POSTCARD N.87 - RUSSIA

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 15th June; received on the 7th July

Postcard image: View of the Neva, Nikolayevsky Bridge and the Nikolayevskaya Embankment, 1910s 

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Saint Petersburg... the cultural fulcrum of an immense country led by a man who thinks he's the reincarnation of the Tsar who established it...  I wouldn't be surprised if one day we would find a  Vladimirograd in the map.... 

Meanwhile let's take a look at what Saint Petersburg looked like when the Romanov were still ruling the country, back in 1910, in this beautiful postcard I got from Oleg. Many thanks Oleg.

One of the key features in the photo are the arches of a bridge connecting the two banks of the Neva. This, I read, was the first permanent bridge over the river in Saint Petersburg and when it was inaugurated in 1850 it was christened as the Nevsky bridge, only to have its name changed five years later to Nikolaevsky bridge thus honouring Tsar Nikolai I, who died that same year. 

But bridges do last longer than men (if men do not send a rocket do destroy them, as it is so common nowadays, about 1,000 km south of Saint Petersburg) and the bridge was again redenominated Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge, after one of the leaders of the Russian Imperial Navy uprising of 1905 in Sevastopol. (Battleship Potemkin, anyone?)

The end of the story? Not at all. In 2007, it was probably felt that Liutenant Schmidt had gone through all of his airtime and so a new name plaque was unveiled, this time indicating  the bridge would  thenceforth be known as the Annunciation Bridge (could it be a reflexion of the ever growing proximity between church and state, in a country that was once known for  advocating that  religion was the opium of the people?)

The monumental dome of St. Isaac Cathedral  towers up above the line of the horizon while in front of it the buildings of the huge complex of the Admiralty can also be perceived with the Hermitage (oh sigh.... when will I?...) right to its side... out of the photo,  but just a couple of blocks across the bridge one will find Marinsky Theatre....

On the foreground we have what is now Lieutenant Schmidt embankment where trams and carriages whiz down the rails and the wide spacious streets....

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Stamps Left to right:

Self-adhesive  4 Ruble stamp, part of the 7th definitive issue of the Russian Federation, started in 2019. It exhibits the State Postal Administration Emblem and was issued on 07AUG2019.

I like transport machines, especially aircraft. Not just for their functional purpose. In fact it is the plastic quality of the machines that I admire the most, I do believe. The same happens with ships, cars, trams and of course trains. All of them beautiful machines and  infinite sources of bewildrement for  those like me that like to go calmly through transport and aviation museums.

Stamps can fulfil the role of a museum admirably, I find. Well drawn  detailed images of trains such as the ones on the card Oleg sent me are proof of this.

It just took a quick search on the internet to find examples of locomotives that could be the steam loco on the left side stamp of the se-tenant 27 Ruble denominated pair issued on 02AUG2021, dedicated to Russia's  trains. investigating a bit further I came to the conclusion that it represents the Ruskeala express, a tourist oriented train that runs from  Sortavala to the Ruskeala Mountain Park  in the Karelia region. 

The train on the right is a modern Russian Railways Double-Deck Business Class and Sleeping Car.

The postmark lets us know that the postcard was mailed from the city of Vologda, in the Northwest of Russia.