Mon Sheong Volunteers – Blog

We were on a 12 day river cruise from July 26 to August 6 to Russia, starting from St. Petersburg, going through the Russian internal waterway, visiting the towns and cities along the way and ending in Moscow.

This is the second time we visited St. Petersburg.  The last time was in 1995 when we took the cruise to the Baltics.  The city surely looked better. There were less pot holes but more cars on the roads, the public transportation vehicles were less dilapidated, and the number of young vendors selling pins and medals in the streets was much smaller.  It did appear that there was a change for the better.  Putin no doubt has done a credible job, even though Russia is still poor by comparison.  We understand that unemployment rate is 6% but it is not evenly distributed.  While there are jobs in the big cities as in St. Petersburg and Moscow, people elsewhere are still hard done by.   Wealth is in the hands of a very few.  Pension age is 55 for women and 60 for men.  The average life span of a Russian man is however only 59.  No wonder we did see a lot of elderly women selling small baskets of fruits and flowers from their own back yards to make ends meet.

On the other hand, the palaces tell another story.  Anybody who has visited them do not have to dig very deep to get to the causes for the 1917 revolution.  We saw three of their most famous palaces, The Hermitage, Catherine’s Palace and Peterhof and had a glimpse into the past glory and decadent life style enjoyed by the Czars and their families.  In our minds, the Russian palaces are unrivalled in the world.  “Glittering with gold” is to be taken literally as the palaces are plastered with gold leaves everywhere. The numerous paintings and artifacts displayed in the Hermitage which used to be the Romanovs’ winter palace and is now a museum are not only national but world treasures; the amber room in Catherine’s Palace dazzles and boggles the mind and the many glorious and magnificent fountains in Peterhof provide us with an insight into Peter the Great’s vision as an architect of the Russian Empire.  We come up short with words to describe with justice the richness of these palaces and hopefully the pictures and videos will do a better job.

From Russia with Love – Hermitage video

From Russia with Love – Catherine’s Palace video

From Russia with Love – Peterhof video

最近參加了一次十二天 (七月卄六至八月六, 二零一一年) 俄羅斯境內的遊輪旅程, 從聖彼得堡出發, 往河的兩岸尋幽探勝, 到終站莫斯科結束.

在聖彼得堡停留了三日.  一九九五年遊波羅的海時已到過這城市, 當時只覺市面簫條, 建築物及道路殘舊失修, 公共汽車千蒼百孔, 銹斑點點, 工厰大部份停止生產, 廠房空置, 失業率高企, 導至年輕小伙子都在家翻箱倒籠, 有值錢的東西都一窩蜂上街賣, 尤其充斥的是軍帽及紀念章. 今次重遊, 已有改變. 普京的努力沒有白費. 但聽說普遍還是貧困. 失業率是百分之六, 但並不平均. 工作機會只集中在大城市如聖彼得堡及莫斯科等, 偏遠的地方還是苦不堪言. 國民男的六十歲, 女的五十五歲已可領取退休金, 但數目小, 不足糊口. 雪上加冰, 俄羅斯男士平均壽命只有五十九, 怪不得很多老婆婆都從家後院採些花果, 在路旁叫賣, 但問津者少, 看來難過.

各大宮殿卻各領風騷. 極盡奢華, 參觀過的人都歎為觀止. 不用深究, 一九一七年的革命種子已一早埋伏, 民怨沸騰, 推翻沙皇皇朝, 是朝夕的事.  這次我們再度参觀冬宮, 彼得大帝的夏宮, 及嘉芙蓮女皇的行宮, 充份領略出活生生“金壁輝煌” 的含意, 牆壁都是鋪上金薄, 非常誇張. 冬宮現用作博物館, 展覽的名畫, 雕刻, 巧奪天工的藝術品, 琳瑯滿目, 數不勝數; Catherine’s Palace 有最為人津津樂道的瑪瑙室, 而夏宮數百座不同形式及設計的噴泉, 令人目不暇給.  本人有限的文字, 不足以準確描述所見所聞, 幸好可借助攝影機, 記錄影像, 與君分享.

Hermitage video 冬宮錄影

Catherine’s Palace video 嘉芙蓮女皇行宮錄影

Peterhof video 彼得大帝夏宮錄影

From Catherine’s Palace….

Cruise travel is getting to be very popular. There are many cruise ships to choose from and their prices are dropping. Among the big and well known cruise lines are The Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Cunard, Italian Costa and NCL. Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity which also operates Azamara. Carnival took over Princess and Holland America a few years ago and they may now be the biggest cruise line in the world. There are also smaller but more luxurious liners such as the Crystals and the Radisson.
	Last year, taking the advantage of a slow January month we invited our sisters to join us on a Caribbean cruise. This time we took the Adventure of the Seas. The ship belongs to the Voyager class of the Royal Caribbean family. Nine years ago, like her sister ships Explorer and Navigator of the Seas, was one the largest cruise ships at the time. Since then the title had been taken over by the QM2 (Cunard), then Freedom of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) and now the Oasis of the Seas (Royal Caribbean).

I always make a video after a trip for the memory just in case I have memory lapses or Alzheimer down the road of my life. There is no exception this time. To watch the video, click here.