Day 8 St Petersburg - Pavlov's Squirrel, Bear Cruelty and Gary Potter

Pavlovs Squirrel

 2,408 miles GMT +3 Temp -8

We started our day at the Summer Garden, a park renowned for its statues, once chosen by the poet Pushkin for the childhood walks of his fictional character Eugene Onegin. Alas we are greeted with the rather odd sight of all of the statues boxed away, presumably to protect them for the elements during the winter. We walk through anyway as it's on our route. We stop briefly to buy a coffee from a kiosk, and I see a squirrel approaching down a tree trunk. We buy a packet of nuts and 'Boris' gets all twitchy and excited at the sound of the packet opening. "It is Pavlov's squirrel" Lena laughs. We spend a few minutes feeding him, before emptying the packet for him and move on. 

On our return visit to the Hermitage this morning we encounter the sight of a small bear, chained and muzzled, his job to perform for tourists and to pose for photos. The bear looked sad and thin, while his well fed captor, beckoned passers by to him to sell the bears dignity. He go a bit more than he bargained for from Lena, as she waded into him to the point she had him backed up to the wall. He unchained the bear quickly and left.....something to do with the thought of her returning with a chain, a gag and a big stick for him no doubt.

We spent the rest of the morning in the Hermitage concentrating on paintings today. Photography in the museum is a bit of a mine-field, as although I’ve bought a camera permit, there are some exhibits that you’re not allowed to photograph. It would be helpful if these were marked, as having to wait to see if one of the elderly concierges was going to pounce became a bit of a game too good to miss. Top choices today were Titian, Da Vinci, Degas, Raphael.........ooh just too many.

At lunch I'm introduced to Borscht, not the cold beetroot version, but the hot peasant style broth, that has just about everything in but the kitchen sink in, topped with soured cream. Lena informs me that the recipe changes depending on the area of Russia the cook is from. I think ours was well travelled.

Museum interior and cashpoint

We walk to the church of The Saviour on Spilled Blood, which is one of the main sights of St Petersburg, and has the typical Russian Orthodox onion domes. The church was built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated and was dedicated in his memory. It contains over 7,500 square metres of mosaics, reputedly more than any other church in the world. It is truly spectacular, the colours, styling and size simply have to be seen to be believed.


In the aftermath of the Revolution it was ransacked and looted, badly damaging the interior. The Soviet Government closed the church in the early 1930's. During the siege of Leningrad in WWII it was used as a temporary storage facility for the dead. After the war it was used as a warehouse for vegetables, leading to the sardonic name of 'Saviour of Potatoes'.


In July 1970 management of the church passed to St Isaac's Cathedral, then a highly profitable museum, and the proceeds from the Cathedral were channelled back into restoring the church. What I found astonishing was that it was re-opened in August 1997, after 27 years of restoration, but has not been re-consecrated and does not function as a full-time place of worship; it is a museum of mosaic. Even before the revolution it didn't function as a public place of worship, having been dedicated exclusively to the memory of the Tsar, hence it's name.

Gary Potter

Next stop a book shop. I went to look in the children's section, and although they were all in Russian text it was possible to identify some of the cover illustrations despite Russian titles. I spotted a copy of Harry Potter, and when Lena came to find me I asked her if she had read Harry Potter? "Gary Potter, no not heard of him." No Lena, Harry Potter. "That book says Gary Potter, I haven't heard of him either." Priceless!

One other priceless experience, the public loos, which look as though they have been fabricated from an old battleship. Add to this the fact that the temperature is –8, everything is metal and you have to pay for the privilege, which entitles you to a ration of loo paper fit to strip paint from the said battle ship. ‘Izal’ would be a luxury here.