The Beauty of a Russian Painting

The Beauty of a Russian water color and an unknown artist

     

     

Fourteen years ago
we decided to spend 2 weeks on a strange boat traveling through canals and intricate Russian waterways from St. Petersburg to Moscow. We traveled hundreds of miles through rivers, canals, and a series of locks.  
     This was in no way a luxurious trip but a fascinating one. We began in St. Petersburg, an old city known as  "The City of 300 Bridges."  We visited all the tourist attractions, the Hermitage, the Peterhoff Palace, even a traditional Russian ballet.

                                           From St. Petersburg,  Russia       
                                           to the Red Square in Moscow

                                                                      

                                            The Russian Ballet in Moscow 
                                                              

                                                  The  Peterhoff  Palace

                                       The  summer home of "Peter the Great"  the Russian Czar                   

                                          

                                         "Peter the Great"    a name he game himself   
       

                      The Palace was founded as early as 1714 by Peter the Great
    The magnificent fountains, ornamental gold statues, breathtaking water views were unforgettable.

                                                                       
                    

                                                  Viking River Cruise

                                                                
Our cabin was unbelievably small. Unfortunately, there were rare underground peat bogs on fire all along the Russian waterways. You woke to the sight of smoke and the smell of burning wood and went to sleep with the same smell filling your small cabin. 

                                      Russian bog fires by satellite image    
          
     We started on Lake Ladoga going through many locks on the canals. I woke several  nights to the shifting of the boat as it was being lowered into a lock and later being raised up. So strange, but exciting.

                                                            

                             Locks on the canal that would raise and then lower
                                                  the river boat

    My favorite stop was on Kizhi, an Island village. No vehicles on this island, you walked everywhere. It had ancient wooden houses, windmills and churches. The church was actually built without a single nail. As you walked through the overgrown straw, you felt like you were in another century.

                                                 Kizhi Island Village
                    Old Russian women were washing their clothes in the water and
                                         beating them on the rocks.         

                                                           Russian city of   Yaroslavl              

                                                            My most memorable time was in the city of Yaroslavl, one of the Golden Ring Cities.  I walked slowly through the city park. There were several vendors along the walkway.  I stopped to look at a watercolor that caught my eye. It was a scene of Russian children sledding. What stood out to me was that the children were smiling. I stood and studied the watercolor, then continued walking in the park. It was just something captivating about the painting. When I returned to the painting, the young Russian woman stood quietly.  I said, "I would like to buy this."  She was so excited, just smiling at me. In Russian rubles it was equivalent to $12.00 US.  I believe her happiness was because  I wanted to buy  "her" painting.  I don't know her name, I can't read her signature on the 

painting. I just have this snapshot of her smile in my memory.               

                                                                                                       

 Unknown Artist

                                                    
                                                                     
                                                        
                                       

                                                                                 


                                   my "Belles Choses"  ... my beautiful things
                                     
                                                                          

                                        Beautiful Things...Read all my post