Schlisselburg

Hello again!

Our departure to the U.S. for our month-long visit is less than two weeks away. We are working on things to get ready for that, like the prayer cards that Amanda recently posted as well as a video that unfortunately we have been unsuccessful in uploading here so far. A more relaxed summer schedule has been nice (although it was punctuated by some unwanted excitement earlier this week when we found out that someone had stolen our debit card information and attempted to route some money to the Ukraine. Thankfully our bank caught it and we have been able to work it out, but I send a sincere evil eye to the anonymous villain who did this), and continues to give us a chance to do things that we wouldn't have time to do during the school year.

After our trip to Tsarkoe Selo a few weeks ago, this week Amanda and I decided to go to the town of Schlisselburg and visit its ancient fortress. Our friends Jarod, Christina, and Katya came with us, making for a great group of traveling companions. Once again, we took an elektrichka (communter train), and it took a little over an hour to reach Schlisselburg. The town is located at the very bottom of Lake Ladoga, the enormous freshwater lake that is the source of the Neva River that flows through St. Petersburg. The fortress sits at the head of the Neva, guarding the entry into Lake Ladoga from the South.

The Oreshek fotress in Schlisselburg dates back to the early 1300s and has played a role in many significant moments in Russian history, including being the site of a peace treaty between Sweden and the ancient Russian state of Novgorod in 1323, bring lost to Sweden once more and recaptured by Peter the Great in the Great Northern War (1700-1721), serving as a prison for important political prisoners (including Tsar Ivan VI, members of the Decemberists uprising, the assassins of Alexander II, and Alexander Ulyanov, the older brother of Lenin who was executed in the fortress for his role in a plot to kill the Tsar). The fortress was also an important link in the defense of St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) during World War II, and suffered extensive artillery and bombing attacks from the Germans but did not fall to the Nazis.

In order to reach the fortress you need to take a boat across the water. Once inside, there are numerous memorials, passageways, and buildings to go through. Several of the structures in the fortress are in states of semi-ruin, reflecting significant damange from the Second World War as well as general disrepair I suspect (although reconstruction work on one wall section and tower is currently in progress).

We took lots of photographs, and I'll place comments under them to explain what all there is to see in Oreshek.


The fortress as seen from standing on the shore across from it on the western side (click on it to enlarge it and bring it into sharper relief).


Amanda, Katya, and Christina on the dock waiting for the boat with the fortress behind them.


The main entrance into the fortress.


Amanda walking through the main entrance.


A crumbling portion of the wall on the inside of the fortress.


The interior of the fortress as seen from on top of the portion of the wall we were allowed to climb.


The remains of the church that stood in the center of the fortress.


Inside of the ruins of the church is a memorial to the soldiers who fought to defend the fortress during World War II.


Inside one of the prisons of the fortress. It was here in this prison that many of the conspirators in the plot that led to the assassination of Alexander II were held.


This tower is the only part of the current fortress that was built by the Swedes. There is a dungeon underneath it that you can walk down into which is freakishly cold.


The tree in this photo makes for an unsettling contrast with the original use for this area as the scene of executions of prisoners sentenced to death. A memorial stands on the other side of the wall with the names of all who died and were executed in the fortress during Tsarist times.


Jarod, me, Katya, and Christina.


Lake Ladoga stretching onward before us standing on the northern edge of the island the fortress stands on. Lake Ladoga is the largest lake in Europe and the 14th largest lake in the world (it is comparable in size to Lake Ontario).


The ruins of the barracks for the troops of the fortress.



Staircase leading up to the walls of the fortress.


The walls again.


The walkway atop the walls.


Amanda on the walls.


The back of the barracks.


Slow train coming- our elektrichka to take us back to St. Petersburg.

As always, thanks for reading!

-Matt

Hello to everyone!
We are heading back to the states for the month of July and have some new odds and ends to put up here for that!

First, some new prayer cards:




Hope you enjoy!

Tsarskoe Selo

Hello again!

Summer has arrived at last, although we have had quite a bit of rain during this past week. We are beginning to adjust into some semblance of a schedule for the next few weeks before we return to the U.S. for July. Amanda is tutoring two of her students from last year as well as two new students who will be enrolled for the coming year. I have been working on Russian language and both of us have been working on logistical things (budgets, support, visas, etc.). It has been nice to enjoy a change of pace, although both of us miss being at school!

One nice benefit of the summer is that we have more time to visit places and spend time with friends here, and last week we were able to do both when we went to Pushkin, a suburb of St. Petersburg. Formerly known as Tsarskoe Selo (Tsar's Village), the town was renamed Pushkin in 1937 in honor of Alexander Pushkin (Russia's most beloved author) on the 100th anniversary of his death. Pushkin studied at a school in the area, so he did in fact have connections with the area. The area is home to the Catherine Palace, one of the most sumptuous of the old imperial residences, as well as extensive gardens and grounds. We picked what turned out to be a gorgeous day with clear skies and warm temperatures. Two friends and fellow teachers from school, Christina and Jarrod, also went with us.

To get there, we rode the metro to the end of the blue line and then boarded an elektrichka- a passenger/commuter train. It was only a few stops along the train to Pushkin and then about a 20 minute walk to reach the palace and the grounds.

A picture I took out of the window of the train looking down the tracks.


Inside the palace gardens. While this picture is of a part of the grounds with carefully hedged trees, in general the gardens are not as elaborately manicured as the gardens at Peterhof, having a more rugged feel and appearance to them. For any historical gardening buffs out there, Peterhof represents the French style of 18th century gardening, while the Catherine Palace exhibits the English style.


The grounds of the Catherine Palace has a large lake in it.


Stone bridge.


A Turkish bath that was built on one edge of the lake.


The Catherine Palace. The Palace itself is enormous and so long that we couldn't fit it into a single photo. Incidentally, the palace is named after Catherine I, the wife of Peter the Great, and not for Catherine the Great. It was greatly expanded under the reign of Elizabeth (1741-1762). We didn't go into the palace (it's somewhat expensive and the lines were all long. I did tour the palace when I was here in 2007 as a student, though), but just viewing it from the outside is extremely impressive. The palace is home to the reconstruction of the famous Amber Room.


The palace from farther back.


Some elaborate landscaping in front of the palace.


The chapel at one end of the palace.


Jarrod, me, and Christina peering through the gates at the side of the palace opposite of the gardens.


The other side of the palace.


A bridge in the gardens across from the palace.


A picture of the "small" hermitage on the palace grounds. It is still larger than most mansions, but in comparison to the main palace it would represent something of a secluded retreat. It even has a moat around it, although there is no water in it.


The old boathouse for the lake.

Thanks for reading!

-Matt

Motley Assortment Post

Hello!

This is a catching everyone up post!

End of the school year came fast and then the K's were here right afterward. So here's some things we missed between the last post and now!

The last week of school was mostly various activities. Matt went with the high school to the Hyundai plant that brings many of our students here to SP. My class packed and moved for several days and we went with the 4th and 5th to the aquarium here. Prom was also that week and Field Day and Graduation. Since we didn't go to prom we don't have any pictures of our own from it, so here's a picture of all the students from the photographer they hired.

Colors were pink and white and the seniors and their dates met at IA and took a morbidly pink limo to where they had prom. :-)

(While we were there the photo not by us but the photographer they hired)

We do have pictures of graduation though!

Part of the band
Mr. S giving addresses to the 3 seniors. A huge advantage of having such a tiny grad class is that graduation is much more personal and things can be tailored to them.
IK giving his address. He gave it in English and Korean which was sweet. :-)
DO's address

ZP's address.

Turning of tassels and diplomas!
Our grads!
High School choir singing a song
the whole school singing a version of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"

Below are a few Peterhoff pictures that I'm posting mainly because they are pretty!

This guy is at the Peter and Paul Fortress. There are debates about the intentions of the artist since his head is so teeny tiny! Certainly not flattering.

So that's a bit here and there from our end of school year busyness!

In the near future there will be a post about our trip to Tsarsky Selo with some other teachers!

Amanda