Eastern Europe (2018)

Day 1 – July 15, 2018

Los Angeles

We were picked up, at 12:00,  by a Lyft ride and headed to LAX.  A couple of hours later we were seated on an Aeroflot carrier and headed to Moscow, Russia.  We arrived 11 hours later.

Day 2- July 16, 2018

Moscow

Going through Immigration was tiring.  The officials demanded documents of our reservations in the hotel, a proof of returning ticket and flipped through the pages of our passports number of times. 

  

 Igor, our driver, was waiting for us at the Arrivals Lounge.  We headed to the Golden Ring Hotel, our home for the next few days.  We found the hotel elegant and clean and its best value was the location:  Right next to Arbat Promenade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building.

After a short rest we headed outside and found a great bakery where they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.  We ordered a chicken pie and chicken salad and they were very good.

 We found a beauty salon for Tova and while she was treated, I walked around the street, saw the river that crosses the city.  Moskva River is a river flowing through Moscow province. It is an important source of Moscow’s water supply. I ended up in a very elegant mall.  The name of the mall was Evropeyskiy Shopping Center.

I returned to the beauty salon and along with Tova we arrived to Arbat Promenade. We walked around this beautiful street that is unique because not only that it has the shops, cafes, artists and restaurants – it has a lot of history, which we would learn tomorrow as our official tour will begin.  We saw hundreds of people walking by – most were tourists.

We returned to our hotel and unpacked.  We were sound asleep by 10:00.

Day 3 – July 17, 2018

Moscow

We woke up at 5:00 am (jet legs galore!) and at around 7:00 went to the bakery we found yesterday.  Breakfast was what the doctor ordered and we felt so much better after the having the most important meal of the day!

         

After breakfast we walked to the shopping mall that I had visited yesterday.  At the entrance to the mall, the whole block was decorated with hearts made out of flowers in colors.  We also visited the metro station across the street.  

A huge fountain is right next to both building and we crossed the Moskva River by walking on a huge walking bridge and ended up in a park.  The homes around the park were very upscale and by seeing the different flags on the buildings, we figured that its’ tenants are foreign diplomats.

We arrive back to the hotel just in time to meet with Michael, out guide for the next few days.

  

We arrived to the now familiar Arbat Promenade and met 2 couples from Israel who will be part of the group today. Their names were: Shimon, Tzippi, Eitan and Einat.

We walked to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building and Michael gave us some useful information:  The skyscraper has 27 levels and is 172 meters (564 ft) tall.  It was laid down in 1948, when a flat top was constructed, but completed in 1953, when according to sources, Stalin demanded to top the building an iron spire.

    

We entered the Arbat Promenade. Michael, once again, proved to us all why he is recommended by so many travelers to Moscow.  He was a walking Encyclopedia:

  “The Arbat”, as many call it, is a pedestrian street about one kilometer long in the historical center of Moscow. The Arbat has existed since at least the 15th century, which makes it one of the oldest surviving streets of the Russian capital. It forms the heart of the Arbat District of Moscow. Originally the street formed part of an important trade-route and was home to a large number of craftsmen.

In the 18th century, the Russian nobility came to regard the Arbat as the most prestigious living area in Moscow. Almost completely destroyed by the great fire of 1812 associated with Napoleon's occupation of Moscow, the street required rebuilding. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it became known as the place where petty nobility, artists, and academics lived. In the Soviet period, it housed many high-ranking government officials.  As of 2016, the street and its surroundings are undergoing transition, and it is considered a desirable place to live. Because of the many historic buildings, and due to the numerous artists who have lived and worked in the street, the Arbat has also become an important tourist attraction.

Since 1986, the Arbat has been dotted with distinctive street lanterns. It has several notable statues, including one to Princess Turandot in front of the Vakhtangov Theatre, and another to Soviet-era folk singer, bard and poet Bulat Okudzhava, who wrote several poignant songs about the Arbat. The street is home to the headquarters of oil company TNK-BP - a modern building at the beginning of the street. The nearby Pushkin Memorial House is known for having been the residence of Alexander Pushkin and his wife Natalia after their wedding.  Michael told us how Pushkin was killed in a duel with D’Anthès, his wife’s lover:  Pushkin and his wife met D’Anthès in 1834. D’Anthès a handsome and dashing Frenchman who had joined the Tsar’s army to advance his career. He began paying court to Natalya in 1835, and the whole affair came to a head when Pushkin found out about it and challanged D’Anthès to a duel.

It also contains numerous restaurants, including The Hard Rock Cafe. Most of these restaurants are geared towards visitors to Moscow and are considered by many residents to be over-priced and of low quality compared to those in other parts of the city. There are also a few restaurants and cafes that cater to the working population and middle class.

There were street artists, street performers and numerous souvenir shops where one could find anything from Matryoshkas (or Babushkas), a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside the other to Russian Ushanka, a Russian fur cap with ear flaps that can be tied up or fastened at the chin.

We also noticed a huge mural of a general on one of the buildings: It was of General Georgy Zhukov a World War II hero, who participated in multiple battles, ultimately commanding the 1st Belorussian Front in the Battle of Berlin, which resulted in the defeat of Nazi Germany, and the end of the War in Europe.

We continued our excursion and arrived to The Russian State Library, which is the national library of Russia. Michael sounded proud, when he told us that It is the largest in the country and the fifth largest in the world for its collection of books (17.5 million over 275 km of shelves).  It was named the V. I. Lenin State Library of the USSR from 1925 until it was renamed in 1992 to its current name.

   

Next, we entered to Alexander Garden, the first public park in the city, located next to the Kremlin’s, western wall.  We visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier nearby.  The Tomb is dedicated to the Soviet soldiers killed during World War II. It is located at the Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden in Moscow.  We witnessed the “changing of the guards” routine, which was not very impressive.

   

The next stop was the highlight of the tour: The Red Square.  Michael told us many facts about this attraction: It is called in Russian “Krasnaya Ploshchad”. It is adjoining the historic fortress and center of the Kremlin.  The Kremlin and Red Square were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1990.  The Red Square is actually a city square (plaza) in the Capital. It separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and now the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod. The Square is often considered the central square of Moscow since Moscow's major streets, which connect to Russia's major highways, originate from the square.

Dating from the late 15th century, just after the Kremlin walls were completed, Red Square has long been a focal point in the social and political history of Russia and the former Soviet Union. It has had several names, but the present name has been used consistently since the late 17th century. Always a market area, the square has also housed, at various times, churches, Moscow’s first public library and university, a public theatre, and a printing house.  The May Parade takes place here each and every year.  The Square has been the scene of executions, demonstrations, riots, parades, and speeches. It lies directly east of the Kremlin and north of the Moskva River.

In the center of the square is the astonishing St. Basil's Cathedral St.  This legendary building is officially called "The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin by the Moat". The popular alternative refers to Basil the Blessed, a Muscovite 'holy fool' who was buried on the site (in the Trinity Cathedral that once stood here) a few years before the present building was erected.

The Cathedral was ordered by Ivan the Terrible to mark the 1552 capture of Kazan from Mongol forces. It was completed in 1560. That's pretty much all the genuine history that's known about this celebrated landmark. There, however, scores of 
legends.

   

  

We walked towards the river and onto Moskvoretsky Bridge where the views of the city were spectacular.  We also stopped at the place where Boris Nemtstov was assassinated.  Nemtsov was a Russian physicist and liberal politician and one of the most important figures in the introduction of capitalism into the Russian post-Soviet economy.  He had a successful political career in the 1990s under President Boris Yeltsin. From 2000 until his death, he was an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin and was assassinated on February 27^th, 2015 with four shots fired from the back.  At the site of the assassination are plaques (in Russian and English), which eulogize him.

We strolled for a few minutes and arrive to Zaryadye Park, a landscape urban park located adjacent to Red Square.  It is the first public park built in Moscow for over 50 years.  It was inaugurated on September 9^th, 2017 by Russian President Vladimir Putin.  The highlight of the park is its' Floating Bridge:  The bridge is a thin air structure in the form of the letter "V" with a large outward extension above the water. It towers over the embankment and seems to hover over the Moscow River.  The bridge is unique in Russia: it is a 70 meter structure without a single support. The bearing structure of the bridge is made of concrete, and the decorative elements are made of metal. The deck is wooden. For security of visitors and residents, high fences are installed so that no one can climb or jump over the sides of the bridge. 

While walking in the park, Michael pointed to the direction of a beautiful apartment complex.  This is where ONLY high officials and people with influence can live (until today!).  Some of the Soviet Union’s signs still exist in Russia…

Another beautiful structure we saw was the Four Seasons Hotel, a modern luxury hotel in Manezhnaya Square. Operated by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, it opened in 2014, with a facade that replicates the historic Hotel Moskva, which previously stood on the same location. It is in close proximity to the old City Hall.

    

We returned to the Red Square and entered to the nearby historic GUM Shopping Center, facing the Square, and wandered around some of the shops.  The center used to be once a place of Trading Rows but in the late 18^th century, Catherine II of Russia commissioned a Neoclassical architect from Italy, to design a huge trade center along the east side of Red Square.  It was called the “Upper Trading Rows” and was rebuilt after the 1812 Fire of Moscow.  We exited the mall to a side street with hanging light above us.  Michael told us how spectacular GUM and the streets around it plus, of course the Red Square are at night.  (We were scheduled to a private night tour of the square and I got excited…)

We walked towards the center of the city and on Tverskaya Street, known between 1935 and 1990 as Gorky Street, is the main radial street in Moscow. 

It begins almost at the Kremlin, crosses the Boulevard ring, and emerges into Pervaya Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street after Triumph square, finding its end at the Belorusskiy train station.

The main sight of this street is Tverskaya square; its age is nearly 200 years, and also monuments that are situated there. We passed City Hall built in 1782, statue of Yuriy Dolgoruky, the founder of Moscow, statue of Pushkin, Museum of modern Russia history, famous MHAT (Moscow Art Theatre) that played important role in the world art.  The statue of Chekhov near MHAT is the only monument to this famous writer in Moscow.  Also there are such buildings as English Club built in the 18th century and National Hotel.  "Cinema theater Pushkinskiy"¸Michael informed us,  "is the main and the biggest cinema of the country. It was founded in 1961. After renovation in 1997 it became one of the biggest cinema theaters in the Europe. Its hall is designed for 2057 seats."

As every main street in major cities of the world, we found on the street has many shops, mostly luxurious ones, night clubs and entertainment centers.

Not far from the theater we entered the Metro to view some art murals underground.  They were magnificent.

It was time for lunch.  We returned to Arbat Street and sat in Varenichnaya Restaurant know to have authentic Russian food.  The 6 of us sat and ordered a huge lunch that we were able to finish without any problem.

We said goodbyes to the charming couples from Israel and went to our hotel for some rest, as the day has just started for us.

As we were waiting for Michael to show up for our evening tour, I made reservations for the train ride to our next city, Saint Petersburg and also reservations to a show there.

  

Michael arrived with Igor, as it was a driving tour.  We started at Luzhkov Bridge, better known as The Bridge of Lovers.  At the center of the bridge we saw few trees all covered with padlocks, that were could be found on both sides of the bridge. At one end of the bridge there was a heart shaped made with flowers. 

   

We walked for a few minutes and entered a park where we saw the Children Sins Monument.  This monument  depicts the children (standing in the middle) surrounded by filthy grownups – each grownup has its own flaw or sin, one of the most common sins of the modern society, together they stand around the innocent children that have nowhere to go – going to either side would lead to some kind of attachment.

  

The next stop was the highlight of this evening: The Red Square night tour.   There are no words to describe the beautiful scene.  The square was a site to remember.  The Cathedral, with its glorious lights, and the GUM Shopping Center that looked like an attraction in Disneyland with thousands of lights all around were unforgettable.  We spent about an hour there and simply refused to leave.

  

We drove to the northern bank of the Moskva River and walked towards The Cathedral of Christ the Savior.  Situated only few hundred meters southwest of the Kremlin, it stand tall with an overall height of 103 meters, Michael told us, and it is the tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world, he concluded.  From there we crossed the Patriarshy Bridge, a steel pedestrian that spans Moskva River, connecting the Cathedral the downtown Moscow.  The views of the Kremlin at night were spectaculars.

  

Igor was waiting for us at the other side of the bridge and we drove to the Moscow University's Science Park.  We were there to look at the city from the top of the hill. Superb views overall. We were right on top the stadium, that just a couple of days ago hosted the World Cup.

Our last stop was at the Radisson Hotel where a “Mini Moscow” display was at the lobby.

We returned to our hotel at midnight!

Day 4 – July 18, 2018

Moscow

We woke up at 7:00 and headed to our favorite bakery for breakfast. Afterwards, 

Michael came over to our hotel and we started our day. 

     

We drove outside of the center of the city and arrived to a wedding venue by the name of Izmailovo Kremlin, Moscow's other, lesser known Kremlin (citadel) that is a fairytale-like cultural complex modeled after Old Russia. We found a place that looks like a palace or a castle and saw some couples that were getting married today. 

Outside the venue we toured the Izmailovo Souvenir Market and bought a couple of T-shirts and some souvenirs.

 

Our next stop was at the Novodevichy Convent, Established in 1524.  It is probably the best-known convent of Moscow. Unlike other Moscow other religious site, it has remained virtually intact since the 16th century. In 2004, it was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  

Michael, once again, showed off his knowledge: he told us that he thinks that the Convent is, in his opinion, one of the most beautiful sights in Moscow. The main reason for his affections to this place it’s the architectural harmony of which its position, on the banks of the Moskva River, allows excellent views. The convent is also famous for its New Cemetery, which became the most prestigious in the city in the last century and the final resting place for a number of great cultural and political figures.

Novodevichy was positioned strategically to protect the main southern access road to the city at the point where it crossed the Moskva River. The convent has enjoyed a prominent place throughout its history, in part as a repository for powerful and troublesome women, most famously the Regent Sophia, Peter the Great's half-sister, who did much to rebuild the convent in the 1680's before being confined here in 1698. During Napoleon's invasion, the monastery weathered French efforts to blow it to pieces, thanks to some quick-thinking nuns who managed to extinguish the fuses on casks of gunpowder after the soldiers had fled.

The convent also made notable appearances in 19th Century fiction, as the site of Pierre's proposed execution in War and Peace, and as the meeting place for in Anna Karenina (the Maiden Field, below the convent walls, was Moscow's most fashionable skating rink, visited frequently by Tolstoy).

As we were about to enter the New Cemetery, rain started to pour.  We sheltered at the entrance to the cemetery and decided to skip this site.  We asked Michael what is the significance of this place and he told us that The cemetery is well known and that people from all over the world come here not just to pay homage to the great and good buried here - Chekhov, Yeltsin , Shostakovich and Stanislavsky, to name but a few - but also to marvel at the extraordinary granite and metal monstrosities that crown the graves of various politicians and military commanders of the Soviet era.

   

On the way back to Central Moscow, we fought a very heavy traffic and finally arrived to Victory Park, completed in the mid-nineties, and is something of a last gasp for the Soviet tradition of monumental triumphal art. Located on and around the Poklonnaya Gora - the hill where Napoleon waited in vain to be given the keys to the city when his troops were surrounding Moscow in 1812 - the park is set in an area steeped in Russian military history.

The central avenue is called "Years of War": It has five terraces, symbolizing the five years of conflict, and there are 1,418 fountains - one for every day (1,418 days of war). It runs past a memorial chapel, mosque, and synagogue to the circular Victors' Place, which has a triangular obelisk soaring 150 meters and surmounted by a statue of Nike, the Goddess of Victory.   On 9 May, Michael told us, Victory Day in Russia, the park becomes the center of Moscow's celebrations, and as many of the remaining veterans and survivors as can make their way here, along with scores of the younger generations. In Russia the emphasis is on celebration rather than remembrance, and this is one of the most popular public holidays.

On May 1, 2017, Moscow’s only Flower Clock started ticking in the Park. To decorate the clock, more than 12,000 violets in blue, white and yellow were planted.  

Michael had another group tonight and asked us to hurry but we told him he could leave as we wanted to stay longer to admire.

At the end we compromised to 20 minutes, and we walked around marveling and breathing the beauty of this place.

     

We returned to the hotel and after a short break headed to the same restaurant on Arbat Street and tried different dishes.  So Yummy!

WE WERE SOUND ASLEEP AT AROUND 7:00!

Day 5 – July 19, 2018

Moscow

Woke up at 6:00 and went to breakfast at, the now familiar, bakery.  Michael showed up at the hotel at 10 and we started our day.

         

First stop was a 20 minute walk from the hotel to Gorky Park, situated just across the Moskva River.  Michael told us that the park’s 90^th Anniversary will be celebrated in a couple of weeks.  The park was colorful and pleasant.

   

We walked to the nearby Metro station, which was decorated with murals on the walls and ceilings.  We rode to Moscow Choral Synagogue, one of the main synagogues in Russia and in the former Soviet Union. It is located in central Basmanny District and close to the former Jewish settlement in Zaryadye, the oldest trading settlement outside the Kremlin walls.  The interior and the exterior were beautiful.

  

We found a nearby street café and had coffee and cakes,  In the near distance I spotted a beautiful cathedral.  Michael told us that this was St. James Cathedral.  

However, we did not have any time to spare over there.

    

Once again we were in the Metro Station and rode to the Monument to the Conquerors of Space.  Michael informed us that it was erected in Moscow in 1964 to celebrate achievements of the Soviet people in space exploration. It depicts a starting rocket that rises on its exhaust plume. The monument is 107 meters tall, has 77° incline, and is made of titanium.  There is a  Memorial Museum at the base of the monument.  

     

Once again: no time to walk in there, as the monument is located outside the main entry to  All-Russia Exhibition Center,which was our main reason to arrive here. The Exhibition center was formally know until 1992 as the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy, and was established in 1935 as the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition (VSKhV). It is the largest  exhibition space in Moscow, covering over 10,000 square meters. This place was by far the highlight of today and one of the most beautiful exhibitions I have ever seen.

  

We saw many people zooming around on roller skates and bicycles across the vast area that the venue covers. The VDNKH is also home to many rides and carousels, shooting galleries and cafes. People come here to relax with their families and, of course, to visit the specialized exhibitions dedicated to jewelry, furs, food, cats and dogs, equipment and much more.

    

On our way, back to our hotel, Michael gave us the Moscow Metro Tour.  We have toured many metro stations in the world: The Subway in New York, The Tube in London, and the one in Shanghai, China, but here in Moscow we discovered the most beautiful in the world! They used to have palaces for kings, and the metro stations in Moscow, were designated to be palaces for the people! 

We saw the most beautiful metro stations in Moscow built under Stalin: Komsomolskaya with impressive mural mosaics of Russian glorious victories, Revolution Square with magnificent sculptures of the Soviet people, Novoslobodskaya with the stained glass, although under the ground, and Mayakovskaya Lobby, the Hall of Fame of the WWII. 
Michael told us fascinating stories and secrets hidden underground, urban legends and funny stories. 

We used the metro system and arrived to the same shopping mall we had visited on our first day in the city.  I was looking for a nice leather wallet and we finally found a beautiful one. 

We walked to the same restaurant we had visited in the previous days and once again dinner was absolutely delicious.  As we walked out of the restaurant, a major rain storm was above us, I mean IT WAS POURING!!!  Arbat Street was flooded with water and we got completely soaked, as we ran for about 15 minutes and finally reached our hotel.

It was time to pack, as tomorrow we were heading to St. Petersburg.

Note: Both of us caught a severe cold and the next of the trip was a losing battle against the cold symptoms.

Day 6 – July 20, 2018

St. Petersburg

We woke up at 5:00, both congested and coughing continuously.

We met our driver, Igor, at 7:45 and then arrived at the train station and waited for our train.  Igor was kind and very helpful. 

  

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The four hours’ drive to St. Petersburg was a pleasant one.  We were seated in the comfortable business class car.  Drinks and snacks were served during the trip.

We arrived to St. Petersburg at around 1:00 and met with our next guide Julia that was waiting for us outside on the platform.  Her driver Sergei was waiting in the car and they took us to the Indigo Hotel, which was comfortable, clean and just plain gorgeous!  We were upgraded to a mini suite.  Life is good!

We walked to the nearby main street of the city and Tova found a beauty salon, while I was walking the street up and down, looking for a restaurant that serve chicken soup (Jewish penicillin for a cold!!!).  Once I found one, I headed back to the beauty salon to pick Tova up and we had an early dinner with soup, noodle, dumplings plus kasha (buckwheat) with sour cream.

      

We returned to the room, took a short nap and got ready to attend the so called Red Army Show, which turned out to be a beautiful folklore singing and dancing of old Russian songs and tales.  At intermission we were treated to some snacks and (what else) shots of Vodka.

As we came outside of the theater at 10:30 PM, daylight was still part of the day.

Day 7 – July 21, 2018

St. Petersburg

We woke up at 6:00 and tried to find a restaurant for breakfast.  As we walked, a group of drunken was approaching towards us.  They were quite violent. We spotted them about 50 yards from us, as they tossed an empty bottle of Vodka and slammed it on the street shattering pieces of glass everywhere.  Few people, walking their dogs in front of us, turned around and we did just like them.

Julia came at 10:00 and we started our day.

The first attraction was Nikolsky Cathedral.

   

Designed in Russian baroque style the blue and white Nikolsky Cathedral (or St Nicholas Cathedral) was a real stunner with its spires and golden domes. It was constructed in a square that had originally been built as a naval parade ground. Visiting the church, however, was limited to just a small area and photography was not allowed inside.

  

We drove to the banks of the Neva River, where we stopped next to 2 magnificent Sphinxes, in front of the Academy of Fine Arts. They are roughly 3,500 years old and are considered among the finest examples of Ancient Egyptian colossal sculpture kept outside Egypt. They once stood on the Alley of Sphinxes in front of the tomb of Pharaoh III for nearly two centuries, however, it has been the waters of the River Neva rather than the Nile that reflect in their bottomless eyes.

  

In the middle of the river we saw a submarine with sailor rehearsing for some kind of a ceremony.

We walked along the bank and then returned to our car, as rain has started to build up. It was a perfect time to go to the world’s most famous museum:  The Hermitage.

The lines were as long as the Nile’s delta and as rain was pouring down it was miserable, but Julia using her connections, was able to bypass the lines and in a matter of just a few minutes we were inside this amazing site.





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We stopped at the end of the first staircase, as Julia briefed us: This is the most popular visitor attraction in the city, and one of the world's largest and most prestigious museums. With over 3 million items in its collection, new-comers can only hope to get a brief taste of the riches that is exhibited here, from Impressionist masterpieces to fascinating Oriental treasures. “One estimate has it that you would need eleven years to view each exhibit on display for just one minute” Julia told us, “so our guided tour will ensure we catch all the collection's highlights.”

    

It was founded in 1764 when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of paintings from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. The museum celebrates the anniversary of its founding each year on Saint Catherine's Day December 7th) and It has been open to the public since 1852.

There are about 350 rooms of exhibits and the Hermitage is crowded by over 2.5 million visitors per year,

    

 We entered the Winter Palace, where the bulk of the Hermitage collection (and the most impressive one) is housed.  The Palace was formerly the official residence of the Romanov Tsars, and its several annexes. Our mouths drop in awe to the beauty and the richness of the collection there.  The collection is incredibly varied, ranging from ancient Siberian artifacts to post-impressionist masterpieces by Matisse and Picasso. Equally impressive are the lavishly decorated State Rooms of the Winter Palace, testament to the incredible wealth and extravagant tastes of the Romanov Tsars.

    

The next attraction was The Western European Art, one of the finest in the world, containing masterpieces from all the major centers of artistic development in Europe from the 13th to the 19th centuries. Based on the collections bought up by Catherine the Great to fill the walls of the Small and Great Hermitages, it has been expanded over the years through further Imperial purchases, Bolshevik confiscation of private collections, and appropriation of artwork in conquered Germany.

    

Among the most famous works in the collection, which occupies the first floor of the Winter Palace and the Great Hermitage, are the major collections of paintings by Rubens and Rembrandt, two of twelve surviving works by Leonardo da Vinci - the tiny Benois Madonna of 1478 and the more impressive Madonna Litta of 1490-91 - and canvases by Titian, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, El Greco and Goya, to name but a few.

The Antiquities Collection was our next tour.  Located on the first floor of the Old Hermitage, this section of the museum deserves greater attention because it is housed in some of the most beautifully decorated rooms in the Hermitage.

Covering 31 halls, the Antiquities Collection includes Assyrian, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian artifacts, as well as huge quantities of Greek and Roman statuary. Admittedly, many of the statues, such as those included in the gorgeous, green marble Jupiter Hall, are more decorative than historically significant, many of them being Roman copies of Greek originals. Among the highlights of the Antiquities Collection are the superb collection of Attic vases, with their distinctive black-and-red pictorial designs, and Catherine the Great's splendid collection of ancient cameos and engraved intaglio seals, with examples dating back to the Aegean era (2nd millennium BC).

As we walked out, rain was still there but only light showers.  

We drove to the Spilled Blood Church, known also as The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood.

We found a marvelous Russian-style church was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881. Julia told us that after assuming power in 1855 in the wake of Russia's disastrous defeat in the Crimean war against Britain, France and Turkey, Alexander II initiated a number of reforms. In 1861 he freed the Russian serfs (peasants, who were almost enslaved to their owners) from their ties to their masters and undertook a rigorous program of military, judicial and urban reforms, never before attempted in Russia. However, during the second half of his reign Alexander II grew wary of the dangers of his system of reforms, having only barely survived a series of attempts on his life, including an explosion in the Winter Palace and the derailment of a train. Alexander II was finally assassinated in 1881 by a group of revolutionaries, who threw a bomb at his royal carriage.

The decision was taken to build a church on the spot where the Emperor was mortally wounded. The church was built between 1883 and 1907.

   

The Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood has five onion-domes exuberantly decorated and covered in jeweler's enamel. Its peculiar multicolored exterior makes it stand out from St. Petersburg’s typically strict architectural proportions and color combinations.

The highlight of both the interior and exterior of the Cathedral are its mosaic collection based on the paintings of Vasnetsov, Nesterol, and Vrubel. With a total area of 23130 square feet, it is one of the largest mosaic collections in Europe.

The Cathedral is decorated with Italian limestone and various semiprecious stones like jasper, mountain crystal, topaz, and others. On the outside, there are twenty granite plates which tell the most important events of Alexander II's reign.

When we came out of this magnificent Cathedral, one of the most beautiful Cathedrals I have ever seen, the skies turned to “cloudy only” and we headed to our next attraction:  Kazan Cathedral in Nevsky Prospekt.

   

 The impressive Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan. Kazan Cathedral, constructed between 1801 and 1811, was built to an enormous scale and boasts an impressive stone colonnade, encircling a small garden and central fountain. The cathedral was inspired by the Basilica of St. Peter's in Rome and was intended to be the country's main Orthodox Church. After the war of 1812 (during which Napoleon was defeated) the church became a monument to Russian victory. Captured enemy banners were put in the cathedral and the famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, who won the most important campaign of 1812, was buried inside the church.

    

The cathedral was named after the "miracle-making" icon of Our Lady of Kazan, which the church housed till the early 1930s. The Bolsheviks closed the cathedral for services in 1929, and from 1932 it housed the collections of the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, which displayed numerous pieces of religious art and served anti-religious propaganda purposes. A couple of years ago regular services were resumed in the cathedral, though it still shares the premises with the museum, from whose name the word "atheism" has now been omitted.

St. Isaac's Cathedral was our last stop of the day.

  

St. Isaac's Cathedral was originally the city's main church and the largest cathedral in Russia. It was built between 1818 and 1858, to be one of the most impressive landmarks of the Russian Imperial capital. One hundred and eighty years later the gilded dome of St. Isaac's still dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg. The cathedral's facades are decorated with sculptures and massive granite columns (made of single pieces of red granite!), while the interior is adorned with incredibly detailed mosaic icons, paintings and columns. A large, brightly colored stained glass window of the "Resurrected Christ" takes pride of place inside the main altar. The church, designed to accommodate 14,000 standing worshipers.

We were back at out our hotel just in time for an afternoon nap.  During the day we both sneezed and coughed (still under the cold spell that started in Moscow) and the nap was just what the doctor ordered!

We had a nice dinner at a small restaurant and ordered a hearty chicken noodles soup.  We then returned to the hotel.

Day 8 – July 22, 2018

St. Petersburg

Woke up at 6:00 again and decided that after yesterday’s experience we would rather have breakfast at the hotel.  It was great!  We met with Julia and our loyal driver Sergei at 9:30.

We drove through busy streets and finally got on the highway towards our next attraction: Pushkin Village, about 15 miles outside the city.  The sun returned upon us and a comfortable day welcomed us.

The site was named after Alexander Pushkin, a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era and who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.

We entered a nice park, where his gorgeous status of Pushkin stood tall in the center.  We then continued to the main attraction: Catherine Palace.

  

Before entering the main gates to this marvel of a palace, Julia gave us a details description of the background history revolving this place:

The Catherine Palace is named after Catherine I, the wife of Peter the Great, who ruled Russia for two years after her husband's death. Originally a modest two-storey building commissioned by Peter for Catherine in 1717, the Catherine Palace owes its awesome grandeur to their daughter, Empress Elizabeth, who chose it as her chief summer residence. Starting in 1743, the building was reconstructed completely as a redesign to look like the “rival” Versailles.

The resultant palace, completed in 1756, is nearly 1 km in circumference, with elaborately decorated blue-and-white facades featuring gilded atlantes, caryatids and pilasters designed by a German sculptor, who also worked on the palace's original interiors. In Elizabeth's reign it took over 200 pounds of gold to decorate the palace exteriors, an excess that was deplored by Catherine the Great when she discovered the state and private funds that had been lavished on the building.

  

The interiors of the Palace are no less spectacular. The so-called Golden Enfilade of state rooms,  is particularly renowned and forms the focus of the palace tour.

  

We entered via the State Staircase which, it blends effortlessly with the rococo grandeur of the interiors. With its ornate banisters and reclining marble cupids, it gives a taste of what is to come. The Great Hall, also known as the Hall of Light, measures nearly 9,000 square feet, and occupies the full width of the palace so that there are superb views on either side. The large arched windows provide enough light to relieve the vast quantity of gilded stucco decorating the walls, and the entire ceiling is covered by a monumental fresco entitled The Triumph of Russia. Using similar techniques but on a smaller scale, the White Dining Room is equally luxurious but, like many of the rooms in the palace, its grandeur is softened by the presence of a beautiful traditional blue-and-white tiled stove in the corner.

  

Other highlights include the Portrait Hall, which contains remarkably good portraits of both Catherine and Elizabeth, the Picture Gallery, in which almost every inch of wall space is covered with paneling comprising 17th and 18th century canvases and, of course, the legendary Amber Room.

  

      

We toured the magnificent Palace for nearly 3 hours and then went outside to its lavish gardens, with its groves of flowers, blue lake, and beautiful trees.

Our next attraction was Naval Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, which was built in 1903–1913 as the main church of the Russian Navy and dedicated to all fallen seamen.

We parked about 4 blocks away and I noticed Sergei, our loyal driver, is actually has been acting also as our bodyguard.  He walked us through crowds, stopped cars so we could cross streets and always was on the lookout.

   

The golden Baroque spires and domes of the Cathedral rises among the trees and shines above the bland residential and commercial buildings in the area. It is home to a number of revered 18th-century icons and a fine carved wooden iconostasis.  It’s has a gorgeous and beautiful bell tower.

   

The area was originally settled by sailors in the time of Peter the Great, and the first, wooden chapel was built for them and bore the name of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Worker. As the area grew along with the new capital, Empress Elizabeth issued a decree to build a stone church for the regiments living here.

On our way back, we watched the tall spires, in the outskirt of the city.

     

      

We drove back to the city and once again took a long nap.  We woke up very hungry and felt much better. Julia recommended to go to Gusi-Lebedi Restaurant for a tasty local food.  We found this elegant restaurant to be a hidden gem. The restaurant is located inside the home of what used to be a Russian aristocrat and was a short distance from our hotel. The menu had some of St. Petersburg favorites with other must-have Russian cuisine. Each dish we ordered was plated and prepared with exquisite detail. You can tell the chef put effort into both the planning and preparation of each dish. We had a waitress that spoke English and served us politely and efficiently.

Day 9 – July 23, 2018

St. Petersburg

Julia showed up at 9:30 and we drove to our first attraction of the day: Peter and Paul Cathedral, part of a huge fortress.

      

This Russian Orthodox cathedral is the first and oldest landmark in St. Petersburg, built between 1712 and 1733. The cathedral's bell tower is the world's tallest Orthodox bell tower. Julia informed us that since the belfry is not standalone, but an integral part of the main building, the cathedral is sometimes considered the highest Orthodox Church in the world and also the second-tallest building in the city (after the television tower), being visible from all around the city center.  It is intimately linked to both the history of the city and to the Romanov dynasty, as it is home to the graves of nearly all the rulers of Russia since Peter the Great.

  

Once again we skipped the long lines and entered this magnificent Cathedral.  The baroque interior reminded me of an imperial palace, gold being the dominant color. Especially the tombs of Tsar Peter the Great and the chapel of St Catherine, where the remains of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and his family have been buried, drew our attention.

Our next stop was Rasputin Museum at Yusupov Palace.  A new guide was assigned to us, as Julia was not authorized to show us the museum.  The new guide was a pleasant young lady, who spoke English fluently and had a lot of knowledge, answering all of our questions and provided a lot of insights regarding the mysterious man Grigory Rasputin:

   

Rasputin was a Siberian religious mystic who had become attached to the Tsar’s family as a healer to their young hemophiliac son, Alexei. His particularly close relationship with the Tsarina Alexandra coupled with his eccentric appearance and reputation for lewd and lascivious behavior in public fueled scandalous rumors. As World War I dragged on, the country and government teetered on the brink of collapse. To make matters worse, it appeared that Tsar Nicholas II, already in trouble for botched and brutal responses to internal turmoil and general incompetency on the battlefield, was taking advice from Rasputin.

By the end of 1916, a group of nobles led by Prince Yusupov decided to take matters into their own hands. Yusupov, along with other conspirators invited Rasputin to the Palace (It was called then Moika Palace) on the pretense of meeting his lovely young wife Irena, who was conveniently out of town. Once at the palace, Rasputin was left in a room (which we visited) laid out with a spread of cyanide-laced baked treats, tea, and wine. The conspirators were relieved to see Rasputin down several glasses of the poisoned wine. They became increasingly concerned, however, when the poison seemed to have no effect on the man.

In the end it took four bullets, a sound beating, and a final drop into the icy River Neva to kill Rasputin. His autopsy showed that his death was ultimately caused from drowning or hypothermia, indicating that he survived all but the final dunking.

Yusupov and his conspirators never faced charges for the murder that so many knew they had committed, but just three months later the February Revolution forced the abdication of Nicholas II, and Prince Yusupov fled the country. He later published several, sometimes conflicting, memoirs detailing the death of Grigory Rasputin, including a book titled “Lost Splendor.” Rasputin’s surviving daughter Maria unsuccessfully attempted to sue the prince for damages related to the murder, but her claim, filed in Paris, was dismissed.

The tour at the museum was educating as well as fascinating!

Julia was waiting outside, along with Sergei, for the duration of the tour (about 2 hours) and as we walked out we drove to the bank of River Neva for our next excursion: Cruising the river and the many complex webs of canals, connected with it.

  

We traveled  through the urban landscape of the 18th and 19th centuries, seeing many of the city's most famous palaces (including the Shuvalov, Sheremetev, and Yusupov Palaces), the estate of Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin, the greatest Russian poet of the Classical period, numerous beautiful and unusual bridges, and several of the city's most famous "postcard" panoramas, including the Strelka ("spit") of Vasilyevsky Island.

  

One of the canals, Kryukov Canal, had excellent views of the St. Nicholas Cathedral and the Mariinsky Theatre, the Stroganov and Mariinsky Palaces, St. Isaac's Cathedral, and the General Staff Building on Palace Square, and under the famous "colored" bridges, including the widest (about 300 feet) bridge in the city, Blue Bridge.

  

At the end of the tour we understood the meaning of the nickname given to the city as "Venice of the North".

We returned to the hotel for a couple of hours break, and then were taken to see Swan Lake, performed by one the famous Russian Ballet Company, in the Palace Theater.

    

       

As it turned out, our driver (and bodyguard) Sergei knew the theater’s manager through his father and the manager came out to greet us and upgraded our tickets.  We were now seated in a private balcony with excellent views of the outstanding show.  At intermission we were treated with Russian delicacies, including Caviar and excellent wine.  It was a great experience!

The day was not over yet. We were about to take the same cruise we have taken during the day, but now we would see the highlights at night!

     

The sights, we have seen earlier on the “Day Cruise”, were now so much more beautiful as they reflected in the river and the skies glowed with their many colors.  

  

The highlights of the cruise were the bridges and exactly at midnight, some of them opened up to let the bigger ships cross.  It was magnificent to watch!

We decided to walk back to the hotel, as the weather was perfect and the city was still alive at 1:00 am, and had a hard time convincing Sergei, who reluctantly agreed to our request.  We walked along the Neva River, watching the many cruises and their passengers viewing St. Petersburg at night. 

Day 10 – July 24, 2018

St. Petersburg

We had breakfast at the hotel and met Julia at 10:00.  Sergei came along with her and hugged us warmly.  Julia told us that he was restless last night and now is relieved to see us in one piece!

Our main destination of today was Peterhof, one of St. Petersburg's most famous and popular visitor attractions, drawing millions of visitors every year.

     

Once we arrived we could not ignore the beauty of this palace. A huge garden led us to the main entrance. The garden had many statues, fountains, flower beds and trees.  It was a sign for things to come.

A brief description was provided by our guide:

The palace and park at Peterhof are often referred to as "the Russian Versailles", although many visitors conclude that the comparison does a disservice to the grandeur and scope of this majestic estate.

   

Versailles was, however, the inspiration for Peter the Great desire to build an imperial palace in the suburbs of his new city, Peterhof - which means "Peter's Court" in German - became the site for the Tsar's Monplaisir Palace, and then of the original Grand Palace. The estate was equally popular with Peter's daughter, Empress Elizabeth, who ordered the expansion of the Grand Palace and greatly extended the park and the famous system of fountains, including the truly spectacular Grand Cascade.

Improvements to the park continued throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Catherine the Great, after leaving her own mark on the park, moved the court to Pushkin, but Peterhof once again became the official Imperial Residence in the reign of Nicholas I, who ordered the building of the modest Cottage Palace in 1826.

Like almost all St. Petersburg's suburban estates, Peterhof was ravaged by German troops during the Second World War. It was, however, one of the first to be resurrected and, thanks to the work of military engineers as well as over 1,000 volunteers, the Lower Park opened to the public in 1945 and the facades of the Grand Palace were restored in 1952. The name was also de-Germanicized in 1944, becoming Petrodvorets, the name under which the surrounding town is still known. The palace and park are once again known as Peterhof.

Julia once again whisked us through the long queues and we were inside this most beautiful palace we have ever seen.

  

We entered the Grand Palace, and confronted by an incredibly ornate Ceremonial Staircase, which sets the tone for what is to come with a magnificent fresco of Aurora and Genius and multitude of gilded statues. Highlights included the richly gilded Ballroom and a splendid white-and-turquoise Throne Room, which has a particularly fine parquet floor. The Western Chinese Study is heavily Oriental, with jewel red and green walls and a beautiful Chinese tea-set. The Drawing Room of the Imperial Suite is equally influenced by the imitation of Chinese motifs and techniques in Western art, with particularly fine silk wall hangings. The rest of the Imperial Suite, the royal family's private quarters, is furnished in grand 19th century style. Also of interest is Peter the Great's charmingly simple Oak Study, and the adjacent Crown Room, which was in fact the Imperial bedchamber.

We entered to this magnificent, out-of-this-world Peterhof Park and Gardens.

    

The spectacular parkland at Peterhof is remarkable for the sheer variety of styles encompassed in its layout and features. Representing nearly two centuries of European aristocratic fashion executed to the highest standards, Peterhof is like an encyclopedia of park design through the age of empire. Particularly impressive is the fact that the master landscapers and garden designers who worked on the estate at Peterhof managed to overcome the extremely inclement conditions of the northern climate to create a wonderland of greenery and flowers, sweeping vistas and ornate architectural decorations.

   

The first areas of land to be developed at Peterhof were the formal gardens around the Lower Park. The earth excavated to create the Marly Ponds was used to build a rampart against the sea winds that, along with a 3-meter-high stone wall, surrounds the Garden of Venus and Peter's Orchard, with cherry and apple trees, and several charming statues. The garden was completed in 1724. Adjoining the Garden of Venus, the Garden of Bacchus was also begun during Peter's reign, although additions were made to its statuary and fountains throughout the 18th century.

   

 Also during Peter's reign, and then under Empress Elizabeth, who continued her father's work at Peterhof after over a decade of neglect, the Upper Gardens south of the Grand Palace.

Catherine the Great oversaw the creation of the first landscape garden at Peterhof, the English Park.

Throughout the parks (The one in the front of the palace and the one in the back) there are many fountains.  Fountains were intrinsic to Peter the Great's original plans for Peterhof.  The most famous ensemble of fountains, the Grand Cascade, which runs from the northern facade of the Grand Palace to the Marine Canal, comprises 64 different fountains, and over 200 bronze statues, bas-reliefs, and other decorations. At the center stands Rastrelli's spectacular statue of Samson wrestling the jaws of a lion. 

The vista of the Grand Cascade with the Grand Palace behind it, the first sight to great visitors who arrive in Peterhof by sea, is truly breathtaking. The Grotto behind the Grand Cascade, which was once used for small parties, contains the enormous pipes, originally wooden, that feed the fountains.

Elsewhere in the park, the range and diversity of fountains is astounding, from further monumental ensembles like the Chess Cascade and the Pyramid Fountain, to the ever-popular Joke Fountains, including one which sprays unwary passers-by who step on a particular paving stone.

After about 4 hours of enjoying ourselves it was time all this behind us and sail back to the city with a ferry on the Marine Canal.

As we arrived to the city, I received a call from the Indigo hotel.  They claimed that our stay ended today and that we must vacate the room at once.  I assured them that this is their mistake but nevertheless, they insisted that I should come immediately to vacate the room as other guests are waiting to check in. I called and made arrangements for another hotel in the city, just in case.  When we arrived at the Indigo, and the manager apologized and told us how sorry she was and that we could stay there for one more night, but it was already too late for that as I made an advance payment to the new hotel.  We packed and left.  Few minutes later we arrived to the 5 star Corinthia Hotel on the main boulevard of the city.  We checked in to our luxurious room and continued our tour.

We drove to the Grand Choral Synagogue, which is the third largest synagogue in Europe. It was built between 1880 and 1888, and consecrated in December 1893.  We enjoyed it very much and loved the beautiful Moorish style building.  

Tears came to my eyes thinking of the Jewish experience in Russia over the last century!




Once we arrived to the hotel we went to dinner in a nearby restaurant and then strolled the main boulevard of the city for the last time.

Day 11 – July 25, 2018

Warsaw, Poland

We woke up at 6:00 and after breakfast we met with Julia and Sergei, who transferred us to the airport.  We said our goodbyes and after going through tough security stations where our passports were checked with magnifying glasses and different security officers looked at every page of the passport, trying to see if any of them is loose and looking for who knows what, we boarded the plane to Minsk.  Once again we had to go through the security checkup points and experienced the same routine and finally we were free to proceed.  After a layover of about 2 hours we boarded the plane to Warsaw, a one hour flight.

We took a taxi from the airport to our next hotel: Novotel, in Central Warsaw.

  
  

  

After the check-in we walked along Jerozolimskie Boulevard, the main street and found a hair salon for Tova and then had a great typical Polish dinner at Zapiecek.  It was delicious!

Exhausted, from a day full of events, we returned to the hotel.

Day 12 – July 26, 2018

Warsaw, Poland

We woke up at 7:00 and found the beautiful Gallery Bakery on the main street, where sat down for a Polish breakfast (eggs, meat, salad, juices and coffee).  We loved it!!

   

   

We found our way and arrived to our first destination.  We had a scheduled a tour of the Old Town.  The tour was fantastic and we were given a history lesson and visited amazing sites like the Royal Palace, King Zsigmond Column, Churches, City Walls, a Fortress, the Mary Curie Museum and many more.  We walked the narrow streets and arrive to a big square with many restaurants.

    

    

  
On our way back to the meeting point we passed a statue of a little boy, dressed like a soldier, which represented the contribution of children to the battles that this city had to go through in order to survive.

Our next destination on our agenda was the Monument of the Fallen in the East.  We walked for about 30 minutes and found the monument (Thank you Google Maps!), which commemorates the victims of the Soviet invasion of Poland during World War II and subsequent repressions. It was unveiled on 17 September 1995, on the 56th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of 1939.

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The next stop was the amazing Museum of Jewish Poles (Polin Museum). The museum opened its doors in 2005.  In eight sprawling galleries, packed with multimedia exhibitions and artifacts, the museum traces the 1,000 year history of Jews from their first appearance in Poland from the Middle Ages to the present day. The Holocaust, the part of the story that is most often remembered, fills only one of the eight galleries, which has been the reason of the controversy surrounding this museum and the Poles and their government in regards of what they have done to help the Germans murder millions of Polish Jews during the Holocaust.

We learned the following shocking fact: For most of its history, Poland was the most diverse country in Europe. In 1939, there were 3.5 million Jews here. In many towns, they were a majority. In Warsaw, they accounted for more than 30 percent of the population.  About 300,000 Polish Jews survived the war, but more than 90 percent of those emigrated, largely to America and Israel. Now, the number of Jews living in Poland, with a population of 38 million, is believed to be around 25,000.

When we asked an official why the museum has so little about the darkest days of this country we were told that the Ghetto Museum is due to open in 2023 and it will dedicated solely to the Holocaust.

The museum is also a place for meetings and conversations for all of those eager to learn more about the past and present Jewish culture, to confront the stereotypes, and to face the perils of today’s world such as xenophobia and nationalistic prejudices. By promoting openness, tolerance, and truth, the museum tries to contribute to the mutual understanding and respect amongst Poles and Jews.

   

We toured the place for 3 hours and when we walked out we stopped at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, located in the area which was formerly a part of the Warsaw Ghetto, at the monument spot was the first armed clash of the uprising, which took place in 1943.

We took a taxi back to the hotel and napped for a couple of hours and then returned to Zapiecek for a delicious dinner.

 

Day 13 – July 27, 2018

Warsaw, Poland

We woke up at 7:00 and went down to the bakery we had found yesterday.

Matilda, our guide for today, who we met through our son-in-law Gary, met us at the hotel’s lobby at 10:00 and we started our tour with her.

   

The historic Jewish Cemetery on Okopowa Street was our first stop.  Matilda was very familiar with the cemetery and its history (Her grandfather is buried here).  She told us that the cemetery is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe and in the world. 

It was established in 1806 and occupies 83 acres (!) of land. The cemetery contains over 250,000 marked graves (!), as well as mass graves of victims of the Warsaw Ghetto. Although the cemetery was closed down during World War II, after the war it was reopened and a small portion of it remains active, serving Warsaw's existing Jewish population.

  

As the cemetery was established to replace many smaller cemeteries closer to the city centre, it was designed to serve all Jewish communities of Warsaw, regardless of their affiliation. Hence, it is subdivided into several districts dubbed quarters, historically reserved for various groups. Among them are three Orthodox (for men, women and one for Holy Scriptures), Reform Judaism, children, military and Warsaw Ghetto Uprising victims.

      

The cemetery, which has become a dense forest in the post-war period, is filled with monuments dedicated to notable personas such as politicians, spiritual leaders, inventors, economists and others. Many of the markers are simple; others are elaborately carved and richly decorated.

   

The most remarkable monument was the one of Janusz Korczak, who was a Polish-Jewish educator, children's author, and pedagogue.  After spending many years working as director of an orphanage in Warsaw, he refused sanctuary repeatedly and stayed with his orphans when the entire population of the institution was sent from the Ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp where he perished, after leading a large group of children into the gas chambers.

Another notable site was a mass grave of children, murdered by the Nazis.  Pictures of the children were laid out on the grave site.

  

We continued our tour and arrived to the Umschlagplatz, erected in 1988 and commemorates the holding area set up by Nazi Germany adjacent to a railway station in the city, where Jews from the Ghetto were assembled for deportation to death camps during the ghetto liquidation. The largest such collection point consisted of a city square in occupied Warsaw next to the Warsaw Ghetto, used for several months during daily deportations. Total transfer to the Treblinka extermination camp is estimated between 254,000 – 265,000 Jews . 

  

We walked to the next monument, Mordechai Anielewicz Burial site dedicated to the leader of the Jewish Fighting Organization, who led the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; the largest Jewish insurrection during the Second World War, which inspired further rebellions in both ghettos and extermination camps. His character was engraved as a symbol of courage and sacrifice, and to this day his image represents Jewish resistance during the Holocaust.

  

Not far from here we found the Pawiak Prison, which During the World War II German occupation of Poland it became part of the Nazi concentration-death camp system in Warsaw.

  

We took the metro to our next destination: The Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute (JHI).  Matilda told us that this institute commemorates the founder of a group, in occupied Europe, the Underground Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto, which gathered all of the important information and documents about the fate of the Polish Jews.

Mr. Ringelblum accompanied his people and refused to go to the East after the outbreak of the war. He did not want to leave the Warsaw Ghetto until his project was done.

Matilda was very proud to be part of JHI, where she is a volunteer, and after our visit we clearly agreed with her enthusiasm.  What we saw in our tour were the collections of letters written by many victims of the Holocaust,  painting and graphics, sculpture and metalwork, historical memorabilia, and Judaica.  The collection of paintings and drawings is one of the largest collections of works of Jewish artists of the interwar period. The largest collection of works of ritual art in Poland gave us a good idea of all the types of liturgical articles used in the synagogue, in private prayer, and in the celebration of religious festivals in the home.

The gold artifacts in the collection are generally of high artistic quality, originating in the leading centers of the goldsmith’s craft, such as Warsaw, Berlin, Breslau, Vienna, Moscow, Kiev, and Jerusalem. They include a considerable number of spice boxes and an impressive set of Torah shields.

The third sub-set in the JHI Museum’s collection consists of historical artifacts, most of which date from the Second World War and the Nazi occupation.

After a short lunch break we walked to the next attraction: We arrived to Krasiński Square and found the Warsaw Uprising Monument, dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.  The monument has been described as "the most important monument of post-war Warsaw."

Matilda described the events: In August of 1944, an uprising broke out in Warsaw, which had been occupied by Nazi forces for five years. It was meant to be both an act of Polish sovereignty and a way to oppose the German occupiers. Though it was one of Warsaw’s most devastating events, its significance was buried for many years.

    

The Polish Resistance Movement fought an uphill battle against the German forces occupying the city. Around 16,000 resistance fighters and somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 civilians perished. People and information were smuggled into the sewers in an attempt to reach freedom.

   

The uprising was planned to coincide with the Allied forces approaching Poland. However, the Soviet troops that were meant to arrive never did in a matter of fact, Stalin's forces were waiting at the outskirts of the city waiting for the uprising to end), leaving the Poles to fight alone. The people faced food and water shortages, as they had planned on receiving relief from the Soviets who failed to show.

After 63 days of fighting, the German forces finally put an end to it all. They expelled the population from the city and wrecked and looted its vacant buildings, all while the nearby Red Army did nothing. It’s estimated that 90 percent of the city was destroyed.

  

The Unknown Soldier Tomb was our next stop.  The tomb is dedicated to the unknown soldiers, who have given their lives for Poland. It is one of many such national tombs of unknowns that were erected after World War I, and the most important such monument in Poland.

The monument, located at Piłsudski Square, is the only surviving part of the Saxon Palace that occupied the spot until World War II. Since 1925 the tomb houses the unidentified body of a young soldier who fell during the Defense of Lwów. Since then, earth from numerous battlefields where Polish soldiers have fought has been added to the urns housed in the surviving pillars of the Saxon Palace.

  

The Tomb is constantly lit by an eternal flame and assisted by a guard post of the Polish Army. It is there that most official military commemorations take place in Poland and where foreign representatives lay wreaths when visiting Poland.

The changing of the guard takes place on the hour of every hour daily and this happens 365 days a year.

  

We crossed the park and arrived to Nozyk Synagogue, the only Warsaw Synagogue to survive WWII.  It was built between 1898 and 1902 and was fully restored between 1977 and 1983. It is still operational and currently houses the Warsaw Jewish Commune, as well as other Jewish organizations. 

   

Not far from the park we found the monument of the Jewish Ghetto, it is located on the site of the only remaining wall of the Warsaw Ghetto that was the largest Ghetto in occupied Poland.  It was estimated that more than 250,000 people lived inside the walls of the Ghetto.

  

The Ghetto was the last site we visited and Matilda took us to the hotel for a rest.  We met again a couple of hours later, and headed to Matilda’s favorite restaurant in the city: Strefa. The five starts restaurant featured a variety of Polish, European, Central European, Fusion, and Vegetarian dishes.  We found it to be friendly, great food presentation and delicious selection of food.

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We said our goodbyes to Matilda and thanked her for a beautiful and meaningful Jewish and Heritage tour of the city.

Day 14 – July 28, 2018

Krakow, Poland

We woke up at 6:00 and after breakfast at the bakery; we headed to the Warsaw Metro Central to start our journey to Krakow.

Once we arrived, we took a taxi to Hotel 32, our home for the next 3 nights.  We checked in and found the hotel to be clean and elegant.  Our room was spacious and comfortable.

   

  

We headed to Krakow Historic Center, just 10 minutes walking distance from the hotel.  Our Jewish Walking Tour was already booked and we waited for the guide to show up at the footsteps of St. Mary’s Basilica.  Ella showed up a few minutes later.

The first segment of the tour was a brief description of where we were:

The Basilica, also known as Church of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven, is a Brick Gothic church adjacent to the Main Market Square. Built in the 14th century, its foundations date back to the early 13th century and serve as one of the best examples of Polish Gothic architecture, standing 262 ft tall, where the kings of Poland were buried. The basilica is the symbol of the city.

The Historic Center of Krakow, the former capital of Poland and located on the River Vistula, is situated at the foot of the Royal Wawel Castle. The 13th-century merchants' town has Europe's largest market square and numerous historical houses, palaces and churches with their magnificent interiors. Further evidence of the town's fascinating history is provided by the remnants of the 14th-century fortifications and the medieval site of Kazimierz with its ancient synagogues in the southern part of town.  This is where we headed. 

  

Since its inception in the fourteenth century to the early nineteenth century, Kazimierz has been an independent city, a royal city of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom, separated from it by a branch of the Vistula River. For many centuries, Kazimierz was a place of coexistence and interpenetration of ethnic Polish and Jewish cultures. Its northeastern part of the district was historic Jewish, whose Jewish inhabitants were forcibly relocated in 1941 by the German occupying forces into the Krakow ghetto just across the river.

We strolled down the main street of Kazimierz and stopped in different monuments and sites.  The street had several Jewish restaurants and enough evidence that show the prosperity of this town some 80 years ago.

We arrived to the Ghetto Heroes Square Ghetto in the center of the Old City. The main gate to the ghetto where it once once stood . In March 1941 the Germans locked up all the Krakow Jews inside the recently-built ghetto. Over 20,000 people were living within the ghetto walls, where previously only 3,000 people had lived.

The square, commemorates the Krakow Ghetto, which was established for the purpose of exploitation, terror, and persecution of local Polish Jews, as well as the staging area for separating the "able workers" from those who would later be deemed unworthy of life. The Ghetto was liquidated between June 1942 and March 1943, with most of its inhabitants sent to their deaths at Bełzec extermination camp as well as Płaszow slave-labor camp, and Auschwitz concentration camp, some 37 miles away.

  

In the square we several dozens of chairs, of iron and bronze, spread around in the square, a symbol of the procedures: those who received orders to leave the ghetto (everybody, in March 1943) had to drop all their belongings, including chairs, in this exact square.

Ella pointed to the direction away from the square where we saw a pharmacy.  She told us about The Eagle Pharmacy: The one and only non-Jewish inhabitant of the Krakow Ghetto was Tadeusz Pankiewicz, who had a pharmacy within the ghetto walls. During the existence of the ghetto he and his personnel provided all kinds of help and aid for the Jews imprisoned there. 

                                                

The square was the last attraction of the tour.  We continued on our own to the Schindler Factory Museum.  When we arrived we saw a long line of people, waiting to get tickets but the sign on the window said: “Sold Out”.  I stood with the rest of the people waiting for a miracle, while Tova approached the closed window, away from the crowd.  She knocked on it and whispered: “Can I get two tickets for today or is it a sell out?” The lady at the window whispered back: “$24 please”.  Tova paid and in we went.  I guess all you need is a bit of Chutzpah!

The city of Krakow turned the once famous factory to a museum, leaving just one building as it was originally hosting the “Contemporary Art Exhibition”, which we didn’t see.  The main building, the former enamel factory known as Oskar Schindler's Factory, became a tolerance museum and evidence of Jewish life before and during the war.

   

The story of Schindler became popular after the release of Spielberg’s Classic: “Schindler’s List”.  On 1 September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War broke out. Five days later, German troops entered Krakow. It was also probably around that time in which Oskar Schindler, a German who was a member of the Nazi Party and an agent of the Abwehr (German military intelligence service), arrived in the city. Using the power of the German occupation forces in the capacity of a trustee, he took over the German kitchenware shop, and in November 1939, on the power of the decision of the Trusteeship Authority he took over the receivership of another company, which produced ammunition shells, so that his factory would be classified as an essential part of the war effort. He managed to build a sub-camp of Płaszow Camp in the premises where "his" Jews had scarce contact with camp guards.  By doing so, he was able to save hundreds of Jews from extermination.

    

One of the rooms was dedicated to Nazi propaganda and it was mesmerizing to witness how the Nazi Machine was successful in building hatred against all Jews among the Polish people.

We spent over two emotional hours reading, viewing and listening. It was an enriched experience.

We started to walk back to our hotel, some 5 miles away, using Google Maps and made it there a couple of hours later.

Dinner was spent at Biala Roza (White Rose), next to the main square.  A pianist was playing classical favorites while we enjoyed a delicious typical Polish dinner.

Day 15 – July 29, 2018

Krakow, Poland

We had a good long sleep and woke up at 8:00.  Breakfast at the hotel was fantastic with all kind of baking goodies, fresh eggs and vegetable and delicious juices and coffee.

The first thing on the agenda was to make reservations for tomorrow’s visit to Auschwitz Concentration camp, as we were warned that the number of tickets was limited.  We decided to take a guided tour, which included transportation from and to the hotel.

   

We also had a scheduled tour of the city today.  We met with our new guide Paulina at 10:30 and started our tour of the city’s highlights.

   

   

  

We visited the old walls and the old gates of the city, walking in narrow alleys and visiting few churches.  We also stopped next to Pope John Paul II residency.  Pauline told us that the Pope, who resided in the Vatican between 1978 and 2005, lived in this building for 40 years until his assumption of the papacy and is considered to be the greatest citizen of Krakow.

    

We continued our tour and arrived to Wawel Royal Castle.  Rain drops started to fall as Pauline described the attraction: The complex consists of a number of structures situated around the Italian-styled main courtyard. The castle, being one of the largest in Poland, represents nearly all European architectural styles of medieval, renaissance and baroque periods. The Castle and the Hill constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in the Poland. In 1978 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Historic Centre of Krakow.

By the time Pauline finished her “lecture” a rainstorm arrived and poured plenty of rain on all of us.  We all ran for cover.  Tova & I were soaking wet and were able to scramble a table with two chair in the café’ nearby and hid from the storm, which ended about an hour later.

         

Yesterday Ella mentioned an Ice Cream parlor (Lody) in the city by the name of Pracownia Cukiernicza.  We headed towards the joint, about a mile away from the castle and found the ice cream to be most delicious and in fact were the best one we have ever tasted!

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We returned to the hotel and were surprised to receive an email (and a voicemail) from our travel agent (www.CheapoAir.com):  Our scheduled flight for tomorrow from Krakow to Tbilisi, in the Republic of Georgia, was canceled and they could not assist us in finding another flight.  They will refund us the tickets. I spent the next 30 minutes in securing a different flight (which costs twice as much) but still was a risky schedule as the layover was only 30 minutes and we still will have to go through immigrations and security in Warsaw.  I also had to revise our reservation at the hotel and pickup in Tbilisi, and we were all set for tomorrow.  (Why CheapoAir could not do it instead of me?)

 

We changed our cloths and then went to dinner in the Jewish Ghetto.  Yesterday, when we walked there, we saw a cute little Jewish Deli that was packed with locals and tourists.  We waited for 15 minutes and then shared our table with an American tourist from Boston.  We ordered 5-6 dishes among the 3 of us, reminding us of our grandmothers’ and mothers’ dishes.  It was a fantastic traditional Jewish dinner.

We walked through the main square, on our way back to the hotel, where thousands of people were walking the streets, sitting in cafés and restaurants, or watching street performances.  It felt so much “in Europe” and we were so happy to be there and be part of this experience.

Day 16 – July 30, 2018

Auschwitz, Poland

After breakfast at the hotel we were picked up by the Tour Company and headed to the Death Camp known as Auschwitz.  We arrived at 11:00 and joined an English speaking tour.

   

In the next 2.5 hours we toured the camp, lead by a nice tour guide.  She told us about the horror during the dark days of the Holocaust:

           

The Main Camp, also known as Auschwitz I, was established in April 1940 and was primarily used to house prisoners who were forced laborers. Auschwitz-Birkenau, also known as Auschwitz II, Nazi Germany’s largest concentration camp was located less than two miles away. It was established in October 1941 and was used as both a concentration and death camp.  We would visit this camp later.

   

Auschwitz was actually three camps in one: a prison camp, an extermination camp, and a slave-labor camp. As the most lethal of the Nazi extermination camps, Auschwitz has become the emblematic site of the “final solution,” a virtual synonym for the Holocaust. Between 1.1 and 1.5 million people died at Auschwitz; 90 percent of them were Jews. Also among the dead were some 19,000 Roma who were held at the camp until the Nazis gassed them on July 31, 1944—the only other victim group gassed in family units alongside the Jews. The Poles constituted the second largest victim group at Auschwitz, where some 83,000 were killed or died.

      

  

We visited some barracks with evidence of the horror.  Also visited was the only crematorium left, where bodies of the victims were burned after their golden teeth, hair and other parts of their bodies were extracted to be used by the Nazi for their own needs.  The gold teeth were melted and reserved as gold, which was used to fund the war.  In one of the rooms we saw thousands of shoes and clothing, all behind glassed windows.  Pictures of victims were on the walls with dates of birth and death.

We hopped on the mini bus and rode to Auschwitz II (Birkenau).  At the entrance we saw the railroads where hundreds of thousands prisoners were brought here, not knowing that this was their last ride alive. 

  

The Polish government has maintained the site as a memorial for all those who perished there during World War II. Unlike the main camp at Auschwitz, Birkenau is not a museum, research archive, or publishing house. It is preserved more or less in the state it was found at liberation in January 1945. However, only a few of the wooden barracks remain and are now being restored. The brick barracks and other structures in the women’s camp still stand. All four Birkenau crematoria were dynamited by the retreating S.S; however their ruins can still be seen.

  

Many hundreds of thousands of people visit here, from all over the world, each year. Everyday bus-loads of Polish students are walking the camp with their teachers and guides. We saw many Israeli youth with their teachers, visiting the camp as well.

   

Our guide described the following: The selection process deciding, who lives and who dies, were done once the train would arrive.  Those that were chosen to the left side survived few more days or months and were forced to work in poor conditions and hunger. They walked down the road behind the Monument to the Sauna where they took a shower and were given striped uniforms to wear.  Those to the right were rushed to the “showers”, asked to strip from their cloths and once the door of the shower was locked, the fatal gas came down from the ceiling killing everyone in the room.

    

We marched along the paved path and arrived to a monument, which was erected in 1967. The Monument is located at the western end of the main camp road, between the ruins of Krema II and Krema III, the crematoria buildings where the two largest gas chambers at Birkenau were located.

We were there for about 2 hours and then returned to our hotel at around 5:00.  We finished packing and were picked up by Airport shuttle at around 6:00.

Our first flight arrived to Warsaw after a short 40 minutes and we rushed through the airport, arriving to our gate in the last minute, after the immigration and security process.

Day 17 – July 31, 2018

Tbilisi, Georgia

We landed in Tbilisi Airport at 5:00 am the next morning.  Our prearranged driver, Sosso from Color Tour Georgia (CTG), was there waiting for us.

We checked into the King David Hotel and got upgraded to the penthouse hotel room.  

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We showered and napped for three hours, after having a tasty Georgian breakfast.

We woke up at 10:00 and walked around the town’s center and then met with CTG manager, Tamara at the hotel’s dining room.  Tamara provided us with maps and information about our upcoming guided tour in the country.

We returned to the room and unpacked.  Dinner was at a local Georgian cuisine named Machakhela.  Everything we ordered was delicious and the dishes were enormous.

Day 18 – August 1, 2018

Tbilisi, Georgia

After breakfast at the hotel, we met Khatia – our guide for the next 8 days.  We already met Sosso, our driver, yesterday.

Skies were partly cloudy with a high humidity and high temperatures.

Our first stop was at the Georgian Ethnographic Open Air Museum, located west to Turtle Lake on a hill overlooking the Vake District. We entered the open-air museum and saw examples of folk architecture and craftwork from various regions of the country. Khatia mentioned that the museum is named after Giorgi Chitaia, a Georgian ethnographer, who founded the museum on April 27, 1966.

       

Light rain has started as we strolled through the historic village populated by buildings moved here from all main territorial subdivisions of Georgia. The museum occupies 52 hectares of land and is arranged in eleven zones, displaying around 70 buildings and more than 8,000 items. The exhibition features the traditional fiat-roofed stone houses from eastern Georgia, openwork wooden houses with gable roofs of straw or boards from western Georgia, watchtowers from the mountainous provinces wineries and water mills as well as a collection of traditional household articles such as distaffs, knitting-frames, chums, clothes, carpets, pottery and furniture. 

There are also an early Christian basilica and a 6th-7th century familial burial vault with sarcophagus.

       

Our next stop was at  an Amusement Park called Mtatsminda Park, a famous landscaped piece of land, located at the top of Mount Mtatsminda overlooking the  capital Tbilisi. The park has carousels, water slides, and a roller-coaster.  We rode the 1,500 feet funicular that took us to the edge of the mountain (about 2,200 feet high), offering a splendid view over the city.  Khatia told us an interesting fact: The Park was founded by the Soviet government in the 1930s and was once noted as the 3rd most visited public park in the USSR!

On our way back we saw a lady makes special cakes in the park.  We tried them.  They were simply delicious.

       

A visit to the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi (Sameba) was next.  “This is the main cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church!” Khatia told us and continued with some other details: It was constructed between 1995 and 2004, and is the third-tallest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in the world and one of the largest religious buildings in the world by total area.

The huge Cathedral is also called the symbol of new Georgia. The beauty and sizes of the cathedral are indeed breathtaking, as it rises magnificently on the hill on the left bank of the Kura River. Sameba is the highest church in Georgia at 331 feet high. 

Sameba Cathedral was built with grandiose scope. Its golden dome is practically seen from any point in the city. The cathedral is part of an entire complex including residence of the Patriarch and a monastery, school of theology and academy, hotel and the complex consisting of nine chapels, five of which are located under the ground.

We drove a short distance and arrived to Shardeni Street, one of the most popular and beautiful streets in Tbilisi. Khatia mentioned that this pedestrian street is so well known that any guest that travels to Georgia never leaves this country without visiting Shardeni Street…

       

Some historic facts: in the past, Shardeni Street was called “Dark Row”. This small, narrow street was located in the old town as it is today. The street was a center of the cultural and social life and was intended for trading and as it was covered with the roofs, hence its name: “Dark Row”.  In 1981 the street was reconstructed and was renamed as a “Shardeni Street” in honor of Jean Chardin, a French Jeweler who in the 17th century gave the city a graphic map that has survived and reached us until today.

We strolled the promenade, looked at the beautiful little boutiques and stores, had ice cream and coffee and then proceeded to probably one of the most unique designed structure: The Peace Bridge.

   

The Bridge of Peace in Tbilisi is a pedestrian bridge and one of the most famous tourist spots in the city. It connects district of the Old Town with Rike Park over Kura River. This bridge is relatively young; it was opened for public just in 2010.

The bridge was designed by the Italian architect Michele De Lucchi, a design of which reminded me of a marine animal. It has a curvy steel and glass canopy.

       

We climbed the steep Sololaki Hill and visited a monument at the top of the hill: Kartlis Deda. The statue was erected on the top of the hill in 1958, the year Tbilisi celebrated its 1500th anniversary. It has a 66 feet aluminum figure of a woman in Georgian national dress. Khatia called the subject of the status “The Mother of Georgia”: in her left hand she holds a bowl of wine to greet those who come as friends, and in her right hand is a sword for those who come as enemies.

The views from the top of the hill were mesmerizing, as the entire city and beyond were in display.

       

We used the cable car to arrive to Narikaia Fortress for more spectacular views and then walked down the narrow stairs to a mini waterfall via a pretty little bridge with many “Lovers Locks” on it.

A visit to the city’s Synagogue was next.  We walked along Leselidze Street  and arrived to a building, known as the Great Georgian Synagogue. It was built in the late 19th century in an eclectic style by Georgian Jews from Akhaltsikhe who migrated to Tbilisi around the same time.  

     

There are a few theories as to when the Jewish people arrived in Georgia. Some sources say they probably arrived in the region after the exile in Babylon, over 2600 years ago. Another theory is that they are descendants from the Ten Tribes of Israel. A third one is that they arrived in the 6th Century when Georgia was under Byzantine rule.

I could really appreciate the beauty of the Synagogue. On the inside, it feels much bigger than I thought. It was all painted light blue and decorated in floral details and phrases in Hebrew from the Prayer Book.

When I walked out, the usher asked me (in Hebrew) if I visited the upstairs as well.  He then encouraged me to return inside and use the stairs to the second floor.  I was surprised to find another whole synagogue there.  When I returned to the usher he explained that this section is used mainly in the High Holidays.

We returned to the hotel exhausted but extremely satisfied of how the trip was handled by Khatia.

Dinner was once again at Machakhela.  We ordered different plates including the famous Khapachuri - a Georgian flatbread filled with melted cheese.

Day 19 – August 2, 2018

North Georgia

We woke up early and after breakfast we checked out of the hotel (We will return here in a few days).

Khatia and Sosso were waiting for us to start the big journey during the next few days.

  

We drove east of the city and arrived to Jvari Monastery (Jvari means “cross” in Georgian).  The 6th century Georgian Orthodox Monastery is located near Mtskheta, the former capital of the Georgian Kingdom.  The city has some outstanding examples of mediaeval religious architecture and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

The city is believed to have been settled since around 3000-2000 BC. Its mild climate and its fertile soil together with its strategic location at the confluence of the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers made it an ideal home for human habitation. It also became an important stopping point on the ancient trade routes and was a significant site of early Christian activity. The city was the capital of the early Georgian Kingdom of Iberia, from the 3rd century BC until the 5th century AD. At the beginning of the 6th century, King Dachi I Ujarmeli moved the capital to Tbilisi, in accordance with his father’s will.



     

We saw the wooden cross in the middle of the church, surrounded by prayers.  Khatia told us that a wooden cross was erected over a sanctuary on the rocky mountaintop symbolizing the fall of paganism and rise of Christianity in Georgia. The church was constructed directly above the site of the wooden cross, the base of which is still visible inside the church.

The interior was very authentic and rich with culture and the views of the city and the two rivers were superb.

  

We continued our journey, and after a short drive we arrived to a fruit stand on the Georgian Military Way.  We stopped and bought some fruits and honey.

The next stop was (for me) one of the most picturesque site of the entire trip: Ananuri Fortress.

  

We found a castle complex, representing multi functional architectural of the late feudal times in Georgia. Built on the right bank of Aragvi River between the 16th-17th centuries, Located on the main trade rout leading to the North to Russia and in past it was part of the Great Silk Road. Nowadays the road is called the Georgian Military Highway.  The castle, the bell tower, three churches and beautifully carved walls were the main highlights.

The castle was the scene of numerous battles. In 1739, Ananuri was attacked by forces from a rival duchy and was set on fire. The Aragvi clan was massacred. However, four years later, the local peasants revolted, killing the usurpers and inviting the King to rule directly over them. However, in 1746 the King was forced to suppress another peasant uprising, with the help of another King. The fortress remained in use until the beginning of the 19th century. In 2007, the complex has been on the tentative list for inclusion into the UNESCO World Heritage Site program.

  

We entered the complex and saw amongst other buildings two churches. The older Church of the Virgin, which stands on the tall square tower, has the graves of some of the Dukes of Aragvi. It dates from the first half of the 17th century, and was built of brick. The interior is no longer decorated, but of interest is a stone canopy erected by the widow of the Duke Edishera, who died in 1674.

The larger Church of the Assumption was built in 1689 for the son of the Duke. It is a central dome style structure with richly decorated facades, including a carved north entrance and a carved grapevine cross on the south facade. It also contains the remains of a number of frescoes, most of which were destroyed by the fire in the 18th century.

I pointed out to Khatia a postcard with a beautiful picture showing in a unique angle the church’s 2 domes and the river.  Khatia smiled and asked me to follow her.  We climbed many steps, walked on narrow paths and finally arrived to the top.  The sight was just unbelievable.

We continued and Khatia told us that the highway, The Georgian Military Road, is about 150 miles in length and runs between Tbilisi and Vladikavkaz (Russia). It follows the traditional route used by invaders and traders throughout the ages.

We arrived to our next destination: The Friendship Monument, up in the mountains.  

  

After we parked the car we walked up to the monument, passing by many fruit & souvenirs stands and finally arrived to a cylinder monument, offering a spectacular view over the surrounding landscape.

Its purpose was to commemorate a friendship that Khatia claimed it never existed:  The Treaty between the Russian Empire and the east Georgian Kingdom in 1783 established Eastern Georgia as a protectorate of Russia. The king swore allegiance to the Russian emperor in return for protection and the support for the reigning dynasty. Just a few years later however, these promises proved worth very little.

   

In 1795, when the Persian ruler Mohammad Khan plundered the Georgian kingdom, the Russians did nothing to help. Their declaration of war on Persia and the deployment of troops came too late. It marked the beginning of years of tension between the neighboring nations.

        

Nevertheless, the Russia–Georgia Friendship Monument was erected by the Soviets in 1983 here in Gudauri, which is a popular ski resort close to the present border with them, commemorating the 200 years treaty. The famous Georgian architect Giorgi designed it. 

  

  

The views were a dream come true to any photographer.

We continued and arrived to Gudauri where we stopped to get a prearranged 4X4 Jeep, which was already waiting for us. 

The destination was the top the 7,120 feet high, Mountain Kazbek, where we could visit the world famous Gergeti Trinity Church. The road could only be crossed with such a vehicle.  After around 45 minutes of riding around rocks and crossing water streams we arrived to our destination.

   

t was built in the 14th century, but not much is known to us of its history, though it was mentioned in one of the guide books from 1906, that the church was built on the place that used to be pagan idols worshiping, and that in the 18th century, the church turned into storage for main Georgian relics that were transported here in the time of Persian invasion to Tbilisi. 

  

At the beginning of the 20th century, Soviet government had closed the church, and it was returned back to the Georgian Orthodox Church only in the 1990’s. But for the long times it had served as a popular waypoint for travelers on the road connecting Russia and Georgia.

Once again we were in awe when the scenery around the church was in display. 

The interior of the church felt that we are indeed in a holy place with its unique décor and prayers all around us.

A wedding was taken place here and Khatia told us that this is a very popular place for such events.

We spent over an hour there and started our journey back to Gudauri with the jeep and then found our way back to the Military Road. 

A LONG line of hundreds of trucks were on their way to Russia, waiting to go through the custom process.  I estimated the line to be at least 6 miles long.








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We stopped on our way at a Salt Mine Complex and finally arrived to our last stop of the day: The city of Kazbegi, where we located our hotel, Good Aura.

Our room was small but comfortable and dinner at the hotel was excellent with superb dish presentation and service.

Day 20 – August 3, 2018

Central Georgia

Breakfast at the hotel was fantastic, so were the views from the dining room, looking at the mountains around and the beautiful multi color fields.  Khatia & Sosso showed up at around 9:00 and we started our day.

We arrived to our first destination of the day: Uplistsikhe Cave; literally, "the lord's fortress".

     

Built on a high rocky left bank of the Mtkvari River, it contains various structures dating from the Early Iron Age (around 1,000 BC)  to the Late Middle Ages (1250 – 1500 AD), and is notable for the unique combination of various styles of rock-cut cultures from Anatolia and Iran, as well as the co-existence of pagan and Christian architecture.

(Tova, who wasn’t 100%, decided to sit and wait for us in the park on the bottom of rock.)

Walking with Khatia along the ancient stone walkways and stairwells made me feel like I was walking in a city like Jerusalem at the times of King David and King Solomon. It was absolutely fascinating. I think the neatest part was climbing up to access the site and then going down the stairs through a 130 feet tunnel.

  

It was hard to tell if the caves naturally existed in this stone because I could tell that rooms were carved into the stone, but I suspected the caves were there and they were modified extensively over time. Some of the caves have really ornately carved ceilings resembling three-dimensional plaster work. Some of the fronts of the caves have been carved into house-like shapes with triangular roof peaks. In some areas I could tell there were columns standing from floor to ceiling, but they were nowhere to be seen anymore.

We met Tova at the bottom and continued our journey. We arrived to Gori, which was an important military stronghold in the Middle Ages and maintains a strategic importance due to its location on the principal highway connecting eastern and western parts of Georgia. In the course of its history, Gori has been invaded by the armies of regional powers several times. The city was occupied by Russian troops during the 2008 Russo–Georgian War.

      

The city is famous for another reason nowadays: It is known as the birthplace of Joseph Vissarionovich Jughashvili, better known as the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and our next attraction was to visit his birth home and the museum complex around it.

We had a small issue when the usher told Khatia that she cannot guide us inside the museum but we were able to convince the usher and she agreed as long as Khatia will be very quiet, so other people will not hear her.

The main collection of written texts, was of the history of socialism, but clearly intended to praise Stalin, who died in 1953. The exhibits are divided into six halls in roughly chronological order, and contained many items actually or allegedly owned by Stalin, including some of his office furniture, his personal effects and gifts made to him over the years. There was also much illustration by way of documentation, photographs, paintings and newspaper articles. The display concluded with one of twelve copies of the death mask of Stalin taken shortly after his death.

My overall impression was that I am suppose to feel that I was visiting a shrine to a secular saint and this feeling did not sit well with me, knowing what the ruthless dictator Stalin had done during his ruling of the Soviet Union to Georgians and minorities.  Only few days ago we learned that Stalin and his forces were around Warsaw and simply let the Nazi forces kill ten of thousands of Polish civilian...

Our next stop was a fun one as we arrived to Borjomi Mineral Water Park & Resort.  The park itself dates back to the 1850’s and is an attractive destination all throughout the year.

The entrance was quite impressive with the Crowne Plaza Hotel building (so beautiful!) .  At one point we tasted the natural Borjomi Mineral Water and relaxed in a beautiful environment.

  

The natural mineral water park is located inside a forest and we walked through the forest to reach it. The walk was very relaxing as we could feel the cool breeze and the sound of the flowing river nearby. We crossed some bridges. There were so many huge trees and different types of small plants with colorful flowers. It took approximately 40 minutes to reach the mineral water pool and waterfall.  Khatia mentioned to us that a dip in the pool which has got healing properties, is rejuvenating to the body and mind, but we didn’t have any dry cloths with us and opted to skip the experience.

As we were about to return, a huge bug has bitten Tova in one of her fingers.  We were all in a panic mode, as Tova was screaming in pain, and rushed through the park towards the exits when a young guy, who was promoting a lounge nearby, asked in English what had happened.  When we told him and  he then asked us to enter the lounge:  “They will know what to do with you”, he said.  We followed his suggestion and explained to the barman, who was speaking pretty good English what had happened.  He knew what to do: he first poured Vodka on Tova’s finger and then poured the liquid on a sharp knife.  He opened the wound with the knife and squeezed  the poison out of the finger.  He then put a Band-Aid to cover the opened skin and told Tova: “You are good to go”.

As we walked back to Sosso and his car, we were drenched by heavy rain and since  we had only one umbrella between the three of us, I ran to find cover (which I found under a covered bus stop next to the hotel) and Khatia & Tova strolled back covered by the umbrella and found me some fifteen minutes later.

We arrived to Hotel Tiflis in the city of Akhaltsikhe, which was located in a middle of a poor (very poor) neighborhood but nevertheless was elegant.  We asked the nice receptionist if we could have dinner at the hotel and he asked us to wait while he was going to find the chef.  They both came back about 15 minutes later and the chef took our order and made a special dinner just for us.  Oh my, it was so good and yummy!

Day 21 – August 4, 2018

West of Georgia

Our first attraction for today was at the Vardzia Cave Complex.  While driving to the site, Khatia gave us a lengthy introduction: The first thing she wanted us to know was the story of Queen Tamar, a name we kept hearing from our loyal guide during the entire trip:  Tamar the Great was born in the 12th century and ruled Georgia from 1184 until her death in 1213.  Tamar was proclaimed heir and co-ruler by her reigning father George III and lead the country along his side for 6 years, but faced significant opposition from the aristocracy upon her ascension to full ruling powers after her father’s death. The main objection for her reign was the fact that she was a woman! 

Tamar was successful in neutralizing this opposition and embarked on an energetic foreign policy aided by the decline of the hostile Turks. Relying on powerful military elite, Tamar was able to build on the successes of her father to consolidate an empire which dominated the region until its collapse under the Mongol attacks, some 20 years after her death.  She pronounced herself as the “king” of Georgia, rather than the “queen” and the period that she had ruled Georgia is considered to be Georgia Golden Age.

Tamar has been a national hero and there are many legends about her.

With all the details in mind we arrived to the complex.  Once again Tova opted to wait for us at the bottom of the mountain. A van took Khatia and I midway to the Cave City and we climbed the rest of the way. What I found was an amazing site that was actually a city hundreds of years ago.  In the past, the only way to get to this spectacular and huge underground city was via well hidden tunnels which started at the bottom, at the nearby Mtkvari River, and the complex was dug into the side of the Erusheli Mountain.

      

Founded in 1185 by Queen Tamar, the city served as a protection of the fearsome and brutal Mongols who slaughtered people at the time.  Khatia added some more fascinating details: The Vardzia monastery consisted of over 6,000 apartments in a thirteen story complex. The city included a church, a throne room, and a complex irrigation system watering terraced farmlands, which still brings drinkable water to the site today.

The glorious days of Vardzia did not last for very long. This magnificent place was never destroyed by the Mongols, but Mother Nature was not kind to the caves.  Less than one hundred years after the Vardzia monastery was built a powerful earthquake in 1283 caused two thirds of the cave system to collapse. Despite this disaster the monastery continued until the late 16th century but was then attacked and destroyed by the Persians who killed all of the monks. It was then that Vardzia was finally abandoned.

         

In modern days, the monastery is maintained by a small group of zealous monks and there is a growing desire to save this significant and beautiful place.

Khatia and I spent about 2 hours exploring, attending the old church and enjoying the beautiful picturesque views from the top of the mountain. 

We walked down the path and arrived to the bottom where Tova was already seated in a restaurant, alongside the Mtkvari River, waiting for us. 

Rabbat Fortress was our next stop.  We drove back to Akhaltsikhe and parked our car next to the gate of the fortress.

The Fortress is actually the main sight of the Akhaltsikhe town, standing on the small hill on the shores of the Potskhovi River. Its name comes from Arabic meaning “fortified place”. It can be seen practically from anywhere in the city. This military building erected in the 13th century had witnessed a lot over the centuries. The fortress had been destroyed several times, was often in a siege, as a result of which had absorbed tracks of different cultures and religions.

   

The history of Rabati fortress goes back into the centuries and no one can definitely say when the first fortification appeared. It is known that in the 12th century Djakeli prince’s family had built here the first real fortress and it had turned into their residence for 300 years. What is interesting is that when they had erected the fortress, it had a name of “Akhaltsikhe” that is translated as “new fortress”. So the city that stretched at its walls has preserved this name up to our days.

        

Restoration and reconstruction works on Rabati began in May 2011 and covered a space of seven hectares. Old, nearly destroyed buildings were restored by architects and engineers, using archive materials and images.

  

We toured the mosque, a minaret, a synagogue, a Christian church, a Palace, a museum with some exhibitions and a citadel.

Gelati Monastery was our next attraction to visit.

Founded in 1106 in the west of Georgia, the Monastery of Gelati is a masterpiece of the Golden Age of medieval Georgia, a period of political strength and economic growth between the 11th and 13th centuries, a period between the reigns of King David IV 'the Builder', the most powerful king of Georgia and Queen ("King") Tamar. It was the king who, in 1106 began building the monastery near his capital Kutaisi on a wooded hill above the River Tskaltsitela.

According to the king’s wish, his grave was placed inside the south gate of the Monastery. King David wanted that everybody who enters the monastery steps on his tomb. Ironically, all the visitors try to avoid stepping on the grave of the humble king.

We entered the Cathedral and the interior was amazing.  The Monetary is characterized by the facades of smoothly large blocks, balanced proportions and blind arches for exterior decoration. It is one of the largest medieval Orthodox monasteries, and was also a center of science and education and one of the most important centers of culture in ancient Georgia.

        

Fortunately, most of the churches of this complex have survived. We also visited the Bell Tower nearby.

As we walked back to the car, I then realized why Khatia and other Georgians we have met are so proud about this place: It is a memory of the period of strength and growth of the Golden Age of the country and it also shows the value of their religion and their rich culture.

We ended our day in Kutaisi, checking in the five star, gorgeous Tsakitubo Plaza Hotel.  I found this hotel at Lonely Planet website.  It described it as an elegant hotel, located in a green area, 300 meters from a lake and just across of main park which is famous with thermal baths.

After a short rest we walked alongside the lake to a restaurant at one of its banks.  A wedding was taking place at the restaurant and the atmosphere was fantastic.  So was the food.  We even had a good quality Wi-Fi so we could connect with Emly & Noa on FaceTime!

Day 22 – August 5, 2018

West of Georgia

Breakfast at the hotel is worth mentioning.  It was so yummy with all kind of Georgian delicacies.

We met with our guide and our driver at 9:00.  Khatia informed us that we will not be able to complete the scheduled itinerary for the day and that we have to make a decision what attractions we opt to skip.  The reason was the many miles we needed to accomplish so we will not arrive late to Tbilisi. She gave us brief descriptions of each one of them and we made our choices for the day.

The first of our choices was the Katskhi Pillar.

    

A few weeks ago, when I prepared the Georgian leg of our trip, I was watching a video about Georgia in which I briefly saw an image of a church on top of huge limestone cliff. I was fantasizing taking pictures of this wonder and after doing some research I found out that it was called the Katskhi Pillar. It looked very bizarre! I found out that the church, on top of the pillar, has been listed as one of the 20 Most Bizarre Looking Churches in the World and even ranked second on the list of 11 Most Incredible Cliff Buildings. I was intrigued and knew it was a MUST stop in our journey.  When I planned the trip with CTG I mentioned to them that this was one of the attractions I must visit.

We started seeing it from miles away and It looked spectacular! The pillar is a natural limestone monolith. It is approximately 120 feet high, and overlooks the small river valley of Katskhura. The rock, with visible church ruins on a top surface has been regarded by locals as the Pillar of Life and a symbol of the True Cross. It has become surrounded by legends. It remained unclimbed by researchers until 1944 and was more systematically studied from 1999 to 2009. These studies determined the ruins were of an early medieval hermitage dating from the 9th or 10th century. A Georgian inscription paleographical dated to the 13th century suggests that the hermitage was still extant at that time.

We parked the van at a nearby unpaved parking lot, right next to the river, and climbed the uphill leading to the top.

    

We walked around the pillar and noticed a set of cables in the front.  Khatia explained to us that the monks who live in the church have not been seen by many people and the cables are the only way to provide them with fresh water, food and other necessities.  Devoted believers take turns in providing them with all their need.  They tie the packages to the end of the cable and the monks lift them up and in return leave requests for the next time around.

We continued our journey and for lunch we stopped in a small eatery, located on a narrow road.  Many cars stop here and after tasting their food we understood the reason for their stops.  It was out of this world.

We arrived an hour later to our second choice of visiting:  The Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, an Eastern Orthodox Cathedral located in the historic town of Mtskheta.

   

A masterpiece of the Early Middle Ages, the Cathedral is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It is currently the second largest church building in Georgia, after the Holy Trinity Cathedral, which we visited few days ago.

Known as the site where the Holy Robe of Jesus is located. The robe said to have been worn by Jesus during or shortly before his crucifixion.  Svetitskhoveli has long been one of the principal Georgian Orthodox churches and is among the most venerated places of worship in the region. The present structure was completed in 1029 by a medieval Georgian architect, although the site itself dates back to the early fourth century.

The Cathedral is unusually long in relation to its width and is adorned with beautiful stone carving outside and in. Christ’s robe is believed to lie beneath the central nave, under a square pillar decorated with colorful if faded frescoes. 

       

Many prayers were inside the Cathedral, leaning and praying.  It included Khatia who is very religious.


  

Two different wedding took place while we were there and we in attendance!  The bride, groom and best men & women all wore customary wedding cloths and they looked out of this world! Khatia acknowledged that many couples choose this site to get married and be blessed by the High Priest, who resided in a nearby home.

We approached Tbilisi and an hour later we returned to King David Hotel and received the same room we had few days ago!

After a short rest we walked to the nearby Hair Salon that did a terrific job with Tova’s hair few days ago and went to the same restaurant for dinner.

Day 23 – August 6, 2018

Tbilisi, Georgia

After yet another great breakfast at the King David hotel (by now we already knew the names of the chef and the waitress and they knew ours!) 

     

We met with Khatia and Sosso and headed to our first attraction: Baking Bread Demonstration.  Instead of stopping where loaded of buses usually stop, Sosso took us to a small bakery on the side of the road in the city of Badiauri.  We met a lady in her 30’s (she looked so much older...) and she started the process.  Dough making (all from scratch), then carving the shape of the bread and the last step of throwing the fresh dough to the hot walls of a fire pit inside a hole in the ground, in the center of the small bakery, her one and only oven.  She is married to the man of her dreams.  His job is to work at their wheat fields, adjacent to the bakery and their home (behind the bakery).  She wakes up everyday at 3:00 and by 4:00 she already sells the fresh breads to the locals and other clients.

  

The small room had this aroma of a bakery, the one that reminded me of my time spent at my uncle & aunt (Chaya & Oded) home when I was just a little boy.  They also owned a bakery.

We purchased a couple of dozens of loaves. The hot bread was so delicious!  The leftovers were taken by Sosso.  His wife will be happy when he returns home tonight!

We then drove in beautiful countryside roads and arrived to Bodbe Convent.  It is the seat of the Bishops of Bodbe located 2 km from the town of Sighnaghi (which we will visit next). Originally built in the 9th century, it has been significantly remodeled, especially in the 17th century. The monastery now functions as a nunnery and is one of the major pilgrimage sites in Georgia, due to its association with St. Nino, the 4th-century female evangelist of Georgians, whose relics are found there.

  

Khatia elaborated on the Saint: According to legend, she performed miraculous healings and converted Queen Nana of Georgia and eventually King Mirian, the king of Iberia. She continued her missionary activities among Georgians until her death.

The little church was originally built, over the Saint’s grave, by King Mirian in the 4th century. It has been rebuilt and renovated several times since.

   

We visited Saint Nino’s tomb, partly silver-covered, with a bejeweled turquoise halo, in a small chapel in its southeast corner.

We saw many Pilgrims queue up to drink and splash themselves with holy water, in the nearby St. Nino's Spring.

  

After a short drive we arrived to Sighnaghi and walked in the main street where we saw a memorial wall.  Khatia explained that the city has actually has two memorials to lives that have been lost in Georgia.  The wall we stood next to was the World War II Memorial Wall.  Georgia lost a large percent of their population in the war and the World War II monument memorializes their dead with engraved names of the deceased.  The second one was nearby: It is the April 9th Memorial, commemorating the 20 civilians who were killed during a peaceful anti-Soviet demonstration in Tbilisi.

    


Khatia made reservations for lunch in her favorite restaurant here and we walked in the cobblestone streets to the restaurant.  A short time we later we arrived to a guesthouse by the name of Kusika. The owner, who knew Khatia, greeted us with hugs and smiles.  We were taken to the wine cellar and saw a short demonstration of wine making and then were seated in the main terrace (we were the only guests), decorated with grapevines and looked at the breathtaking views.  A trio of singers where playing and singing Georgian serenades in front of us.







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While waiting for the food to served, Khatia told us about our surroundings: Sighnaghi, the prettiest town in the Kakheti Region, sits on a hilltop and with an 18th- and built with 19th-century Italian style architecture. The wonderful views in front of us were of the Alazani valley.  The town serves as a popular tourist destination due to its location at the heart of Georgia's wine-growing regions, as well as its picturesque landscapes, pastel houses and narrow, cobblestone streets.

  

She told us about the defensive wall, surrounding the city:  The 18th century fortifying wall is one of the biggest in Georgia; its has 23 towers, each one named for a nearby town, and 6 gates, it is 5 feet wide and 15 feet high with a total length of 2.8 miles. 

Food was served.  We enjoyed a four course meal including bar-b-q skewers and kebab that were made not far from where we were seated, served with their own wine.

   

Now it was time to walk on the walls.  It was amazing.

We returned to our hotel in the evening, packed our luggage and went to sleep.

Day 24 – Day 29: August 7, 2018 thru August 12, 2018

Tel Aviv, Israel

Our flight was scheduled to depart at 8:00 am, which meant that wake up was at 4:30 am.  Sosso showed up at 5:00 and we arrive to the airport at 5:45.

The terminal was already busy with hundreds of passengers.  All of Tbilisi international flights leave early in the morning.  Our flight left on time and we arrived to Israel around noon.

The main purpose for our visit was to see our daughter Emly and granddaughter Noa the rest of our families and attend the wedding of my nephew Shahaf with his sweetheart Yarden.

   

    

    

On August 12 we returned to our home.


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Some Recommendations:

Moscow Guide: Michael: michaelshteingauz@gmail.com
St. Petersburg Guide Julia: ubarkovskaa@gmail.com
Georgia Guide: Khatia: +995 598-21-88-18 or contact@mziani.com

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