Day 4 St. Petersburg

I spent the day walking around areas that I hadn't yet visited. I started off by doing the Lonely Planet's "beauty in decay" walking tour which took me past this Soviet apartment block



with concrete cancer!


A lot of the old palaces which according to the guidebook should have been rotting away were covered in scaffolding, probably being turned into fancy apartments for the new wealthy. But here are some of the views I came across...



view of St Isaac's cathedral from a canal




New Holland island, the public have never been allowed there except for one 'art event' a few years ago. They apparently used to conduct secret naval experiments there but it's completely desolate now.




canal view.


So it's back to the studio for the next two weeks and then I'm off to visit mum and dad Davernator in Rome. I'll also pop into Alternatives gallery and try and get to Le Arti Orofe in Lucca. And possibly also Marijke Studio in Padova (although it's a long train journey from Rome to Padova).

'til next time, Anna

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Hermitage post #3

I'm back in Tallinn now and feeling refreshed after sleeping most of yesterday afternoon! So I'm ready to back-blog (is that a term? did I just make that up? copyright davernator)

Day two at the Hermitage: I arrived early as I knew there was a lot to see and that it closed earlier on a Sunday. I ended up spending 13 hours there over 2 days and even then I didn't manage to see everything.

I started off in the neolithic and early bronze age section and what did I spy?



early coil rings!


and the inspiration for matryoshka onion rings!




I'd booked to go on a tour of the Treasury so I hurried off there but unfortunately it was quite disappointing. Not the collection, the collection is amazing! But one of the 2 treasury galleries (the Gold Room) was closed and you could only enter the other (the Diamond Room) on a tour and the tour rushed around pointing out some of the highlights and then it was over and we had to leave. No lingering allowed. No photographs allowed. Although I managed to sneak 2 before being nearly kicked out by the guard!

An early coil bangle...




and a gorgeous sheep ornament made from a baroque pearl and other gems.



So unfortunately I can't show you the beautiful diplomatic gifts of diamond encrusted saddle cloths and swords and Empress Elizabeth's incredible collection of snuff boxes, not to mention the enormous collection of ancient scythian and greek gold. Not only can I not show you photos, I didn't even get to have a good look! And the only book in the Hermitage shop to focus on the treasury is 50 pages paperback! Very unsatisfying.

After that I headed up to the rooms of 19th and 20th Century European art and on the way I walked through the rooms of culture and art of the Byzantium. Byzantium art is now my new love. I've always loved Russian icons and of course they have the best of them in the Hermitage. Some of my favourites...(sorry for the poor photos, I hate flash photos and the room was quite dark)



ivory diptych




carved image of Christ







this was quite small and it is a mosaic. Each of the tiles was less than 1mm square!


So, then to things more contemporary...



lots of this and most of it can be viewed at the Hermitage website. And while I was up on the top floor, there was a snow storm taking place outside...




which I, of course, got caught up in on my way to the toy museum




no photos of the toy museum as I had stupidly left my camera in my bag in the cloak room.

One more post and St. Petersburg is done!

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Hermitage post #2

Where do I start?

How about with: 'my feet hurt'! And so does my back (bad hotel bed), my shoulders (carrying heavy bag for 20kms a day) and my legs (going up and down stairs trying to find rooms that end up being closed off).

Peter the Great was fascinated by all things new and particularly scientific. He even self-trained in dentistry, anatomy, carpentry and metalurgy. Here are some interesting tools from his collection...



rolling mills




a lathe or mill

and a close up




Being a jeweller, I was fascinated by the details of the palace that other people probably don't even notice, like...



door handles



and hinges.


The interiors of the palace are amazing. Apparently Catherine the Great redecorated and got rid of most of the baroque decor but a lot of it remains...







yes, those walls are gold.


And, of course, there's the art and artefacts. The well known highlights of the collection can be seen at the Hermitage website but here's just a taste of a few things that caught my eye...




for some reason, I was intrigued by these earrings, perhaps because they look like maggots and then I started thinking about a whole range of maggot jewellery...

They say about the Hermitage "There are art museums, and then there's the Hermitage" so when I saw this, I thought. "There are folding chairs and then there's this folding chair..."






a child's sleigh




pierced and carved ivory.


And, I'm not sure but, are these pineapples...?






So, I saw more today but I'll have to post about that tomorrow. The Hermitage reminded me of my experiences in Ireland; there are so many site of archeological significance there that most of them haven't been examined or documented. You'll be walking around the countryside and stumble upon a cairn or standing stone or burial mound. It won't be signposted and it won't be on your map. The same thing happens at the Hermitage. You'll be wandering around and spot something really interesting in a corner, there won't be a sign, it won't be behind glass and the babooshka (see definition 2 at the link) will just grunt when you try and sign language your interest in it.

One last thing...



I found a bride in the dunny

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Hermitage post #1

I have just enough batteries to write a quick post. I'm in a restaurant and there's nary a powerpoint to be seen.

Today was day one at The Hermitage...




And low and behold there was a contemporary jewellery exhibition on! It was the collection from the Montreal Museum of Fine Art and here are some of the highlights.



A Ted Noton! I've always wanted to see one in real life. I've admired his work in books for ages and here was the real thing. And I just stumbled upon it! It's called "I Love Modern Rings But I Hate Wearing Them Handbag"




Daniel Harmon Jocz's "Candy Wear Bracelet" - it's flocked! I thought Liana might like it.




Gjis Bakker


And... Is that?...Why yes, it is!...



Our very own Pierre Cavalan




Ramon Puig Cuyas




Stephan Seyffert




Blanka Markova Cepkova (fabric, gold-thread, gold-plated metal




Peter de Wit (from 1999, for some reason I thought it was much older than that)




Daniel Kruger




Martinazzi




Dali!!




Picasso!!




And Calder and Gerd Rothmann


I saw much much more today but it will have to wait until tomorrow (when I'll have seen even more!!)

until then, anna

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It's snowing in St Petersburg

and it's just beautiful. This is the beginning of the journey...



Tallinn railway station, trying to feel all Anna Karenina but it's just not cutting it.


And this treasure...



sits on the mantlepiece in my hotel. I've put him in because he relates to my previous post.


I haven't seen any jewellery yet but I've only been here one day and my Hermitage visit starts tomorrow.

The city is beautiful and romantically so. There are so many beautiful palaces and grand drives and vistas - parts of it remind me of up-town 5th avenue, New York. But most of the city is also in such a state of decay that it has a Blade Runner-esque feel to it as well.



Canal view


I visited the kunstkamera or 'museum of ethnology and anthropology' which contains the original collection from Peter the Great's wunderkamera. Lots of examples of "monsters": deformed babies and small animals in cylindrical jars of formaldehyde, skeletons of siamese twins and a stuffed 2 headed calf, it was quite unnerving. Peter set it up to educate his citizens and enticed them there by serving free vodka, no such luck for me.




And I found this kit for making artificial flowers in the 'history of St Petersburg' museum.




And I just love all the beautful tools.




And now for the obligatory tourist shot. Me and Peter the Great! According to Lonely Planet, it's good luck to fondle his right index finger.




I'll probably post again before I leave here. I'm in love with this city.

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