Morning has broken in St. Petersburg

There was a big difference coming out of our iron gate in the morning. It was, well . . . like night and day. Just one block to the left you could see the Admiralty, a monument to the Russian navy. It also serves as one of the key landmarks in a city some have called the Vienna of the North.

A few blocks in the opposite direction took us to the Moyka canal. From this bridge it's only a few steps to where Sandra, Derek, and Leon, our newest grandson, have been living.

This is one entrance to the dvor or courtyard in the centre of their apartment buildings.

Up closer you will see who's standing at their entrance, waiting for some action. Warm spring weather greeted us every day for two solid weeks.

For these two, sight-seeing always includes stopping for tea or nibbling on the run.

We arrived at a very important time in the life of the Russian people. Under former Soviet rule, everyone was obliged to show loyalty to the State on May 1, the Day of Labour. It's still a holiday, however, there are now only a few meetings organized by Communists. The huge demonstrations are saved for the 2-day Victory Day celebrations on May 8 & 9. That was the day in 1945 when Nazi Germany threw in the towel after a four-year war with the USSR. In anticipation of the big event, there were soldiers everywhere. We saw them on the sidewalks (many of which resemble an obstacle course), streets and squares.

When the day finally arrived, we took the metro to Victory Square where thousands gathered to honour those who had fought and died for their city during World War II.

Shown to the left is The Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad. From September 1941 to January 1944, over one million people, soldiers and civilians alike, died in what some say was the most horrific seige in history.

Of course, all of the speeches were in Russian. Even though I do not know the language, I was able to feel the passion. Derek, my son-in-law, did translate some of it, which was helpful. The statement that sticks in my mind is, "the most important soldiers are the ones who didn't come home."

One door and only one, and yet....

This is the door that led to our luxurious flat during our stay in St. Petersburg. It was tricky getting in. First is the five-digit code. Then, inside is a private door. You enter this one with a key that goes in just so and turns - not once, not twice, but four times. But, that comes later. First you need to get through the gate off the main street.


Now this is what I call a gate. It also leads to a fancy eating establishment, so the gate usually remains open until quite late at night. However, on Victory Day (our fifth day), after all the marching and singing and squeezing through crowds to watch the fireworks, the gate was locked. On a hunch, we circled the block and went in the back way. Presto, we found our beloved door.

The next time it happened, we discovered we could open the locked gate by tripping the lever with a pen. You couldn't reach it otherwise. Ah, we were getting to feel right at home.

The door on the right is the restaurant. To get to our place, you took the road less traveled on the left.

When I say fancy, I mean fancy. We were treated to dinner here on our anniversary. I know our kids drained their bank account to do this for us. Thanks Sandra and Derek. This was a real treat.

And, yes, thanks for finding that cozy place for us. It was worth every rouble.

Was that a friendly knock at our door?

This may be my last post ever. Tomorrow we set off for Frankfurt enroute to St. Petersburg on our longest journey ever. Between Air Canada and Lufthansa, I'm thinking we'll be carried to our destination safely. But, then what? The next steps sound a bit dodgy. If we get through all that paperwork, the bribes, and whatnot, we will enjoy a two week stay in a rented flat surrounded by complete strangers. Officially we will be going as tourists, but with some luck, we hope to run into someone we know. In the evenings we'll just hide under the covers and hope we don't hear a knock. In this country, they say if a policeman comes to your door, not to answer. Not to worry. I'll send Darlene. She'll handle it.