"Don't steam"!

Yesterday Svyatoslav taught me a new phrase in current Russian slang which translates literally as “Don’t steam” and basically means “Don’t worry", "Don’t think about it”. It is a useful phrase for yesterday’s adventures.
It was raining lightly when I showed up just before 9:00 a.m. to meet the members of the PCOM choir at their hotel to find out about their program. Several of the choir members were already in the street in front of the hotel so I greeted them. I told them that five minutes away down the street was an interesting sort of museum/shrine for the Beatles. About five or six of the choir members wanted to go see the Temple of Love and Peace right then before going to their tour bus at 10:00. We walked there together, and to my surprise Kolya was there and greeted us companions warmly. They really enjoyed the place and several people bought t-shirts. We invited Kolya to the concert, but I couldn’t remember the name of the street where the church is.
On their bus at 10:00 a.m. I was disappointed to find out that they needed to be back at the hotel at 3:30 p.m. rather than 4:00 and that they might not return from their morning bus excursion until after 2:00 p.m. giving us very little time for my planned walking tour. Nevertheless 25 people raised their hands to indicate they wanted to go on the walk.
Before 2:00 p.m. I was back at the hotel with Tanya and Svyatoslav. The weather had cleared up by then and was sunny and cool. The bus arrived about 2:10 and sixteen of the choir members including director John Elg and his wife Gretchen decided to walk with me. We gave each of them two subway tokens and took the metro one stop to Vladimirskaya where we first went to the Dostoevsky apartment museum. I handed my video camera to Tanya who filmed my as gave the group a three minute biography of Dostoevsky and explaining that the apartment was where he wrote The Brothers Kamaramazov and where he died. Inside Tanya and I had to plead with the administrator to let our group in and go through the museum in 10 minutes because we had very limited time. The administrator reluctantly gave her permission and we hustled everyone in and upstairs for a very brief tour of the museum. Several people said they really liked seeing where Dostoevsky lived even if our time there was very brief.
Leaving the museum we went across the street to the Kuzhnechny Market where the group marveled at the beautiful displays of food. One woman even bought some bing cherries and several people sampled honey. Next we went across the street in another direction and entered the big, old Vladimir Church. I think for most of the group it was the first time many of them had been inside an orthodox church. They noted that there are now pews. We had just enough time to light a few candles before hurrying on to meet our time deadline. After pausing outside for a few photos we got the group back in the metro station and after one stop back to their hotel at about 3:45 p.m. So we did this whirlwind tour in about an hour and a half – perhaps a world record. We said farewell to the choir members who rushed into their hotel to prepare for their first concert.
The tour helped me decide that I don’t have the temperament be a tour guide. It is very stressful work requiring the firmness of a drill sergeant and the patience of Job. I would love to show off St. Petersburg to three or four people at a time, but a larger group is too much responsibility.
As we got off the metro train at our station I checked my little backpack and noticed to my horror that my video camera was missing. I could hardly believe my eyes. I thought I had been very careful about it. Perhaps I was distracted when I was guiding the group. We even went all the way back to the museum to see if I had left it there. I hadn’t. Of course we were all very upset about this loss and I felt depressed angry with myself for my lack of diligence.
When we later talked to choir members at the church before their concert someone told me that one of the men on the walk had his pockets picked and lost credit cards. Russia must have some of the most skilled pick pockets in the world!
The concert was marvelous. The acoustics in the church were just right to amplify the beauty of the choral singing. Unfortunately the concert was sparsely attended with no more than 40 people present in a church that can seat probably nearly 1,000 if both balconies are used. However I was very happy to see Kolya Vasin arrive whom I had called and given the street address for the church. He sat with us and at one point during the concert he said to us (in Russian) “Not bad, but the Beatles are better”. The concert was really inspiring and brought back good memories of serving at PCOM. As I told John later, it made me want to get in the pulpit and preach. I especially liked the Rachmaninoff “Ave Maria” sung in Russian.
After the concert I introduced Kolya to John Elg and we sat together for tea and cookies in the church basement. Kolya recommended to John that they include “All You Need Is Love” in their repertoire and mentioned that Elvis Presley had sung Amazing Grace beautifully.
The choir returned to their hotel where we met a few of them in the lobby. Gretchen Elg had asked about climbing up to the St. Isaac’s Cathedral Colonnade and I told her it was possible. Eight choir members joined Tanya and I for a stroll down Nevsky Prospect enjoying the late evening lightness as we made our way to St. Isaac’s where we climbed the spiral staircase to the Colannade for another spectacular view of the city, this time with clouds in the sky and a beautiful sunset in the making. We barely made it back to the metro before it closes at midnight. After getting the choir members back to their hotel, Tanya and I made our way home. I drank a beer and more cognac than is prudent, but slept about 8 hours last night (for the first time without taking a sleeping pill).
In my journal I recorded the words of Thomas Jefferson: “Travel can made one wiser but less happy.” He was an experienced traveler and he was right.