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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.

DSC_3749DSC_3760

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

DSC_3766

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.

DSC_3737DSC_3735

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

DSC_3778

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!

DSC_3747Similarly, 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!

Filed Under: Food, Life & Style, Russia, Travel, Travel Writing Tagged With: bargaining, cruise, culture, encounters, food, markets, Moscow, price, Russia, shopping, souvenirs, St. Petersburg, Viking River Cruises

Waterways, Tsars, and Vodka: To Russia!

May 26, 2015 by Kristin Winet 2 Comments

First things first: I am a consummate waterbug. Put me anywhere near water and you won’t see me for a few hours because I’ll be in, next to, or on top of the water. My whole adult life, ever since I left the lush and fragrant South, I keep returning to places with water in my travels…the beaches in Spain, the tiny island of Malta, the Caribbean coast of Colombia, Asian and European cities along the water: all of these places, filled with the fresh wetness of water, are invigorating, tropical, forested, and temperate places, and I adore them all. Though I’ve lived in the Sonoran Desert for the past seven years, a place too many assume (mistakenly, I’ll add) to be a dry and desolate arid land without plants, I dream of water, hike miles to get to water in the Catalina mountains, take extra long showers and eagerly await our monstrous and wonderful monsoon season, just so I can smell the sweetness of the mesquite and the brightness of the desert flowers after they’ve been doused in summer rains.

But I have never been on a cruise.

Second, I have also yearned to bring my mom with me on my travels for a very long time. All those years ago, when I started writing, I wrote for me, yes, but I also wrote for my mom and dad, to bring them along with me on my crazy rides, to remind them that I loved them, to have ears for my incessant stories, to keep connected to my home in some small way. Though I’ve never completely understood how they have time for this, my parents have read–and I do not exaggerate this–everything I’ve ever written. Not all the drafts and journals, but every school paper, every blog post, every published article, even, yes, my unwieldy and super heavy 300+ page dissertation. They are the only audience I’ve ever had who has literally seen me through everything, and for this, I am forever and eternally grateful. But there’s something that’s always nagged at me: How could I, the daughter who was set free into the world by her mom’s cajoling 10 years ago (thank you, mom!), fill up the pages of her passport while her mom did not even have one?

So when I learned that I had the chance to sail with Viking River Cruises this summer, and that I could bring one guest, these two worlds collided in a beautiful serendipity: I could have my water, and I could have my mom. When I called to invite her, the first thing I said to her was,

“Mom, you need to go get a passport.”

And she said, “Why? Where are we going?”

And when I told her Russia, I could almost feel her eyes bulge. “With me? Are you sure?”

Followed by my dad’s voice coming from the kitchen, “St. Petersburg! Doesn’t it stay light there all the time in the summer?” Leave it to dad to know something off the cuff about the weather in St. Petersburg.

And, three months later, here we are, two days away from our respective flights across the Atlantic that will take us to a country that spans nine time zones. A country I know little about save for what I’ve learned in history classes, popular culture, and popular movie and television renditions. It’s time to see what else is out there, to hear from the voices on the ground, to see those beautiful spires of Imperial Russia and to learn what it must have been like to live under Communist regime. To see what modern-day Russia looks, feels, sounds, and smells like.

In anticipation, I asked my friend Olga (who I met two years ago in Malaysia and who lives in Moscow) to help me prepare by teaching me a few important Russian phrases. Here’s what I’ve got in my little book so far:

  • Spasibo-thank you
  • Pozhaluista-you are welcome
  • Privet-hi
  • Kak dela?-How are you?

Hopefully, by the end of our two weeks together, I’ll have a few more words in my repertoire of Russian vocabulary.

Mom, are you ready for this? 🙂

The Lowdown: Where We’re Headed

The cruise is sandwiched between the two renowned cities of Russia: St. Petersburg to the north and Moscow to the south. Though I can’t wait to see these great cities, I’m fascinated by what lies between. Cities with names like Mandrogy, Yaroslavl, and Uglich….places that remain completely unfamiliar to me. In a lot of my research (and as you’ll see in the photos below that I snagged from Flickr’s creative commons), all I could find were monuments and buildings. And while monuments and buildings are surely important parts of a country’s living history, I would really like to know what life is like around and behind those structures.

What are the Russians talking about? What’s on their minds? What is a day in the life like? For instance, if someone came to Arizona and all they did was take back photos of the Grand Canyon and the red rocks of Sedona, no one would have any idea what people like me do everyday in our work and play time.

That said, I’m incredibly excited to have this unique opportunity to get up close and personal with these waterways and what these Golden Ring towns hold with their ancient monasteries and tiny river villages. My mom and I will be cruising together for thirteen long days, sailing for many of them and stopping over for a few nights in the major cities.

cruisemap
Viking River Cruise’s map of their Waterways of the Tsars cruise leaving from St. Petersburg

Here’s a little list of what we’re planning to do while we’re in each city. Of course, with the way I travel, this list will surely change with my whims 🙂

St. Petersburg, Russia (4 Days)

In our first few days in St. Petersburg, otherwise known as “The City of 300 Bridges,” we plan to see the 18th century rococco-inspired Catherine Palace (picture below); do an up-close walking tour, see a Russian ballet performance, check out the Peterhof Palace (I’ve heard it has amazing landscaped gardens!), visit a kommunalka commune, and take an evening boat cruise. In-between these outings with Viking, I’m going to have to squeeze in a side trip to the Russian Museum of Erotica, where I’ll be on assignment getting up close and personal with Rasputin. More on that to come 🙂

Flickr/Lyn Gateley
Flickr/Lyn Gateley

Mandrogy, Russia (1 Day)

We’re making a quick stop in this little village on the Svir River, and while here, I plan to don my bathing suit and try out a Russian bath house (also called a banya). If we have time, we might do a matroyshka doll painting class in the local craft village.

16155519850_37762cca1e_k
Flickr/Larry Koester
Flickr/Victor Nuno
Flickr/Victor Nuno

Kizhi, Russia (1 Day)

All I really want to see on Kizhi island is this magnificent church below–it’s both an UNESCO World Heritage Site and an architectural feat. It was built without a single nail!

Flickr/Paula Funnell
Flickr/Paula Funnell
Flickr/Paula Funnell
Flickr/Paula Funnell

Kuzino, Russia (1 Day)

Kuzino is rumored to have some beautiful monasteries and art work from the 12th century. Very excited to see some of these wooden chapels. We’re also planning on visiting with children at a local school, but I’m not sure exactly what that will entail. I’ll keep you posted!

16370647271_4799dd60c9_k
Flickr/Paul Koester

 

kuzino

Yaroslavl, Russia (1 Day)

One of the Golden Ring cities, we’ll be going to a farmer’s market, handicraft village, and visiting the church below, which apparently has incredible frescoes and Russian icons.

Flickr/Alexxx Malev
Flickr/Alexxx Malev
Flickr/Alexxx Malov
Flickr/Alexxx Malov

Uglich, Russia (1 Day)

Uglich will entail walking tours, a couple more churches (like this super cute one with the blue and gold-starred domes!), and an afternoon tea.

Flickr/Alexxx Malov
Flickr/Alexxx Malov
Flickr/Juan Carlos García Lorenzo
Flickr/Juan Carlos García Lorenzo

Moscow, Russia (4 Days)

Finally, Moscow. In our days here, we plan to do an up-close walking tour, attend a folklore concert, walk around the old city, take a Jewish Moscow tour to learn about some of the important sites of the Jewish people who settled here, visit with my friend Olga, and head to the famous Kremlin (see picture below).

Of course, any city trip–especially with my mom!–will entail lots of people-watching, trying new foods, and getting lost on side streets.

Flickr/Knut-Arve Simonsen
Flickr/Knut-Arve Simonsen
Flickr/Tigran Ispiryan
Flickr/Tigran Ispiryan

If you’re interested, check out the full itinerary here on Viking’s website.

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 Russia with Viking River Cruises on their 2015 Waterways of the Tsars cruise from St. Petersburg to Moscow. 

Filed Under: Russia, Travel, Travel Writing, Uncategorized Tagged With: artifacts, cruise, culture, encounters, food, history, Moscow, museums, place-based writing, relics, Russia, St. Petersburg, Viking River Cruises

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