and Czech Republic--with images

Since last I wrote, we have left Russia, gone to Germany, and proceeded to Prague, CZ. It wasn’t until we arrived in Germany that we were able to verbalize to each other that Russia gave us the hebbijebbis (sp?). (A note from Ross) Adding to our discomfort in Russia, was that the first night that we were in St. Petersburg, as Putin walks onto the television screen, Wendy, maybe not so tactfully, actually yells “He’s Evil!!” At this point I immediately began to disavow any knowledge of connection to her, as Dad began sweeping the apartment for bugging devices. But eventually we got over our fear of having the government after us, until we got to Moscow anyways which was maybe slightly less hospitable to tourists than Siberia under Stalin (which I finally feel like I can say having now left Russia). Something just was not right. The morning before our flight to Germany (our airplane trip, I should say, as there is a history of flights from Russia, no?) we met an American woman married to a Russian. We lamented that Moscow did not exactly seem welcoming, nor the people happy. She replied that as a former English major, she found it very interesting that there is no word in Russian for “Joy”. And, that pretty much sums it up. We saw few smiles, no laughs, no one over the age of 5 playing. In Moscow, everyone we met seemed on the verge of yelling at us. Some past the verge, actually. There was no tolerance for our lack of speaking Russian—and we tried. I used my translator (it was a lifesaver, Mom. Thank you very much!) In St Petersburg, there were information centers and maps and signs throughout the city, pointing directions to popular tourist spots (in Cyrillic and Roman alphabet). Subways at least had maps to follow. In Moscow, there was nothing. We had a horrible time trying to find the main Russian museum, as there were no signs, and no one we stopped on the surrounding streets seemed to know it existed. The subway stations were gorgeous, but contained no signage to help anyone unsure of where to go. The sites were fabulous—especially the Kremlin and the incredibly extensive and beautiful subway system, but the people and the experience were lacking. We noticed the difference on the plane ride to Berlin. There was a group of twenty-ish year olds, practically dancing in the aisles to be leaving Russia. They had spent a month in Russia and they couldn’t wait to reach paradise (out of Russia and into Berlin).

Berlin was fabulous. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? We’ve already crossed some important lines (the Prime Meridian and the Arctic Circle) and an amazing wall (Hadrian’s Wall). This is the Berlin Wall. It separated East and West Berlin for 28 years, from 1961 until November 1989. After World War II, although Russia and the U.S. and winning powers of Western Europe were on the same side, there was incredible distrust between the two sides. Russia (then, the USSR), didn’t want the people to leave (defect) to West Berlin. They built a wall separating the two sides of the city. Many people who tried to leave East Germany were arrested or killed. The Wall was torn down by the people of East Germany. The city of Berlin has been united since November 29th, 1989, and rapidly East Berlin has been catching up with the West. They have left the cobble stone path showing where the wall used to run. Ethan and Siena are riding on either side of the old wall.

From Berlin, we rented a car and headed south, to Bautzen, a small, walled city. We loved it here. The Beattie Beer Index reports that a beer in Berlin is about $4, but excellent. I should note that our beer costs in Russia were a bit deflated as we usually bought the beer in a market and drank in the apartments. After all, who wanted to hang with the not-so-friendly Russsians?

Then, it was on to the Czech Republic. This part of the trip through Eastern Europe has been of particular interest to me as this is where my family was from. The foods in Russia were the foods my maternal grandmother used to make. Now, in the Czech Republic, we are in the homeland of my paternal grandfather. It is a good thing he emigrated when he did. We went to the Jewish Museum in Prague and read the names of at least 4 dozen Fischls killed during the 1930’s and 1940’s.

The highlight of our time in Prague, though, was our stay with our first Servas family. Servas is an organization designed on Ghandi’s work. World peace, built one friendship at a time. We contacted a family in Prague, who opened their home to us. Our first night there, they cooked their traditional Christmas dish for us, which is a wonderful potato salad. The next night, I cooked the Beattie Family Christmas meal, or a reasonable approximation, as we could find neither turkey nor cranberries. Our kids and their kids had fun playing together despite being unable to communicate verbally.

Prague is a beautiful city, with open squares, a river wending its way through, castles and churches around every corner. There are, unfortunately, an excess of tourists, which detracts from the experience. But, it is difficult to complain as we, in fact, are tourists. My new friend Vera was able to get us tickets to the Opera in Prague. Ross, Siena and I were treated to a fabulous performance of Don Giovanni, in our private box. Ross had sung one of the arias in high school, although not in Italian.

The Beattie Beer Index has fallen in the Czech Republic to an all time low of $1.10 at a bar! The quality of the beer is comparable to the German beer in taste. Can you read the name of the beer Kim is guzzling? Budvar’s Budweiser Beer has been made here for 700 years. And, it tastes considerably better than our Bud, that’s for sure. Kim is commenting over my shoulder that the Russians tried to hold onto CZ after losing West Germany to keep the good beer flowing. We were in Prague for the 40th anniversary of the Russian invasion.

We are now in Cesky Krumlov, a small city in the south of the Czech Republic. Can you see the name of the beer Kim is guzzling? Yep, that's Budweiser, the original--not the fizzy American variety. Sometime today, we will travel into Austria, homeland of my maternal grandfather. We have no reservations, and no idea what town to even look in. This pretty much ends my planning from home, so it is on to traveling by the seat of our pants now… Love to all and:
Prost! (German) and Nastrovy (CZ)

The Beatties

Russia!

So, we land in St. Petersburg. I had arranged for the company from which I had rented the apartment to pick us up at the airport. A man with a sign with my name on it greeted us and piled us into the back of a single car. He spoke no English, and seemed unable to grasp that we spoke no Russian, as he would speak volubly regarding sites we passed. The courtyard of our building was slum like, but the entrance to the apartment was positively scarey. The woman who provided us with a key spoke no English (are you starting to see a pattern here? Virtually no one speaks English in Russia). Then, our bank card stopped working and no one takes credit cards. But, the next day the card started to work and the sun came out and we came to love St. Petersburg. It is a magestic city. Huge buildings, wide streets, canals, palaces and churches with lots of onion-capped spires.

In Russia, they use the Cyrillic Alphabet. So, not only can you not communicate by speaking, you can't even read the signs. We are getting better at it, as the letters are very similar to the Greek alphabet--and Kim, Ross and I have taken enough math classes to learn some of the Greek Alphabet. For instance, here is a sign I'm sure you will recognize. We learned today of the McDonald's index. People can gauge the cost of living by the cost of an McDonald's burger in a country. Well, the Beattie Index will judge livability by the cost of a commodity far more frequently consumed by the Beattie's--beer. Pivo, in Russian. In England, a pint was about $5. In Norway, beer was $12 (and out of our price range). In Sweden, a beer was down to $6. And, happily, in Russia, beer is about $1. Bonus, it is really good, too.

Perhaps even more challenging is that the letters that are familiar are usually pronounced completely differently. Can you read the name on this boat? We took the picture for Siena's friend Sophia, as that is what the name reads in Russian ("C" is s, "Phi" is F or ph, and the backwards "N" is I). Wild.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is the second largest museum in the world. It contains almost 4 million pieces of art, housed in the former palace of Catherine the Great. This is the Hermitage museum, specifically, the Winter Palace. We spent 4 hours and saw most of the main part of the museum. The State Rooms that have been restored to their original condition are unbelievable. The word of the day was "opulent", and the Hermitage was all of that. Amazing to go to a museum and have the rooms be the focal point much more than the paintings, even though the collection of paintings was unbelievable. There were so many Rembrandts and Matisses, Picassos and Monets, you couldn't even count.

In keeping with the opulent theme of St. Petersburg, we visited the summer palace of Peter the Great, the founder of the city. As we are a bit tired of touring gorgeous, over the top palaces, we contented ourselves with exploring the gardens. At the rapid Beattie pace, we walked for almost 3 hours and covered only part of the gardens. The fountains were particularly spectacular, all 150 of them! Amazing engineering for the beginning of the 18th Century, too.

It is wild to be in Russia, especially for Kim and me. We grew up as children of the Cold War. In New York, we frequently hid in the closets at school for air raids, and had villains named "Natasia" and "Boris". "Today, we walked through Red Square, and experienced just how much Russia has embraced capitalism. Nice cars, huh? And, they charge for everything, the bathroom, the subway map, entrances to churches, even the Lenin's Library!

And, one more Where in the World are Ethan and Siena?

Isn't this an amazing church? This church sits in the middle of Red Square. It was built in the 1500s and rebuilt in the late 1700s (by Catharine the Great, again!). This is St. Basil's Cathedral (This reminded us of our great friend Catherine's dog Basil)

Vosh strovya!

The Beatties

6 August

I forgot to mention a funny incident early on in the trip. I was driving towards our lodging in the middle of nowhere in northern England. Kim was navigating (a potentially marriage ending combination, I might add…). We had, shall we say, a difference of opinion regarding if the youth hostel was on the road on which we were driving or the one heading south. I pulled into a small café on the corner for Kim to run in and ask where the place was. Kim wasn’t even sure it was a café as there were chickens running around the yard, and a bunch of cows staring at us. He thought it was somebody’s house, but consented to ask inside after my repeated nagging and locking him out of the car. He asked the woman there who was in the process of cleaning a bathroom. She started to answer, “It’s down the road a bit,” then yelled upstairs, “Les, is the youth hostel on the road in Twice Brewed (no lie, that is the name of a town)?” Les yelled back, “No, this is it!” And, that is the true story of how we found the charming, if elusive, Grindel Youth Hostel (see picture to show just how in the middle of nowhere it is). We jumped out of the car and went hiking. This was the hike that elicited the comment of our hiking from pint to pint, and one of the pints was downed in Twice Brewed. If you count that we each had a pint (only those of us legally able to do so, of course), it was actually Thrice Brewed. Anyway, when we got back to the hostel, our innkeeper had been “visiting” with a friend and could hardly stand up. He advised us to go out for dinner rather than eat there, but welcomed our help in setting the table and cooking for the other guests. He kept saying, “I really shouldn’t have had that session with John.” The “session” involved about a fifth of whisky. And, dinner elsewhere ended up being fabulous.

So, we leave Norway behind. A fabulously beautiful country, with houses located in the most isolated places imaginable, some seemingly inaccessible from any direction, even by hiking, Norway was impossible to not admire. The food was spotty. The breads were great, but I, personally, don’t think caviar is appropriate for breakfast. You may argue that it is eggs, but still, vodka is made from potatoes and I don’t have it for breakfast either (please do not refer back to the Scotland blog in which I refer to trying whisky before a flight). We met a lovely Norwegian couple on our boat ride, however, most of the Norwegians seemed less approachable. When in Great Britain, we talked to many people and found almost universal friendliness. This was not the case so much in Norway. I am fairly certain it wasn’t a language barrier issue, either, as the Norwegians spoke English flawlessly. Here is a picture of our favorite valley.

The last day in Norway, Ross decided that the opportunity to swim above the Arctic Circle might never present itself again. Despite a cool day with a stiff wind and a decided lack of preparation (read: no towel or suits), he stripped to his boxers and dove in. Now, with the gauntlet decidedly thrown down, I had no choice but to follow him. The water was, umm, brisk! But, we did it! We were less than 2100 kilometers from the North Pole, closer to it than to most of Europe. We then boarded a train, bus, train, subway to reach our hotel in Stockholm, a mere 23 hour trip. Sleeping on the train was kind of fun. It felt like you were on a simulator ride of some sort, with your bed tilting in various planes and stopping and starting.

Stockholm is built on a bunch of islands. These islands are connected by bridges. So far, we’ve been on 7 of the islands. Our hotel is in a boat, directly across from City Hall. This is where the Nobel Prize banquet and dance are held. This picture is from our hotel port hole.

The food in Sweden is similar to Norway, but better. Last night, we had a fabulous Swedish Smorgasbord. There were about 7 kinds of herring, and, yes, Brenda, Siena tried one of them. I doubt she’ll be having more any time soon. The salmon, in all the different preparations, was terrific. They had 3 different smoked salmons, a marinated salmon, poached salmon, and a baked salmon. Reindeer was liked by all, in the various ways we tried it. It does not taste like venison—less gamey and more tender. (I know I will have my hunting friends defending venison, saying that if it is “cooked right” it is great. Well, evidently no one I have met cooks it right, as the best thing I can say about venison is, when it is absolutely at its best, I couldn’t tell it was venison. That doesn’t seem like high praise to me.) The Swedish meatballs are fabulous. We tried Aquavit. This is an alcohol made from caraway seeds. It is served very cold, straight up, and is really very good. And, it gets the taste of herring out of your mouth quickly, an added bonus!

The old part of town, Gamla Stan, is a small, hilly island, with narrow cobbled streets and lovely old buildings. Stockholm is one of the best preserved cities in Europe. This may be due, in large part, to their remaining neutral in both World Wars. In Norway, the departing Germans burned entire cities to the ground. Stockholm was unscathed. It is interesting hearing how the different countries feel about each other. Norwegians are still rankled by Sweden’s failure to fight on their side. Swede’s view Denmark with distrust after centuries of invading each other.
Today we are going to explore some more of Stockholm before leaving tomorrow for Russia. This will be the first place where language will be a major issue. Not only do the people there not routinely speak English, but the alphabet is completely different, too. Wish us luck! And, Skol, (cheers, in Swedish—actually spelled with an “a” with a circle over it) to all of you.

Friday, August 1, 2008. 1 month of traveling

Today marks the end of our first month of travels. We have been to 4 countries and leave tomorrow for our 5th (Sweden). If the rest of the trip is as expensive as Norway, we will be coming home before the snow falls... I should take a moment and thank the people who have written to me to correct or further elucidate my postings. Alfred Nobel did not invent TNT but dynamite, which I would have known if I had waited until after we had visited the museum. If any of you ever visit Oslo, the Peace Center is fabulous, with amazing technological effects and a message that moved us all. While in Oslo, we went to both the primary art museum for the country and their famous sculpture garden. The Norwegians have this thing for Vigeland’s sculpture. We found it stoic, and vaguely disturbing (babies being kicked by horses, wolves wolfing down children’s arms—you know, pretty stuff…) The Norwegians also love Munch. I must say his “masterpiece” The Scream, left me, and Kim pictured here doing is best imitation, underwhelmed. It is also the most unprepossessing museum I’ve ever been to. But, the weather has been spectacular. We have had an amazing string of blue skies and warm temperatures. In fact, one of the days we were in Bergen, a city known for cold rain, was the hottest day in Norway in the last 30 years.

We heard a funny story about how much it rains here. A man asks a thirteen year old boy if it is true it rains every day in Bergen. He replies he thinks that is an exaggeration. But, he can't contradict it as he is only 13 years old.

After Oslo, we took a train up and over the mountains of central Norway, and a second train down into the valley of a fjord. If this isn't the most beautiful place on earth, it must be tied for the honor. The waterfall above, was one of 8 1000' falls we could see from our hotel room. It is like Yosemite on steroids.

Once we made it to the western coast, we boarded a boat for a 4 day ride up through narrow fjords and snow capped mountains.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? If you remember them being at zero degrees longitude, here they are at another imaginary line. We crossed the Arctic Circle! And wore shorts and t-shirts there. We have been swimming in 3 fjords--one of which was 46 degrees! We were gung-ho to swim above the arctic circle, but it is just too cold now. We are a couple of weeks too late to see the actual midnight sun, but the sun only sets at about 11 pm, there is 2 hours of sunset/sunrise, then the sky begins to lighten until we have broad day light by 2 am. So, when was I supposed to find time to write? This picture was taken at midnight when we were at the 65th parallel. The furthest north we got was the 68.5th. Currently, we are only 2100 kilometers from the north pole. Unbelievable, isn't it? I am afraid I cannot continue my review of the booze in this country other than to say it costs too much! A beer is 12 dollars. Wine was $90 for a mid range bottle. Of course, it isn't so bad after all the drinking in Great Britain to take some time off. To comment on some comments: No, I don't make anyone taste herring, as I can't stand it! The water here is fabulous, cold and great tasting, which almost makes up for the fact that we cannot afford to drink anything else. Cheers to all of you, with my glass of water...

The Beatties