What's New in Baku: Mother Russia

With Azerbaijan sharing a border with Russia, I couldn't pass up the opportunity of being so close and not visiting. We specifically planned our trip for summertime, when the weather would be more bearable. And after several people told us how beautiful St. Petersburg was, we chose to visit both Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature foiled our plans. Instead of summer weather, we arrived in St. Petersburg to a dreary, chilly, windy weekend. The wind was especially harsh near the water...and pretty much all the major sites were near the water. We did our best to forge ahead with our sightseeing plans, but breathed a sigh of relief whenever we headed inland and an even bigger sigh when we got to Moscow, where the weather was beautiful.

Erica bundled up against the wind at Peterhof Palace

Somehow we had this idea in our heads that Russia, and especially Moscow, would be ugly. I pictured streets filled with ugly, bland Soviet apartment buildings. If you've never been to a post-Soviet country, think of the Brutalist, colorless concrete architecture of the mid-20th century and you'll have an idea of what we were expecting. But we were pleasantly surprised to find the architecture of St. Petersburg and Moscow to be beautiful and colorful.

Erica on the Arbat in Moscow

Although we did not go to any shows of the official arts scene of Russia, we stumbled upon several performances during our wonderings. All were wonderful and very different. While in St. Petersburg, we were strolling through a park and came across an a cappella men's choral group. The group performed a fun selection of tunes in Russian, English, and French.

Men's a cappella group in St. Petersburg's Mikhailosky Park

While inside St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square, we suddenly heard voices singing and followed the sounds to a side chapel where we were treated to a stunning chant concert from a men's choral group.

Jeremy at St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square

And we saw a fabulous brass band performing on the streets of Moscow. They danced along to their pieces, including a Michael Jackson medley complete with the Thriller dance. While all this may sound run-of-the-mill to Americans, bear in mind that street performers do not exist in Azerbaijan, so just happening upon live music is a rare event in our lives these days and it brought me great joy.