Sunday, July 30, 2006
That's a very bad attempt at writing "St. Petersburg" in Russian with latin letters...
I'm sat at Quo Vadis wondering what to do... My backpack is at the hostel but I haven't booked a bed for tonight, and I think they are fully booked anyway. There's a bus to Tallinn at 23.50, but then again there's also St. Petersburg and all the beautiful people in it... I have pretty much a full schedule of social engagements over the next couple of days if I stay. And my visa doesn't run out until the 5th of August. I'm sure I will find a place to sleep tonight, there is no need to worry. Yes, I think I will stay.
So what has happened since my last travelogue? I was almost about to bail out and leave this city - it seemed so full of splendour but with so little charm - but luckily I decided to wait until the weekend to give it a chance to redeem itself. (I have since met several other travellers who DID bail out after a few days without finding what they were looking for...)
The night out with Jonas and Kirsten was great - Cynic is a cool little bar with an "authentic" feel to it. Drank lots of vodka and beer, smoked a waterpipe filled with wine, almost ended up in a fight with a very drunk and annoying Russian.
Plenty of pipe, not much light... Me, Kirsten.
Quote of the day: (Imagine a very quiet and dead serious Russian with a strong Russian accent suddenly slamming a fist in the table) "And now we must drink vodka." Simple but effective.
Apart from the crowds of tourists, the Hermitage was absolutely fantastic. Take a magnificent collection of art and put it inside a magnificent palace and you've pretty much got the idea. Not enough from the last 150 years, though.
View of the Winter Palace (housing the Hermitage), the Admiralty and some cathedral or other from across the river.
This schoolgirl by Henri Le Fauconnier really caught my attention.
And this sent me right back to Montmartre...
I love Rodin...
...and the many other beautiful things on display at the Hermitage. (Used without permission, will be removed immediately if the person in this picture so wishes. I, on the other hand, think it should win me a prize!)
But I still hadn't found any live music in this city. Walking along the Nevsky one day, I bumped into a "Russian-Celtic orchestra "playing on the street, with two different names (and websites) depending on the configuration of the band members: Reelroad or Otava e.
The guy in the middle wants to get hold of a Norwegian Harding Fiddle if anyone can help him out...
A bagpipe, two violins, a guitar and a drum playing a brilliant mix of Russian, Irish and Scottish traditional music. The only thing missing was the mouth harp - seriously! It worked so well with their music. Their CDs were selling faster than me trying to cross the Nevsky at rush hour! They may give a GMC contribution.
And here's a recording of them playing on the street!!! It's the second half of a song, worth a listen! I unfortunately couldn't hold the recorder and play the mouth harp at the same time...
On Friday I went to see them playing in a pub on the outskirts of the city, before heading back into town to the best place in all of St. Pete - Platforma in Nekrasova... er... Street? It's number 40!
It says "Platforma - Art Kafe"
It's a very arty place with concerts, films, poetry, alternative theatre, a little bookshop (called Formation) with radical political books at the back, etc.
I was so lucky to see Billy's Band live - the Russian Tom Waits. Absolutely fantastic, I have rarely seen stage presence and a connection with an audience like that. They are allowing me to upload a live recording of a couple of songs on this website, coming soon!!
And here it is!!! The end of one song and the beginning of the next. I was stood in the middle of the audience towards the back. A guy on my left was very enthusiastic but didn't quite know when to shout "yeah". You can hear me laughing a couple of times.
At the time the recording was made Sveta was stood right behind me, but we hadn't spoken yet. After the concert we went out for a chat:
Sweet Sveta.
Sveta explaining the meaning of the word "mir": The whole world AND peace at the same time.
We went back to Platforma, and it was so crowded that they actually ran out of beer, first, and then vodka!! I was given something that was "like vodka" (that's a literal quote), very disgusting, made from some vegetable. Met loads of people, students, I read rude Russian poetry from a book from the bookshop, later given to me.
Edvard the maths student became my personal translating robot for the next couple of days... Then "someone important" turned up, a "minister" - actually turning out to be the second in command of St. Pete's rescue services. He, Ruslan, knew some of the students and sat down at our table buying drinks all around. Ed, Sveta and I ended up at his amazing flat just across the river from the Smolny Cathedral.
Ruslan showing us around.
His bedroom.
The view of the Neva.
"Lost in Translation 1":
Ruslan, Ed and Sveta.
When you are a guest in Russia you drink the whole glass in one go, you don't really have a choice in the matter. Ruslan spoke no English but we sat up chatting, getting drunk, eating salty goat (yummy!) into the early hours.
"Lost in Translation 2" - or "Two what? Two what?" :
I eventually crashed out on a bed and slept like a baby... The next morning and afternoon we just kept on talking for hours, until Sveta was about 4 hours late for work. We spoke about Russia, Russian bureaucracy, Russian corruption; Putin, Chechnya and Russian politics in general; about morality and the idea that an act can only be said to be truly moral if there is a choice involved, an idea Ruslan liked despite being a god-fearing man himself; and about the common human denomintar and my trip. Eddie and Sveta were translating until their brains were fried - not just then but more or less non-stop for about 48 hours running...
Later on Saturday I went to the north of the city to visit Kirill, the very, very knowledgable man who runs the bookshop at Platforma.
Kirill showing me some of his art.
Kirill and Ed-3PO
Walking around Kirill's flat, Ivan on the right.
The backyard has been a motif for several painters.
Kirill looking for his favourite poem.
Sitting around the fireplace in the semi-darkness listening to Kiril recite Russian poetry was special. His flat was as stupendously grand as the rest of St. Pete - Shostakovic used to live in this building.
The rest of the night was spent going from place to place with Sveta and Maxim, meeting so many people, having a lot of fun... there were so many impressions and emotions in such a short space of time that I really have problems to put things into words...
The amazing Olga on the phone.
There are three cool DJ-bars in a row on Dumskaya, next to Gostiny Dvor, and upstairs at Novus, not far from Palace Square, was absolutely hillarious despite the disco music. I almost beat the Russian champ at the game Novus, an Italian pool-like game. All along I thought we were going to a "gay bar", when we were in fact going to a "game bar", as they called it. The only place I really feel I've missed out on is the underground club Griboyedov in an old Soviet bunker near Ligovsky Prospekt metro station - I've been told it's great.
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July 31st
I went back to Platforma yesterday, my home. This is the self-proclaimed "cradle of the Russian art revolution", as I was told by Kirill. They are completely anti-commercial and sometimes business is slow because of it. One of the problems, as I see it and as far as I know, is that the club - or "art cafe" as it says on the outside - is not listed in any of the big Western guidebooks. Part of me wants to keep this place to myself, but I have made it my mission to have it included in the guidebooks, I'll start bombarding Lonely Planet and Rough Guides with emails. Some exciting business is going on, right now, behind the scenes. I unfortunately can't write about this, but I hope to make an announcement in the early autumn.
Edvard, Kirill and Denis in the middle of an important discussion.
I hooked up with the usual gang at Platforma last night. We hid in the bookshop from a couple of rappers from Moscow, who were doing their dirty business on stage.
The stage at Platforma.
Ivan in the bookshop.
Afterwards, it was a pleasant and surreal relief to watch the West German / French horror film Nosferatu from 1979 with Klaus Kinski and Isabelle Adjani. It had the original German sound in the background but with an official and slightly ceremonious-sounding Russian male voice-over reading the lines of all the characters, including the female ones. It's a remake of the 1922 original, the first Dracula-film ever made. Here's an interesting article.
Nosferatu - Phantom der Nacht!!!!
Here are a couple of unbelievably good sound recordings from the film...
Nosferatu 1 - 2'24" - starting with a cuckoo-clock, great voice-over.
Nosferatu 2 - 1'16'' - fantastic synthesizer, then the understated biting of Isabelle Adjani's neck.
Then Kiril put on the arty and slighty disburbing Russian film Deadline, before showing the first English Dracula-film ever made, from 1931, in English only - just for me! Very special... Being slightly too comfortable on a sofa in the club, I fell asleep to the sweet sound of Count Dracula terrorising the streets of London, and I woke up about seven hours later. They were so sweet to let me sleep there.
The only problem now, apart from not having had a shower for a long time, is that I don't have a registration-stamp on my visa with yesterday's date on it - unbelievable Russian bureaucracy. This is a way of doing business, your hotel or hostel has to put a stamp on your visa, and all dates of your stay supposedly have to be covered. If you for example are on an overnight train, you should keep the receipt. I could potentially end up in trouble when trying to leave Russia. Then again, I'm sure a phonecall to Ruslan would sort things out - he did say "what can I do to help you in St. Petersburg?". I will take him up on his offer if I have to.
I asked Ivan at Platforma about this... I said "what are they going to do - throw me in jail?" with a sarcastic laugh. The instant reply from Ivan, which must be the quote of the year, was a little bit disconcerting: "They will fuck your brain very long!" It's apparently a literal translation of a common Russian expression.
But now I think I will be fine! The very sweet person who first told me about Platforma, and therefore changed my life, will also probably save my life (yes, yes... a little bit over-dramatic again, I know) by sorting me out with some stamps!! I obviously can't say who this person is or how this person is going to do it - all I can say is "thanks"!!!!
I promised to mention the only walking tour in St. Petersburg - Peter's Walking Tours - www.peterswalk.com. You'll get a very personal view on St. Petersburg by a local.
There are so many creative people at Platforma it's almost scary. Edvard and Ivan are working on a short film at the moment. I met Mikhail from Moscow, who will exhibit a video-art-installation-type-of-thing at Platforma soon. www.pogarsky.com. He told me that the closest thing to Platforma that you'll find in London is a place called Tactical Cafe and Bar in Soho - I'd never heard of it before... Irina the photographer both took my picture and spontaneously stole a kiss. Which was nice. Check out her funky photos: http://topolina.photosight.ru.
Some people at Platforma, the bar to the left.
Now it's almost 2pm, and I'm meeting Maria soon for a couple of hours, and then at 6-7 I'm hooking up with Olga, whom I may bring to a poetry reading at Platforma, where I'm sure to meet Ed and the rest of the students. Then again, I'm not sure it's her kind of place - she was quite shocked when I read her the rude Russian poetry on Saturday. Sveta has sadly gone on holiday to the Black Sea - the Russian Ibiza!
Am I going to Tallinn tonight? Haven't got a clue...
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August 1st
Nope, I didn't... but today I went to the Eurolines ticket office next to Baltiyskaya train station and bought a ticket to Tallinn on the overnight bus tonight. I have to tear myself away from this place before I grow roots.
If experience is the only true learning, then experiencing another person is the only way to 'learn' or to get to know that person at a particular moment in time, and experiencing yourself is the only way to learn about yourself.
Don't worry, I'm not quite sure what I mean either.
I'm off to say goodbye to Olga, before getting on the bus at 23.50. Although I've said very little about Russian pride, I think I'll leave it for now...
PS! I'm glad I got my registration stamps sorted out late last night. This morning, at a metro station, I was stopped by an army-security-police-guard-person who wanted to see my passport... I've heard of Americans who've had to pay big money to have their flawless passports returned.
PPS! I'm leaving St. Pete with many gifts I am very, very grateful for. Kirill gave me the poetry book and a CD with the music of a play they'd put on...
...Yura gave me a CD...
...Maria gave me a cool little St. Pete key ring - it was even wrapped! - currently attached to my trousers...
...and Olga spontaneously adorned my neck with a piece of ivory with a wave engraved on it, she'd worn it for three years!
PPPS! If you find my heart lying around somewhere on the streets of St. Pete, please take care of it for me until I return.
PPPPS! I will leave you with an alternate view of a St. Pete hidden somewhere deep inside a pair of green-yellow-orange-brown-blue eyes...
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