Russia paints memories for local couple
Sunday, January 28, 2007 7:22 AM PST
Beckey Arnold
Argus Observer
PAYETTE
Holidays across the seas can be similar to - yet very different from - United States customs.
Nina Gammons and her husband, Ed, Payette, experienced this past Christmas and New Year's traveling along the Trans Siberian Railroad. The trip began in St. Petersburg and would end in Listvyanka.
A decade had passed since their previous visit to Russia, and Nina Gammons said it was neat to see the changes.
“St. Petersburg is the ‘Venice of the North,'” Gammons said.
Moscow is the capital of Russia and has a population of 12 million, Gammons said.
“Fashion and style are the top priority,” Gammons said. “It comes over food and shelter.”
As an example of what she meant, Gammons said typical attire worn were black clothes, and jeans are the pant of choice - tight and rolled to the top of knee-high boots with spiked heels.
“Everyone wears them,” she said. “Our tour guide even wore a black mink coat.”
Gammons observed that in 10 years the car of choice changed from a Lotus to Nissans, Toyotas, Mercedes, B.M.W Land Rovers and Cruisers.
“The traffic is horrendous,” Gammons said. “It's quicker to walk.”
Some subways look nothing like the subways in the United States, she said.
“Some of the subway stations are beautiful,” she said. “Some are lined with Crystal chandeliers or large mosaics along the walls and ceilings.”
“It's a big cosmopolitan,” Gammons said. “In my mind there is nothing really redeeming about Moscow - except Red Square.”
Red - which means beautiful in Russian - Square is host to several attractions, the eastern wall of the Kremlin, the brightly-colored St. Basil's Cathedral, the GUM department store (mall) and the Kazan Cathedral, a National Historical Museum.
Gammon said she has yet to go inside Red Square.
“It was closed both times,” she said.
This last time it was closed because school children were going to have the opportunity to ice skate with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and security had the area blocked off.
Christmas is not celebrated in Russia and Santa Claus is more or less referred to as Father Frost, Gammons said.
“The holiday is New Year's,” she said. “They use the Julian calendar and celebrate New Year's on Jan. 7.”
The city is covered with New Year trees - not Christmas trees, Gammons said. Decorations resemble those used during the '50s here in the United States.
Ice blocks and sculptures are an attraction enjoyed by all, she said.
“They're huge. They had buildings of ice you could walk through and mazes for kids,” Gammons said. “There were constant people at the sculptures, it was real family fun.”
The people who live in the countryside are not as stylishly dressed, she said, and in most villages people live in wooden homes. Skyscrapers are popular and are found in both the city and country villages.
Gammons said many folks in the city owned small fenced plots with a shack and garden in the country.
“People from the city would have their garden in the spring,” Gammons said. “They would get out in the country so to speak.”
Gammons said villages were founded on the premise they produce one item, such as logs, tires, fenders, trucks or even nuclear power plants. When the villages' production was no longer needed, the village would fail.
The food has improved since their first visit, Gammons said - before, it was compared to American prison food. Meals consisted of either beef, lamb, fish and Borsch, a soup made mainly of beef and beets. The bread was a heavy whole wheat, not white.
The train ride was an experience of its own. Gammons said the attendant did not do anything other than check your ticket and vacuum once a day.
“We traveled second class,” Gammons said. “Four of us shared one compartment, which was not very big, about six feet wide.”
The compartment was small with four bunks. She said when they arrived there were two sheets, one pillow and one towel on the bunk.
“You do your own bed-making,” she said. “We shared the compartment with friends, and when we left, we were still friends.”
There was a dining car on the train, but it is privately contracted, Gammons said.
“There was not much on the dining car on our train,” she said.
The train made routine stops along the trip. Gammons said that people called babushkas would sell food, such as biscuits stuffed with cabbage and mashed potatoes or slabs of fried fish, along the platforms.
“Everything was cold,” she said. “You never know, this could be how they make their supplement.”
The local people are also more friendly than before, Gammons said.
“I think some people are still struggling from the old Soviet Union,” she said. “But they did seem nicer, 10 years ago they stayed away.”
She said some still struggle with bribes and tips.
“(It went from) ‘bribe me and I'll treat you nice' to ‘if I treat you nice you will tip me.'”
Foreigners must carry their passports and papers at all times and are required to register at the hotel every three days.
“Police can stop you at any time and ask to see your passport,” she said. “Our tour guide told us to never let them keep it. She said, ‘If they walk away, you better follow' - suspicion is still alive.”
To date, Gammos has visited more than 50 countries and Ed Gammons, more than 100 countries.
“You see similarities in the different countries,” Gammons said. “We love to travel and we travel a lot.”
