Layover in Zurich

On the way back from St. Petersburg, we had a 5-hour layover in Zurich. The Swiss reputation for organization seems well deserved. There is a subway station directly underneath the airport, which takes you to the center of the city in less than 15 minutes, so I decided to take a quick trip into the city to pass the time. Above is a photo of the electronic board in each subway car. You'll notice that there's a digital version of an analog clock in the lower right hand corner, and that it actually is counting the seconds! The train left and arrived precisely on time.

Before getting there, though, I had a small problem at passport control, where they detained me briefly, saying that my passport had been reported stolen (!). 

Fortunately, it was a misunderstanding, and they let me go after about an hour. I still had time, though, to head into the city. After looking at my information, the border guard noticed that my mother's maiden name was a common Swiss German name. I told him that my great-grandfather had come to the US from the area of Bern, and perhaps this softened him somewhat. :)

Anyway, Zurich was interesting. Despite the cold and a light rain, there were many people out in the city center, many of them huddling around stands that were selling Glühwein (mulled wine). You can see that the city was extensively decorated for the holidays.

Here is a Catholic church next to a restaurant, which was displaying some lighting on the church. There was no service, but the church was open for people to come in and pray.

Lots of lights hanging over the streets and on building facades.

The tram going by.

A huge moving display on a storefront, depicting various figures walking by on the street, right next to the many actual pedestrians moving through the crowded area.

The airport was great. Besides the convenience of the subway, it also had a fitness center for people with layovers!

It also had enormous moving sidewalks that even went up and down inclines.

St. Petersburg, Part 3

Here is another photo of Sts. Peter and Paul Fortress as I approached.

One of the churches inside the fortress.

One of the fortress' gates.

The view from the fortress across the river.

Petrovskie Gate, commemorating Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War.

Another view of the fortress, as I left from the other side.

A footbridge over a canal leading to the iconic Church of Christ the Savior on the Blood, built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated. You can see padlocks on the bridge, which are placed there by couples in love, signifying their unbreakable bond.

The striking Church of Christ the Savior on the Blood.

Another view of the church, as it sits along a canal. Just to the right of the above photo is the Russian Museum, where I spent the next several hours with their amazing collection of Russian icons.

About 4:00 (it was already getting dark and cold), I headed over to the Hermitage Museum (seen above), but the lines were several hours long (out in the cold), since there was free entrance in celebration of the Museum's 250th anniversary.

That evening, I met with some young Russians who came up to me after my talk at the conference. They took me to visit their parish, the Feodorovsky Cathedral. I was amazed at the parish's vitality and the number of young people, including a group of young men who were learning Byzantine chant. I took photos of the posters above, which show the church's history. The most disturbing part was that the Soviets turned it into a dairy factory. In the photo below, in the upper right, you can see that they even transformed a mosaic from reading "Glory to God" to "Glory to the Workers."

The parish has an impressive website with the full history of the church in English here.

Finally, one of my new Russian friends took me to visit the Church of St. Xenia, the patron saint of St. Petersburg.

It was a very full and rewarding last day in St. Petersburg. The next morning we were off to the airport.

St. Petersburg, Part 2

During a break in the conference, I went next door to St. Isaac's. Here are some photos from the inside. Although it is a museum, the northern "chapel" (which is enormous) is open for visitors to light candles, etc. I noted that one woman who went to light a candle and venerate the icons just in front of me hardly seemed to know how to do her cross. And yet she was there with a fistful of candles. I wonder if this is indicative -- a nascent faith, but with very little catechism?

Above is a photo of the beautiful gates from the main altar.

The ceiling. The western influence is heavy throughout.

Finally, it was my turn to speak. The audience was 99% Russian, and of the few foreigners present, most speak Russian (having studied in Russia, etc.) Originally, I was told to present the paper in English, but afterwards the organizers admitted that the level of the Russians' English was actually pretty low, so they drafted a poor young student to translate for me on the fly. (Complete disorganization, apparently, is not limited to the Balkans, but applies to all Orthodox countries.)

My talk was on the theology of mission as it applies to "translating" the ecclesiastical arts to new peoples.

The last day was free, so I did a grand walking tour of the city. My first stop, not far from our hotel, was the bizarre Kunstkamera Museum, otherwise known as Peter the Great's Chamber of Curiosities. Although much of the rather eclectic museum was normal (and rather bland), one floor (I believe it was the second) was shocking. I actually don't know if I'll ever be able to forget it. Apparently, it was all the rage in the European courts of the 18th century to collect "monstrosities" and "abnormalities of nature." This included having dwarfs and giants as royal attendants. It also included, as in Peter's case, a collection of human and animal fetuses with grotesque malformations (multiple heads, etc.). He even went so far as to issue an order for all such still-borns throughout the Empire to be sent to him. He then employed scientists to preserve them in jars for his museum.

Anyway, I then headed along the river toward Sts. Peter and Paul Fortress. Above, you can see a photo of the famous Winter Palace (and Hermitage Museum).

And here is the Fortress as I approached. More on that in the next part.

St. Petersburg, Russia - Part 1

Back in December, I was invited along with two colleagues to a conference in St. Petersburg about culture and the arts, which included a section on the role of the ecclesiastical arts.

The conference was sponsored, as one organizer told me, "by Putin," i.e., the government. I found it interesting that the taxi that picked us up from the airport had a photo of Putin in an army uniform hanging from his rearview mirror (see above).

That first evening, we took a (quick) walk around the very cold but beautiful city. Being December, sunset was at about 4:30 PM, while sunrise was at about 10:30 AM.

Here's a photo of the famous St. Isaac's Cathedral, the fourth largest cathedral in the world.

The next morning, we were off to the conference, which was being held in the Russian Institute of Art, housed in one of the many old mansions built by the Russian aristocracy in the 1700s when Peter "the Great" established the new city. Because of the building's historical value, we were required to wear plastic slip-ons over our shoes.

Used to the snow, most Russians brought their dress shoes with them, and left their boots and heavy coats in the staffed cloakrooms.

The building was located right next to St. Isaac's, on St. Isaac's Square. This was the view out of conference rooms.

This is where we took our breaks and drank lots of warm tea.

That afternoon, we had a bit of free time, so I took the subway to visit the city's St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra and the Sofrino ecclesiastical store next door to it.

Here is a mural from the subway, which is one of the deepest in the world. If I remember correctly, this mural depicts the famous Battle of Kulikovo.

St Petersburg is built on a river delta across many islands, and thus has many waterways and canals. For this reason, it has sometimes been called the "Venice of the North." Here is a waterway just outside the walls of the St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

A mural over one of the entrances to the monastery.

On the way back to our hotel, I walked past the grand Kazan Cathedral. To be honest, I didn't even realize it was a church until I read about it the next day. I thought it was some government building. Like most of the architecture, it was heavily influenced by western models from the 1700s. This one in particular was modeled after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Stay tuned for part 2.

Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

Back in November, our Metropolis hosted Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol (Cyprus) for a talk on marriage and the family.

The Metropolitan is well-known to English-speaking audiences as the "Fr. Maximos" of the book Mountain of Silence.

Besides that book, you can find many wonderful interviews and talks with him in English on the internet. See this excellent blog here, for instance.

I was able to take his blessing but he was too busy for any time to talk personally. Pres. Pelagia and I both got to listen to the wonderful talk, though, while the Metropolis provided child care.

Catching Up: The Kids, November 2014

First Paul, then Benny. Here's a photo of Benny helping out as an altar boy.

One day, Dami and stopped by our chanter Nikos' house while Pelagia was at the dentist nearby. Here, Dami is cuddling with Nikos.

Here's Dami waving the Greek flag from Ohi Day on October 28. 

Here's Paul getting his haircut with our good friend Vasilis at his shop downtown in Volos.

After the haircut, the boys and I stopped at the fire station nearby to visit our chanter Nikos. He let them play in the truck, turn on the flashing lights, etc. Here's Benny trying on a fireman's mask.

The kids decided to paint Dami's face with markers.

One day, we went for a walk in Makrinitsa. Here are the kids standing in the entranceway to Makrinitsa's cathedral church from the 1700s. Above the arch here is the bishop's house, which is now to be used as a museum.

It seems some kids forget two skateboards in our church courtyard, so our kids have been having a good time riding them down the incline of the courtyard. They even took turns giving Dami rides.