Archive for the 'Non-RTW Travel' Category

There’s a Difference Between Eating and Eating Well

Theresa March 13th, 2010

As we walk down the main beachfront street in Taganga, a man yells out to us encouraging us to come check out his restaurant. This restaurant has no name, doesn’t even really resemble a place to eat. On a circular slab of concrete shaded by a thatched roof, a small bar and a few molded plastic tables and chairs hold court. Aside from one supporting a local having a drink, the chairs remain unoccupied.

I look at Jeff and he asks if I want to check it out. I give a noncommital nod. After a morning of diving, we’re famished, but I’ve already rejected a handful of restaurants. There was nothing wrong with them, per say, but they weren’t what I wanted. They were places that catered to tourists, that automatically handed you an English menu, that would at your request cook up the same thing your mom was serving for dinner at home that very night. Some days that’s great, especially when you’ve been traveling a long time and feel the slight ache of homesickness or are simply travel fatigued, but on a short trip like this one, those places aren’t for me. I want to get the local taste.

So we enter the man’s restaurant. “What’s on the menu?” Jeff asks. The man, a guy bordering on senior citizen status with grey hair, worn hands, and a few missing teeth, doesn’t hand over a menu. Instead he opens a cooler. First, out comes a pink fish. In rapid fire Spanish, he begins to explain the fish to us, what it tastes like, how he’d cook it. He then opens the fish up at the gut and tells us to take a look inside, to note just how fresh it is. He then pulls out two more fish of different types and does the same thing. Our choice.

We pick the first fish. The man then places the fish on a platter and takes off down the street, disappearing into a doorway. He comes out emptyhanded. I have no idea who now has our fish, but I picture a little woman, his wife or mother, fixing up our lunch.

He returns to us, pulls up a chair, and begins to chat. Soon a local couple comes in and picks one of the remaining fish. They join in the conversation. As we wait for our meals, we are showered with advice on where to go and what to see, we get opinions on the upcoming election, we learn that the people here are believers in climate change as they’ve endured less and less rain and changing seas, we hear stories of how much Colombia has changed for the better in the past few years, we’re questioned about why more Americans don’t come to Colombia, Jeff is applauded for his Spanish.

When our food comes, it’s delicious. Accompanying the well-seasoned fish are fried plaintains, coconut rice, and salad. We clear our plates. For $5, it’s an incredible value. For a moment we consider paying up and heading back to our hotel for a nap in a hammock. But instead we order another drink and settle back into our chairs. The hammock will wait. Meals with this much local flavor are meant to be savored.

(P.S. We apologize for all the comment spam lately. Our server is not recognizing our spam blocker, and we’re having trouble working things out. Of course, this had to happen while we were gone and not online 24/7. Bear with us. I promise we’re working on it.)

Relearning to Travel

Theresa March 4th, 2010

I know this sounds spoiled. Indulge me. Forgive me. But re-learning to travel like an American (aka on limited time) is hard. Yes, I hear you all crying for me from here. It’s a real sob story.

Our trip to Colombia is quickly approaching, and we’re trying to prepare for it. We’re going to be gone for 16 days. In American terms, that’s forever. After a one year trip, that’s not much time at all. There’s a little voice inside my head yelling at me that there’s absolutely no way we can see everything we want (or anything at all) in that amount of time. I keep yelling back and telling it to shut up, reminding it that there’s never enough time. Though we spent six weeks in Argentina, we didn’t make it to Mendoza. We missed Colca Canyon and Lake Titicaca in Peru. In Thailand, the only island we made it to was Ko Phi Phi. Must see places went unseen. Sometimes entire countries–Bolivia, Rwanda–got chopped form the itinerary. Sixteen days, one year, a lifetime–it’s never enough.

So what to do? Well, first step. Make a big long list of everything we want to do. Our included scuba diving in the Caribbean, shoring up on Vitamin D on the beaches of Tayrona National Park, wandering the walled city of Cartagena, diving in the Pacific, hopping to the island of Providencia, getting to the source of the world’s best coffee, checking out the once notorious now revitalized Medellin, scaling the mountains of El Cocuy National Park, getting high on adventure in San Gil, and popping in on the capital Bogota. Mourn for a moment that there is absolutely no way on God’s green earth that you’ll get to do half of that in sixteen days, that you probably couldn’t even do it in a month. Then dry your eyes and move on.

Step two. Decide on top priorities. For us, scuba diving was a primary goal. I miss the amazing feeling of being under the sea, surrounded by crazy plants and animals. And the intense sunshine withdrawal we’re experiencing (after a year of summer, this winter has been particularly rough) made us favor Colombia’s warm, sunny destinations over its colder, snowier ones. Jeff said Tayrona was a must. I couldn’t imagine missing Cartagena. That’s three Carribbean coast destinations. Looking at the map, it made sense to dedicate at least a week of our time to that area. But where from there? In the end, we decided on Medellin, the coffee region, and Bogota (where we fly out of). Getting to the Pacific coast or one of the islands would have eaten up a lot of our time. Throwing out San Gil and El Cucoy were harder, but the fact that they were in the same region though made the choice easier: It will be that much easier to hit both of them on a return trip.

In the end, we based our decision on 1) desire and 2) logistics. If we had more time, if this were last year, we could have opted for the destinations that require 14 hour bus trips. We could have planned to cover much more territory. But bleeding entire days to travel on a trip this short just doesn’t make sense. Making the most out of what you’ve got is what life’s about.

And so, we have a plan. I managed to adjust my mindset, to re-learn to travel on borrowed time. But at the same time, I resisted many urges of the American traveler. We have a hotel booked for our first night, but that’s it. We have a flight in to the country and a flight out, but no other transportation arranged. I read blogs and message boards and websites, jotting down recommended hotels and things to do, but we’re not packing a guidebook. We sketched out a rough itinerary, but it’s in pencil and on paper, ready to be thrown out the window the moment we decide we want to spend another day on the beach at Tayrona, have had enough of the city, need to eat at that ceviche place once more time, want to rent bikes and tour the coffee region on two wheels. Though we might now have to abide by the rules of American vacation time, we don’t have to live by the rules of American vacations. Our time might be shorter on this trip than it was on the last, but we’re still the travelers we’ve always been. Ready for adventure. Open to opportunity. Excited to touch, taste, feel, hear, and see a place.

We have sixteen days. Aren’t we lucky?

Travel Plans 2010

Theresa February 2nd, 2010

Topping 2009 travel-wise is, well, pretty much impossible. At least at the moment, with our mortgage payments and book contracts and post-doc positions. It just ain’t going to happen. Sadly. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to at least try to have a little adventure. There’s no way we’re going to pass the year without going somewhere we’ve never been before. That’s just plain unthinkable. I mean, seriously, the travel bug does not just disappear. Oh no, my friends. It infests. And multiplies. It simply can not be killed. Not that I’d want to kill it anyways. It’s no worm.

So though it’s plenty safe to say that our 2010 travel plans aren’t nearly as grand as our 2009 plans, I don’t think they’re at all shabby. And to say that I’m looking forward to them is like saying that Durham did a lousy job plowing the 7 inches of snow we got on Saturday. (In case you’re unclear, it’s a huge understatement.)

With 2010 now all the way in the door and not looking a bit like it plans to retreat, I think it’s safe to go ahead and unveil the plans. So without further ado, here’s what’s on tap for us.

The first trip of the year and the biggest is a 16-day trip to Colombia in March. As we traveled through South America in 2008-09, we kept hearing over and over that Colombia is the place to be. Rumors of its beauty, friendly people, and affordability barraged us. While in Ecuador, we pondered making the trip across the border, but we just didn’t have the time. I’ve been haunted ever since.

As for what we’re planning to do in Colombia, I’m not yet sure. All we know is that we land on the Caribbean coast and depart from Bogota. I’m definitely going to get a few dives in, and I want to enjoy the beaches of Parque Nacional Tayrona and the colonial ambiance of Cartegena, but beyond that I can’t choose. Do we take on San Gil, the adventure capital of Colombia? Do we spend a few days on a finca in the world capital of coffee? Do we taste city life in Medellin and Bogota? Do we jibe to the Afro-Caribbean Beat of Providencia? The only thing I know for sure is that we can’t really go wrong. But if you have some tips, we’re all ears.

The second trip we have planned is a domestic roadtrip that will take us from Chicago to Yellowstone and back in late May. We’ll be traveling with my brothers (or at least Gregory and Mark, as unfortunately last I heard Matthew doesn’t think he can make it), so it will certainly be full of funny moments. We plan to ditch the interstate system for the old highways and see what kind of nonsense we can find along the way. We’ll be taking a northern route there and a southern route back and should have time for the Badlands, the Black Hills, and other awesome scenery along the way. On a family roadtrip in 1993, my brothers and I covered much of the same ground, so it will be cool to see what we think 17 years later. And to find out if in 17 years the photos we take on this trip will be as embarrassing as the photos taken on that trip.

And well, that’s it for the year’s big trips. Apparently when people hire you around here they expect you to work. A lot. I can’t say I’m a fan. But I’ll survive, especially since we also have a slew of small trips thrown in to keep our cabin fever from turning into cabin swine flu.  We’ll be hitting up Bloomington in early May to watch my baby brother (that’s right Mark, I called you baby) graduate from Indiana University, and in August, we’ll be in the Seattle area for the marriage of Jeff’s sister. We’ll also get to say hello to Charleston, SC, when our friend Kristi says I do to our other friend Ziga (who we hear will be saying I do back).

And though I guess technically it’s work, I’ll be spending a lot of time exploring the Bluegrass State as I work on the Moon Kentucky guidebook. It’s a cool state, I tell you, and I’m going to be covering it top to bottom, inside and out. Diving into Appalachia has definitely got me excited. The culture completely intrigues me, and I have to admit that I really, really, really want to see a blue person.

Finally, we’ll be dedicating any free weekends we have to exploring our brand new home state. That is if they can figure out how to get the snow off the roads before, say, April. I definitely intend to make it to the beach a time or two…or three or four. And I’m committed to adding a few more miles to my Appalachian Trail in pieces project, with the 30-mile Art Loeb Trail in Pisgah National Forest looking like it might be my first NC leg.

You know, I think it just might end up being a pretty darn good year. I really do.

But gosh, enough about me, let’s hear about you. What’s on your travel calendar for 2010?

You Vote! Where Next?

Theresa December 3rd, 2009

So you’re probably wondering just how many “Where Next?” posts we can manage to get up on our blog. Well, friends, this is the last one, and this post requires that you pitch in and help. What we need you to tell us is exactly where we ought to go next.

You see, very shortly after we returned to the States, we did a lot of flying around within the country. In the process, we managed to get bumped from a flight. I know that might sound bad to a lot of you, but Jeff and I often pray to get bumped, especially if we’re not on a tight schedule. We love the vouchers that come with volunteering to give up your seat.

On the specific flight for which we got bumped, we got especially lucky. We were only delayed by two hours, got a free lunch while we waited, and were handed vouchers of $600 each. $600! That’s a lot…especially considering it was only a 30 minute-long flight we got bumped from.

In summary, here’s the deal. We each have $600 in credit toward a flight. The credit expires next October. The credit must be used through Delta, so the flight must be on Delta or with a partner who will allow us to book the trip through Delta.

Now your job: tell us where to go! Come on, we know some of you have just been dying to do that. Don ‘t pretend otherwise.

Here’s the criteria:

  1. We’d prefer not to have to pay anything out of pocket for the flight but could be convinced to pitch in a little bit of dough if necessary.
  2. We have to work within the confines of being working Americans, meaning we can’t take month long trips.
  3. We’re open to domestic or international destinations.
  4. We’d like to keep the budget on the lower end. We just bought a house, people; funds are limited.

So what do you suggest? Give us your best scenario.

Where Next? Part 2

Theresa November 20th, 2009

In our earlier post, Where Next? Part 1, we laid out the places we have never been that we’d like to go. In this, Part 2, we give you a look at sites that are located in countries that we visited but that we weren’t able to make it to for whatever reason. In some instances, it was because we were there at the wrong time of the year to do whatever it was we wanted to do. In other instances, the site was so popular that you had to make plans to visit it much farther in advance than we did. In still other cases, costs or logistics made a visit impossible. They were places that caught our imaginations at the time we were in country and that have stayed with us long after we left. Here, in no particular order, are six sites that will have us returning to one of the 24 countries we visited on our round-the-world trip, hopefully sooner rather than later.

1. Dive Sipadan, Malaysia
After getting our SCUBA certification just before our trip to Borneo, I was anxious to dive into what is supposed to be one of the world’s best dive sites. We heard amazing stories of huge schools of barracuda, 30 + turtles in one dive spot, and sharks galore. Unfortunately, we were there at the peak of the high season, and though we were flexible with date and time, we couldn’t find a single dive operator with an opening. Apparently they’d been booked up 6 months in advance. So looks like we’ll have to go back and see the underworld wonders of Borneo. Maybe it’s for the best. We heard it can be a more challenging dive site, and as beginners we might not have got to experience the full extent of the magic.

2. Witness the Great Migration, Serengeti/Masai Mara
Is there anyone out there who doesn’t want to see this? We love going on safari, and I can imagine the thrill is only upped by the sight of the huge herds of migrating wildebeests fighting for their lives against stalking lions and hungry crocodiles. Plus the Serengeti has a certain romance to it, the wide plains dotted with flat-topped acacia trees. Our timing wasn’t right this trip to witness this magnificent event, so we’ll have to return. Maybe if I win the lottery I’ll splurge on a fancy camp. Otherwise, I’ll just rough it like we usually do. Either way, I’m certain it will be awesome.

3. Drive the Skeleton Coast, Namibia
The landscapes we saw in Namibia were simply mindblowing, but we hear they’re completely unearthly along the Skeleton Coast. You need a 4WD to venture here, however, and we were in a little Kia, so it was forbidden territory for us. Namibia is high on my return list, and next time I’ll definitely get the fully kitted out camping car. Then we’ll be able to venture up the Skeleton Coast, meeting locals who still live in very traditional ways, gawking at the rugged coast, and maybe spotting one of those rare desert elephants that we hear hang out there.

4. Explore the Kalahari, South Africa/Botswana
Like the Skeleton Coast, the Kalahari (well, hell, most of Botswana) is 4WD territory. It’s also territory for the tough and self-reliant. The Kalahari is a whole lot of nothing according to some, a whole lot of beauty according to others. I recently read an article on traveling through the Kalahari, and the photos blew my mind. Some really amazing and interesting people, as well as animals, have learned to survive here, and I think encountering them would be pretty darn cool.

5. Hike the Cordillera Blanca, Peru
After hiking the Inca Trail, our legs weren’t exactly thrilled about the idea of another long, hard hike at high altitude, and the extremely rainy weather hitting the area while we were there sealed the deal: no Cordillera Blanca for us. But we only crossed it off the list temporarily. We both really love to hike, especially in terrain that is as lush and breathtaking (literally and figuratively) as that of the Cordillera Blanca. There’s a whole slew of trails that cross through these northern Peruvian mountains, and we’re not sure which trek we’d chose, though I think we’re looking for a road a bit less traveled. And when we do make it back to Peru, I think we’ll also fly south, as we didn’t make it to Arequipa or Colca Canyon either.

6. Taste the Wine in Mendoza, Argentina
Abundant and delicious steak, ice cream, and wine. What’s not to love about Argentina? While we got our fair share of all of them during our six weeks or so in the country, we didn’t actually make it to Mendoza, the heartland of Argentinian wine production…and supposedly a lot of excellent restaurants to boot. Mendoza was supposed to be our final stop, a layover on our way from Buenos Aires to Santiago, but we ended up flying and thus missed it. But I have no doubt we’ll make it back to Argentina (what a scrumptious country!), and on that trip we’ll not neglect Mendoza and its delicious wines.

If you know of anywhere else we missed, any site you can’t believe we didn’t make it to and strongly believe that we should, let us know. Obviously we plan to live a long, long life and become quite wealthy, so we’re completely open to expanding the list.

Where Next? Part 1

Theresa November 8th, 2009

So now that we’re back home, we can’t help but think of where we want to go next. Though we visited 24 countries on our trip, our world did not get any smaller. In fact, I think it got bigger. The more you travel, the more places you want to go.

So here are ten places that we’ve never been to that we’d love to travel next. And by next, we mean sometime in the future. They aren’t our next ten vacations (I wish!), but are instead the places that we will be considering heavily each time we find ourselves with some time and money to spare. More accurately, they’re our dream trips of-the-moment, at least in the category of places we’ve never been.

And because we’re terrible at actually ranking things, here they are, in alphabetical order.

1. Alaska
Those of us who live in the U.S. are lucky. Within our borders we have tropical rainforests and coral reefs, the world’s largest canyon, imposing mountain ranges, gorgeous beaches, active volcanoes and bubbling geysers, eye-searing deserts, ancient forests, glacier fields and polar bears! There is so much of the U.S. we want to see for the first time, go back to for the second or third or fourth time, or spend longer exploring. High on the list is Alaska, a state certainly unlike any of the others.We’d love to do a combination land/sea trip and see this crazy state from all sides.

2. Bhutan
We really, really wanted to make Bhutan a part of our trip, and were even willing to shell out the big bucks it takes to visit, but it wasn’t meant to be. We had found a company there we liked, had worked out a plan for what we’d see and do, and then couldn’t get the flights we needed. You have to enter/exit the country on their official airlines, Druk Air, and the planes are apparently pretty small. We were planning from Africa for the very end of our trip, but every seat was taken on every plane from every entry/exit point. We were offered a chance to enter overland from India but would have spent two of our expensive and precious days in transit. Not what we wanted. So we’ll have to make plans to visit the Land of the Thunder Dragon on its own, and experience the majestic beauty and well preserved culture of the land that measures its wealth in Gross National Happiness.

3. Bolivia
There were a lot of places we wanted to visit while we were in South America but just didn’t make it too. Bolivia was near the top of the list. The combination of traditional culture and landscapes like the otherworldly Salar de Uyuni make us eager to go, even if it’s as frustrating to get around as many people claim.

4. Colombia
In the U.S., you say Colombia and most people think of the FARC and drug wars, but the truth is that Colombia is now one of the U.S.’s greatest allies in Latin America, and the country has done a complete 180 since the ’80s. From the few people we’ve met who have traveled there, the raves just never seem to end. The landscape is supposed to be amazing, the people ridiculously friendly, the culture an interesting mix of Latin and African, and the food delicious. I think all the commercials we saw telling us that “The only risk is wanting to say” have totally won us over. We’re itching to go before all the gringos catch wind.

5. Ethiopia
Not being able to fit Ethiopia into our African itinerary was a major disappointment, but we knew if we were going to do it, we wanted to do it right, meaning we’d love to have something like three weeks. The only country in Africa never to be conquered, it has a unique and amazing culture. We’d love to explore the churches of Lalibela, and really just travel the country from top to bottom. Plus we’re big fans of the food.

6. Mongolia
I have this vision of Mongolia as the last frontier. It’s certainly not on the travel highway, but it’s still being quickly affected by the forces of the world, and I’d like to get there before it becomes mainstream. I’ve actually only ever met two people who have been, but both raved about it, and the adventure of it all calls to me. Though I’m not a fan of the cold, I’d be willing to pull out the long underwear to experience the steppe and meet the hardy nomadic people who call it home.

7. Morocco
Casablanca. Tangiers. Fez. Marrakech. There’s so much history, so much mystique to Morocco. It’s the type of country we love, because all you have to do is wander around and you find yourself immersed in a new world. The souks of the Medina in Fez, the medieval feel of Marrakech. Deserts, beaches, snow-capped mountains. It’s all enticing.

8. New Zealand
Australia holds basically no appeal to me, but New Zealand, that’s a whole different story. Lush rainforest, amazing waterfalls, protected landscapes, and a national love of adrenaline sports makes this a top draw for both of us. We’d love to rent a van and explore both the North and South Islands.

9. Spain & Portugal
There’s something addictive about Latin culture–the food, the dance, the music, the joie de vivre. I made a quick tour through Spain seven years ago and fell in love with it, and Jeff’s been wanting to go for years. Seville and the south is calling to us as well as Madrid and Barcelona. And then there’s always overlooked Portugal. The photos we’ve seen and stories we’ve heard, along with the friendly Portuguese we met on our travels, all leave us itching to go.

10. Turkey
I’ve wanted to go to Turkey since I taught in Greece in 2003-04. I actually had tentative plans to go but then a bombing in Istanbul upset things, and I never made it. But we’d love to see Hagia Sophia, wander through the bazaars, take a balloon ride over Cappadocia, observe the whirling dervishes, and eat delicious Mediterranean food.

Care to join us?

Back in the U.S. of A.

Theresa September 30th, 2008

We touched down in D.C. this afternoon and are approaching hour 24 of being awake. I’m hoping to end that streak soon by sinking into bed, so I’m sorry but you won’t be getting much of a coherent post out of us tonight. But as I made the trip back across the pond, I was contemplating the difficulties of traveling across multiple time differences and debating which is worse: traveling east or traveling west.

I decided that for me it’s definitely traveling east. I hate losing my night. I detest red-eyes. I can’t sleep on airplanes, but I’m tired while flying because I’ve usually been up for a full day before boarding the plane, so I’m just pretty much miserable. Then when you land you still have a full day ahead of you, which you have to try to stay awake through if you have any hope of adjusting.

Flying west makes for a long day, but I don’t lose my night…it just gets pushed back. Plus I take off in the morning and so I’m not tired on the plane. I don’t have to try to make myself sleep; I can just pass the time reading, watching movies, etc. And with an afternoon landing, it’s not that many hours until I can hop in bed. Like I said before, I’m a girl who likes her sleep, so that, in the end, is the deciding factor for me.

But I know there are people who disagree with me. So I’m just wondering what you think: is it easier to fly east or west?

Looking Up

Jeff September 22nd, 2008

St. Petersburg is perhaps best known for the Hermitage, its amazing collection of art spanning 3000 years of human civilization and an entire globe.  What I found more impressive than this, though, was the building it was housed in, the Winter Palace.  Built in the 1750′s by Italian architects, it was the winter residence of the Russian Tsars.  The sheer opulence and gradeur of so many of the room was simply astounding.  The intricacy and detail in the ceilings impressed me most (my dad was more impressed with the detail work of the floor … also incredible).  Since the visuals really defy words, I’ll let photo collection below of the ceilings tell the story.  (For the record, this is a temporary arrangement as for tonight, I give up on trying to integrate photos in nicely … picasa plugins are not playing nice so far).

Hermitage Ceiling Gallery

Jeff September 22nd, 2008

KPICASA_GALLERY(HermitageCeiling)

First Impressions of St. Petersburg

Theresa September 18th, 2008

At the Russian embassy in Stockholm: Wow, this is easy. And she’s actually nice and helpful. I thought that this was supposed to be so difficult that you threw your hands up in despair and just gave up. Am I missing something? Am I going to show back up to get my visa only to find out that I didn’t do some obscure task and now I can’t have one?

Upon arrival at the St. Petersburg airport: I think that soldier is wearing the same uniform in the same ugly green and the same scratchy material as WWII soldiers wore. In fact, he looks like he could have walked straight out of some film based on a Stephen Ambrose book.

On the drive from the airport to the Grand Nevsky Hotel: Whoa he drives fast. Oh shit, we’re totally going to hit that car. Look at that ginormous statue (Monument to the Historic Defenders of Leningrad ). It’s soooo Soviet. Did you see that church? It was gorgeous. Oh this one’s even better. Damn, traffic is terrible. Holy crap, I think that trolley car could be classified as an artifact. Oh shit, it almost hit that Hummer limo. Oh look, a Zara is about to open in that huge old communist looking building.

On a first walk around the city: This place doesn’t feel very Russian, not that I know exactly what Russian feels like. It feels more like Europe…a bit Scandinavia, a bit Berlin, maybe even a little Amsterdam with all these canals. Brrr, that’s a cold wind blowing off the Neva. I totally need one of those Russian fur hats. Or maybe a bunch of vodka shots. Seriously, this is all still the Hermitage? Where does it end? Woohoo, I can totally read Russian. It’s just like Greek…oh except what the hell is that letter, that’s a new one. So yeah maybe I can sort of kind of read it.

On a visit to Peterhof: This looks like Versailles. The fountains are awesome. The palace, eh, it’s a palace. Aren’t they all the same…opulent and overdone. Gold and gold and oh yeah, more gold. That ticket lady is totally a holdover from the communist days. Is that scowl permanent? I love the way the Russian tourists strike a pose for every photo as if they’re supermodels. And the fact that they are walking around these giant gardens in insane high heels as if it’s no big deal if just freaking insane.

As you can see, I’ve had a wide array of reactions to St. Petersburg in my first 24 hours here, and I have not found an easy way to sum it up. Established by Peter the Great as a window to the west, it still is a strange mix of east and west, Russia and Europe. So far the most prominent impression I have is of St. Petersburg as a city of new money.

Of course, in its earliest history, St. Petersburg had money. This is obvious in the palaces and churches, fortresses and bridges…the centuries-old structures built during the heyday of the Romanovs. But in the past century, St. Petersburg has seen hard times. As Leningrad, it suffered terribly during the German siege of the Second World War, with millions of people starving to death and the ravages of war becoming everyday reality. Later, communism did the city no favors. Construction was utilitarian, depressing, gray. The city’s magnificent churches were gutted and used to store potatoes or converted to swimming pools. Even if you had money, there was little to buy.

Now, it seems to me, that St. Petersburg is trying to shove that recent history from memory. Cranes criss-cross the skyline. Stores and shops and malls are opening everywhere, and everything stays open 24 hours a day. Western franchises are prospering. (We even saw a Carl’s Jr.!) Fancy cars race down the street. And fashion is at the forefront (even if it’s not what I’d call fashionable). St. Petersburg is a city on the rise…again. Yet at the same time it’s a city heavy with history and so long as there’s a bubushka on the street, a minibus pulling up at the corner, and a monolithic Soviet statue in the square, I think it will remain a city torn…between East and West, between Russia and Europe, between history and future. And in my opinion, that’s at least half the reason why it’s such an amazingly interesting place.

(We’re here through Monday, so expect to hear more about St. Petersburg in the following days. And if you have any suggestions for St. Petersburg, let us know!)

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