Discover Russia
From Russia, With Love!
Written with the kind help of Olga Shirobokova, a former exchange student from Russia
“A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” is how former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, once described Russia decades ago. And, even today, Russia remains a mystery to many outsiders. However, with its many cultural and historic treasures, unspoiled nature and industrious, bright and hospitable people, it’s a mystery well worth trying to solve!
A composite of the extravagant glories of old Russia and the drab legacies of the Soviet era, Russia is a country that both befuddles and beguiles. It has given the world Peter and Catherine the Great, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Pushkin and Tchaikovsky, just to name a few. For many, however, the Russia of today is a nation of enormous diversity and tremendous vitality. It is as if the cultural traditions of a century ago have re-awakened with a newfound strength - ancient cathedrals are being rebuilt and restored, colorful markets hum with activity once again and literature and the arts are quickly regaining the creative renown they enjoyed decades ago. A new Russia is now in full bloom!
The most important cities on the European side of Russia are Moscow and St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad). This is the heartland of Imperial Russia and these great and ancient cities draw tens of thousands of tourists a year.
Founded in 1147, Moscow is the barometer and nucleus of the changes sweeping through Russia. Nowhere are Russia's contrasts more apparent than here - ancient monasteries and ultra-modern monoliths stand side by side, and 'New Russian' millionaires and poverty-stricken pensioners walk the same streets. The populace now prefers impromptu street markets to monolithic department stores, and the beautiful churches vandalized or abandoned during the Soviet era of hardline atheism are being lovingly restored. But the real flavor of this city is in its nooks and crannies, each of them unique. At the heart of Moscow is Red Square, on one side of which is the Kremlin surrounded by a thick red fortress wall containing 20 towers where the tsars were crowned.
Compared to Moscow, St. Petersburg is a relatively new city, founded in 1703. When it was nine years old, it became the capital of Russia and retained this status till 1918. Saint Petersburg, dubbed the “Venice of the North,” is a fascinating place, dazzling the eye of the visitor with its numerous architectural landmarks, museums, palaces, parks, wide avenues, spectacular bridges and stylish monuments. It managed to escape the architectural incursions of Stalinism and its grandiose relics of tsarist days are rather intact. Sculpted by islands and the sinuous Neva River, the city is a vista of geometric elegance. The best time to visit the city is from May till October, when the weather is warm. The city is especially beautiful during magical Beliye Nochi or White Nights, when the sun seemingly never sets. From the beginning of June through mid-July, this northern city remains so the bright, that the nights melt into the next day!
And, if you like art, be sure not to miss the State Hermitage which houses over three million works of art, from the Stone Age to the 20th century! Set in the magnificent palace from which the tsars ruled Russia for one-and-a-half centuries, the State Hermitage triumphantly lives up to its reputation as one of Russia’s chief glories. It consists of five linked buildings along the Neva River - the Winter Palace, the Little Hermitage, the Old and New Hermitage, and the Hermitage Theatre.
Of course, there is much more to Russia than these two cities. Russia spans an incredible eleven time zones and two continents ending less than 50 miles from North America. Within this vast expanse lie the largest freshwater lake in the world, rivers and forests teeming with fish and wildlife, awe inspiring volcanoes, and towering mountains. Russia is the largest country on earth, with enormous tracts of land that have been opened to travelers only in the last few years. And, did you know that Russian is the fourth most widely spoken language in the world?
The Russian soul has been described as sensitive, reverent, imaginative, compassionate, submissive, poetic, fascinating - the list goes on. Most Russians maintain their integrity in a way that conforms to their inner notion of what a human being should be, with a blatant honesty and integrity seldom seen elsewhere in the world. Russian youth are open minded, well-educated and interested in new ideas. So, why not try exchanging some new ideas yourself, by hosting a EurAupair Au Pair from Russia?
