Jen & Mark's Travels: March 2015

Europe 2015, Day 7 - Two Americans in Paris

March 20, 2015

Today was supposed to be the best day weather wise. We decided to set today aside to explore the sites of Paris outdoors. When we woke up the weather was gloomy, gray and misting. After significant soul-searching, we decided to hang at the hotel a little longer while we waited for the weather to clear up. It appeared that the weather gods were not smiling on us so we headed out. The first stop of the day was lunch. We had been planning on the Hard Rock Cafe but we were distracted by Chipotle. The Hard Rock did however successfully tempt us for dessert with their famous brownie sundae.

We walked by the Pompidou Center which houses the public Information Library as well as the National Museum of Modern Art. This museum was built in 1977. What makes this building unique is the fact that it is inside out. The skeleton of the building is exposed meaning all of the colorful guts (plumbing, climate control, electrical, etc) are on display.

Pont Neuf
La Siene
Paris, France

The next stop was a walk over to Ile de la Cite to see Notre Dame. We took a break in the playground on the side of the cathedral before heading to our next destination. From there we headed to the Pantheon. Construction started for the Pantheon in 1758 it was complete in 1790. The original intention for building this structure was a church but it is now used as a secular mausoleum for some of France's elite including Victor Hugo, Marie Curie and Voltaire.

Notre Dame
Paris, France

Pantheon
Paris, France

From there we walked through the Luxembourg Gardens which were showing signs of spring in the green grass and colorful flowers. We chilled in the garden for a bit with the locals, then we headed toward two of Paris' most notable landmarks, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe for picture taking.

Luxembourg Gardens
Paris, France

Eiffel Tower
Paris, France

Arc De Triomphe
Paris, France

After a quick dinner of steak and a chicken sandwich at a place called the Hippopotamus we saw the Mugler Follies, a cabaret style show at the Comedia Theatre. The show was in French but it wasn't that difficult to follow along with what was going on. Anyone interested can check it out further online.

Somewhere around Notre Dame the clouds started to break apart, unfortunately we were left with quite a bit of cloud and smog cover for the remainder of the day. Paris has been having some massive air pollution issues lately (including being the city with the worst air quality in the world temporarily) due to lack of wind and warm temperatures aloft creating a virtual “bubble” over the city from which pollutants can’t escape. Due to this and the season in general the weather wasn’t the best.

We finished our trip with another quiet day inside shopping and hanging out in Paris, then flew to Oslo in preparation for our trip back stateside.

Europe 2015, Day 6 - From Russia, with Love

March 19, 2015

Today we awoke at 6am to catch a morning flight to Paris. We packed up, said goodbye to our marvelous hotel, as well as the wonderful city of St. Petersburg and headed to the airport. We got through security and customs with no problems, did some duty free shopping and boarded our Aeroflot flight to Charles De Gaulle.

Hermitage Hotel
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Arrival in Paris was uneventful. We are staying at the chic Hotel Mac Mahon within viewing distance of the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs d'Elysee. We took the remainder of the day to relax and rest.

We went to a local restaurant called l'Etoile 1903 for dinner. This evening we shared two plates, a cheeseburger with French fries (the waiter scoffed when Jen placed her order) and French sliced beef with a salad. This was paired with a Bordeaux and topped off with tiramisu. Following dinner we went for a walk on the Champs d'Elysee which was bustling. It was a beautiful evening. We had the chance to see the Arc de Triomphe illuminated and the Eiffel Tower was glittering with lights. Paris held true to its nickname, the City of Lights.

Arc de Triomphe
Paris, France

The warm weather and overly sunny skies of St. Petersburg are behind us. The weather in Paris is cool and gloomy.

Some parting thoughts about Russia-

The city and country in general felt very comfortable to us as Americans, and we didn't expect that. In fact, we felt more at home there than Berlin or Oslo. Of course we're not giving up our American passports anytime soon, but it was an unexpected surprise.

Saint Petersburg is dirty. There isn't garbage strewn about, but there is a thick layer of dirt on everything. It's possible that is from the sand they use over the snow, or from the common use of studded tires. The cars there are very similar to the US. There are Fords, Chevys, Nissans, and the nicer Mercedes, Porsche and BMW to name a few.

Another observation is that we fit in there, we were assumed to be Russian first, German second, and American third. Several people we ran into said that they loved America and Americans and want to visit. That said, we can count on one hand the number of Americans we saw while there.

All in all the Russian portion of our trip was a great experience and very eye opening.

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Swan Lake
Marrinsky Theater
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Europe 2015, Day 5 - Culture, Culture and more Culture

March 18, 2015

We woke up around 9 and had a leisurely morning, it is vacation after all. Our hotel being the official state Hermitage Hotel, offered a shuttle to the Hermitage museum. Also, they were running special promotions that not only gave us a complimentary upgraded room, but also "free" VIP tickets to the Hermitage museum. This meant we were able to enter through the employees entrance and not have to mingle with the common riff-raff at the main entrance... In all seriousness it did mean we had the opportunity to start at a different location, and so we encountered fewer people.

The Winter Palace / The Hermitage
Saint Petersburg, Russia

A little background, the Hermitage museum was started by Queen Catherine the Great in 1764, which means it's older than the United States. She traded debts owed for artwork, and purchased a tremendous collection. The collections have been expanded throughout the past several hundred years. One of the most significant additions was the nationalization of private galleries in 1925.

This museum is huge. So large, in fact that we spent 6 hours walking around it with no breaks and just barely saw everything. The museum has work from the dawn of civilization to nearly the present day. There are marvelous marble statues from Pre-Roman times that are only matched by the Vatican. There are significant collections from early Siberia, wings dedicated to Russian, Scandinavian, German, French, Chinese, Japanese and Italian art, and a marvelous mechanical peacock clock. The museum features several rooms of Picasso, a large room of Rembrandts, and several works by Da Vinci. The museum itself is a work of art. The Russian winter palace is integrated within and features a number of ballrooms, staterooms, an incredible chapel and a Lapis Room. There was a difficult balance ensuring that the artwork as well as the architecture and stately decorations were given the respect that they rightfully deserved. This is a museum and collection that is incredible beyond words.

Roman Statues
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

A Large Urn (or small swimming pool)
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Dancing Angels
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Ballroom
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Lapis Room
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Room with Historic Coins and Medallions
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Chapel
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Ceiling of one of the rooms (don't forget to look up!)
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

One of Picasso's Instrumental Works
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

The Rembrandt Room
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Old Printing and Lathing Machinery
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Armor
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Historic Weaponry
Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Following this, we rode the shuttle back to our hotel. We grabbed a quick dinner from the Italian restaurant on site with another wonderful chicken Caesar salad and got ready for our next adventure.

We went to the Mariinsky Theater for a presentation of the ballet Swan Lake by Russia's own Tchaikovsky. This theater arranged the version most often performed, and has been doing so for nearly 125 years. The female lead performing Odile/Odette has been doing so since she burst onto the scene in 2003 as a 17 year old. She has been a Principal ballerina for many years and she is breathtaking to behold. The show was 3 hours long with two intermissions, and was spot on.

Today the temperatures topped out around 57 and beautiful. It turns out these temperatures are 40 degrees higher than average. We definitely aren't complaining.

Europe 2015, Day 4 - A Multicultural Saint Patrick's Day - Russian Cathedrals, German Churches, Irish Pubs & Italian Food

March 17, 2015

Admittedly we didn't leave the hotel after our flight and Palace visit yesterday. Our view of St. Petersburg was solely dependent upon what we experienced at our hotel and venturing out into the big Russian city caused some trepidation today.

Our first stop was the Kazan Cathedral. Upon arrival we immediately noticed the architecture bore a similar resemblance to St. Peter's in Rome. The church took 10 years to build and was complete in 1811. The interior decor is understated. The cathedral is known for its 262 ft tall dome.

Kazan Cathedral
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Lunch was next on schedule. We went to a trendy restaurant called the Clean Plates Society. The atmosphere was cute. Lunch was a very good chicken burger with bacon, lettuce, tomato and pickle with a side of spiced fried potato wedges and a cold veggie salad. The total bill for two people was only $10.

The Clean Plates Society
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Following lunch we went to St. Isaac's Cathedral. This cathedral opened in 1858 it is one of the largest cathedrals in the world. The interior of this church is breathtaking. There are 14 different colors of marble and 43 precious stones/minerals used to decorate the church. The malachite and lapis pillars alone are terribly impressive.

Ceiling of Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Saint Petersburg, Russia

On our tour of churches in St. Petersburg we thought we would pay homage to our roots and visit some Lutheran Churches. St. Mary's was the first church we visited. It was founded in 1745 and complete in 1805. This parish is part of the Finnish Lutheran Church which has been active in Russia for over 400 years. The second church is simply called the Lutheran Church. This one has a creative history. This church was built in the 1830s however from 1936 until the 1950s it was used as vegetable storage. After that it was converted to a swimming pool with a high diving board and spectator benches. The building had since been handed back to the German-Lutheran Church of Russia. The swimming pool and diving boards have been removed; however it could be a new twist on baptisms (just thinking out loud).

Lutheran Church
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Our final church for the day was the Church on Spilled Blood. This church was built where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated. Construction of this church commenced in 1883. What's more impressive - the exterior or the interior? That's a good question. Inside intricate mosaics cover the walls of this church portraying biblical stories.

Church on Spilled Blood
Saint Petersburg, Russia

A quick stop at Baskin Robbins was twofold. First off it was snack time and more importantly the churches we visited don't provide facilities. The ice cream was good but the seat-less commode in the bathroom was a slight challenge for Jen.

Neva River
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Built in 1703, the Peter and Paul Fortress is considered to signify the founding of the city of St. Petersburg. The fortress was built on an island in the Neva River. This structure is all encompassing including: a mint which produces coins medals and badges, a prison, a cathedral and the tombs of the Romanovs. With admission we had access to the secret passage way which took us through the walls of the fortress and on top of the wall for panoramic views of the city.

Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral
Saint Petersburg, Russia

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, we stopped for a pint at Mollie's Mews, an Irish pub. The menu was a substantial three ringed binder but corned beef was nowhere to be found! While we were enjoying our pints we watched the KHL (Russia's NHL) Metallurg Mg was playing Sibir; Sibir won 3-2 in overtime.

Mollie's Mews
Saint Petersburg, Russia

After walking over 11 miles today we were ready to crash. Dinner was at Michelangelo, the Italian restaurant at our hotel. This evenings menu was chicken Caesar salad and margarita pizza. The chicken Caesar salad was possibly the best chicken Caesar salad we have ever indulged. We had good conversation with our server who spent 4 months in the states. She had very kind words to say about our homeland.

The weather today was remarkable. Temperatures topped off at 55 with 100% sunshine. To sum it up.... Another beautiful day in St. Petersburg.

Europe 2015, Day 3 - Russia 101

March 16, 2015

Monday started early. Alarms were set to have us up by 6:00am to catch an 8:55am flight to St. Petersburg, Russia. Sure enough we were walking to the airport by 7:15am. Before we knew it we were aboard a Norwegian airlines flight to Russia.

We both caught cat naps on the flight. Jen had a great view on the flight over of the Baltic Sea. After going through passport control (the officers were very similar to our TSA in bedside manner), we gathered our luggage, and cleared customs. The airport was very quiet for a Monday morning in a major city. Perhaps it's because President Putin was coming to visit, or perhaps it is because of the current economic situation. Nevertheless we found our pre-arranged english speaking driver from LingoTaxi and headed to Pushkin, just south of St. Petersburg where we toured the Catherine Palace. This lavish imperial palace for Catherine I was built in 1752, and was the summer residence of the tsars for many years. It suffered major damage during World War II from Nazi Germany who the dismantled and removed the famed "Amber Room". A reproduction of the room was finished in 2003 and is a sight to behold. Further restoration of the palace is continuously being done.

Catherine Palace
Pushkin, Russia

The Grand Entrance
Catherine Palace
Pushkin, Russia

The Grand Ballroom
Catherine Palace
Pushkin, Russia

Green Dining Room
(Malleys Chocolates Color Scheme Inspiration)
Catherine Palace
Pushkin, Russia

Looking out the Front Gate
Catherine Palace
Pushkin, Russia

Dining Room
Catherine Palace
Pushkin, Russia

Ceiling Fresco
Catherine Palace
Pushkin, Russia

Part of The Amber Room
Catherine Palace
Pushkin, Russia

Once we were done in Pushkin our driver took us to our hotel, The Official State Hermitage Hotel. Upon our arrival at the beautiful hotel we were greeted with cherry juice (can't say either of us have ever been greeted with cherry juice before) and water. We enjoyed a little refreshment and then were shown our room. A few of the in-room amenities that stand out to us were the towel warmer and an all in one toilet (heated toilet seat, bidet, etc). The remainder of the afternoon was spent relaxing and recovering from the early start to the day.

We took dinner at Catherine the Great Restaurant, the onsite restaurant specializing in Russian cuisine. Our first experience with Russian cuisine was memorable. We started with an appetizer of beef tongue (it's good if you can get over the texture), an appetizer of pelmen (meat dumplings), then moved on to a smoked vinaigrette salad (heavy on the beets and radishes, light on the greens). The salad was smoked in front of us, being served with glass covers full of smoke from the grill. Chicken Kiev and beef stroganoff were shared between us for the main course. For dessert we had mille-feuille cake "Napoleon". Live entertainment from an opera singer with a piano accompanist serenaded us during dinner. The best part of dinner was the cost- it was significantly less than we've paid for like quality in the rest of the world.

The weather today was absolutely amazing there were blue skies no clouds and highs in the low 50's. It was truly a beautiful day in St. Petersburg.

Catherine Palace
Pushkin, Russia

Europe 2015, Day 2 - Oslo: Ships, People & Peace

March 15, 2015.

We had an early start to our Sunday.... For some jet lagged individuals. We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and went to return the car. For some strange reason restaurants, businesses and even the car rental agency closes early (7-8pm) on Saturday evenings.

We bought our train tickets after playing credit card roulette at the kiosk (American Express won) and rode into the city center. The weather was similar to the day before. Sunny with blue skies and a chill in the air. We fetched a 20 dollar cab for a 2 mile ride (Norway is extremely expensive for Americans) and rode to the Viking Ship Museum. This museum opened in 1932 and houses 3 ships from approximately 800-900 A.D. The ships were discovered in burial mounds throughout Norway.

Oseberg Ship
Viking Ship Museum
Oslo, Norway

From there we enjoyed the beautiful weather and walked to the Fram Polar Ship Museum. This museum was physically built around the famed Fram Ship that was in use between 1892 and 1912. The museum advertised a 'spectacular' film on polar exploration that we could not pass up! An interesting take away for Mark was that the polar ships would purposely get locked in polar ice flows and float at the mercy of the ice for years at a time with hopes of crossing the polar ice cap. Jen slept through the 'spectacular' film. (Couldn't have been that good of a film).

Fram Polar Expedition Ship
Oslo, Norway

Gjøa Polar Expedition Ship
Oslo, Norway

A famed Polar Explorer
Oslo, Norway

After that we jumped ship on the maritime stuff and took a cab over to the Vigeland Park. You can google it if you would like to know more but suffice it to say it was interesting. Check out the pictures to form your own opinion. We saw a lot of families at the park and it was great to people watch a little.

Jen
Vigeland Park
Oslo, Norway

We rode the street car into the city center for our next destination, the Nobel Peace Prize Museum. The first floor had a large display on the 2014 winners child's rights and education. The second floor was under construction but still had small displays on the Nobal Peace Prize winners from the past 15 years. There was an interactive computer which allowed the user to easily retrieve historical information on any Nobel related topic.

Nobel Peace Center
Oslo, Norway

Dinner was at Hos Thea where Sergio and his staff welcomed us more like friends and less like patrons. We enjoyed a 5 course meal including squash soup, scallops (which Jen enjoyed!), venison, a cheese platter and a pina-colada cake concoction with white chocolate ice cream. While putting on her coat Jen struck up a conversation with the only other Americans in the restaurant who were also leaving. Instead of heading to the hotel we went out for drinks with our new acquaintances at The Scotsman Pub where they had some good beer. We had such a good time that we stayed until the last train was about to leave, and headed back to our hotel at the airport to catch an early morning flight to Russia.

Jen & Mark's Travels