PERVOURALSK

RUSSIA IS A VERY LARGE COUNTRY, as I am sure you will know.  It is much larger than it appears on a map, due to the convergence of the latitude lines near the pole.  Also, when you view a global representation of our planet, from the perspective of the North Pole, you will see how close are Russia and the United States, looking at Alaska.

Russia is divided into two huge regions, Europe and Asia.  Asia extends eastwards from the Urals, an area either side of the Ural Mountains; near the middle lies the 'line' that divides Asia from Europe (or vice versa, if you wish).  The city that sits, as it were, upon this line is Pervouralsk.  With a population of about 130,000, it is one tenth the size of Yekaterinburg, the major administration center of this region.  The major industry is the manufacture of steel pipes of all sizes.  In this it is like my home city, Corning, that has as its main industry the manufacture of all things glass.  Both industries are highly technical and require high levels of scientific support; over time, this has transformed the social structure of what once was a entirely rural area.

One might think of this region as the 'center of Russia' and this notion is supported by the local significance made of this.  On a main highway they have a monument marking the latitude.  It is possible to stand with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia; an Eurasian experience!

Here you see 'yours truly' doing so!  Many do likewise, as you might well imagine.  It is also a significant place for newly weds and others wishing to affirm their affinity.  A fence supports this intention, festooned with ribbons and padlocks, many of which have the partners initials or some wish for their future.  This is a common practice and bridges used by pedestrians in other cities do similarly.

A more sobering testament can be found on the road to Moscow.  During the Stalinist Terror on the 1930's, many thousands of innocent people were falsely accused of often absurd political crimes, found guilty, and summarily shot.  This aspect of the terror did not extend to this region, where none were accused and summarily shot.  These were the 'Victims of Political Repression'.  But what to do with all those bodies? 

In 1967, this mystery began to be solved when another sport stadium was planned for the Pervouralsk area.  During site preparation, workers discovered very many human remains.  Initially, law enforcement sought to quash further investigation.

This proved impossible, as local people demanded the truth; eventually witnesses to the burials came forward.  The truth was that, during the final years of the Terror, during the night hundreds of bodies were transported to this area in trucks, comprising 75 hectares.  At least 20,000 civilians are known to be buried in this place.  They are memorialized by walls on which are fastened metal plaques with their names embossed.  Walking along the walls, I felt the same emotions as I had when walking along The Wall in Washington, remembering the sacrifice of more than 60,000 US soldiers who had died during the Vietnam war  deep sorrow for the follies of humanity and admiration for those who refuse to allow the truth to remain concealed.

All this was long ago, back to the time when I was born.  How do later generations come to terms with atrocities long past?  It is surely better to know such things happened than for the knowledge to disappear for ever.

But we can reflect and learn. The past is fixed and cannot be remade.  We have only the present moment, yet somehow the future, which does not yet exist, is constructed from the present, including our imaginings

YEKATERINBURG AND PERVOURALSK I

THIS IS NOT A TRAVELOGUE!  Or so I remind myself of when I set to type...

It would take too long fully to describe my experiences in these two places so I must confine myself to significant impressions. I did not come on this journey with highly specific objectives, other than to extend and deeper earlier acquaintances, but these are folk that you, my dear readers, have never met.

It was a little strange to arrive at Yekaterinburg Airport to be met by someone I had never met, other than through emails. Natalia is cousin to a friend who lives in Corning, who was looking for a modern day, English speaking, 'pen pal'.  Her career is as a translator of English texts into Russian, who works independently.  She has international certification, having first studied in London.  There I was, just off the plane and, although I did not know it then, famously in the middle of a very long stretch without sleep.  Looking all about for someone who might fit my own picture of 'Natalia', when up from behind came a voice, 'Are you Robert?'  So began my Ykb adventures!

 In the Wikipedia article, you can find out much more than I can tell you.  For tour planning, The Lonely Planet article is a great place to begin discovering this amazing city.

In the last century this history became stained with blood and terrible political acts. These relate to the murder of the Czar, Nicholas II, and his family in 1918.  They had taken up residence near the city during the Civil War.  On the night of July 17, they were awoken from sleep and taken to the basement of the house and shot, the Czar and Czarina dying immediately. The children were more trouble to kill, as they were laden with jewels, secreted in their undergarments, that acted a body armour.

 After this their bodies were taken some 15 kilometers through dense forest to mine shafts, into which their remains were dropped and covered with earth and the shafts boarded over.  The intention was to render this ordeal secret.  So it remained until road building revealed the boards and then the shaft, many years on.  Now a monastery, Ganina Yama, established to memorialize the royal family, occupies the site.  Set remotely in dense forest, with a unique building for each of the family,  it is a beautiful place to visit.







A massive magnificent Church Upon The Blood, commemorates the place where these murders took place, now crowded about by city sprawl.

Natalia and I visited both sites.  Public transport goes right by the church, but a bus reaches to the monastery only a few times each day.  In July and October, many come from all over Russia to make pilgrimage between these two locations.




Yekaterinburg was founded almost 300 years ago by Peter the Great and named for his wife, Catherine.  It is the gateway to Asia and Europe and greatly favoured by mineral resources; due to the transport afforded by rivers and later railways, it was the early economic engine for Russia, and later much artistry flourished, in part made possible by the wealth produced there.  There are many museums that display its progress.  Natalia made sure I saw a good number of these and later admitted that she before seen them!  How often, is it not, that having a visitor leads to greater knowledge of one's locality and its history!  I thought it very suitable that ensuring the visitor's joy of discovery be rewarded and alloyed with one's own.  She had a long list of things to have me see!

Like Spb, there are many churches and therefore many domes and spires gold plated and splendidly glinting in the sun.  Only churches may have this gold-plate embellishment, much to the chagrin of one newly rich local who, some years back was denied gold plating for the roof of his huge mansion while, in his own neighborhood were many glittering all about!

The tallest building in the city provides a viewing platform at the 52nd floor from where one can view as far as the city outskirts.

SAINT-PETERSBURG PART 2

I LEFT YOU at the end of my first day, writing on the day that I arrived in Yekaterinburg, two days later.  It turned out to be an arduous 30 or so hours, as I have already described in my bulletin.  In part this was due to my excellent trip planning, which overlooked this aspect!  I am quite recovered.

The second day in Spb is easy to describe.  I took the river cruise option.  I got this idea from an article I had read while in the park behind the Admiralty Building (trip planning on the fly!) entitled “18 ‘must do’ things in Saint-Petersburg”, while checking my smartphone. How did Google know I was in Spb?  Ah, the wonders of the Internet age!  I met Bazhena at the end of her work day.  As we walked by Admiralty, on the way to the bus stop, a nice chap (Ahmed) caught our attention.  His job was to direct people to booking office so he was very happy, when we retraced our steps (it took a moment or two for me to make the connection with the article) to help us out.  From Syria only two years past, he seemed to be speaking fluent Russian, as my host later confirmed.  He offered us excellent advice that turned out to be much better than that I got when, next morning, I returned to buy a tour.  Thank you Ahmed!

Cruises depart from right out front of the imposing Admiralty building. So the next day I was aboard a cruise that took me around the islands that are part of Spb.  A great trip, whereon was served an excellent cuisine.  A ‘must do’ indeed!  Spb is ancient and modern, with many beautiful buildings old and new, and also an evidently busy seaport with tugs, dry docks, and (of course) cruise ships.

This tour lasted over an hour, so I had plenty of time for more exploring in the vicinity of the Admiralty. How pleasant to return to my now almost accustomed pastime of people watching,in the park.  This area is substantial and very cleverly designed for just sitting and for promenade.  I think I may even have noticed some characters from the previous day!  I had plenty of time to amble over to the Cathedral,

where the parking area was full of tour buses, to take a closer look at the most imposing structure, topped by a golden dome. Golden domes and spires abound in Spb!  Among the crowd, a couple in wedding dress posed for photos.  What a backdrop,,,the entrance doors are huge and magnificent.

Wearied by all this I found my own way home, with vigorous support from Google Maps,  The evening we spent going to a Modern Art opening event, where were many of my hosts’ friends (k\they are both artists), then to the airport bound for Yekaterinburg.  Luckily my hosts got me there in good time as it took me a little while to find the check-in area.  Then I was on the midnight special to Yekaterinburg (hereafter Ykb); as you know, the rest is staying awake history!

I will have three more days in Spb, including the weekend, so I am sure I will have more to share about life in a city where I am sure I would be happy to live.

Next pop,  Ykb; a city one might describe as ‘living down its past’.

HARD TO BELIEVE!!!

LAST POSTING WAS 18 MONTHS AGO:  I was promising to get my life in order.  Evidently, it has taken  while.  I had underestimated the subtle power of grief to take the edge of life.

That posting had nice pics of Granddaughter Stephanie, who now 19 managed to secure a place in an excellent (read: 'expensive') College in Salt Lake City (SLC).  She is so beautiful and clever.  Presently in Columbia (the country) on a project her school has there.  Maybe she is doing what she hoped; an internship teaching English as a Second Language (ESL).  A week back, it looked as if she might.

Here is one of me taken at Soulful Cup Cafe by my good friend Claire, a skilled photographer, not long back

Ah, that new motor in my little Subaru Impreza. Funny thing about that:  One year to the day of the guarantee on the new motor, while at the garage, it mysteriously stopped running.  A loose timing belt.  My garage shop crew, headed by their Manager (the irresistible and formidable Rose) negotiated another new motor, installed at the supplier's expense.  So a new start for it and for me.  I do love that little Impreza!

Presently I am in Russia, for two weeks, catching up with friends made during their visits to Corning or acquired in other ways (such as an email pen-pal).  We have just transited the Summer Solstice so the daylight lasts a very long time, and the weather enjoyable.  By this time you will each have received brief bulletins, much of which content will be in the next posting.

That anticipated return of energy did not eventuate and, until now, well past the Spring of the next year, seems really to have returned.  I am in good health, now turned 82 years (something I find incredible).  The great thing about writing a Blog is that this acts as a species of diary (I am not a compulsive diarist), reminding me of moments and realizations otherwise forgotten.  I have just read my NEW DIRECTIONS posting and see that I thought myself about to 'take off'.  Apparently, such was not to be until about now!  Ah well, as the saying has it...Man proposes but 'God' disposes!

Enough of this navel-gazing.  I promise to return to more interesting postings, ones that report fulfillment of intentions (thank you, Amazon, for bringing this word back into use!).  I suppose this 'Russia' episode might be one such?

I have had a few medical interventions, beginning with that heart trouble and now including fixing up of cataracts (also emplacement of a very small stent in each eye to manage my glaucoma, apparently effective).  My Type2 Diabetes, for which I have no physical signs or symptoms, seems controlled by medications, and this seems to be the entire story.  And hooray for that!  While these help one along they also act as 'slowers down' intermittently.  Hopefully, I am past such necessaries.  We shall see.

I hope that you enjoy the next few posting, all 'From Russia with Love'.