Communes

Today we walked around Copenhagen, and saw a "newer" area that was more like French cities of the 19th Century.  We made the obligatory stop to see the mermaid statue, and then took a boat to an area called Christianhaven, to see a "free state" called Christiania.  This was founded in 1971, when a group of squatters occupied an abandoned military area, and proclaimed a free state, independent of all rules of the Danish government and contemporary society.  What followed was a predictable sequence of drug problems, random violence, biker gangs, protests, attempts by the state to reclaim the territory, etc.   What is amazing is that it is still going, and a little island of hippiedom in the middle of Copenhagen.   You can buy pot and various arts and crafts, but you can't take pictures.  How can you have a free state and not be allowed to take pictures?   I actually saw someone be stopped and prevented from taking a picture.
Mostly it is pretty decrepit...
Anyway, here is a picture from the web...

We also saw a very over the top 17th century organ in a church.   Note the elephants...This is for Lynn..

Museums

Today we went to the Danish National Gallery.   Not a great collection, but interesting nonetheless.   Name a famous Danish painter....   Well, the truth is Denmark has not produced a famous artist, and it is interesting to contemplate why.   Well, it is a small country, but so is the Netherlands.   They have rooms full of Danish paintings, nothing great, and far too many pictures of nationalistic countryside scenes.   On the other hand, a nice collection of European old masters; none of which we have in Vancouver.  There were some fascinating trompe l'oeil still lives from the 17th century.

We also went to the National Museum, primarily to look at Viking artifacts.  What we encountered in the exhibit, which ranged from 10,000 BC to the Viking Age was quite interesting.  The museum had commissioned contemporary artists to create new works that interacted with the exhibits.   One artist decided to create explanatory captions which mimicked the real captions, while exaggerating or distorting the actual facts, in some case outrageously so.  The captions looked almost exactly like the real ones, and there was no indication anywhere to indicate that the captions were an art work and not what they appeared to be.  Vera and Ada were quite annoyed, because they assumed the captions were true, from having seen the more believable ones, and proceeding from the normal assumption that you should believe what they say.  Once I saw one about amber being created from solar bursts, I started to become suspicious.  When we all realized what was going on, we had to go back and look at the captions again.  A very interesting experience!  Never believe what you read in a museum.

An example, don't know if it is readable.

Copenhagen

We arrived in Copenhagen this afternoon after a short flight from Oslo.  Copenhagen is a great walking city; the whole center is mostly narrow streets and lots of pedestrian streets, and there is a nice variety of architecture (old buildings).  Stores are almost all local, and there are many cafes, pubs, etc.  And around every corner is some interesting historical building.   Everyone rides bicycles; all the streets have bike lanes, and there are even green lights and turn signals just for bikes. It is something close to my ideal urban environment. (not that I would be riding a bike...)


And, of course, there is a spectacular opera house on the water.....
At 10:30 PM:

Tomorrow, museums...

More Opera

It was a cold, rainy day in Oslo.   We went to the Vigeland Sculpture Park, where the eponymous sculptor worked from 1925 - 1945 creating a huge amount of stone and metal sculptures of human figures.  It was impressive in its panoramic view of humanity, but the individual sculptures reminded me a little too much of the kind of things that Facist art did; at times we could have been in Mussolini's Rome.   It brought back memories of Socialist Realism for Vera.

At night we went to the Oslo Opera House to hear Monteverdi's Return of Ulysses, an opera written in 1639.  The malfunctioning subtitles in the first half made enjoyment difficult for me, but when the titles were working, it was a pleasure.   Excellent singers and a very large orchestra of with lots of unusual early Baroque instruments.  The production was the usual European updated mess;  we were in some kind of modern shipping office, and the Gods had waiter's uniforms with wings, etc.

The Oslo Opera House is a truly spectacular building.  Built on the waterfront, it has slanted marble planes which go all the way from the water to the roof.   You can walk all around on top of the roof.   Can't imagine what it would be like in the snow...
Brings up the usual thoughts about the cultural priorities in Vancouver vs. Europe.   For 500 million dollars, we got a new roof on our sports stadium.   Oslo got an opera house.

Pictures:

Off to Copenhagen tomorrow on our high speed tour...

Viking Ships

Today we took a ferry to see the Viking ships.   These ships were actually buried in the 9th  century; if you were important, you were buried along with a ship, many material goods, and even your slaves and dogs to help you out in the next world.  A peculiar practice, to say the least.   But it gives us the chance to see what an actual 9th century ship looked like.  They are quite beautiful in their curved construction.

We also saw the ship the Fram, which Amundsen sailed to the South Pole, which is housed inside a building.   Other than that, walking around Oslo, observing the city and the Saturday afternoon crowds.
How rich is Norway?   So rich that they hire Swedes to work as waiters in their restaurants.  We ate dinner at a restaurant in a building constructed in 1641.  I ate reindeer, and it was excellent.

Munchless in Oslo

Today we flew from Stockholm to Oslo  (a one hour flight, cost, $63).   No snow in Oslo, luckily.   Oslo feels more American than anyplace we have been so far.  Some interesting modern developments, and some nice old buildings, but less character.  Though more may be revealed...
The chief disappointment is that the Munch Museum is closed for re-installation, though there are lots Munch paintings  in the National Gallery.  Except that the National Gallery is closed for the two days that we are here because of a strike by the security personnel.   (This is the city where Munch paintings are routinely stolen from museums.)    So we will find other things to see.  Though we will skip the Norwegian Scout Museum.
Oslo seems to deserve its reputation as the most expensive city in the world.   Another oil economy, like Russia.  Dinner was quite ordinary.  Usually I am willing to try almost anything, but I drew the line when I saw whale steak on the menu.

Stockholm

To be honest, Stockholm is a bit of letdown after St. Petersburg.   Instead of broad, open vistas, I see intricate, convoluted cityscapes.  Went to the National Gallery today; more Rembrandts, but I was even more excited by their collection of Russian icons.   Seeing them in person is very different; the special colors and textures of the paint and wood are  intricate and vivid in a way that reproductions never show.   And, in any case, maybe this perspective idea from the Renaissance was a big mistake.  Also went to a new, large photography museum/gallery in a repurposed warehouse;  it was filled with bars, cafes, workshops, gathering places, etc. but not much in the way of interesting photographs.

The other major excitement of the day was the discovery of the crazy decorations of the Stockholm subway system.  Some of the stations are decorated like caves, with brightly colored walls, and strange statues.  Subways from another planet.

Moose for dinner  (no, I am not kidding...)  Moose meatballs, actually.

We are off to Oslo tomorrow;  the weather forecast for this evening there is rain and 0 degrees Cel.  (32 degrees F.)    Hopefully no snow...

Ada and Vera on our last night in Stockhom

Quality Time with Lemurs

We are in Stockholm, back to the normal Europe.  Stockholm is much bigger than Helsinki, and parts of the the downtown fell victim to urban renewal schemes of the 1960's.   But other parts are pleasurable to walk around.
Today we went to see the 17th century warship, "Vasa", which sank on its maiden voyage after less than a kilometer of travel.  It was raised in the 1960's and restored, and is now Stockholm's #1 tourist attraction.   It is quite a sight, a huge ship, and decorated extravagantly to assert the power of the King Gustavis II.  He appears to have been a nasty, war-mongering character... maybe he deserved to have his prize warship sink.

Then Ada and I went to see the monkeys, and Vera went off on her own.  We spent almost an hour with the lemurs, who were in a large closed-in area that we were in too.  There were virtually no other people there, and the lemurs were completely comfortable with our presence, sometimes as close as a foot away.   They were fascinating to watch, and we were completely absorbed.

And then there were the sloths, who eat hanging upside down.

Tonight, Vera went to an opera (by Cavalli) at the 17th century theatre at Drottingholm (as seen in Bergman's Magic Flute), while Ada and I rested in our hotel room.

Swedish meatballs and pickled herring....

Russia

We left Russia today.   I can't help but reflect on the fact that for people my age, we learned growing up that Russia was the enemy.  I still remember practicing in school for a nuclear attack from Russia by hiding under our desks.   Now, of course, we don't feel that way (except for Mitt Romney..), and as an adult I understand much more about what was going on in Russia at the time.  I find it very moving to see the city of St. Petersburg as a prosperous European city, emerging from the dark years of the 20th century and all the trauma from Stalin to WW2.  While certainly all is not perfect under Putin's thumb, it is certainly a thriving city; everywhere you see restoration and construction, and new things emerging.  It is also curious that the magnificence of the city emerged from the policies of two totalitarian regimes, the tsars and the communists.   The broad, open public spaces and civic buildings of all kinds in St. Petersburg contrasts with the feeble uninspired urban fabric of a place like Vancouver, planned by a railroad company with real estate speculation in mind.   What is also interesting is that one still senses the "otherness" of Russia; it is different, and not wholly European.   I got a feeling that people have a great deal of pride in their Russianness.

Today I went to Vladimir Nabokov's house, which was down the street from our hotel.  A few of the rooms in the house have been turned into a museum.   The rest are offices, etc. It is quite a house!

A very cool typewriter:

Some Nabakovian notes:

I also went to the apartment building where Stravinsky grew up; unfortunately, there is no plaque on the building, and his family's apartment is still a Soviet-style communal apartment.

A last picture, taken about 11:30 PM, of the wires which seem to cross randomly from one building to another in St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg 4

Ada was feeling overtouristed and worn out today, so she slept in.   Vera and I went to the Russian Art Museum. Most interesting were the late 19th century and early 20th century.  Malevich, Kandinsky, etc.   A highlight for me was the work of Pavel Filonov, whose large , visionary and complex paintings I didn't know.   A detail from one:

In the 20's, suddenly we are in the land of Stalinist aesthetics, and we get lots of worker heroes.   The caption is very elliptical:

Also the icons, some dating from the 12th century, were fascinating to see.


In the afternoon, I took a very long walk for 4 hours.   Started in a very long escalator with very cool lights:

Then I saw a mosque:

and a flying saucer:

(actually a metro station)

And then I found my favorite building in St. Petersburg:

It is some kind of school, I think.  It is fairly old, but some architect clearly loved Mondrian.  All schools should look like this.

A close up:

Every other block in St. Petersburg contains some magnificent palace or edifice, or a new view of a block of interesting buildings.  It all feels very lived in though; some buildings are elegantly restored, others in a pleasing state of decrepitude.   The different colors of the buildings are nice, too.   One last example:

Onwards to Stockholm tomorrow..

Tsarskoye Selo

Today we went to a town on the suburbs, Tsarskoye Selo, to visit the summer palace and gardens of Catherine the Great.   Described by Ada as "Versailles on crack", it is yet another monument to the excesses of the Romanovs.   This is the palace with the famous Amber Room, recently reconstructed.  In fact the whole palace was virtually destroyed by the Nazis in WW2, and has been gradually reconstructed over the years, with work still in progress.  I find it amazing that the Soviets would dedicate so much time and money to the recreation of the excesses of the Tsars.  Lots of gold trim and ornate decoration everywhere, and a beautifully laid out palace grounds, with follies of all kinds, as in a Turkish bath.

The church attached to the palace:

But half the fun was getting there, via the Metro and minibuses through the suburbs.   We saw the House of Soviets on the Moscow Prospekt, a grand Stalinist avenue, which eventually becomes a wide avenue of mega-malls, Russian style.

Also interesting to see the smaller villages, in varying states of upkeep, including these Potemkin windows:

The window frames are fake...

The metro is quite an experience as well; the escalator ride down lasts several minutes, and marble is everywhere.



We had an excellent dinner at a Georgian restaurant,  with things like eggplant stuffed with walnuts.   A bit in the older Soviet style, as in they didn't have any beer left.

Happy Birthday, St. Petersburg!

Yesterday was St. Petersburg's 309th birthday, and there were all kind of celebrations.   (The city has a real birthday because there was actual moment when Peter the Great stood on a swampy, uninhabited island on the banks of the Neva River, and said, there will be a city here, and there was.)   The main street, Nevsky Prospect, was closed to traffic, and crowds ambled up and down the avenue.

Vera and Ada celebrating with their Russian flag.

There was also some kind of re-enactment of the Battle On the Ice between the Swedes and the Russians, complete with bits of Prokofiev's music from the film "Alexander Nevsky"   Even simulated cannon shots.

The building in the background above is across from the Winter Palace.  An interesting view inside the passage in the same building,  leading to the square.

We also saw the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, built to mark the spot of the assassination of Tsar Alexander in the 1880's.   Flamboyant Russian orthodox...  From the outside:

The interior is covered with mosaics and every kind of rare minerals and rocks.  The spot where the Tsar was killed:

More interiors:

One of the pleasures of St. Petersburg is just simply walking around, where every street corner reveals another astonishing vista.  In general, things are very well restored and maintained.  Women dress elegantly enough to outdo Vera, and the streets are full of life and energy.  I get a general impression of prosperity; whether that is really true I don't know.

Here is the view out the window from a Russian version of Starbucks (there are no real Starbucks here), to the Singer (as in sewing machine) Building on Nevsky Prospect.  The stuff in front has something to do with the birthday party.

In the evening, we went to the opera at the Mariinsky Theatre to hear "Boris Godunov", which was premiered in this very same theatre in 1874.   A beautiful old fashioned opera house, with great acoustics.    The production was a new one in the European style, updated to modern times.  The inn near the Lithuanian border was a strip club with neon signs and pole dancers, and Tsar Boris is escorted by security men with cell phones, etc.

Ada was pleased to see that the Tsarevitch slept in a bunk bed very much like her old Ikea one.  While the production does work in some spots, as when the people are pleading for help from their oppressive leader, the presence of monks doesn't really make a lot of sense and a lot is jarring with the real plot of the opera.   But, in any case, a stirring performance of the opera, well sung and played, with a genuine air of authenticity.

Oh, and the pre-opera dinner, Beef Stroganoff.    When in Russia...

And when the opera was over, at 11:00 PM, a beautiful walk home along the canals in bright daylight.   I haven't seen darkness since we got here.   There were fireworks on the way home (birthday), but they don't work quite as well in the daylight.   All this daylight, though, makes me want to see St. Petersburg in the winter, when it is dark and snow-covered.   

The Hermitage

Today we went to the Hermitage, which is both an art museum and a palace.  The palace is certainly a monument to the wealth and extravagance of the Tsars; endless rooms, decorated with every possible inch covered in carvings, gilt, tapestries, paintings, marble, wood, and whatever else they could find.  It is interesting to imagine how people actually lived there, and the little signs tell you that this is where the leaders of the provisional government met just before they were all arrested.

The art museum is equal to, if not better than the Louvre and the Met.  Catherine the Great and her heirs seem to have bought up every single available art collection in Europe.  Or if they could't buy it, they would copy it, as in the copy of the Raphael Loggia in the Vatican.    They had Italian painters copy everything in the original gallery, and recreated the entire thing in the palace.  Here it is:

I loved the room full of Rembrandts.

My favorite part was the third floor, with the rooms of Matisse, Gaugin, Cezanne, Picasso. etc.  (All confiscated by the state from private individuals after the revolution.)   For some reason, virtually no one was in these galleries when I was there.   For example, the famous Matisse "Dance", all to myself.

And here is a question;  opposite the Dance painting is the painting "Music".  Why are all the people in "Music" not touching each other and looking rather grim?

We also took a boat ride through the canals to rest our feet, and then visited St. Isaac's Cathedral.    Splendor in marble, malachite, lazulite and gold.

Dinner at a restaurant featuring food from Uzbekistan and Japan.   We went Uzbeki:   dumplings, fermented cheese, etc.  Not that good, really.

To the Finland Station!

We arrived in St. Petersburg today via a fast, deluxe train from Helsinki. St. Petersburg is truly amazing!   Though I was here 45 years ago (!), it is still a revelation.  The sheer grandeur of the layout of the city and the extraordinary quality of the architecture are without peer in any city I have ever seen.   The cityscape basically has the same buildings that it had 100 years ago.   In the meantime, of course, a lot has happened in Russia, but the city seems to be both locked into the past and thriving in the present.   The streets are full of people, looking cosmopolitan and energetic, in the way that Paris does.
We walked around the city after checking into our hotel, and because Vera was hungry, we stopped at a fast food blini restaurant, and Vera had a blini filled with salmon caviar at a place that looked like MacDonalds.  Chicken Kiev and borscht for dinner and a stroll around the streets in broad daylight at almost 11 PM after a late dinner.
Vera is reviving both the Russian language and patriotic Russian songs of her youth, and Ada somehow has learned to read Cyrillic, and amuses herself by reading signs.  Both are equally excited by the city, and ready for more tomorrow.

Helsinki 2

Today's highlight was the Rock Church, which is basically carved out of a large boulder in the middle of Helsinki.   The bottom half of the walls are from the boulder, and it is covered by a beautiful copper roof.   The only defect was the Christmas music playing in the background...

Pictures:

We took a long tram ride through various parts of the city, and had lunch in the market by the water.   Vera found her happiness in some sort of fish thing, washed down by a glass of vodka.

I found happiness in the train station, designed by Eliei Saarinen, and finished in 1919.
The waiting room:

Two guys out front....

I also went to the Finnish National Art Gallery, to see what Finnish painting is all about. Interesting, in that I know nothing at all about it, with no preconceptions.   Most paintings date from the early 20th Century onwards, and, no surprise, feature Finnish landscapes.  Some interesting Symbolist paintings, including this one, which is apparently Finland's favorite painting.  The Wounded Angel:

An excellent dinner at a Nepalese restaurant; there are a lot of these in Helsinki.  No reindeer curry, luckily.  

It's off to Russia tomorrow, by train.