Blog - Bon Touriste

One Week in Israel

October 14, 2015 by Kristin Winet 6 Comments

I’m sitting next to an Israeli-American college student named Edan who has just told me two very different things. “There’s just this vibe in Israel,” he said first, an electric wistfulness in his deep brown eyes. Then, he hesitates and smiles in the way that someone smiles when they’re about to say something they can’t believe they’re about to say. “But, you really picked a hell of a time to come here.”

I know what he means—I’m not immune to the media headlines, the sensationalized rhetoric, the news stories from CNN and the BBC capitalizing on the mounting events that some news personalities have started calling the stirrings of The Third Intifada. I’ve been hearing it because I can’t not hear it—it’s literally everywhere, every time I open my internet browser. Palestinian-Israeli Tensions Mount in Jerusalem. Jerusalem Abandoned After Two Israelis Shot in City Center. Rocks Thrown at Innocent Bystanders in the Streets.

My friend Yolanda, who lives outside of Tel Aviv, has sent me the news articles from The Jerusalem Post—articles whose headlines are no less sensational—and has told me that, although she’s never said this to anyone before, we should avoid the Old City completely, because the situation there is just too unstable. I ask my seatmate about “the state of things,” what he thinks about these undeniable and interminable tensions that have become a daily part of life in this tortured little country, this complex, sacred space, in the heart of the Mediterranean. He shrugs and tells me this: “It’s just a part of who we are. It’s like, at some time or another, everybody is either oppressing or the oppressed.” His comment, though meant to be exasperated, tells me more about the way 20-somethings feel about Israel than anything else I’ve read.

Edan and I spend the next hour talking about what Israel is really like. As an American whose grandparents still live in Haifa, he is intimately connected to both cultures, and he decided to attend university in Israel so he could finally have the chance to see what life was really like for him, an American Jew with tangible roots to his homeland. As a budding entrepreneur, he is going to business school in Israel because he wanted to meet other young Israelis and he wanted to get a multinational education. Eventually, he wants to start a line of fashion jeans for hipsters with stores in both L.A. and Tel Aviv, the two most magnetic, sensual, misunderstood cities in the world.

So, here we are. I’m on an airplane to Rome, sailing once again over the Atlantic Ocean, to a place I’ve only imagined in my dreams. To a place that, until recently, I only knew as a country where my dear friends Alison and Joel took their birthright trips, as a legendary place that was mentioned in my Sunday school stories, as a nativity scene on my parents’ bookshelf during the winter holidays. I also knew, somewhere in this mix, that it was also a place as inextricably tied to occupation and political tension as the word Bethlehem is to the Christmas play we used to enact at school each year with white kids wearing brown leather sandals with straps and tunics too big for their child-sized bodies.

I’m on an airplane to Rome, and then to Tel Aviv, to a place that, yes, reminds me that this chosen passion of mine, to journey, to experience, to write, to capture scenes as best I can with a lens, often comes with a price. It requires me to face trauma, to face insecurity and cultural uncertainties, to open myself up to the possibility that yes, life is not perfect, not elsewhere, and not at home; it is not without political strife; it is not without raced, gendered, and socio-economic realities. I think that this is one of the first lessons that Israel can teach me—that living with uncertainty is as undeniable a part of life as getting out of bed in the morning. It’s a way of life, it’s a reality of life, it’s a daily part of life.

But I also know that I am a better person for having had the chance to learn these things. And I’m not afraid—I’m electrified. I can’t wait. I want to understand more fully the lives the Israelis and the Palestinians live and experience every day. I hope, that even though I will be a temporary visitor in their home, that they will allow me to ask, and that they will tell me. What we see in the media is never, ever the full story, and I am so utterly grateful for this opportunity to learn what that actually means. I’ve been to places recovering from war before, places like Medellín, Ciudad Juarez, and Malta, but I’ve never been to a place that fears a new war is on the horizon.

Map of Where We’re Going

So, let’s see what our week in Israel looks like. Of course, our itinerary might—and almost certainly will—change depending on the current political situation, road traffic, and/or time and crowd constraints, but here’s what the Israeli Ministry of Tourism has planned for us.

Imagine a circle, starting at Ben Gurion International Airport (the blue airplane icon). Travel up and around in a clockwise circle from there and keep going until you get back to Ben Gurion. Because I could only figure out how to put pins on a Google map and not numbers, envisioning them as pins in a clockwise circle is about the best we’re going to get. That being said, I’ve read that flexibility and adaptability are as much a way of life as anything else around here, so in the spirit of our upcoming journey, let’s just use this as a starting point.

If anything, it’s nice to see an up-close map of Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.

israel map

Day 1 – Weds. – Haifa, Old Acre, Beit She’an

After the million hours it’s going to take us to actually get to Israel, we have to get in a bus and ride from the airport up to Haifa, where we’re spending our first night (and at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, a place I am hoping has beautiful pillows and comfortable mattresses….). When we wake up on Wednesday morning, we’re going to start our day touring Haifa, Israel’s third-largest port city (and the name of the dog who lives next door to the Winet cabin in Idaho). We’ll visit the Bahai Shrine and Gardens, which, though I know little about it, seems to be the world’s center for the Bahai faith.

From there, we’re going to drive across the Galilee to Old Acre, an Ottoman seaport designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where we’ll get to see the fishermen at work, shop at a street bazaar, and visit an Israeli bathhouse. After our afternoon in Old Acre, it looks like we’ll head back and check in at the En Gev Holiday Resort kibbutz, where we’ll have what is rumored to be St. Peter’s fish….or descendants of the fish St. Peter used to harvest on the Sea of Galillee two thousand years ago.

Day 2 – Thurs. – Kibbutz En Gev, Caesarea, Jerusalem

We’ll be waking up early Thursday morning for a tour of the kibbutz (commune) before we drive over to Caesarea, a coastal Mediterranean resort town and former Roman capital. We’ll spend some time wandering around the ruins and the ancient theater before heading to the Israel Museum where I will get to see, with these own two blue eyes of mine, the actual Dead Sea Scrolls. For those of you who don’t know what the Dead Sea Scrolls actually are, let me say this: they are the oldest remaining biblical texts in existence. No matter what your beliefs are (or if you even have any), there is something immaculately sacred about these books.

Caesarea1

Thursday night, we’ll check in to the Dan Panorama Hotel in Jerusalem and get to meet Chef Moshe Bason, a local farm-to-table phenom in Jerusalem whose entire repertoire of recipes is based off of references to foods and cooking techniques mentioned in the Bible. This, too, sounds extraordinary….I’m hoping to steal him away for an interview!

Day 3 – Fri. – City of David, Western Wall, Mt. Zion (Jerusalem)

If everything goes as planned, Friday will be the kind of day that I know I will remember for the rest of my life. It will be that kind of day, the one and only chance I might ever have to walk through, on my own two feet, the world I only know from my Methodist Sunday school classes as a child, the world I know only through books, and stories, and the sermons of my childhood ministers. I will get to see the City of David. I will get to touch the Western Wall, Judaism’s most sacred place on Earth and I will get to walk through the Western Wall Tunnels. I will get to stroll down the cobblestoned alleys of the Cardo, the Roman-Byzantine streets that were once trod by people thousands of years older than me.

I will visit Mt. Zion, and I will see the room of Jesus’ Last Supper. I will dine in the old city center, and I will see the streets light up with life. Or so I’ve heard.

I hope, hope, hope with all of my heart that the Old City is reopened to the public and is safe by Friday. A precarious time, but in Israel, always a precarious time.

Day 4 – Sat. – Dead Sea, Judean Desert

And today, I will float on water. And we will visit the absolute lowest point on the planet. I think we’re also supposed to take a Jeep safari to Mout Sedom, a place comprised entirely of salt.

We will bathe in the sea and, according to my itinerary, put on the black mud. I have no idea what this black mud of which they speak actually is, but I guess we’ll find out together.

Tonight, we’ll spend our last night at the Leonardo Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem.

Day 5 – Sun. – Tel Aviv

In the morning, we’ll hit the road again and head to the National Musem of the Holocaust in Yad Vashem. From there, we’ll drive to the city of Tel Aviv, Israel’s cultural, financial, commercial, and entertainment center. We’ll walk through Neve Tzekek, Tel Aviv’s oldest neighborhood from the 1800s, and we’ll get to stop in some art galleries, cafes, and boutiques.

From the city center, we head to Old Jaffa, an ancient seaport on the coast that has (so I’ve heard) been transformed into a vibrant vacation spot for Israelis and international visitors. We’ll visit some museums, walk around, have dinner at Wilhemina, a restaurant in a former German colony, and hit the Tel Aviv nightlife, a nightlife I’ve heard is like nowhere else on earth.

Day 6 – Mon. – Tel Aviv

And then, just like that, our last day. Our plan, as of now, is to visit the Carmel open-air market, to travel to the White City, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its unique whitewashed, modern architecture, and to take a swim in the Mediterranean and reflect on our voyage.

We will have a special bon voyage dinner with the Ministry of Tourism at a local restaurant called, interestingly, Dr. Shakshuka. We will sleep a few hours, check out of our hotel at 1:30 in the morning, and leave for the airport.

I will be home, in the insanity of flights, time changes, and the weirdness of the Circadian rhythm, by 11:45 a.m.

So, without further ado, shalom Israel!

Yours in travel,

Kristin

—

All photographs from Flickr’s Creative Commons. I thank them for their generosity and I hope my photos turn out just as beautifully!

I’m excited to be traveling to Israel and exploring this magnificent holy land with the Israel Ministry of Tourism.

Down the Moscow: Reflections on a Russian River Cruise, Part 3

September 29, 2015 by Kristin Winet Leave a Comment

From May 29^th to June 11^th, my mom, Kay Mock, and I joined Viking River Cruises on their enigmatic and incredibly special Waterways of the Tsars cruise, an experience that changed both of us in unexpected ways. Neither of us had ever been to Russia before, and what made this trip even more special was that it was my mom’s first international voyage. That, along with getting to know Russia much more deeply than I expected, are what made this trip one of the best of my life. In this special three-part series, my mom and I share our experiences as a baby boomer and a millennial—women with two very different perspectives on a country that, above all else, is full of surprises.

MOSCOW

Kristin: Nearly two weeks after we started our journey in St. Petersburg, we woke up one morning in Moscow. We had been wondering what a Russian city of 15,000,000 people might look like—if it would resemble tiny St. Petersburg, if it would have the sprawling Communist blocs from one side of the horizon to the other, if (since we learned in one of our on-board lectures than there are more billionaires living in Moscow than anywhere else on earth) it would be peppered with first-class yachts and mansions. According to our lecture, though collective living is still common and most people now rent from private owners, real estate in Moscow is as expensive as (if not sometimes more so) than Hollywood in California, so I had a sneaking suspicion that we’d see quite an impressive mish-mash. We put on our walking shoes and boarded the bus for our “Moscow Up-Close and Personal” tour.

In fact, I was right: it was all of these things.

And that doesn’t even begin to describe Moscow’s architecture, which is characterized by a delicate artisanship I’ve never quite seen anywhere else in my travels. For one thing, Moscow is one of those places whose zoning makes absolutely no sense to me, a girl who grew up on grid systems in Western cities: it has buildings built as early as 900 A.D. (talk about longevity!) a few streets away from mansions built during Imperial Russia just a few streets away from modern apartment buildings that look like they were lifted from an American suburb and plopped down in Russia.

Kay: There are two impressions that struck me as being an important part of my realization and appreciation of this marvelous country. First, artisanship is beyond anything we can see in the US, and rivals anything in Europe or Asia, at least in my opinion. In the cities, it becomes clear that Russia is forcefully and actively working to preserve her architecture, some dating from the 11^th century and before, her art, her history, her soul. Almost everywhere, especially in Moscow, a huge city of 15,000,000, there is refurbishment and restoration and construction wherever you look. The second impression is that there is an important contrast between the old and the new. Moscow boasts many new skyscrapers off in the distance, reminders of the 21st century and the future. But Moscow is, more importantly, a beautiful city, begun in 1147, that still contains over 2,500 historical and architectural monuments, 70 museums, 50 theaters,4,500 libraries, and 540 colleges and research institutes.

THE RED SQUARE

Kristin: And, of course, there is something about seeing Moscow’s Red Square, that kind of iconic mecca that draws all travelers to Russia. There was something almost ephemeral about seeing it in person, as though I couldn’t make sense of the fact that I was actually standing in the middle of it, battling tourists, feeling the sun on my shoulders, seeing the peaks of St. Basil’s onion domes peeping over the horizon line while waiting in line at the Square’s grand entryway.

What happened next will stay with me for the rest of my life: as we crossed through the brick-red arches and touched ground on the cobblestones, it occurred to me that I had made it not only to a country that had been a mystery to me my entire life, and I was there with my mom, a woman who, too, had spent two weeks getting to know a place she’d been terrified of as a child and that continues to be constructed by the media as a place diametrically opposed to our own home. Everything—all those tangled emotions that happen in travel—culminated in that one moment, stepping through that archway.

I realized then, that I’d also been nearly brought to tears.

The Red Square is not just an architectural beauty—it is divine. The jagged walls of the Kremlin line one side (with Vladimir Lenin’s mausoleum in front of it, a sight I’ve heard is both reverent and disturbing—reverent because we’re talking about witnessing the remains of a world figure, disturbing because, well, Lenin is not the freshest-looking of corpses); Goom’s Department Store lines another, St. Basil’s Cathedral on yet another, and the magnificent archway on the other. We were literally surrounded by four kinds of Russia—she who governs, she who shops, she who worships, and she who now allows guests to enter.

“History doesn’t know the subjunctive mood. We can’t really ask ourselves ‘what if?’” – Andrey, our tour guide, on Russia’s difficult history

Just….go. I hope you’ll see what I mean.

THE METRO

Kay: You know what we haven’t mentioned? How we got there! To be honest, a trip to Moscow would not be complete without a ride on the Metro. While most of us have ridden or commuted on subways in various cities, there is none like this. It is more than 180 miles long with daily ridership exceeding 7,000,000. It is also the deepest of any, one station resting at 243 feet underground, with over 190 stations overall.

Kay: The stations are like nothing we have ever seen; they are works of art. Stalin caused this incredible monument to socialism to be begun in 1932 where it became a collective work of art, showcasing themes of communist ideology and history. It is also the fastest subway train I have ever experienced. If you want to see some of this incredible Metro, go here: http://twistedsifter.com/2014/11/beautiful-stations-of-the-moscow-metro/

Kay: As we exited the metro stop near Red Square, were initially astonished to see a man who at first glance appeared to be Putin, outside the Resurrection Gate, the entrance to Red Square. Perhaps a welcoming committee of one? At closer look, however, he was an entrepreneur of sorts, an almost duplicate of the President of Russia himself. Dressed in a suit, starched white shirt and tie, he had on offer pictures of himself with unwitting tourists, all for a sum of 1000 rubles (about $20).

Kristin: He was hilarious! And kind of a bad entrepreneur, truly, as he wouldn’t even consider bartering with us on the price. $20 for a photo with a Putin imposter? That’s a $5 purchase at most. Too bad we couldn’t fool dad with a picture of us and faux-Putin…..

Kay: A high point of this day was the classical folklore concert, played expertly on traditional Russian folk instruments such as balalaikas and bayans.

TREYTAKOV GALLERY & THEATER

Kristin: To be honest, the folklore concert at the Tretyakov Theater was actually one of my absolute favorite activities in Moscow. For one, if you’ve never been to a classical folklore concert, it’s one of the most unusual—and wonderfully bizarre—symphonic experiences you can imagine. The stage is set up in a half-moon shape, reminiscent of a classical symphonic orchestra; the musicians are dressed in long black dresses and classic black-tie attire; the maestro stands, feet together, on a pedestal in front of his orchestra, his baton delicately poised in one hand.

But….then the maestro waves his baton, the musicians pick up their instruments, and what comes out is a riotous, playful, strummed-and-plucked explosion, the likes of which you’ve probably never heard before (or at least not quite in this way!). Everyone is smiling—the young musicians clearly love what they do!—and the domras, gooselys, and balalaikas (similar to violins, harps, and guitars, respectively) take their audience into the sounds of Russia’s interiors, where her wooden folk instruments still fill the silences.

ST. BASIL’S CATHEDRAL

Kay: The next day, we had some free time and so we went back to Red Square to properly tour St Basil’s. We ate at a café in the Square, walked around, and just took in the sights. It was so nice to have a relaxing morning and then to just spend the rest of the day enjoying ourselves on the boat!

The inside of St. Basil's is just as colorful as its outside :)

You can see how difficult it must be to restore these 17th century ceilings once they've crumbled...but oh, look how lovely it's going to look!

There are details everywhere you look :)

THE KREMLIN

Then, the next morning, we met back with our group to take our tour of the Kremlin. Kremlin means “fortress inside a city”; it is indeed, and is nothing like ever will see again. We also noted the site of Putin’s helicopter landing pad where he arrives and departs from work. It still seems unreal that we were inside the Kremlin, a place so long surrounded with secrecy and mystery. It took me a couple of days to get my mind around this alone, especially given all the other experiences we had on this incredible trip.

“If we tried to only stick to the facts, the tour would be this: Hello, good morning, the church was built in 1714. Goodbye.” – Micha, our tour guide, on the mystery of Russia’s history

Kristin: The Kremlin tour, though crowded, was SO INTERESTING. The entire place is akin to a compound, with tall red walls surrounding it on all sides (much like what you’d expect), but the inside of it is another story. There are winding gardens, fresh flowers, exquisite medieval churches pristinely restored, Renaissance-style government office buildings, and men and women in suits, clutching their briefcases and wearing sunglasses as they walk to and from their meetings.

As we walked around, I tried to imagine the same kind of world on our side of the globe, wondering what radically different kinds of conversations were happening inside those walls.

Oh yes, and there are hundreds of tourists. Go early.

Kay: Our second to last evening, we enjoyed a small boat tour along the waterways to see “Moscow by Night”. The entire city, small and large buildings alike, is lit with street lights, floodlights, and fairy lights. It is a magical sight with, for my daughter and I, a travel story attached, but that is for another time.

FAREWELL TO RUSSIA, AND A LITTLE ADDENDUM…..

Kristin: I’d like to mention, too, how throughout our trip, and throughout this three-part series in which we wove our stories together, it’s what happened in-between those sights, those magnificent, haunting places, that will remain with me for the rest of my life. There is nothing quite like seeing St. Basil’s Cathedral, the St. Petersburg Hermitage, the Kremlin, of course; nothing quite like it in the world. But even more than that, there is nothing quite like the experience of opening my eyes to another culture, one whose world had been closed to us for so long, with my mom by my side.

Because I live in California and Kay–along with the rest of my family–lives in Georgia, I don’t get to see her all that often, a reality of my wandering roots that is sometimes very difficult for me. We Skype, of course, and when we’re missing each other, we cook dinners together over the phone, we shop for shoes by sending picture texts back and forth of our feet, and we decorate my apartments together by shopping on websites at the same time. We share our stories with each other, and I still look to her for advice on nearly everything, from what to wear on my first day of teaching to what kinds of curtains I should put in my new living room. Having recently turned 30, her involvement in my life has become ever more important to me, especially as our family has faced difficult health issues, cancer, and remissions, and cancer, and remissions (so goes the cycle), and financial worries, and I’ve begun to recognize how precious our time is together. As I write this on the heels of the news that Kay will soon have to undergo chemotherapy again, our trip seems even more precious, and I hope she holds onto it during the more difficult days.

Being able to share this with her, seeing her light up, take copious notes in her journal, stay up late and laugh with me, drink vodka with me, examine world-renowned pieces of art with me, sit on the skydeck of our Viking ship and watch the forested landscape pass by….

What a treasure it’s been.

Mom, where shall we go next?

A very special thanks to Viking River Cruises and the team on the Viking Truvor for hosting my mom and me on our unforgettable first river cruise. If you’d like to see the full itinerary, you can see it on Viking’s site or in my previous blog post!

Dolls, Santas, and Shawls: A Quick-Reference Guide for the Shopaholic in Russia

August 28, 2015 by Kristin Winet Leave a Comment

So, what happens when two bargain shoppers who love a good challenge head to Russia for two weeks?

We shop.

Sort of. I mean, it’s not like my mom and I came home toting extra suitcases full of souvenirs we’ll never look at again, or that we came home saddled with bags stuffed full of cheesy tourist souvenirs made of plastic. During our two weeks on our Viking River Cruises Waterways of the Tsars trip, we shopped carefully, compared prices, kept our eyes on certain items we knew we wanted, and learned some critical Russian phrases to help us when speaking with local shopkeepers and the artisans in the open-air markets. The Viking staff recommended the best markets for bargaining, the best for getting a good price, and the best for finding unique or hard-to-find artisanal products. We took all of their recommendations, zipped up our purses, put on our good walking shoes, and hit the markets everywhere we went.

Here’s what we came home with, complete with the price we paid (roughly translated to American dollars) and where we bought it. As always, shop local, know how to spot imposters or fake products, and make sure to support ethical working conditions for the artists by finding out who made the items you’re buying. Enjoy!

1. Matroyshka Dolls – $12 (bargained down from $20)- Church of the Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg

The first set of Russian nesting dolls surfaced in the 1890s by Russian carpenter Vasily Zvyozdochkin, and since then, the matroyshka (or, “matron”) dolls and daughters have become iconic to the country of Russia.

Make sure to avoid the mass-produced ones that were painted by machine, unless you don’t care how they dolls were made. The hand-painted ones will likely be signed by the artist on the bottom of the biggest doll and will likely have imperfections, some dripped paint on the insides, and personalities all their own. Because I bought my dolls on my first day in St. Petersburg (oh, the newbie!), I’m pretty sure I bought machine-painted ones….

Live and learn 🙂

2. Faberge Egg Charm – $30 – Viking’s Gift Shop

3. Chinchilla Scarf – $32 (bargained down from $40) – Open-air market in Uglich

This was something my mom debated for a long time about buying. A chinchilla scarf isn’t something she’d normally have in her closet (who would?), but after we walked up and down the Uglich open-air market, she kept coming back to the soft, rabbit-like fur scarf on the rack outside a small clothing store’s kiosk. Though there were many markets selling chinchilla scarves around Russia, she was particularly drawn to this one because it had a sweet rose in the center and it was just long enough to be stylish but not overbearing. After a little bit of negotiating (you’re welcome, mom!), the seller agreed to sell it for 2090 rubles (about 32 USD). She’s absolutely thrilled with it and had no buyer’s remorse whatsoever, so I’d say that regardless of whether or not it’s real chincilla, a rabbit, or faux fur, this is one souvenir that’s going to get a lot of face time in the winter.

Knitted-REX-Chinchilla-Rosette-Scarf

4. Father Frost Statue – $10 (bargained 2/$20 instead of 1 for $15)- Open-air market in Uglich

I love the story behind the Father Frost statues, because it demonstrates–at least for me–the resilience and power of language in the face of religious prosecution and political oppression. (And yes, they’re also really cute). In the early years of the Russian Revolution and the establishment of the Soviet regime, Christmas traditions were obliterated, arguably due to their alignment with religious, bourgeois society and Western influence. Even displays and depictions of Ded Moroz, the non-denominational Russian wizard of winter (commonly known in English as “Father Frost”), were banned, likely due to being too closely aligned with Western ideologies and the American version of Santa Claus. However, a decade later, in the 930s, Stalin reintroduced the cultural icon of Father Frost throughout the Soviet Bloc as a way to inspire nationalism and instill a sense of cultural pride in its citizens.

In terms of what to look for, it’s most common to see the Father Frosts wearing outfits of snowy scenes filled with snow maidens, angels, children, and traditional Troikas (three horses pulling the ubiquitous sleigh). Though this is somewhat controversial, some towns have even gone so far as to “Westernize” their pieces, adding in scenes of the American version of Saint Nicholas, aspen Christmas trees decorated with balls and ornaments, nicely-wrapped presents, and families sitting around a fire in a living room reading books or drinking hot chocolate.

Note: Sadly, I’ve already packed away my box of Christmas ornamentss, so in lieu of my own photo, here’s an example of what my Father Frost looks like (thanks, Ebay). My own Ded Moroz will resurface in December 🙂

father frost

5. Lacquer Box – $8 – Open-air market in Uglich

Lacquer boxes (perfect for storing jewelry or keys) is a popular Russian souvenir. Basically, they started being produced after the Revolution by unemployed artists who formally created religious art and icons to supplement their loss of income. After the fall of the Soviet Union, perspectives on religion were compromised and, quite frankly, pretty negative, so the artists began thinking about what people would like to buy and decided to start producing small colored boxes with lids displaying images of Russian life, architecture, and landscapes that could be sold to children, tourists, and women.

It’s a labor-intensive process, with each layer on the boxes being painted individually and requiring a lengthy drying time. This means that a single box can take months to make…and now, as the buying demographic has shifted to tourists, it also means that the boxes are incredibly expensive. A hand-carved, hand-painted lacquer box can cost upwards of $100. A counterfeit one, on the other hand, can be as cheap as $5-$10. As you can see by the price I paid above, I am quite sure I bought a counterfeit one, but I really, really needed something to hold my ring when I go the gym, so I bought one. And even though it’s not authentic, I love it.

6. Homepathic Tea – $6 – Mandrogy Market

First things first. Russians love tea. They are not a coffee-drinking culture (I didn’t know this until I got there), but rather a tea-drinking one. According to legend, more than 85% of Russians drink tea every day. I have no idea where this statistic comes from, so take it as you will, but even still: that’s a pretty hefty number of daily tea drinkers.

I bought a little bag of homeopathic tea from a sweet young girl dressed in traditional Russian clothing in a very touristy-trap kind of place, but I have to admit: the tea is spectacular. I bought it not because I had to have the tea, but rather because the girl and I had such a lovely time talking with each other that I couldn’t resist buying something. The tea is handmade in Mandrogy, and the young shopkeeper and her husband (along with their one-year-old baby) live there year-round, cultivating the tea for half the year and selling it to tourists for the other half. I’ve been drinking the tea, which has lots of lemongrass and mint in it, in the mornings when I’m writing, and it’s wonderful. I’ve been brewing three cups from the same leaves!

6. Decorative Shawl – $20 – St. Petersburg

My mom bought this shawl from an open-air kiosk in downtown St. Petersburg. I don’t know much about scarf culture in Russia, but I can tell you that shawls are pretty ubiquitous here. Nearly every city we visited was selling them, so if you’re into pretty decorative pieces for your fall and winter wear, I highly suggest one of these beauties 🙂 Thanks for the photo, mom!

shawl

7. Kremlin Vodka and Kizhi Flask – $18 (vodka) and $6 (flask) – Moscow and Kizhi Island

Now, I know I said above that it’s not like I toted home a whole extra suitcase full of souvenirs here, but when it comes to the Kremlin Vodka, I almost wish I had. For one thing, it is SO AFFORDABLE in Russia – I bought an entire bottle for my husband from a supermarket in Moscow for less than $20. Here in the States, you can find it, but if you want to buy it, the same exact bottle sells on the internet for nearly $75. Secondly, my husband Ryan absolutely LOVES it. Though he’s no real connoisseur of the stuff, he told me that this vodka is the best vodka he’s ever had, period. Talk about a successful gift!

Similarly, the little faux-leather flask I bought Ryan to go along with the vodka was a nice addition. I bought it in one of the gift shops on Kizhi Island, particularly because I love the word Kizhi on the front and the embossing of the Church of the Transfiguration. Ryan loves it, too, because he can now drink his vodka stealthily and in secret, no matter where he is….

Enjoy!

Yours in travel,

Kristin

—

A special thanks to Viking River Cruises and the staff on the Viking Truvor for hosting our stay and for making sure I knew what to buy when it came to supporting the local Russian economy!

Down the Svir and the Volga: Reflections on a Russian River Cruise, Part 2

August 8, 2015 by Kristin Winet 2 Comments

Kristin: After our three days in St. Petersburg, mom and I were devastated to leave our new favorite city, but we knew we also had a lot of exciting stops along the way as we sailed to Moscow. As this was my first cruise, I had no idea what to expect during “cruising days,” or, days that were spent primarily sailing down the rivers rather than docked at a port, but I assumed I’d be sleeping in, drinking a lot of coffee, and writing.

ON THE SHIP

Wow, was I wrong. We never sat still! We attended all of the free courses Viking’s crew offered, including history lessons on the Romanovs, Russia during the Cold War, contemporary Russian society and culture, and Cyrillic language lessons. We took pelmeni cooking classes (remind you to tell you about that experience sometime), attended vodka tasting classes, and went to every cocktail hour and Russian food tastings up on the deck. It’s quite possible to drink at every hour of the day on a Viking cruise, should you want to… 🙂

Because my mom and I are both language nerds, we took serious notes during the language lessons and had the entire alphabet down by the second lesson. For me, I’ve become pretty fearless with stepping all over my tongue while practicing a new language, so I’m no longer embarrassed when my Dobraye ootro comes out a little mangled (by the way, for those of you non-Russian speakers, that’s “good morning”). My mom, on the other hand, was a little bit of a harder sell: getting her to practice took a bit of cajoling and pep talks, but by our second language lesson, I had her practicing her Russian with the staff and crew on the ship.

“Our language is so special because we even have the sound a bug makes.” –Andrey, our tour guide and language instructor on how to pronounce the letter ж

Kay: I still can’t believe I learned the Russian alphabet.

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Kristin: The best part was when I got home, gave my husband the bottle of Kremlin vodka I’d bought him, and basically translated the language on the bottle for him. He was floored! (And by the way, I am not getting paid in any way to endorse this vodka, but I will tell you this: Ryan had one sip and declared it the best vodka he had ever tasted). And it is SO MUCH CHEAPER to buy in Russia…I bought a bottle at a local supermarket for 1150 rubles (about $18) that sells here in the U.S. for nearly seventy dollars.

Kay: As our itinerary continued, I was struck constantly by the number and significance of the treasures Russia has within her borders. It may sound naïve, but I was enchanted and amazed by the number of sights and the history we experienced but also by the level of artisanship in each and every site we visited. Clearly, the creators and builders of many structures we visited were masters of their trade.

MANDROGY

One of the nicer aspects of a river cruise is the visits to places along the way between the major cities. Mandrogy, a quaint village along the Svir River, boasts a vodka museum and places to shop for handmade Russian crafts. I chose to participate in Matryoshka doll-painting while my daughter chose a Banya (traditional Russian bath house) experience. I was glad I chose the doll experience. My daughter Kristin was pleased with the Banya.

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Kristin: It took me forever to convince my mom to do the painting class—but she learned so much! She told me about their origins as wooden dolls in the late 1890s, and the celebration of mothers and daughters that the dolls represent. She even told me that each doll has a story “written into” it: those who hold roosters in their arms, for example, are celebrating their happy marriages.

Here’s my mom’s gorgeous matroyshka doll, all painted, with a rooster in her arms!

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As for me, I’m leaving the Banya for another story, but I’ll tell you this: Any bath house is going to test your ability to strip down in front of strangers, but in Banya, not only do you keep your bathing suit on (typically), but you even wear a huge Russian wool hat that weighs about 10 pounds. Stay tuned….

Kay: Mandrogy has a lot of boutiques and shops near the ship docks, too. After the painting class, I purchased two beautiful necklaces, one for a friend and one for me, made of Eudialyte, a rare lovely purple crystal found expressly in the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Supposedly, Eudialyte carries positive vibrations, and has an ability to assist heart based loving energy to fill your life. It has a strong ability to cause coincidence or synchronicity to occur in your life. Well, I don’t know about that….but I will take all the help I can get. Besides, it’s very pretty!

“I’ve been working on cruise ships for 17 years and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Viking is my home base now.” –Wilhelm, our Hotel Manager on the Viking Truvor

KIZHI ISLAND

Kay: Other stops along our way were a welcome continuation of a fabulous itinerary. We took a bit of a detour up Lake Onega to the island of Kizhi. It is less than 200 miles from the Arctic Circle! There we marveled over this UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the oldest inhabited sites in Russia. The island presents the incredible Transfiguration Church, built entirely of wood without a single nail, including the 22 wooden onion domes. We learned that the only implement available to the original builders was the ax; I could not fathom how the intricately designed shingles adorning the onion domes could have possibly been created with just an ax. However, we stopped by to watch a very talented gentleman carve identical ones to be used in the current and ongoing restoration of this lovely construct using, yes, only an ax.

An interesting aside to this church is the play of light on the carefully carved and arranged shingles. While they are wooden, as is the entire structure, they shine silver in the sun.

Kristin: I seriously cannot imagine what life was like up there in the 17^th century. It must have been really, really cold.

Even though we had to take a bit of a detour to get all the way up there, traveling north to Kizhi Island—and walking around inside the magnificent Church of the Transfiguration—was one of the most magical experiences we had in Russia. Not only is there something, well, hauntingly wonderful about being so close to the Arctic Circle in the summertime, but Kizhi has a kind of aura that I’ve never really felt anywhere. I wouldn’t exactly call myself a “new age” spiritist, but I do believe that there’s something really special up there on that island. Go there, walk around, feel the wind as it winds through the long yellow grasses, watch the water lap up onto the shore, and listen to the sounds of the gulls as they perch on the balconies of the churches….and I guarantee you you’ll feel it, too.

KIRILLO-BELOZERSKY MONASTERY & YAROSLAVL

Kay: We then proceeded on to Kirillo-Belozersky along the Volga-Baltic Waterway and cruised on to Yaroslavl, a Golden Ring city, many of these figuring prominently in the history and establishment of the Russian Orthodox Church. Founded in the early 11^th century, it is picturesque and architecturally significant. A highlight here was a visit to a local food market where many of the vendors wanted a picture with us, tours of the incredibly intricate cathedral interiors, and a visit to the Governor’s Mansion, where we were treated to a chamber group who performed for us in the ballroom. I was too nervous to get up and dance, but some people did!

Kristin: I definitely did not get up and dance. Those poor Russians would not have wanted to see this awkward girl try to ballroom dance.

By the way, did we mention the monastery was founded in the early 11th century?

UGLICH

Kay: Then on to Uglich, where the oldest records of the town date to 1148. Some of the most beautiful churches and monasteries are here and the history of them is fascinating. A small group of us were invited to the home of a lovely resident, Elizabeta, who served us vodka, the requisite pickle chaser, tea and cake while showing us family pictures and her considerable kitchen garden. And by the way, the pickles and vodka were homemade by Elizabeta.

Kristin: Let me say this: Andrey had to talk me and my mom into the excursion at Elizabeta’s house, and I am so, so, so glad he did. Before we went, I worried that the excursion would be like this: a horde of tourists traipsing through a local family’s home, taking photos of everything the family holds dear and exoticizing everything about the way they live their simple lives, while the local family tries to act gracious and await their tips.

I don’t know why I thought it’d be like that—Viking doesn’t do cheesy, invasive, or disrespectful. Everything they do is integrated and immersive, but in a highly respectful way. Our trip to Elizabeta’s was up there with my absolute favorite activities of the trip.

First, there were only 12 of us (by no means a horde!), and we took a local bus to her house instead of driving up in the huge tour bus. We got off at a stop near her house and went up as a group to her front door, where she was waiting with her two grandkids. Though she didn’t speak any English, she took us on a tour of her home, showed us her outdoor garden (cabbage, kale, and carrot lovers take note—her garden puts any other summer vegetable garden I’ve seen to shame!), introduced us to some homemade vodka she’d made by pouring us really liberal shots (extremely liberal pours are kind of commonplace in Russia!) and talked to us a little bit about life in Uglich. A math teacher by trade, she showed us pictures of her and her students, and with the help of Andrey’s excellent translation skills, talked to each one of us about our lives, our jobs, and our families. Because I’d been practicing my Russian so diligently, I’m proud to say that we had an entire conversation in Russian (albeit a short one!), and I told her how delicious her moonshine was. Delighted by my burgeoning Russian skills, she poured me another. Keep in mind, it was still before noon, and I was three shots of homemade moonshine in….

“A Russian won’t lie to you—instead, she’ll ‘hang noodles on your ears.’ –Elizabeta, our host form our home visit in Uglich, on the character of Russian people

It’s also interesting how Viking has found hosts for these special, intimate host visits. I asked Andrey about it after our trip as we headed back to the Truvor, and he told me that they hold interviews every summer before the summer cruises start and hire a few families every year who agree to open up their homes to the visitors from Viking. As the ship only goes back and forth a few times throughout the summer, the families don’t tire of the work: and they often have just as much fun as the tourists do.

Kay: Those pickles and tea cakes: delicious! I could really get used to this. Thanks for the treats, Elizabeta!

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Up next: Next week, Mom and I will be dishing about our journey to Russia’s capital, the gorgeous city of Moscow.

Down the Neva: Reflections on a Russian River Cruise, Part 1

July 20, 2015 by Kristin Winet 3 Comments

From May 29^th to June 11^th, my mom, Kay Mock, and I joined Viking River Cruises on their enigmatic and incredibly special Waterways of the Tsars cruise, an experience that changed both of us in unexpected ways. Neither of us had ever been to Russia before, and what made this trip even more special was that it was my mom’s first international voyage. That, along with getting to know Russia much more deeply than I expected, are what made this trip one of the best of my life, and I quickly realized that I couldn’t write about it without her words, too!

In this special three-part series, my mom and I share our experiences as a baby boomer and a millennial—women with two very different perspectives on a country that, above all else, is full of surprises.

And so, we go.

First Stop: St. Petersburg, city of canals on the Neva River

Kay: Like many Americans of a certain age, I was influenced by the last century’s news and generally held opinions regarding Russia as a dark and oppressive country. Under Communist rule, the country was essentially closed to tourism and worse, not particularly welcoming of free-world Westerners under any circumstances. One needed government sanction to enter the country, which was not an option for the casual tourist. Mother Russia was, and still is to some extent, an enigma.

On May 29, I joined my well-traveled daughter for a long-awaited trip to Saint Petersburg, Russia where we would board the Viking Truvor (one of many well-appointed cruise ships operated by Viking River Cruises) for the Waterways of the Tsars itinerary. We would call the Truvor home for the next 12 nights. For a history, art, food and culture nerd like me, this trip would turn out to be the most enlightening and enjoyable adventure I could have imagined.

Kristin: That’s the first thing you’ll learn about Russia: just like in the United States, Russia has suffered from some insane media coverage over the years. We as Americans are not exactly portrayed in the best light abroad; neither are the Russians. We’re two countries—two very large and influential nation states—that, to the chagrin of all involved, have been both victims and perpetrators of powerful stereotypes. While there is usually some truth to stereotypes, they’re never the whole story. Even during my lifetime, I’ve never seen the young city of St. Petersburg depicted as the charming city of sky-blue buildings and winding canals that we discovered when we arrived here. Through the images I’d seen time and time again in my youth, I imagined St. Petersburg as a European city covered in darkness and buried in piles of white snow all year round.

“St. Petersburg is not an old city. It’s more like, I don’t know, a teenager.” –Micha, our tour guide, on the city’s status as a “new” global city

On our flight from Paris to St. Petersburg, my mom and I flipped through the itinerary that Viking had mailed to us and we marveled over some of the activities they’d planned for us: art tours, evening canal cruises, vodka tastings, cooking classes, painting lessons, cathedral tours, traditional spa visits, ballet and folklore performances. How in the world could this place also be the Russia I’ve been warned about since I was a child, the Russia depicted as cold, snowy, and without sunlight? I felt a giddiness to find out—the same kind of giddiness that, on my first trip abroad, turned me into the writer I am today.

Kay: Saint Petersburg is truly a thing of beauty. With the main Neva River and the many canals wandering calmly and gracefully through the historic and architecturally significant waterways within the city, I was immediately reminded continually of the fact that here there is so much to share with the world, but was not shared until recently because of ideological governance. This is now in the past, and lucky for the rest of the world, we can experience a really beautiful Russia. During late May and early June, for instance, Saint Petersburg offers a spectacular phenomenon known as “White Nights” when the sun barely sets and is visible on the horizon during what would normally be the nighttime hours. It is a wonder to see and photograph. Full daylight resumes at about 3AM.

Kristin: What an eerie and phenomenal experience the white nights are. For one thing, the sun at midnight isn’t the same sun you’ll see at noon: it’s a colder sun, a blueish sun, a sun that looks, if you can imagine it, like a sun at midnight should look. Check out this picture my mom took at midnight on our first evening together on the ship:

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Kay: When we arrived and as our transport headed toward the ship’s dock, I saw another truly astonishing sight; miles and miles and miles of high rise apartment buildings appeared clustered along the road to the horizon, as far as we could see. Later we learned how and why these Soviet built structures came to be and how many descendants of those first living there inherited them and live as owners free of charge. Andrey, our resident know-it-all guide (as we teased him), told us all about it when I asked him.

“If you’re not in a good mood or are looking for something, come to St. Petersburg.” –Andrey, our tour guide, on why St. Petersburg is such a great destination

This trip would not have had the impact we experienced without his knowledge and pride in the Russia of today as well as his boundless knowledge of Russian history. He, and other Viking guides, are truly experts, walking keepers of the extensive history and great pride of their homeland. As Andrey guided our group through the historically significant Hermitage, Catherine the Great’s Winter Palace along the Neva, he taught us about her great passion for art and architectural design that places the Hermitage as one of the world’s most splendid museums.

As we were guided expertly through a selection of the 1,000 rooms, we experienced many of the 3,000,000 exhibits that reflect this collection of the world’s greatest art. The building itself and its opulent ballrooms are a work of art in themselves.

Kristin: I absolutely couldn’t believe all that is inside the Hermitage: literally, this astonishing and meticulously gilded palace, is literally home to thousands upon thousands of the world’s greatest Western art: There are walls full of original madonnas by Da Vinci and Raphael, sculptures by Michelangelo, dozens of paintings by such European greats as Rembrandt, Monet, Matisse, Poussin, Renoir, Ruben, Van Gogh, and my beloved Caravaggio whose greatest works, I argue, are still in Malta. That doesn’t even cover the many works housed there by El Greco, Goya, and Picasso, the great Iberian artists I fell in love with while studying Spanish art and architecture in college. And though I’m no expert when it comes to art criticism, having Andrey by our side was immeasurably awesome: with our little discreet headsets, we easily followed around our resident expert while he regaled us with tales of composition and design as we walked us through tens of thousands of pieces of art. I am so grateful for his expertise; otherwise, I think I would have wandered around aimlessly for nine hours in the biggest palace I’d ever seen in my life.

To be honest, I had no idea—no idea whatsoever—that the Russians had worked so hard to preserve this much of our world’s art within its walls. It’s such a testament to historical presence—a theme mom and I quickly realized permeates all of Russia, from the fact that the downtrodden Communist blocs have not yet been torn down to the careful conservation of her many palaces, cathedrals, and churches.

Kay: And then, seeing Swan Lake at the Hermitage Theater–what a treat!

Kay: Day three in this exquisite city was to begin with a trip to Peter the Great’s wife Catherine I’s palace, which was expanded by her daughter, Elizabeth. We were looking forward to seeing this striking example of Russian baroque architecture. Regrettably, jet lag and lots of walking got the better of us. We overslept and missed the whole thing. This will be my reason to go back and do it all again!

Kristin: And again, and again.

Kay: This would be a good time to mention that the Truvor boasts the most comfortable beds and pillows I have ever had the good fortune to sleep in. After a long and active day with sights, sounds, and information swirling around one’s mind, it is a little piece of heaven. Everything we saw and did in Saint Petersburg not only was expertly planned and executed, but succeeded in inspiring us to see and to learn more and more. We did every optional excursion and loved them all.

Kristin: I especially loved the tour of the Peterof Palace, particularly because Peter had such simultaneously odd, opulent, and exquisite taste! He was really into Chinese art, for instance, and had rooms completely devoted to art he’d imported from the mainland. He was also obsessed with portraits of the same women, painted over and over again, from slightly different angles and wearing slightly different headscarves or shirts. He has a whole room full of these portraits—from floor to ceiling.

Also, my favorite detail: The Peterof Palace is the only historic place I’ve ever been that asks you to wear cloth shoes over your own shoes so as not to scuff the stunning wood floors. My one tip: Keep looking down. You will be enthralled with what’s beneath your toes.

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Kay: Peter the Great’s “Versailles by the Sea” definitely made a bit of an extra impression on us. Such grandeur and clever engineering of a 1721 system of waterworks made us wonder at the brilliance of it. But, while the Peterof was inspiring, we were astonished by the Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood, built in honor of Emperor Alexander II after he was assassinated there. It was begun in 1883 and while it is one of the newer constructions in Saint Petersburg, it is no less spectacular.

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Then, when we visited the Peter and Paul Fortress later that day, we learned that it is intimately linked to both the history of the city and to the Romanov dynasty, as it is home to the graves of nearly all the rulers of Russia since Peter the Great, including the Romanovs. There were so many unexpected sights and revelations for this American tourist, who could not get enough history, art, and amazing beauty in all that I saw and experienced.

Kristin: Stepping into the fortress, we were greeted by a four-part male acapella choral group who sang some brilliant Russian chants for us. As we wandered through its walls, I realized that we were standing amidst the tombs of nearly all of Russia’s rulers (except for Lenin, who has his own tomb in the Red Square in Moscow, an experience we’ll tell you about later), and it occured to me, once again: historical presence. The Romanovs, Catherine the Great, Peter the Great…these names I have known since I was a child, these names my mother has known since she was a child…here, in a sunny, bright yellow fortress, their spirits stay.

Kay: Again, were it not for Andrey and Micha guiding and informing us, we would have only marveled at yet another beautiful cathedral instead of experiencing the depth and breadth of its history.

We were not ready to leave this lovely place called Saint Petersburg, rightfully called Russia’s most beautiful city.

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**Up next: Next week, Mom and I will be dishing about our journey in-between, to Kizhi island, the tourist village of Mandrogi, and the lovely golden ring cities of Yaroslavl and Uglich.

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A very special thanks to Viking River Cruises and the team on the Viking Truvor for hosting my mom and me on our unforgettable first river cruise. One thing I will never forget is something my mom said to me as we walked around to the different artisans selling their work around the Church on the Spilled Blood. “Kristin,” she told me, with twinkles in her eyes and an energy I hadn’t seen in a long time, “I’m falling in love with this city.”

Mom, I am so grateful to have had this experience with you.

If you’d like to see the full itinerary, you can see it on Viking’s site or in my previous blog post about our journey together.