Russia is an…interesting case. I’ve never met anyone who was dying to visit Russia, but I think that if you want to know, understand, and see European history, you’ve got to at least consider visiting Russia. Honestly, that wasn’t my intention when I visited. My parents wanted to go on a vacation together and since I rarely saw them and could tell they were slowly getting separation anxiety, I agreed. Plus, who would say no to a 10-day cruise around the Baltic? So, I flew from San Francisco to Texas, met them at the airport right as I arrived, and then took off again to Copenhagen (the starting point for our cruise).

The cruise itself stopped at a number of cities. We started in Copenhagen then worked our way around the Baltic via the route: Berlin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, and finally Helsinki. While all of those places were exceptional, today I’ll be talking about the one city that was unlike any of the places I’ve visited before: Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on Russian history, European history, or World War I and II history. Cultural lessons for me arise from my own personal interpretation of how history reveals itself in present day.

First, let’s talk a bit about the city itself. Saint Petersburg is conveniently located right on the Baltic Sea. It is Russia’s second largest city, surpassed by Moscow, and houses about 5 million people. Because it was the previous capital of Russia, it is rich in Russian culture and history. While I won’t really go too into its vast history, I’ll highlight a couple of events that really help define the city today. Saint Petersburg, previously Petrograd and Leningrad, was founded by Tsar Peter the Great and chosen as a good location due to its strategic advantages. So, he turned it from this swampy mess into a city full of beautiful buildings and churches. Upon his death, his wife Catherine took reign, but soon Saint Petersburg was rotating rulers every couple of years, until his daughter, Elizabeth, became empress in 1741. Elizabeth made Saint Petersburg become one of the most beautiful European capitals during her reign, increasing the population to 150 thousand. There seems to be a pattern that the successful rulers of Saint Petersburg were the ones that built even more majestic buildings. The next successful ruler was Catherine the Great, from Germany. Her royal art collection eventually became the Hermitage, one of the largest and oldest museums in the world.

Fast-forward many years of capitalism, expansion, and conservative leaders and we find ourselves at the infancy of World War I. Because of Russia’s rising tensions with Germany, Saint Petersburg’s name was changed to Petrograd, in fear that Saint Petersburg sounded too German. However, Russia did terribly during World War I, and by the end of the war many of Petrograd’s inhabitants were starving, angry, and wanting change. Ultimately these feelings led to a civil war in 1918, after the Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Lenin, took political control. After the capital was moved from Petrograd to Moscow, to further distance themselves from Germany, a majority of Petrograd’s inhabitants had moved out of the city and into the countryside. Under Bolshevik rule, the city’s name was again changed, this time to Leningrad, marking the transition into a Socialist society. After the death of Lenin and Stalin’s rise to power, Leningrad slowly began to regain its population and economic stability. However, the city soon experienced one of its most notorious moments in history: the siege of Leningrad in 1941. In a very Russian-like manner, the city refused to surrender even after 200 thousand people had died from cold and starvation within only two months. The siege was fully lifted in 1944, but by then over 640 thousand people had died in Leningrad. However, overtime the city was able to rebuild a majority of its monuments destroyed during the war and is currently a lively city filled with a proud sense of accomplishment.

Which brings me to Saint Petersburg, Russia today. According to a 2012 census, Saint Petersburg houses roughly 5 million people. As a site of historical and cultural importance, the city holds on dearly to its roots. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, considering that even though a majority of its population died from starvation and the cold, they still found a way to store and hide a vast amount of Catherine the Great’s antiquities. So, current day Saint Petersburg is literally like taking a trip into the past. Economically, they suffered during the 1990s, requiring for the first time since the 1940s to ration food and receive humanitarian food aid from abroad, but were able to become stable thanks to their advantageous location on the water (thanks Tsar Peter the Great). Now, Saint Petersburg has three large cargo seaports and is Russia’s main link to the Baltic Sea via the Volga-Baltic Waterway.

So, what was it like visiting the cultural capital of Russia? Well, for one, it was a bit like being shuffled around for 48 hours. Traveling into Russia is typically considered inconvenient since you’re required to get a visa before entry. Since we entered via cruise, we only had to get a pseudo-visa that allowed us 72 hours of travel within Russia. Because it was a sort of “visa-free” travel, it was incredibly limited in where we could go. In fact, we were only allowed to go where our tour guide, a middle-aged woman who was Russian in every way possible, would take us. Because Saint Petersburg is an incredibly massive city and we were only given 48 hours to explore, we were quite literally ushered from one beautiful building to another. But, I believe that really speaks volumes of Russian culture. It is a proud city that refuses to be kept down for long. Their desire for preservation is noticeable in every aspect of the city, from its archaic buildings to its endless amount of museums. It only makes sense that 48 hours is not even remotely enough time to understand and see everything the city has to offer, but by God they were going to make us try. It was a scramble at worst and a very fast tour at best. But, when you know the tragic history the city has had, it becomes more reasonable and even more impressive as to how they have been able to retain their historical roots.

Being in Saint Petersburg was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. When I visited, it was humid and raining, but nothing could take away from the colorful and majestic palaces, museums, and churches. With so many ornate structures located in the city, it is hard to imagine that a high percentage of Saint Petersburg’s inhabitants still live in communal housing. But, the locals are proud of their city because they get to experience actual representations of their national pride and perseverance in the form of all their historical monuments. Their ability to live simply among such elegant and extravagant buildings is a reminder of the socialist background that is very much ingrained in Russian culture. However, regardless of your own personal beliefs of the Russian political system, there are still valuable lessons to be learned when you visit Saint Petersburg. It is a city of proud and dignified Russians, who rightly flaunt their city’s great achievements. And, though I remember those 48 hours as a haze of handsome churches and glamorous palaces, I can’t help but feel the sense of pride the locals probably feel everyday. I understand that there is still much more of Russia that is less attractive that I can only fully grasp if I wasn’t on a guided tour, but I don’t think that will ever dispel my initial thoughts on Saint Petersburg. Yes, within 48 hours, I was only allowed to view the best of the best about Russia, but with a history so great and expansive, it would be a tragedy to judge an entire country on only its recent past. With that said, I would definitely be honored to visit Russia again. I found my time there to be incredibly educational and can only imagine what the rest of the country has to offer. Our travel in Russia was fairly trouble-free and while I didn’t find the place to be as hospitable as other European destinations, I feel like that is just the normal attitude within any large city. So, in true Russian fashion, I’ll end with this:

Всяк сверчо́к знай свой шесто́к.

A blind man should not judge of colours.