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<\/a><\/p>\nUbered over to the Stieglitz \u00a0museum and Academy of Art and Design. The driver was a double for Herc on The Wire<\/a>.\u00a0His English was serviceable\u00a0and he wanted to chat, a double rarity among Russian Uber drivers.\u00a0He told me he had worked\u00a0in Moscow for 30 years, but he liked living\u00a0in St Petersburg\u00a0better. No, he didn\u2019t go to the May 1 parade, he didn’t approve of those politics. On impulse, I showed him my video clip on my phone of the perky, prancing Russian drummer girls and he softened like butter in the\u00a0tropics.<\/p>\n Popped out at the Stieglitz<\/a>,\u00a0and knocked on the door. My stout guide had an air of benevolent command and was the the doppelg\u00e4nger of the announcer in the\u00a0Wendy\u2019s Burger<\/a>\u00a0ad\u00a0from the 80s. She unlocked the first of many sets of metal gates, and off we went, her chatelaine\u00a0of\u00a0keys rattling. \u00a0Stieglitz\u00a0created a monument to the applied art and design, making the building itself a kind of visual text book,\u00a0a marvelously\u00a0illustrated folio\u00a0of\u00a0arts and crafts through the ages.\u00a0Both students\u00a0and the graduates of the school actively participated in the painting and decoration. \u00a0The interior\u00a0murals and frescos were\u00a0copied from both Italian and Moscovian Palaces; hall after hall, ceiling after ceiling.<\/p>\n I wanted to fall to my back on the floor and just soak it in. I had a fantasy of lying on a well-padded handcart and being wheeled through the halls.<\/p>\n Turns out the school is closed on Mondays and we had the place to ourselves. My guide\u00a0would point and announce \u2018perspective\u2019, or \u201819th century\u2019.<\/p>\n Certain words, like cloisonn\u00e9<\/em>, required no translation. Gestures, and writing dates with her finger in dust, worked well. I discovered I preferred non-verbal tours. I spent more time looking and less time talking. She lingered near the textiles: wall mounted glass cases of dolls dressed in the regalia of their Russian region, cases of vintage French silk upholstery swatches, dresses for brides and pregnant woman, elaborate headdresses, variations on the embroidered coif.<\/p>\n We strolled halls lined with Spanish, French, and Italian escritoires ornamented\u00a0with carving, petra dure mosaics, marquetry.<\/p>\n Galleries surrounding a central courtyard exhibition space were lined with copies of the\u00a0broken, powerful figures of the Parthenon friezes. Paint spattered, well-used easels and rickety chairs were set up for\u00a0students. I typed \u2018I prefer skill and beauty,\u2019 and she sighed and indicated she loved medieval period. We bonded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For all that the\u00a0Stieglitz\u00a0was plundered\u00a0by the Soviets and left dusty, stripped of acquisitions, and frayed around the edges, it was still a treasure house of imagery and cultural achievements, and she was its keeper. We walked the halls for over an hour. I departed filled to the brim with beauty and possibilities, and a deep happiness that this cradle for applied arts survived being looted, whitewashed, and\u00a0turned\u00a0into a gym. \u00a0It was, without a doubt, the best 2000 rubles I ever spent.<\/p>\n Recall how disappointed I was, how angry at being thwarted when I first\u00a0knocked on this door and was turned away? I had to figure out a way to finagle a tour, which resulted in this deeply\u00a0satisfying experience. ‘Things have a mysterious way of working out,’ as my friend Tom Magill used to say. Have a little faith.<\/p>\n Afterwards I called Uber and went to Caf\u00e9\u00a0Zoom.<\/strong><\/a> Score! Delightful ambience, great food, and best of all, kind, smiling waitstaff. <\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Restoration work from the depredations of the Soviet era is ongoing.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>I got excited over a small metal box and communicated via my iPhone that I was making a bronze casket, after which she brought me behind the velvet ropes and opened various boxes for me to examine.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>Very like Teplo<\/strong>, with a playful\u00a0menu and a sense that families\u00a0were welcome. I started with a salad of fresh shaved carrots and apples, my entree was cod on mashed potatoes, and I drank a non-alcoholic mojito;\u00a07-up, lime, and mint. Very refreshing.\u00a0The check came in a children’s book about a frog.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>