Week 16 18/04/11 – 25/04/11

This week I travelled into Russia first visiting Saint Petersburg and than heading on to Moscow.  After hearing a number of stories about how dangerous the cities were I was very cautious about my possessions but after spending a few days in the cities touring the various sites it was clear that the rumours and stories did not weigh up and in fact the two big cities are no more dangerous than any other big European city.  However I think that because Finland is so safe in comparison to many other countries I was more cautious when in a foreign land, especially one as big as Russia.  However it was an exciting time to go as the Russians were preparing for a number of state holidays and the armed forces where on parade on occasion.  I felt the level of patriotism was very high as the tours of the old emperors’ state homes and Tsars’ homes were clearly a significant part of the countries history.  The two cities were what I had tough they would be like, magnificently designed buildings amongst very communistic blocks of flats.  I was mostly surprised by the large number of Orthodox churches, especially when the country was communist for so long and communism regards atheism, or no religion, as the state religion (generally speaking).  As it was Easter weekend there were a number of churches actively taking part in very interesting and different services through out the city.  Compared to Finland Russia is very religious and it is clear by the number of Cathedrals in Moscow and St. Petersburg.  However as a holiday Finland only receive Good Friday and Easter Monday off school as opposed to the one and a half or two week holiday I have seen almost all schools use in the UK.

The Russian culture is very different and anything could happen, I saw cars being repaired in the middle of a four lane road junction!  Not to mention the love of vodka the Russians have, I’m sure if there is more alcohol in Russia or Finland (in relation to the population) but both have a strong love of the grape.  The traffic of vehicles and people is extremely high, but maybe this is because being born and raised in Belfast with a population of only half a million people, compared to the 10 million in Moscow.   

Pictures (after a slight absence from previous posts) from top: The Entrance to the Cold War Bunker.

St. Basil's Cathedral, Red Square.

One of the many parades in preparation for Victory Day.

The Aurora Battleship, used in the Bolshevik Revolution.