AFTERNOON FLIGHT TAKES US BACK TO ST PETERSBURG
By Bob Van Leer

  (ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, Aug. 14, 1993) - We arrived back at our cruise ship, Crown Odyssey, this evening after a full day starting at Moscow. The feature of the day was a tour of the Kremlin including its famous Armory which contains a few displays of medieval arms and a lot of displays of early Russian metalworking art, jewelry and clothing.

  Kremlin translates into "fortress" in Russian but spelled with a capital it means the one in Moscow. It dates to the 12th century. The wall is a mile and a half long in a triangle and is up to 50 feet high. On display are cannon captured from Napoleon in his abortive attempt to defeat Russia.

   Most buildings in the Kremlin are very old except the Palace of Congresses built in the 1960s by order of Nikita Kruschev, then premier of the USSR. It was completed in 1961 for the 22nd Communist Party Congress. Our guide said it is now used only as a theatre.

  The Kremlin has been the official and religious center of Russia and the president of Russia still lives there. This is where the czars were christened and married and crowned. (They were buried, starting with Peter the Great, in Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.) Important pronouncements of the czars were made in the Kremlin. Most of this happened around Cathedral Square, the ceremonial area for the Kremlin. The Kremlin was not open to public tours until 1956.

  The Kremlin includes a giant cannon that was never fired, a giant bell that can't ring and a large carriage too heavy for horses to pull. The "Emperor" cannon was cast in 1586 and is the largest in the world with a bore of 890 mm. It has a stack of cannon balls in front of it that are only for decoration. They weigh one ton each and were not cast until the 19th century.

  The Russians apparently always have had a thing for the biggest. The bell is supposedly the biggest in the world weighing 200 tons. But a big chunk cracked out and it can't ring. One of the royal carriages on display at the Armory is so big and heavy horses couldn't pull it so it is for display only.

  The bell tower of Ivan the Terrible is in the Kremlin and is a great symbol of the power of Russia according to our guide. It was once the tallest structure in Russia and has 21 bells. She said in 1992 it rang for the first time since the Communists took over. A drenching downpour cut short our outside tour and we went inside to continue. The religious art on display in the Armory would bring a king's ransom if ever sold. But this is not likely to happen as the Russians are very proud of their heritage.

Political Changes

  The wrenching changes here since the breakup of the USSR in 1990 are not universally popular. The USSR had a population of 285 million. After the breakup Russia, the largest republic, has a population of about 150 million. Our bus driver summed up feelings about the changes by saying, "We don't have that sense of stability now". He said they had a higher standard of living before and food was more available. He said about the old system, "It wasn't as bad as it looked". He said for a lot of us life was better. There were things they couldn't talk about and travel was limited. But he said a lot of his friends say it is better now than the old days.

  Still, the average salary, he said, is only $20.00 per month. They have more freedom but no money to take advantage of it. The $20.00 figure would not take into account a lot of subsidies Russians get.

  There is a power struggle between President Boris Yeltsin and parliament. Most members of parliament were elected under the old system and are Communists. Yeltsin wants new elections but can't find a legal way. We saw some young sailors and were told the draft is still compulsor for ages 18 - 20.

  We had lunch at the Metropol Hotel before leaving Moscow. This hotel is the only place we have been served good food in Russia.

Back to St Petersburg

  After lunch we returned to the Vnukova Airport for the return trip to St. Petersburg. The same Antonev propjet planes that brought us down took us back. Like so many things in Russia, the planes are not well maintained. Russian farms viewed from the air are different from those in the U. S. The are not laid out in the rectangular grid pattern.

  After the uneventful flight we were met by a bus and guide and taken on a short "windshield" tour of St. Petersburg. When we were here in 1989 the city was named Leningrad. After the fall of Communism our guide said there was a referendum in June, 1991, on the city's name and the majority wanted to go back to St. Petersburg, the original name of the city.

  The city has a population of 5 million people now, up from 1.5 million at the end of World War II, called here "The Great Patriotic War". In St. Petersburg alone one million people died in the 900 day siege of the city by the German army. The city is about the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska. This time of the year it was light until 10 p.m. Our guide says there is snow on the ground from November thorough March.

  We arrived back at the ship in time for a late dinner and got underway for Helsinki, Finland, at 10:30 p.m. where we will dock about 11 a.m. tomorrow.

  We are now heading west and tonight we regain the first of the 11 hours we lost since leaving Gold Beach.