SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #665 (32), Friday, April 27, 2001
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TITLE: neumeier takes on mariinsky
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: "My mission in coming here was for these wonderful dancers to try to create something directly involved with their own generation," said choreographer John Neumeier of his first collaboration with the Mariinsky Theater.
While the Mariinsky made its name with brilliant performances of 19th-century ballet classics, in recent years its repertoire has become more diverse.
Local audiences will be able to see the fruits of Neumeier's work from April 28 to 30, when the company's top soloists Ulyana Lopatkina, Diana Vishnyova, Svetlana Zakharova, Farukh Ruzimatov and Andrian Fadeyev will perform his three one-act ballets "Spring and Fall," "Now and Then" and "Sounds of Empty Pages."
One of the greatest modern choreographers, Neumeier studied dancing at the Royal Ballet School in London and the Royal Ballet Theater in Copenhagen. Under his leadership, the Hamburg Ballet - which Neumeier has run since 1973 - joined the international ballet elite.
"Spring and Fall," set to Dvorak's "Serenade," was originally created for the Grand Theater in Geneva and premiered there in 1994, while "Now and Then," set to music by Ravel, first saw the stage a year earlier at the O'Keefe Center in Toronto. But "Sound of Empty Pages," set to Alfred Schnitke's 1985 concerto for viola and orchestra, will have its world premiere at the Mariinsky. This ballet was created in memory of the composer, who was a close friend of Neumeier.
Neumeier found analogies in the concerto - in which the viola almost fights with the orchestra - with Schnitke's own tormented life in the Soviet Union, where the composer was deprived of the opportunity to express himself freely.
"Choosing that very piece to stage here was very difficult, and finally [Mariinsky ballet director] Makhar Vaziyev decided that I should stage several works to allow me to express what I think is important and to get to know as many people in the company as possible," Neumeier recalls.
The choreographer describes all three ballets as symphonic works. "But these ballets aren't abstract. All of my choreography is based on an emotional response to music or a situation," Neumeier said. "The characters, the situations and the emotions in these ballets will tell you what I heard in the music. And other choreographers would have heard totally different stories in that music."
For those familiar with Neumeier's works, it may be a surprise that a ballet master who initially gained fame staging dramatic ballets is joining the Mariinsky repertoire with symphonic dances. But the choreographer is convinced he made the right choice. "I don't just sell ballets like people buy bread, piece by piece," Neumeier said. "What I am seeking is an artistic relationship with the company."
After receiving Vaziyev's proposal to stage at the Mariinsky, Neumeier went to London where the theater was touring at the time to study the company's style meticulously, abilities and potential. "After seeing the rehearsals and performances I realized what I wanted to say to this troupe. My concept of dancing is very individual, and my task is to get to know as many performers as possible."
"Perhaps the most difficult thing for a choreographer is to go to a company new to him, and to create something that was not there previously," Neumeier said.
Having staged productions all over the world, he is convinced that the ballet belongs to the place where it was created. "When I reproduce a work, I will always see the people with whom I staged it initially," he said.
For the choreographer, rapport with the performers is more important than reaching an understanding with the audience.
"It may sound strange, but for me the journey the dancers make with the choreographer in the process of working together is much more important than the result," he said. But if the choreographer's goal is achieved, and common language with the dancers is found, the result is bound to be brilliant. This weekend we will find out.
For details, call the Mariinsky ticket office at: 114-43-44.
TITLE: hannibal fascinates, but disappoints
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The maxim that sequels aren't as good as originals is given confirmation once more in director Ridley Scott's film "Hannibal," based on the book of the same title by Thomas Harris. The film, which had its European premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February, opened in local theaters this Friday.
Harris' labyrinthine continuation of the story of the unique and strange rapport between FBI agent Clarice Starling and the diabolical psychiatrist Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter is regarded as pulp fiction by some and high literature by others. It is part of a series that includes "Red Dragon" - made into a 1986 film called "Manhunter" by director Michael Mann - and of course, "Silence of the Lambs," which was made into the eponymous highly successful film directed by Jonathan Demme in 1991. The casting of lead roles has differed in all three films. In "Manhunter," the first screen appearance of the Lecter character, Brian Cox interpreted the role, helping investigator Will Graham (William L. Petersen) catch a serial killer with a mother complex by psychoanalyzing him. The role was pivotal, but minor.
"Silence of the Lambs" has a similar plotline, with the introduction of female FBI investigator Starling (Jodie Foster) searching for a repressed homosexual serial killer, only this time Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) is a major character whose actions eventually eclipse the hunt for the other murderer.
Arguably the element that assured the popular success of both "Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal" is Anthony Hopkins' seductively intelligent portrayal of Lecter, an extremely learned individual who appreciates fine Florentine art and fine food - of the human kind. His Hannibal has a weighty, fierce, yet at the same time oddly tranquil acumen coupled with wily resourcefulness that is truly fascinating to watch. His current performance features the same, but with an added debonair wardrobe and a host of expressions that lace the film with black humor, such gems as "goody, goody," "okeydokey," "tah-dah," and "it's to die for."
"Hannibal" follows events that occur 10 years after "Silence of the Lambs." Lecter has moved to Florence, Italy and has kept a low profile. Meanwhile Starling (Julianne Moore) has set a record: She has become the female FBI agent with the most confirmed kills. In a drug-bust sequence that opens the film, she shoots a black female drug dealer out of necessity in a calamitous firefight caused by the indiscretion of a local cop. She is painted as indiscriminate and trigger-happy by the media, and hounded by Paul Krendler (Ray Liotta), a Justice Department watch dog. Mason Verger (an uncredited Gary Oldman in grisly makeup), Lecter's only surviving victim, hears of Starling's fall from grace and hatches a revenge plan using Starling as bait to lure Lecter out of hiding.
While investigating the mysterious disappearance of a university professor whom Lecter has replaced, masquerading as Professor Fell. Florentine policeman Pazzi (Giancarlo Gianini) discovers Lector's true identity and hunts him, with disastrous results. The film culminates in uniquely macabre tones with a shocking sequence in Krendler's lakeside home.
Considering the source material, screenwriters David Mamet and Steven Zaillian have done monumental work in paring down the story to create a serviceable screenplay. Some characters have been excised, and while some who have read the book will complain of a Reader's Digest condensed novel feel and a changed ending, the film overall moves at a decent pace and even holds a few surprises for those who don't know the story already. The visual panache of director Ridley Scott, who was also responsible for the extremely successful "Gladiator," is as sharp as ever. His direction of the film is skilled, and even oddly elegant. As well, the performances from most of the leads are fine, but the various elements just don't add up. The cast and crew of "Hannibal" should get an "A" for effort, but the film is still rather disappointing.
TITLE: chernov's choice
TEXT: The main live show of the upcoming holidays is probably Leningrad's "Best Concert of Spring" at Lensoviet Palace of Culture on May 1, and the main techno party is the all-night Vostochny Udar: Evolution on April 30. (See the full lineup on page iii).
Tours of international rock acts continue with new and exciting names announced on a weekly basis, but Stereolab will not play in St. Petersburg as some expected. Because of a disagreement between local and Moscow promoters, the band's Moscow show on May 12 at the 16 Tons club will be the only one in Russia.
Despite the rumors, The Tiger Lillies will play in St. Petersburg, said the show's local promoters Wednesday. The concert will take place at Manege on May 16. Tickets will cost 150 rub.
Last year the U.K. band, which blends rock and cabaret, proved to be a sensation in Moscow, packing clubs there, and managed to sell the hundreds of CDs that it brought to the country.
Les Hurlements d'Leo, the colorful band from Bordeaux, France, whose folk-punk style is frequently compared to that of The Pogues, will appear at LDM on May 31. The support is provided by Tequilajazzz.
Germany's Guano Apes will appear at Prometheus Festival in Moscow. The open-air festival themed around stuntmen will feature a few Russian bands as well. It'll take place in Tushino on May 25.
The Skatalites, the Jamaican ska pioneers and forefathers of reggae, will play at Lensoviet Palace on May 27. The nine-member veteran band is proud to feature Lloyd Brevett, Lloyd Knibb and Lester Sterling who were with The Skatalites in 1964.
Tickets for Sting's concert at the Ice Palace on June 3 are still available and cost between 500 and 2,000 rubles.
The beautifully gloomy Tindersticks will play the city on June 19, while Muscovites will see them at the Tochka club on June 21. The local show is planned to be held at the Vyborgsky Palace of Culture, with tickets costing between $5 and $10, but the venue is likely to be changed.
The same ambiguity is true for the Anglo-American tense trio Red Snapper, which is due on June 24.
Eric Burdon of the Animals fame is expected on June 26. According to promoters, tickets for the show will cost $10 to $15.
In true new-Russian VIP style Elton John will play a "VIP concert" in Pushkin on July 19, the Moscow promoters Alfa Bank announced last week.
The concert will take place at Yekaterinsky Palace - a stone's throw from the splendid park - while the 600 tickets available are said to cost $500 each.
- By Sergey Chernov
TITLE: chaos rules at skif festival
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Clouds of cigarette smoke fill the hall. The beer and vodka are flowing. Hundreds of people of all ages ranging from hippies to businessmen rub shoulders in the foyer and bars. Strange sounds from everywhere. Chaos. This was SKIF5, the Fifth International Sergei Kuryokhin Festival last weekend - for the third year held in St. Petersburg.
"From an organization standpoint, it turned to be the most chaotic and uneven of all the three SKIF festivals held in St. Petersburg," said art director Alexander Kan about the three-day all-night event, which took place at LDM Palace of Youth.
"Delays, replacements, a definite chaos even in organization of the stage and equipment - there have alwaysbeen problems of this kind and they are probably inevitable, but this time there were probably more of them than could be accepted as normal."
London-based since 1996, Kan was one of the first promoters and ardent supporters of New Music in St. Petersburg. In 1979 he co-founded the Club of Contemporary Music, which was shut down by the authorities in 1981.
In 1989 to 1994 Kan promoted the Open Music Festival - which in a way paved the path for SKIF.
"Probably one of the reasons [for the chaos] was an excessive number of participants - there were too many acts, but there was a lot of good music, and there were constantly good vibrations in the air, which is in fact the essence of SKIF," said Kan.
One of the high points of the festival was Alim Kasimov, internationally renowned Azeri musician and vocalist. Kasimov came to play a brief, 20-minute set as part the Days of Azerbaijan Culture, but played a full-length performance at SKIF.
"The audience was enthusiastic about the performance of this pure folklore act. I watched their reaction and was happy about the progress," said Kan.
"When the same people heard Oriental music on a radio 15 years ago, they would most likely switch it off - but now they were delighted."
"Of course, there's an element of fashion for world music now, but on the other hand, there's nothing bad in this fashion, because this music is wonderful - it's better than the fashion for the Spice Girls or Filipp Kirkorov," said Kan, who has presented the bi-weekly Open Music show on BBC Russian Service since 1997.
His program is devoted to all kinds of off-the-wall music, from Robert Wyatt to Philip Glass, from avant-garde to world music.
Kan also noted Me Naiset, a Finnish folklore-related all-girl group, Moscow's Theater of Tibetan Music Purba, Austria's Metamorphosis and Norway's Mikhail Alperin Trio, among others.
One of SKIF's headliners, Pierre Moerlen's Gong - the project of the French progressive rock band's drummer with local musicians - has signed a contract with Moscow-based Solyd label and is now busy recording an album.
"Though they have never performed before, the ensemble turned out to be harmonious and good," said Kan.
Speaking on the continuity of SKIF to Open Music Festival, Kan said: "If the first events we did in the early 1980s were inclined toward avant-garde jazz, the late 1980s' Open Music festivals were more open-minded in a way. There were folk ensembles, academic avant-garde, new styles of rock there - it was the same principle that is now reproduced by SKIF on a larger scale."
Over the past two decades, the local audience for unconventional kinds of music has definitely grown, which SKIF demonstrates.
"I know that the number of people interested in very diverse music is growing incredibly," said Kan. "I see it in the people whom I communicate with, and as a matter of fact I see it in myself."
TITLE: great food, great writer
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: "Join the local foreigners at Pushka- Inn" proclaims the advertisement for this "restaurant-bar" which opened recently on the Moika, and you would be excused for puzzling a little over what a local foreigner is. The name is also cause for bewilderment. Using a rather strange play on words that combines the Russian word for cannon with the name of the country's national poet, Pushka-Inn is located right next to the last earthly residence of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin himself, and seems the perfect place for tourists to relax after spending an exhausting afternoon paying homage to the great writer.
There was no one around, foreign or local, when we dropped into the place at around 3 in the afternoon on a Thursday, but we found a seat by the window. The decor is rather unusual, with the pushka theme bought to the fore, with cannon balls lodged into the walls and a number of cannons painted here and there. But in all other aspects, the atmosphere is reminiscent of the '80s - the combination of beige chairs and glass tables is certainly something I hadn't seen for a while, and certainly not in Russia, which was fortunate enough to miss out on this period of dubious taste as the West experienced it.
The menu has a very diverse selection, with wines coming from everywhere from Australia to China, and a similarly extensive selection of cocktails. With quite a lot of work ahead, I opted for a Tuborg beer (45 rubles) while my colleague opted for orange juice (25 rubles).
We looked over the huge choice of food for a while before I decided on the cream-soup with salmon and caviar (160 rubles), and my colleague took the carpaccio (185). My soup was delicious, with the caviar on a piece of bread floating on top of the soup, while the carpaccio with parmesan, lettuce and cranberries was also a wonderful, and filling, start.
Unfortunately, they were out of the pork spare ribs which I had set my heart on, so I opted for the govyadnia po-frantsuzski, (250 rubles), a hearty portion of beef in pastry, and served on a cow-shaped hot platter with plum sauce. My colleague ordered the river pike-perch (230 rubles) with a honey and almond sauce. We both opted for a side order of potatoes with garlic and cream, laudably at no extra cost.
Any misgivings I may have had about the decor quickly faded from my mind as we ate our delicious food. This is a restaurant that can cook a diverse range of food equally well, as we both found it hard to fault our main courses. They even have a small Mexican section on the menu, and the odd Chinese dish, so it seems the majority of humanity could find something edible there.
While we were very full, my colleague had already ordered the fried bananas for dessert, and I was called upon to help her out.
While the Pushka-Inn is not cheap, the food is certainly some of the best you will find in the city, and the location is ideal. Locals and foreigners alike should rejoice.
Pushka-Inn, 14 Nab. Moiki, 318-47-12. Open daily, 11 a.m. to 5 a.m. Credit cards accepted Lunch for two, 1,095 rubles ($38).
TITLE: a city not quite on the map
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: It may come as a surprise to those who have this newspaper in their hands, but St. Petersburg, with all its fabled architecture, culture and history, is far from being one of the world's best-known tourist destinations.
However, recently released tourism statistics for 2000 paint a generally positive picture, both for the city and for Russia as a whole.
According to the Economic Development and Trade Ministry, as many as 21 million people visited Russia last year, including citizens from the Commonwealth of Independent States. Excluding CIS visitors, the number of people visiting Russia last year grew 15 percent to 2.2 million, just a few thousand short of the record 1997 total.
According to the press service of the City Tourism Committee, 2.95 million tourists of all types came to St. Petersburg in 2000, as well as 148,000 cruise liner passengers who stopped off at the city.
The committee also estimates that two-thirds of foreign tourists visiting Russia come to St. Petersburg at some point during their stay.
"We are witnessing steady growth," said Elena Kuznetsova, public relations manager for the Astoria Hotel. "St. Petersburg is becoming more and more popular among tourists, and I think in 2003 [when the city celebrates its 300th anniversary], there will be a tourist boom."
The largest number of visitors to Russia came from Poland, with a figure of 741,000, followed by Finland, with roughly half that. Rounding out the top 10, in order, were Germany, China, the United States, Italy, Latvia, Britain, Lithuania and France.
However, these statistics should be treated with caution. Whereas most countries with developed tourist industries have a number of indicators from which to compile statistics, Russia relies mostly on border control records. The figure for St. Petersburg, for example, is almost entirely based on travelers coming in across the northwest borders, according to the Tourism Committee, and the amount of tourists arriving from Moscow is still an educated guess.
Valery Golubev, head of the Tourism Committee, said that the overall figure was probably closer to 3.5 million tourists. He added, however, that this was highly unsatisfactory.
"Prague and Warsaw have tourism levels that are several times higher," Golubev said.
image problems
"If organized properly, tourism would bring Russia more money than arms sales," Valery Gergiev, director of one of the city's cultural jewels, the Mariinsky Theater, said in an interview with The St. Petersburg Times last year. And that just about sums up the problem: St. Petersburg has enormous potential, but it also has enormous problems tapping it.
Last year, the city administration made a number of efforts to promote the name of the city abroad, staging or participating in 17 tourism exhibitions outside Russia and another 16 at home.
The Tourism Committee took its case to Berlin, Hannover, Geneva, Dubai, Cairo, Hong Kong, Helsinki and Madrid, and Golubev says it intends to team up with Moscow in the near future and promote the two cities jointly.
"Uniting our efforts and pooling our resources will help us do a better quality job," Golubev said.
But this is just scratching the surface, said Lex Granaada, managing partner in the consultancy firm Granaada and Partner.
"In general, St. Petersburg is not marketing itself at all," Granaada said. "I run an incentive-marketing company in Holland, and I have had a few groups to St. Petersburg, but that's because we are always looking for new destinations, not because of good marketing [on the part of the city.]"
Granaada was in St. Petersburg in March as the organizer of a conference of the Society of Incentive and Travel Executives, or SITE. The gathering only served to reinforce Ger giev's point.
"A majority of SITE's members voted to hold our annual conference in St. Petersburg this year," said Gra naada, "but more than 80 percent of them had never been to St. Petersburg, and about 60 percent didn't even know how to find the place on the map."
While SITE is not a tourist agency - it specializes in business performance and incentive programs, of which travel is a key component - the fact that many of its members are travel experts should be a cause of worry to the city authorities.
Once they were here, however, the delegates were entranced.
"The city is really magical," Andrea Michaels, president of U.S.-based events organizer Extraordinary Events. "We'll go back with the right words and the right attitude, and you'll see a lot of tourism returning and bringing more international business here."
"It's a historic city," said Gregory Kurdian, managing director of destination management company Sunbound. "It's like a Russian [version of] Vienna or Paris, completely different from Moscow or anywhere else in Russia. Absolutely, I would advise my clients to come here. The city is very friendly to tourists."
local hazards
While the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the U.S. State Department have posted "stay away" warnings for the North Caucasus and surrounding area on their Web sites, both issue nothing more than standard advice on St. Petersburg. "Incidents of armed violence in major cities are usually linked to criminal/business activities and are not usually directed against foreigners," reads the Foreign Office site.
But the image created by the rush of crime stories that have come out of Russia, St. Petersburg included, over the past few years has had its effect. And while the city's label as the country's "criminal capital" may be disputed, once the reputation is out, it is hard to shake off.
"Probably St. Petersburg's biggest problem is fighting a negative media," said Rachel Shackleton, the general director of training and consultancy firm Concept and an expert on city tourism. "When somebody is shot in the nearest cafe, it has a huge effect [on tourists' decisions of where to travel.]"
Shackleton identified another factor hindering the growth of tourism in Russia, and one that many travelers will agree with: visas.
"St. Petersburg is a European destination, it's competing with Vienna and Paris, Stockholm and Helsinki," Shackleton said.
"But we're missing out on a huge market of short-term clients [who are put off by] having to queue to get a visa in a month's time for a weekend stay. The city needs a system like Istanbul, when you pay [a few dollars] at the airport and thank you very much, you have your visa."
"Even if the visa limits your time to a week of 10 days, [short-term visitors] should be dealt with in a professional and speedy manner," Shackleton added.
But once the city gets its extra tourists, it has to find somewhere to put them.
"St. Petersburg is definitely lacking in hotels," said the Astoria's Kuz net sova. "I think May, June and July in 2003 will be critical times because it is unlikely that the city will be able to accommodate a large inflow of tourists. There are not enough average hotels - in St Petersburg they are either luxury or low-key. Of course the city has to build more, but first it should finish off those that have been under construction for a long time, such as the Northern Crown."
party time
In 2003, St. Petersburg will be marking the three centuries since Peter the Great first resolved to turn his back on Moscow as the essence of Russia and build a "Window on the West." 2003 is thus a fantastic chance to pull in as many tourist dollars as possible, and plans to encourage this are going ahead full steam - yes?
Not quite. Although City Hall has set up an organization to oversee the festivities called Committee 300, and a fund to raise money, it is vying with a working group in the Legislative Assembly, a non-commercial organization called 300th Anniversary set up by a local lawmaker, and at least five other non-governmental groups - plus the national organizing committee in Mos cow headed by that well-known St. Petersburg native, President Vla dimir Putin.
Furthermore, not only has the Legislative Assembly not yet received a program of planned events from City Hall, but it was only last week that Governor Vla di mir Yakovlev got around to ordering his civil servants to look into ways of raising money from private sponsors and produce a report by the end of the month.
And then, of course, there's the mysterious problem of who will allocate the money for the jubilee and how it will be spent. On a promotional visit to Moscow in February, Yakovlev said that the state would be giving the city 1 billion rubles, or $35.7 million.
The same day, however, Viktor Cherkesov, the governor general of the Northwest region - and the state's power in the city - gave a much higher figure of 30 billion to 40 billion rubles.
Cherkesov later said in an interview with the business daily Vedomosti that the figure Ya kov lev gave may have been different because the governor was thinking of what the city administration will get, "but the large part of the financing will be transferred through federal channels."
"And all work will be carried out by federal order," Cherkesov said.
However, Leonid Romankov, an assembly deputy involved in the jubilee preparations, said that on a governmental level, the danger of the left hand and the right hand being in competition was minimal.
"The actions of the [state and city] committees will be coordinated," he said.
"The only danger here is that the private organizations will present themselves as official ones."
TITLE: what are you doing here?
TEXT: As St. Petersburg battles to increase tourism levels,
Tom Masters went out and about to ask some visitors to the city why they came, and what their impressions have been so far. Photos by Alexander Belenky.
Berta Pfrand, 43, from Germany
"Our son works in the diplomatic service here, and we are visiting him for a week. It is our first time in St. Petersburg and we have come as individuals, rather than in a group. We were in Moscow on a group tour five years ago, but it didn't include St. Petersburg. I heard lots of interesting things about St. Petersburg and our son told us very good things too - that's why we came. We heard a lot about the mafia, but we haven't had any bad experiences ourselevs."
Philippa Kwan, 42, from Hong Kong
"It's my first time here, I think it's very nice - there are so many historical buildings - but it's very dirty with all the cars and traffic. All I knew about St. Petersburg beforehand was from history, Peter the Great and so on, but nothing contemporary, save the burial of the late Nicholas II, which I watched on TV.
I feel quite safe here, I was told that the police were a bit horrible, though, asking for money, but I haven't had any trouble myself."
Thomas Rauno, 23, from Estonia
"This is actually my fourth time in St. Petersburg, as I am a student at Tartu University in Estonia, not too far away, but this is my first time here for tourism. I think St. Petersburg is a very lively place and has seen some great improvements since I was last here three years ago. I am from a small city, but I've been to New York and I find that St. Petersburg is very dirty by comparison, although it's gradually getting better. I have no problems with criminals because I can understand Russian well, although I can't speak it really."
Yang Li Yan, 29, from China.
"St. Petersburg is the most beautiful city in Russia. I first came here in 1992, and this time I've been in Kha ba rovsk, Vladivostok and Moscow, always in a group. We are not scared of crime here at all. I think St. Petersburg is a great place."
Jim McDonald, 58, from Australia.
"We've come here in a group from Australia via China, Siberia and Moscow on the train. St. Petersburg is, of course, well known and we had only heard good things about it. We had heard plenty of things about the criminal world, but it doesn't affect us as tourists. There's obviously more money in Moscow than there is in St. Petersburg, but as one of the major cultural centers in the world, you need to spend more and invest more in the city to spruce it up. The more you spend, the more you'll get back from visitors."
Yelena Petrova, 42, from Moscow.
"I'm leading a school trip from Moscow. It's my first time in St. Petersburg and we have a full program of sightseeing. We've literally just arrived after a sleepless night on the train from Moscow - the children had never been on an overnight train before and were very excited - so it's hard to say what I think of the city. My impression so far is that St. Petersburg really is the 'Venice of the North.' I think the hotel options should be improved, though. We chose a place to stay that we could afford - a dormitory - but obviously it's not that nice. But we're not complaining because it's in the city center."
Martin McCarty, 40, from California
"This is my first time in St. Petersburg. My impression so far is that this place is just wonderful. We've already been here for three days and have seen quite a lot already. Before we came, I'd heard about the Hermitage and that St. Petersburg is the cultural capital of Russia. The hardest thing for us as tourists is the Russian writing - we just can't understand it - but that's obviously a part of coming to someone else's country. We're staying in a smaller, lesser-known hotel, and everything has gone fine so far. In terms of crime, we're cautious but not fearful."
Alan Prosser, 23, from Alaska
"This is my fourth time here, and this time I am with a group, although I'll be coming alone next semester to study. The city for tourists is wonderful. I think that one of the main things that tourists should understand is that they should pay the extra prices for entry to the Hermitage or St. Isaac's, for example. From what I've heard, the attraction sites are not doing very well, and they are surviving from the money that tourists spend there.
I think St. Petersburg is the best city in Russia, I've been to a few others - Moscow is far too impersonal for me, but I'm from Alaska, so you can probably understand that. This time, while I'm only staying in St. Petersburg, I have visited out-of-town places like Peterhof and Pavlovsk.
The criminal situation is not a problem at all. All you have to do is be aware. I would advise people to avoid the metro, though. When my aunt was here she got pickpocketed there in the large crowds. I see people getting robbed all the time on Nevsky Prospect - perhaps once a week."
TITLE: lots of room in hotel market
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: While the romantic period of the White Nights is a good time for St. Petersburg's hotels, a couple of months later on, there are already free rooms at the luxury locations, while the lesser-known hotels, such as the Karelia and the Kievskaya, are by autumn half-empty.
There are over 100 hotels of various classes in St. Petersburg, with a total of approximately 15,000 rooms. Over the year, the average occupancy rate for St. Petersburg hotels is from 50 to 60 percent, according to the financial and research group Gamma Capital.
Roughly 50,000 people are employed in St. Petersburg in services for foreign tourists, according to City Hall. Tourist dollars account for 8 percent of the city's gross domestic product, it said.
With the flow of tourism to the city on the up, there is clearly a need for more hotel space and new premises, particularly for "economy class" travelers who wish to avoid scruffy Soviet-era institutions or roughing it in a hostel, but can't afford the three top-end hotels in the city: the Astoria, the Grand Hotel Europe and the Nevskij Palace.
While the latter three have just over 1,000 rooms, while a study carried out by consultancy firm MKD-Partner estimated that St. Petersburg has a shortage of 7,000 well-equipped mid-range rooms.
In fact, the problem will be at least partly alleviated this summer when Radisson SAS opens a new four-star business hotel on Nevsky Prospect. At the project's launch in 1999, this was the city's first privately financed hotel project. Half of the $30 million price tag is being picked up by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, with the other half of the money coming from the U.S.-Russian Investment Fund and a Russian company called Moskva-America.
Since then, the number of private projects has increased, and several companies have announced their intention to construct hotels.
Earlier this year Eco Phoenix Holding, which specializes in fuel transportation, published plans to built a hotel at 89 Nevsky Prospect, a project worth an estimated $10 million.
Another company, Elis - a local supplier of construction and interior design materials - has begun work on a building that has stood derelict for almost a decade, located on Vladimirsky Prospect. Construction analysts have put the cost at $20 million. Elis has said it is working in partnership with the British company Goldenhope Trading Limited, and is in negotiations with the French hotel chain Accor, which will likely operate the hotel.
But according to Sergei Korneyev, head of St. Petersburg department of the Russian Association of Tourist Agencies, the most visible growth in the industry is with small private hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, most of which have been set up in large apartments in the city center.
Bureaucratic formalities and hurdles mean that these type of hotels prefer not to bother with licenses and fire and health documentation, meaning that statistics on how many are operating are hard to come by.
The St. Petersburg administration - which itself has a stake in 20 hotels in the city, ranging from 7 percent of the shares to full ownership - has recently taken steps to inject some life into the hotel business by passing a law halving the cost of property rights for investors. It has also said in the law that it is willing to swap real estate for a stake in a new hotel.
There is good reason for the administration to hurry, for a shortage of accomodation in 2003, when the city will celebrate its 300th anniversary, would be catastrophic. But with a minimum two-year construction period for hotels, and a climate that many investors still consider unfriendly, has the city left it too late?
TITLE: travelers' tales of the visa experience
TEXT: Getting a Russian visa can be a hassle to say the least - especially when the rules are applied inconsistently. Claire Bigg asked some expats what they've learned from first-hand experience.
Tom Stansmore, American citizen, head of Deloitte&Touche CIS, St Petersburg office
My company sends an application to the Russian Foreign Ministry, who then sends a telex to New-York.
I go through a travel agency in the United States, I just have to give them pictures, a filled-in application form and an HIV certificate, although you can probably buy it for $20 over here. And the visa is waiting for me at home when I go back for Christmas.
I think the registration process is the biggest problem. It is very complicated if you rent an apartment, because it involves your landlord submitting a lease agreement. Many landlords are reluctant to do this because they don't necessary want to declare their income or get into trouble with the tax authorities.
James Gerson, British citizen, head of shareholders and investors department of Lenenergo
I always get my visa through the Russian Embassy in London, with an invitation from my company.
The company has to give the Foreign Ministry a certificate from the Labor Ministry saying that I am allowed to work in Russia.
I have always been told I needed an HIV certificate, but every time I get one and they never ask for it at the embassy. When I was a student, I was also told that I needed a tuberculosis certificate, but when I handed it in, they told me: "What do you need this for?"
I also have to hand over lots of money. My last visa was very expensive, but I received it the same day with no problems at all, surprisingly. It has now become much easier for Russians to obtain visas to Great Britain, and these things are reciprocal.
I still think it's a bit ridiculous that individual travelers need visas. I'm sure it discourages many people from visiting Russia.
I also find it annoying to have to carry my visa on me all the time. I get checked quite often by the police.
Alon Assouline, French citizen, director of the France Baguette bakery
I get my visa invitation through a Russian company, and then I go to Paris or Helsinki to receive my visa. I have to hand over passport photos, the invitation, an application form and an insurance certificate. They don't ask for an HIV certificate in Paris, but they do in Finland.
I find visas very complicated, and they ask you too many personal questions the first time you apply for a business visa - if you are in good health, are you married or single, and so on.
And tourist visas are a complete rip-off! It's a shame for such a beautiful country.
James Hitch, American citizen, managing partner of Baker&McKenzie, St Petersburg office
I get my visa from the consulate in San Francisco. I need a letter from the Foreign Ministry, and then I go through a travel agency in the United States. But our office manager deals with visa questions.
When I came to Russia in 1997, I was told I needed an HIV certificate, but I've never actually been asked for it.
There appears to have been a change in legislation from January 2001. I think expatriates now need authorization from Moscow to extend their visa in St. Petersburg, which wasn't a problem before. I was lucky because I got my visa before January.
Visas are generally a nuisance. I think it discourages many people from coming to Russia.
I once had a serious problem, I was robbed and my visa was stolen. It was very difficult because I didn't want to say I'd just lost it, so there was a criminal investigation. I wasn't allowed to leave the country. I had to get an exit visa to leave Russia, and then get a new visa abroad. It was very unpleasant and a lot of effort for my office manager, who had to deal with the Foreign Ministry and the police.
Aki Ariola, Finnish citizen, president of Aktivist magazine
I get one-year visas through a tour agency in Finland. I have to present an HIV test, an application form, copies of my passport and an insurance document.
On one occasion I left Russia with an expired visa, but the customs officials let us through.
I heard that visas are now given in the form of stickers in the passport. This is good because it will prevent visas from getting torn or lost, especially if you have them for a whole year.
Gianguido Piani, Italian citizen, working on a technical project in the field of energy in Russia
I get my visa through a Russian organization. They have to go to the Foreign Ministry and complete a huge amount of paperwork. It's absolute nonsense, and it takes from a month to a month and a half. I then receive my visa from a consulate abroad. I have never been asked for an HIV certificate.
I've always wondered why the Foreign Ministry couldn't deliver invitations itself. I've been living in Russia for five years, and every year I have to go abroad to get a new visa. It's complicated and expensive.
I think the most painful procedure is the registration process: getting a visa is only half the problem! This is very time consuming. Once the police refused to register me because I had entered the country on my previous visa, which was valid for another three days. So I had to go to Finland and come back the next day to get a stamp on my new visa. I'm glad this all took place in St. Petersburg and not in Novosibirsk!
A few years ago, you had to include what cities you were going to visit in Russia, and I had problems visiting cities that were not listed on my visa. Ten years ago, a colleague of mine, when asked what cities he wished to visit, wrote: "All of Russia." When he received his visa, it said: "Moscow and all locations outside Russia."
TITLE: the russians are going
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT:
In another indication of disposable income growth, the number of Russians traveling abroad grew 64 percent last year to 4.2 million - 167,000 more than pre-crisis 1997, government figures show.
Around 600,000 of these, or 14.3 percent, are from St. Petersburg, according to the City Tourism Committee.
The figures, said Alla Lyan, chief specialist at the ministry's department of strategic tourism development, are a major indicator of the country's political and economic situation - and last year's results are favorable.
"It reflects the well-being of our country and a growing interest abroad ... our growth percentage is well over Europe's annual average of 3 percent," Lyan said.
She added that the number of incoming tourists lived up to the ministry's expectation, while the number of Russians traveling abroad exceeded their calculations. "The numbers are better than pre-August 1998. Vacations abroad and at home cost roughly the same, and people are choosing the former."
Dmitry Danilenko, a specialist at Banko, a tourism information and consultancy service, said the statistics can be misleading. The top two destinations for Russians - Poland and China - could be mainly the choice of shuttle traders, for example, he said.
Nevertheless, tourism on both sides is on the rise, according to tourist agencies.
Including trips to CIS countries, the ministry said that as many as 18 million Russians traveled abroad last year. Excluding the CIS, the top destination was Poland, where nearly 1 million Russians traveled, followed by China and Turkey.
In Western Europe, the most popular destinations were Spain with 192,000, Germany with 111,000 and Italy with 106,000. France hosted 61,000 Russian tourists, while only 25,000 visited Britain.
Other popular destinations included Egypt with 114,000, Cyprus with 109,000 and the United Arab Emirates with 89,000. Spain, Turkey and Cyprus are most popular in the summer, while Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are usually visited in the winter, Danilenko said.
As for St. Petersburg, there are over 900 agencies in the city, employing around 115,000 people and pulling in annual revenues of $800 million.
Alexei Belyakov, director of the Kiris World travel agency in St. Petersburg, said that company sales went up by 10 percent last year. He attributed this to a more stable market.
"Vacationers in the West plan their holidays at least half a year ahead of time, which makes it much easier for the tourist industry to predict how much travel it will have to support, and makes it more efficient," he said. "Russian travelers come to a travel agency a week before they want to go, but as things stabilize people are starting to plan ahead."
Kiris World, which has a staff of six, offers package tours ranging from $350 to $1,000, including flight, hotels, meals and sometimes excursions. The company sells around 500 package trips a year, the majority to Mediterranean destinations such as Turkey, Cyprus, Italy, France, Spain and Andorra. Egypt and Austria are also popular, Belyakov said.
"Our business really depends on the season. In winter, our clients go on individual tours, and obviously cash flow suffers, but in the summer, whole families start going on holiday."
Rashid Velemeyev, general director of Sindbad Travel, which specializes in travel for students, said that his agency was less conservative in what it offered than most in the city.
"We market ourselves to students, so we are different from your typical travel agency," Velemeyev said. "Our mission is to help young people in Russia travel without rules, so that they can travel the way their peers in the West do."
"Other companies work differently. Tour operators are firms that put together a certain product and sell it to travel agencies. They get all the contracts with transport companies and hotels together, and then pay a commission to travel agents. About 70 percent of agencies out there work in this way. They are just selling somebody else's product.
"But the good thing is that the client would not end up paying more if he had organized the trip himself. Even though the operator pays a commission to travel agencies, prices are not raised. Operators make money on bulk deals they get from hotels they have agreements with. Lots of people think agents are cheating people out of their money, but most of the time this is not true - they just get tickets at a cheaper price which gives them room to add a commission."
Belyakov singled out new visa requirements for Russians as a main adverse effect on the market. Belyakov said that Kiris World had noted a 30 to 40 percent drop in the number of Russians traveling to countries that have instituted a visa regime. Trips to Scandinavia are also ebbing since Finland joined the Schengen visa accord. "We're seeing a considerable drop in day trips," he said.
Velemeyev said that visas costs affected student travel, but it is less of a problem now that Russia's financial situation has improved after the 1998 crash.
"In the West, about 80 percent of student travel involves a trip through a whole region," said Velemeyev. "Our students can't afford that, they'd need too many visas. But countries that want to join the European Union are not helping Russians travel cheaply. The Czech Republic has already instituted a visa policy, along with Poland. Bulgaria is postponing its regime for Russians until September [because of] the tourist season.
Favorite destinations for students, he said, include London, the United States, Italy and France. "Our clients usually go to places where they have friends, or where they will participate in some event or form of study. Last year, we served 8,000 students and we expect roughly the same this year."
TITLE: looking for that extra thrill
PUBLISHER: business review
TEXT: If you're looking for an extra thrill out of your holiday, the world's largest country has much to offer.
Aspera Explorations is just one of the agencies looking to push the idea of Russia as an ideal adventure travel destination. Through its Moscow subsidiary Talisman Expeditions, Aspera makes use of a network of expert guides who, as Aspera co-founder Annette Loftus puts it, "are predominantly Russian outdoorsmen who have turned their love of hobbies like whitewater rafting or fishing into a career."
"The trips are adventurous, but we don't take extreme risks," Loftus said. "Our clients are predominately average people who want an active vacation in an incredible outdoor location." Primarily, the company is targeting expatriates who are overseas and "would like to see as much as they can while they are away from home."
Tour packages include horse riding and trekking among the geysers and hot springs of Kamchatka, white-water rafting in the Altai region near the border with China and Mongolia, and fishing and trekking in the wilderness of the Putorana Plateau in northern Siberia.
The price of vacations varies. Ten days in Kamchatka costs $1,489, and 25 days' fishing in Putorana will set you back $4,120. Neither of these prices includes airfares or visa charges.
Another player in the burgeoning Russian adventure travel market is Sergei Insarov (www.northpole.ru), who over the last decade has taken hundreds of tourists to parachute over the North Pole.
He collaborates with local and foreign travel agents, with jumpers often sponsored by companies who pay to see their company logo on the top of the world. Individual parachutists have the responsibility of looking into insurance and health issues themselves.
The jumping season is short, from the beginning of April - when the temperature rises to a bearable minus 35 degrees Celsius - till the beginning of May, after which melting ice makes aircraft landings hazardous. The cost of the basic package is $5,000, which includes travel between the North Pole and Moscow, the jump itself, food and accommodation during the trip, which lasts between five and 10 days. Insarov is happy to take nonjumpers, but the price remains the same.
The Alaris travel company, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, gives the military-minded the chance to drive a tank, experience advanced aerobatics in a MiG-29 or to take out their frustration by firing a rocket launcher. The firm also offers a heart-stopping Mi8 helicopter ride during which, as Alaris puts it, "after a series of ascending and descending spirals ... both engines are switched off and the aircraft lands under conditions of autorotation."
The Organization for the Support of Horse Tourism runs horseback tours throughout Russia which start at as little as $15 a day, including horse hire, food, accommodation and insurance; the average tour price is $70 a day - although they can cost up to $120. One of the most popular trips is from Medovy Vodapad or Honey Waterfall in the northern Caucasus to the foot of Mount Elbrus. Other tours include a combination of riding and rafting in Altai and trotting among the hot springs in Kamchatka and the along the shores of Lake Baikal.
TITLE: air traffic to city rising
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Among those looking to cash in on any rise in tourism to St. Petersburg are airline companies. About 15 foreign carriers operate from Pulkovo 2, the city's airport handling international flights, including such major names in the industry as British Airways, Lufthansa and KLM, and they are facing increasingly stiff competition from domestic carriers such as Aeroflot and Pulkovo.
"The market is very competitive, and has been for a long time, especially with Western companies for regular flights," said Vasily Nalyotenko of the marketing department for Pulkovo, Russia's number two carrier.
According to Anastasia Smirnova, marketing manager for Air France in St. Petersburg, the financial crash of August 1998 hit the industry hard. "We had much more demand in 2000 than in previous years. As of April this year, we increased the number of flights to Paris from five a week to seven."
Air France is joined in increasing the number of flights in and out of the city by German carrier Lufthansa, according to Ulrich Rueger, Lufthansa's regional director for Russia and the CIS.
"For this summer, we are planning to increase the flights to St Petersburg by 60 percent," Rueger said. "The popularity of St. Petersburg as the 'Venice of the North' is increasing."
"Compared to last year, there has definitely been an increase in air travel," said Liana Arutuyan, director of the St. Petersburg branch of Infinity Travel, a U.S.-Russian company. "The demand is up and there are more people flying in and out."
"The problem is that the airlines can't increase the number of flights they offer on their own. The number of flights to and from a destination depends on intergovernmental agreements. The number between St. Petersburg and London, for example, is set by an agreement between the British and Russian govenments. Then this is divided among the interested airlines."
So what are the chances of falling prices in such an environment?
"There are a large number of factors that influence airline rates," Arutuyan said, "depending on the number of flights offered, the number of competitors, personal income levels in the countries, the flight's distance and operating costs. Flights from other European cities tend to be less expensive than in St. Petersburg because there are more seats and greater competition in those markets. There aren't as many flights out of here and the planes tend to be smaller, so seat prices tend to be higher."
The summer period and the White Nights are, unsurprisingly, a boon period for air carriers.
"Our passengers can be divided into three groups: tourists who travel through tourist agencies, businessmen, and others, usually independent travelers such as Russian citizens living abroad and visiting their native country," said Nalyotenko.
"In summer, tourists represent 50 percent of our passengers, and businessmen 30 percent," Nalyotenko said, addding that the figure for tourists drops to 35 to 40 percent in winter.
"We have a minimum annual growth in flights of 10 to 15 percent both in and out of St. Petersburg."
At present, however, Pulkovo 2 airport is ill-equipped to deal with any major increases in travel, according to Rueger.
"In the summer, Pulkovo airport has severe capacity problems," he said. "When you have thousands of passengers and only five passport [immigration and customs] points are in operation, people end up queuing for a very long time. We have asked the government to do something about this, and we expect the situation to improve soon."
TITLE: the pitfalls of charter flights
PUBLISHER: business review
TEXT: As summer is approaching, so is the high season for air charter carriers - crowds of tourists will be buying tour packages to relax under the sun. While tour packages including charter flights are popular for their low prices, they can still be riskier than using more expensive regular air services - as was seen in December and January, when several hundred passengers of the Rusavia air company were temporarily stranded in Asia.
There are several reasons why tour operators use charter flights, which are offered by most of Russia's 300 or so air companies. Firstly, charters are cheaper. Tour operators calculate ticket prices on the basis that the flight is fully sold out with tour packages, while ticket prices for regular flights assume 70 percent to 75 percent occupancy of the seats.
Secondly, the number of regular flights to some destinations is insufficient compared to demand. Also, charters sometimes fly where regular flights don't, like small resorts in Turkey and Croatia.
For the consumer these advantages come with certain risks. In the Rusavia case, passengers had to wait 20 to 35 hours before the company could get permission to fly over Kazakhstan and China. When they finally reached their destinations they found themselves stranded in Bali and Thailand. Rusavia, citing a cash shortage and a lack of aircraft. was forced to turn to the Russian government for assistance in bringing the passengers home.
When flying for the lowest possible price, a company barely covers its costs. Such companies registered as charter carriers often don't have a fleet of their own, but rather lease their planes, and may do not intend to stay in the market for long.
"It's one-day companies that fly at dumping prices," said Igor Volkov, spokesperson for Novosibirsk-based airline Sibir. "A company that cares about the future can't afford dumping prices. It will think about maintening its fleet."
Sibir is the nation's fourth-largest carrier. Last year, it operated 119 charter flights from Novosibirsk with a total of 17,132 passengers and 215 charter flights from Moscow with 65,658 passengers. This year it plans to fly 21,006 passengers on 150 charter flights from Novosibirsk and 761,705 passengers on 2,280 charter flights from Moscow.
"Our prices for charter flights aren't competitive," said Volkov. But we have guarantees, we have resources and we have a reserve fleet. Reliability costs more ... You only find free cheese in a mouse trap. With dumping, passengers become hostages of low prices."
Because situations have arisen where passengers were stuck abroad or couldn't reach their destination because of the carrier's unreliability, there have been calls for the introduction of governmental regulation.
"Governmental regulation is necessary," said Irina Khodokova, president of tour opera to France Tours+, which acts as a consolidator fo charter flights. A consolidator buys a charter and then sells blocks of tickets to tour operators with smaller needs than a whole plane.
"There was a time when anyone could create an air company with the right money and connections. But it wouldn't be an air company as such," added Khodakova. "Yes, the company has the license, but it can't obtain permission to fly to certain countries and its flights can be cancelled at any time."
An instruction on the regulation of international charter flights between Moscow and foreign resort cities that are in higher demand during the summer was adopted by the State Civil Aviation Service on March 12.
The document makes a list of conditions for air carriers to be allowed to operate charter flights. An air company has to confirm the availability of aircraft to carry out charter flights and back up the flights. It also has to confirm its capacity to carry out its financial obligations and register its contracts with tour operators.
Yevgeny Bachurin, revenue management department chief at Aeroflot, said regulation of the charter flight market is improving. More companies are starting to ask the permission of Aeroflot (a designed carrier to most destinations) to fly where the national air company operates regular flights.
"If we are talking about regular flights, the company will fly regardless of whether there are passengers, with losses during low season and compensation for these losses in the high season," said Bachurin. "When charters are flying only in high season and take the cream of the crop, a regular carrier is deprived of the profit that should cover the losses."
Aeroflot's own charter program has been cut back this year, said Bachurin. Aeroflot had received some 2,000 requests, but so far it had confirmed only 201 charter flights, and another 333 flights were in the line waiting for confirmation.
So what is a passenger entitled to when flying with a charter carrier? And how can one make sure the company is reliable?
"The passenger should be transferred to his destination, If there is a delay he should be taken care of - placed in a hotel and given the opportunity to call someone," said Bachurin. "Every company has delays, but Aeroflot with its large fleet has more opportunities to use a reserve aircraft that is specially set aside. It should be the carrier that takes responsibility for the delay."
"I disagree with a commonly held opinion that charters give bad services - that passengers will be cheated or they won't be brought back," said Khodakova of France Tours+, adding that a tour operator or a consolidator should be looking not only at the price when negotiating with a carrier. She said it should analyze many points when choosing an air company and signing a contract, such as the company's position in the market, whether it has a large enough fleet and the ability to send a replacement plane in the event of a breakdown, the company's status at airports, its ability to receive permission to fly to certain countries, and the company's good name, that is, its behavior tactics in the market.
"Consolidating is not only a business, it's a responsibility," Khodakova added. "A consolidator cannot be responsible for an air company's dishonesty, it can't check everything in an air company's work, it's not realistic. But since we put our signature on the contract, then naturally we are obliged to take responsibility for the quality of this product.
"Yes, we do business, but this business is tied to people," she said. "There should be a safety guarantee for the people who are buying this product included in its price."
TITLE: all aboard the trans-siberian
TEXT: I had my first doubts about the wisdom of taking my two daughters a third of the way around the world on a train a few moments after settling into our compartment. It was a murky midnight in Moscow's Yaroslavsky Station and we had struggled through rows of vendors selling potato salads, underwear and cigarettes to the door of our carriage, to find a cluster of Mongolians arguing in broken Russian with our Chinese guard. Twelve-year-old Sasha had been sick in the car on the way, 9-year-old Anna was shivering and clinging to my waist and my young son (who was not traveling) was screaming as if the great, hissing train was a monster about to swallow us up.
Our compartment was mind-bogglingly small and cluttered with bunks, ladders, tables and a large dusty fan. Though I hadn't been expecting the crimson velvet luxury of bygone days, the stained, dull brown wallpaper, grubby windows and total lack of bedding was frighteningly depressing.
Bidding farewell to Daddy and Bobby, the girls snuggled miserably into a corner. Then, with a heart-thudding jolt and reluctant groan of the wheels we set forth alone, into the night, headed for the heart of Siberia.
starting out
A month previously, a friend of mine in Beijing had invited the girls and me over to stay. Since I was living in Moscow, I decided it would be a great chance to nip over on the Chinese Trans-Siberian express (which is less crowded than the Russian trains) and see some of Mother Russia while we were at it. "It'll only take a week," I had explained cheerily to my horrified daughters. "You'll love every minute of it."
Now, as I clung to the bouncing bunk trying to formulate an answer to Anna's tremulous inquiry as to how trains stay on the tracks, I was filled with strange foreboding. Ever since I was a child I had dreamt of traveling on the Trans-Siberian, and back in Basingstoke, England, those three little words had rung with the promise of mystery and romance. And now here it was, the longest continuous railroad in the world, winding through the boundless, semi-mythical wilderness of Siberia and Mongolia along a route steeped in history. And I wanted to cry.
I had been warned. Russians see this epic journey as an irksome trial to be endured only for its cheapness. Traveling for six days and nights over 7,687 kilometers costs less than $150. My Russian friends were naturally aghast at the undertaking and my daughters did not share my girlish enthusiasm. "Vika's mum said she went on the Trans-Siberian down to Ulan Bator when she was 8 years old," announced Sasha a few days before we set off. "And it was the worst six days of her life."
But having bucked and jolted our way through the first night, I awoke, tweaked back the curtains and felt things were looking up. The low winter sun cast long shadows and a warm pink glow over the unfenced pastureland, soaking golden ponds and copses of graceful silver birches in its iridescent light. Colorful log cabins with prettily carved window frames snuggled down into snowdrifts with warm lights twinkling within.
"Well, first stop Kirov," I said, pulling coats and gloves onto the children. "Named in honor of Sergei Kirov, Stalin's pal, who was assassinated in 1934." I was going to make this educational if nothing else. "This prompted Stalin to execute, exile or imprison 12 million Russians over a two -year period."
Train No. 4 (nicknamed "the Fourth") slowed to a halt and everyone in our packed carriage stampeded off to gulp down some fresh air and buy provisions. "How long are we stopping for?" I asked the Chinese guard. "Depends on the driver," he replied in stilted Russian. "Maybe five, maybe 20 minutes. Just watch the train closely and if it hisses, it's leaving." We scrambled across several rail tracks to the kiosk on the opposite platform, bought our chocolate and soda water from a maddeningly slow sales girl and were back in our carriage just moments before the Fourth shoved off.
Our guard wore a uniform, which said "Captain," in English, across the breast pocket - an odd thing for a Chinese guard traveling through Russia to wear - but life was full of enigmas on this trip. Why, for example, were the other carriages starkly empty while ours was crammed full? And why wasn't there anyone who could blow a whistle or wave a flag to tell passengers the train was leaving? And what happens if you're stuck two tracks away from a hissing train in the middle of Siberia with the knowledge that it's leaving for Mongolia with your two daughters still on board?
"Just take a taxi to the next stop," said the Captain when I addressed my concerns to him. "Passengers are always left behind. They leave passports, money, baggage, children on the train. They just take a car."
The thought that our train was traveling more slowly than a Zhiguli when we still had 6,910 kilometers to go was not a happy one. But the Captain consoled me by pointing out that I was only doing it once, whereas he had been hauling back and forth through Siberia every month for the past 20 years.
"Good God!" exclaimed Sasha from her bunk "He's done this what ... 240 times? That's ... er, nearly 2 million kilometers (Russian schools are math orientated) with no air, no TV, no CD games and no sleep."
I peered at the Captain with renewed interest. "You like train travel then?" He shook his head. "Pukhow! (Bad!) I hate it. I can't sleep on trains. In summer it's so hot you're dripping wet day and night, and in winter there's nothing but snow. But once you have a job in China, you can't change it, so I'm stuck doing this for the rest of my life."
A sobering thought considering that this was only our first day, but the girls were already gripped by the inutterable boredom of kids brought up on the Cartoon Network. Unfortunately, the Ural Mountains were disappointingly hilly and the sky and snow looked even grayer through the dirty windows. I tried to cheer them up by relating how the last tsar and his family were taken on this very train from Moscow to Yekaterinburg (our next stop) where they were all assassinated in a little cellar by the Bolsheviks. "Mummy," asked Anna dubiously. "Didn't anything nice happen in these towns?"
"Well, this is Russia, darling," I said. "A lot of suffering went on."
"And still does," grunted Sasha and turned up the volume of her portable CD player.
"The railway," I continued undaunted, "was the brainchild of the last tsar's father, Alexander III, who wanted more than a mud track - the Great Siberian Post Road - running through his empire. Since at least 1 million convicts were banished to Siberia they made up almost half the workforce on construction of the line. Soon, we shall be passing a white obelisk with 'Asia' carved on one side and 'Europe' on the other, which means we're entering Siberia."
By four o'clock it was already dusk. A giant orange sun was smoldering gorgeously at the front of the train and the moon was glowing coldly at the back. The hypnotic clacking of the wheels was steadily sending everyone into a stupor. On the Fourth there was no work to rush to, no household to run, no schoolwork to worry about. I had all the time in the world to do nothing but what everyone else on our carriage was doing - nothing.
Eight felt like midnight, but since Anna and Sasha were snuggled up in their bunks I decided to strike off for the restaurant car. This was partly a desire to eat something other than Coco Pops and pot noodles, and partly to buy a double vodka, which at 10 rubles a shot was cheaper and probably safer than the triple dose of sleeping tablets I'd taken the first night.
Each car is connected by a draughty hull of slippery metal plates made more precarious by snowdrifts and piles of coal. The latter was shoveled on at station stops as fuel for the individual furnaces providing each carriage with heat. Ten empty carriages down, I found myself in one packed full of exotic foreigners. One young woman with a huge winged tattoo on her back was lying face-down and naked on her bunk; she might well have been dead, but by now I had worked up such a savage appetite that I didn't stop to find out.
The restaurant car was without doubt the sleaziest dive I have ever been in. I stumbled over a pile of cabbages lying on the sooty floor and lunged into the kitchen where the chef was standing among a pile of bones in stained, blue overalls. At one table sat four surly blond foreigners with scars, dreadlocks and body piercings. They were silently contemplating a table full of empty beer bottles and might well have been part of a European drug ring. Behind me sat four Russian men with shaved heads who were swearing, knocking back vodka shots and reminiscing about the good old days in the gulag. An Englishman who looked like he should have been sleeping under Waterloo Bridge reeled over to a man reading a book, and handed him a stack of 5 ruble coins, which was when I realized the book-lover was our waiter.
I beckoned him over and was eventually given my shot of vodka and a bowl of chicken soup floating in grease with a long human hair suspended on the surface. I drank the vodka and left feeling hungrier than ever.
into asia
By the next day we were deep into Siberia and passing by Omsk, Tomsk and Novosibirsk - a troika of lyrical names that carried me back to my school geography lessons. The stark reality of life in these three industrial towns is of course a far cry from the romantic images I had conjured up in Basingstoke. But I had no opportunity to be disillusioned: Tomsk was too far away to see, Omsk swept quietly past while I was groveling under the bunks collecting sesame seed shells, and Novosibirsk was obscured by a blizzard.
"This is the most densely traveled section of railway in the world," I informed Anna, who was playing cards on the floor with her new Mongolian friend, Ayona. "Omsk started out as a Cossack fortress; Novosibirsk's main street is 10 kilometers long; and Tomsk is so called because it lies on the River Tom. How's that for fun facts?"
"And is Omsk on the River Om?" she asked.
"No," laughed our neighbor. "But they make gold ingots in Tomsk, too." He was a Mongolian diplomat based in Moscow and had enough gold in his mouth to know what he was talking about. He was sharing his carriage with a wiry Sri Lankan studying in Moscow and a stout Chinaman who spoke nothing but Chinese. The latter had decided to teach Sasha Chinese using his bunkmates as translators, which made it a rather crowded affair and annoyed Sasha intensely. "Can't you stop him - I thought that's what mothers were for?" she would hiss in disgust as the three of them pressed smilingly into our compartment with textbooks in hand.
Sasha, an adolescent seething with hormones, was not happy, particularly since all her mates had gone off on a school trip to Cyprus that week. The Fourth is not a good substitute for the Mediterranean. And being excruciatingly hygiene conscious, she was disgusted to find that instead of a nice hot shower every morning, the carriage offered one tiny washroom at the end of the corridor that contained nothing but a stark loo, a basin and one very cold water tap. Moreover, the car - home to 24 people for six days - smelled like it hadn't been washed since the captain first started work.
back in time
After another vodka-induced sleep, I awoke the next morning to find that the villages with their low log cabins snuggled in the snow were growing farther and fewer between. Today's only stop was Krasnoyarsk, right in the heart of Siberia. Anna was startled that horses and carts had taken the place of cars, and people wore furs and felt, instead of clothes.
"It's as if we're traveling back in time," she marveled. "It's like we've gone back a hundred years in three days. How do people survive here?"
"With difficulty," was the answer from Lyuda, a rosy-cheeked village woman who used to work as milkmaid on a state farm. At every station-stop, the train was inundated by village women running along the platform, trying to sell bucket-loads of cranberries, milk, home-cured meat and fish. Lyuda had managed to climb on board by bribing a guard and was selling scarves and socks, hand-knitted from goat hair. "My husband does the spinning, granny does the knitting and I do the selling," she explained. "My husband was a tractor driver but when the farm closed down we lost our jobs, so now we live on babushka's pension of 900 rubles a month."
Lyuda got off at Krasnoyarsk and I finally dug out a fact that interested even Sasha. In the small town of Vanavara, 600 kilometers north of here, there occurred a cataclysmic explosion (the Tungussky blast) whose seismic shock was registered all over the world. It occurred in 1908 and was followed by pressure waves and firestorms that burned or flattened the forest for hundreds of kilometers around. The area was so remote that it was only in 1927 that a Soviet expedition found the blast area. Though it was presumed to be caused by a meteorite, theories - including an interplanetary crash-landing - are still being advanced to this day.
The notion that UFOs might be spinning out of control in this region roused Sasha momentarily from her torpor. The rare station stops were also a cause of some excitement, since Anna and I had been left within a cat's whisker of being stranded in Chernorechenskaya. We had hopped off to feed stray dogs on the platform when we heard the train hissing ominously and had bolted for the nearest door. The guard shouted that we could only get on at our own carriage and pulled up the steps. We raced back down the length of the train, past a white-faced Sasha screaming soundlessly at us through the window, and were hauled off the ground by the Captain as the train pulled out.
"Would you have left us?" I gasped, feeling horribly betrayed. He shrugged. "Sorry. Can't wait for passengers."
travel torpor
Consequently, Sasha refused to let us off at all and the Trans-Siberian lethargy syndrome settled over everyone like a soft smothering pillow in our airless compartment. You eat less, think less and move hardly at all. Only your eyeballs flicker back and forth as the steppe buried deep in permafrost rushes past the window. I swear my heartbeat slowed down and wouldn't be surprised if my temperature dropped. Each day lasts a lifetime and your carriage companions become family in a sort of Black Hole of Calcutta camaraderie.
It was minus 25 degrees Celsius and the snow glittered like a carpet of diamonds under the brittle sun. The train rumbled on and on for hours with not one light flickering to show signs of human life. On the fourth night, I lay in my bunk watching the sparks from the furnace flash past the window. Occasional trains rumbling past hooted with the long, haunting lament of whales singing to each other beneath the sea.
At 3:30 a.m. we reached the small station of Zima. I was staring out of the window and musing on love, mortality and eternity (as one does in these circumstances) when another Trans-Siberian giant, the Vladivostock-Moscow train, grunted massively alongside. Another sleepless passenger on his way to Moscow was framed in the doorway opposite, dressed in furs and drawing on a cigarette. When, with a complaining groan, our train eased back into life and began pulling out, he raised his hand in a grim salute, from one Trans-Siberian to another in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, in Zima.
The next morning, I overslept and missed Irkutsk. Luckily, the vast frozen Lake Baikal that followed was bathed in sunlight so crisp it could have been cut with a knife. We dipped into little tunnels - our first since Moscow - and slewed in and out of hairpin turns. We were entranced by the horse-driven sleighs, the fisherman hunched over holes in the ice and the flocks of sea birds floating above the distant mountains. Picturesque wooden village houses painted in cheerful greens, yellows and reds clung to the rocky shore and a road snaked along parallel to the tracks (which disconcerted Sasha by proving that cars were traveling considerably faster than the Fourth.)
"Lake Baikal," I proclaimed in an effort to take her mind off our sluggish progress, "is [one of] the oldest [20 million years] and deepest [1,500 meters] lake in the world. It boasts unique, prehistoric fish, incredibly clear waters and silt, which is estimated to be up to 5,000 feet thick."
"Why didn't we go by car, Mum?" said Sasha accusingly. "We'd have been there by now."
"It contains 20 percent of the world's fresh water and is called the Holy Sea by locals," I continued.
"And they say there's a prehistoric monster living in the lake, which is sometimes glimpsed at the surface," added the captain with a twinkle. "It breaks through the ice and pops out its head, so keep a lookout." Unfortunately we weren't to see the monster. All too soon the lake was gone and we were heading down to Mongolia.
The frontier town of Ulan-Ude, a vast hodge-podge of factories, log houses, outhouses and stray dogs spilling over the banks of the wide Selenga River was our next stop and we were joined by unwelcome hoards of Mongolian traders headed back home. A mountainous woman with a name that sounded like she was gobbing up to spit sank thankfully onto our one free bunk and invited her husband and pals in for vodka.
A few hours later, with a carriage-load of very happy and friendly Mongolians, we chugged up to the border. We succumbed to passport, visa, declaration form, baggage and compartment checks by a series of Russian and then Mongolian border guards for another five hours and were eventually released into the wilderness of Outer Mongolia.
"I think it should be getting warmer now," I said to Anna last thing at night as I tucked her up against the icy draughts. "We've turned south."
I was wrong. In the morning I parted the curtains and looked out on what appeared to be the Arctic Circle on Christmas Day: the Gobi Desert. The captain was furiously stoking up the furnaces but the bitter cold still pierced the windows. "Oh look - penguins!" shrieked Anna, pointing at a flock of dark dots moving slowly through the wasteland. Our sleeping companion, who was plastering foundation on her bright red face, chuckled. "They're horses. Horses are the livelihood of people living in the desert. They eat their meat, wear their hides, ride them and milk them."
"Eat them!" exclaimed Anna in horror, and refused to talk to her again.
This was our first glimpse of livestock since leaving Moscow. It was also the first time a fence had been built along the railway tracks to keep ponies, camels, yaks and asses off the line.
across mongolia
Mongolia is four times the size of Britain and has a population of 1.5 million people, of whom I saw about four during the entire day and night. It was difficult looking out on this barren, primitive country where the nomads live in felt huts to think that in the 11th century Genghis Khan had forged a vast Mongolian empire stretching from the China Sea to the Dnieper River.
Inner Mongolia was no great improvement on Outer, but the desolation of the Gobi Desert was recompensed by the raucous jollity of its people in our carriage. Our Fat Lady had thankfully migrated to her husband's compartment to continue the festivities while the captain kept a wary eye on them.
"It's the Westerners and the Mongolians are the worst for drinking," he said confidentially. "We've often had Mongolians thrown off for being rowdy."
Anna, who had been bouncing off the walls for the past two hours, suddenly had a thought. "Since we're passing through one time zone every day will my life be shortened by this trip? And what happens if we travel east all the time? Will we stay young?"
A nice idea - and one I could almost believe as I lay back on my bunk and watched the purple twilight turn into a night so magnificent that it inspired even my travel-weary girls with awe. The luminous, moonlit snow glimmered eerily up at the dark sky, and as the faithful old Fourth snaked its way through the hills, the moon floated gently back and forth outside our window like a huge gold ball in a black pool.
Getting across the Mongolian-Chinese border was as mind-numbingly laborious as the Russian-Mongolian one. Having seen off the last Chinese border guard at 2 a.m. we all fell thankfully into our bunks.
We were woken by the constant tooting of the horn by our driver busily warning animals and people to get off the line. I parted the curtains to see the same snowy plain but with one essential difference: There were masses of people. Men driving huge, stubborn pigs, horses and carts backed up on the road waiting for the train to pass, women hanging out laundry that froze like a board in front of rows and rows of quaint little farm buildings with hay piled on the curved Chinese roofs. Even the birds looked busy. Farmers were hacking at the ground with pickaxes like a scattered army of ants.
Anna awoke and peered groggily out of the window as we were passing by a wattle wall running irregularly around a stark orchard. "Is that it?" she gasped leaping out of her bunk. "The Great Wall of China? Is that it?"
"No, not yet," I said, smiling. "But there's a new, Chinese restaurant car now. Let's go and have breakfast."
Sasha was unmovable so Anna and I, marveling at the spanking new red engine, swayed off through the snowdrifts between the carriages in search of food. After 10 tough minutes of interminably opening and closing doors we arrived at the back of the train to find that the new car had been attached to the front - 15 carriages away. We made do with Coco Pops again.
As we approached Beijing, the Chinese guards and passengers began chain-smoking, filling our airtight and unventilated carriage with foul clouds of smoke. I cornered the Captain and insisted that he put out his own cigarette and open at least one of the windows. With a reluctant flourish of screwdrivers and hammers, he finally opened the one opposite our carriage and for the first time in six long days the sweet, fragrant smell of fresh air washed into the corridor. We all hung thankfully out, and miraculously, that was when the real Great Wall of China rose up like a magnificent cobra before our eyes and writhed off over the pointed peaks of the Jiayuguan pass.
The captain suddenly leapt into a frenzy of activity, cleaning out our washroom and vacuuming all the compartments in preparation presumably for an inspection at our final destination. "Next stop Beijing!" I exclaimed. Sasha fixed me with an icy stare. "Mum, we are flying back aren't we? Yes we are. Because I have never been so grossly dirty in my life, and I am never going on a train, ever again."
But Anna hugged me gratefully. "Actually, I like living on a train. It's cozy and warm and you can make friends if you like, or lock the door and be by yourself. And you eat, sleep and play all the time. And you stay young."
What more can you want?
TITLE: city's tourism chief woos visitors
TEXT: q: What kind of profit is St. Petersburg currently making from its tourism industry?
a: The mechanism for an exact calculation is yet to be developed, so I can only give approximate figures. Local hotels received 1 million tourists last year. Over 3 million people crossed the northwestern border. Going by average prices for airlines, hotels, restaurants, theater tickets and souvenirs, we get a figure of at least $500 million in 2000.
q:The year 2003 is seen as a great opportunity to attract tourists to the city and fill the coffers. What is the city administration doing to prepare for the jubilee, and what is your committee's input?
a:There is no list of events that would limit the celebrations - fireworks, banquets or concerts. Rather, the concept of the festivities is much wider. Within the preparations, all spheres of the city life will be affected, and all committees will participate. Streets will be cleaned, roads repaired, facades painted. A number of social programs are being considered, for what kind of holiday could there be if people feel poor and insecure? All in all, we are working on raising the quality of life in St. Petersburg in general. Anyone who lives here or visits our town should get the feeling that the city is changing for the better.
As for the Tourism Committee, we face the task of raising money for the city to make it richer. If local travel agencies, excursion bureaus, air carriers, hotels and restaurants work effectively, they'll bring most of the cash to the city budget. So the committee's major goal is to help in the creation of a friendlier environment for tourism-related businesses.
q:What is your opinion of the city's tourist infrastructure?
a:In general, I consider the infrastructure to be good and effective, yet there remain serious problems unsolved, for instance, roads crying out for repair, and a shortage of mid-range hotels. But things are improving. Governor Vladimir Yakovlev issued a list of 90 projects this month - future hotels, business centers, yacht clubs and golf clubs - that investors would benefit from putting their money into. By 2003, there will be several new mid-range hotels, and we hope we'll be able to accommodate all the guests who come to the city's birthday party.
The guests won't feel lost in St. Petersburg: Last year, we opened the city's first information center at 41 Nevsky Prospect. But we realize that this isn't enough. St. Petersburg's chief architect is now working on a model for information offices that will be placed in the most-visited parts of town, including Palace Square, the Moscow railway station, the airports, and the suburbs of Pushkin and Pavlovsk. The street offices will be installed by 2003.
But the infrastructure in general is very good, while the cultural potential of the city is simply enormous.
q:But why so few tourists?
a:Perhaps the greatest obstacle is the lack of [positive] information about the city abroad. In fact, the whole of Russia is often seen through a distorting mirror of bad news. Very often potential travelers don't have any idea what St. Petersburg is like. This means that we must devote greater attention to promoting the city. The more information that is distributed about St. Petersburg, the more tourists we receive. Our committee has already commissioned a trip to St. Petersburg for a group of Italian journalists, and we are planning to invite reporters from other countries who would like to come over for an unbiased report on any aspect of the city's life.
We realize that getting a Russian visa isn't always easy. The St. Petersburg government is trying to convince the Foreign Ministry to allow tourists who come to St. Petersburg for not more than three days to purchase visas at the airport, as is the case with Turkey.
q:Are there any changes to be made in the presentation of St. Petersburg at tourism fairs and exhibitions abroad?
a:Yes, most business is done through international exhibitions, and we participate in over 15 such exhibitions every year. Starting next year, the concept will change. Until recently, Russia was presented abroad by two separate stands from Moscow and St. Petersburg. But the policy will be changed and there will be one big stand representing the country as a whole.
q:Do you think that St. Petersburg can really benefit from this change?
a:I am sure the city will benefit. Now, two-thirds of all tourists coming to Russia visit St. Petersburg. Most travelers consider it a must to come here while in Russia. With the new concept, we will offer tourists more reasons to come to the country, and given the current trend this will automatically bring more visitors to St. Petersburg. All the visitors to the exhibition will be able not just to compare different routes, but also to calculate approximately how much a trip would cost.
q:Last year, the Tourism Committee supported the launch of the association St. Petersburg 300, a Paris-based nongovernmental organization aimed at promoting St. Petersburg in France. Could you tell us if more organizations similar to this will be created?
a:They have already been created in London and New York, and another one will soon be opened in Switzerland. Very often these organizations are run and supported by our former compatriots who sympathize with Russia and have their own [political or economic] interests here. These partner organizations are not commercial, but are meant to bridge countries and help with establishing contacts.
Their goal is to use the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg as a marketing tool to draw attention to the city - mostly via cultural and journalistic projects, like, for instance, a literary competition organized by St. Petersburg 300 with the Russian Union of Journalists. And the committee would more than welcome these kind of initiatives from more foreign towns.
q:What about reaching out via the Internet?
a:We have developed a very informative Web site - www.tourism.spb.ru - that provides viewers with extensive information about the city, its cultural resources, forthcoming events, accommodation and the infrastructure. It is possible to book a hotel room or plane ticket, or contact travel agents who can provide detailed information and answer any questions. We are trying to turn the site into a kind of encyclopedia of life in St. Petersburg. We would like to invite local museums, theaters and restaurants to contribute their information to our site.
TITLE: Podium Training in Store for U.S. Olympic Athletes
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: SALT LAKE CITY - Embarrassed by a flag-draping, muscle-flexing celebration by an American gold-medal relay team in Sydney, U.S. Olympic officials will give athletes pointers on how to act in Salt Lake City.
To do so, they are planning a series of presentations to Salt Lake hopefuls that may include a videotape of the preening and posing of the men's 400-meter-relay squad after the win in Sydney.
"It's important not only for their country but for their futures that they not desecrate that very special moment," said Sandra Baldwin, president of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Exactly how proper medal-stand etiquette will be taught remains to be worked out in the coming months, though Baldwin said she hopes to enlist athletes who have won medals in the past to give advice on medal-stand protocol.
That likely won't include members of the Sydney relay team, whose behavior horrified Baldwin and drew boos and whistles from the Australian crowd.
Though they later apologized under a firestorm of criticism, it's clear the reaction to their display remains a touchy subject with the runners.
"They don't have anything to say," said Emanuel Hudson, manager of three of the runners. "They're not pros on the subject. This is not a career vocation for them."
Fellow athletes cringed and the crowd booed the American relay team of Maurice Greene, Jon Drummond, Bernard Williams and Brian Lewis as they flexed and posed for several minutes on a victory lap - two of them bare chested and draped in the stars and stripes.
It didn't stop there. When former secretary of state Henry Kissinger awarded them their medals, the four continued clowning and Greene stuck his tongue out at the cameras.
After they were criticized by both fans and fellow athletes, the runners apologized, saying they were caught up in the emotion of the moment.
"Jon Drummond never won an Olympic gold before, so sorry," Drummond said at the time.
Baldwin said she hopes the pre-Olympic training will take that excuse away by giving athletes a definition of what is expected of them after winning a medal. Athletes also will be given training on good conduct during the games so incidents such as American hockey players trashing a room after a loss in Nagano won't be repeated.
The Sydney case wasn't the first in a medal ceremony for American athletes. In 1992, members of the first American basketball Dream Team pinned and draped American flags at odd angles over their uniforms so they wouldn't show the Reebok logo when many of the athletes had contracts with Nike.
The best-known case came in 1968 in Mexico City, when Tommie Smith and John Carlos mounted the victory stand barefooted and wearing civil rights buttons after finishing first and third, respectively, in the 200-meter race.
As "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, Smith and Carlos bowed their heads and each raised a black-gloved fist in the black-power salute.
The International Olympic Committee was outraged and wanted punishment. The U.S. Olympic Committee responded by suspending the two athletes and ordering them from the Olympic Village.
Times have changed, but the reaction to the relay runners in Sydney shows it's still evident that the public's perception of how an athlete reacts on the world's stage is crucial.
TITLE: SPORTS WATCH
TEXT: Hingis, Mom Split Up
GENEVA (Reuters) - Martina Hingis' mother and coach Melanie Molitor said on Thursday that she has severed her on-court ties with the women's world No. 1 tennis player.
Molitor told the Swiss-German newspaper Tagesanzeiger that she had not been involved professionally with Hingis for about a month and that she is no longer her daughter's coach.
Molitor maintained in the article that her personal relationship with her daughter had not been affected by their professional split.
Italian Alboreto Killed
BERLIN (AP) - Michele Alboreto, a one-time Formula One star, was killed when the Audi he was test driving crashed in eastern Germany, the carmaker said Wednesday.
The 44-year-old Italian was behind the wheel of a new R8 car when it spun out and turned over on a straight section of the Lausitzring circuit, in what Audi's sporting chief Wolfgang Ullrich called an "incomprehensible tragedy."
The carmaker said it didn't yet know what caused the crash, and that the car had done thousands of kilometers of tests on various circuits without incident.
Alboreto, born in Milan on Dec. 23, 1956, broke into Formula One with the Tyrrell team in 1981 and won his first race in Las Vegas that year and again in Detroit two years later.
He was hired by Ferrari in 1984 and a year later nearly became the first Italian to win the drivers' championship in more than 30 years. He finished second behind Alain Prost of France.
Kournikova Pulls Out
HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Anna Kournikova has delayed her comeback from injury by pulling out of next week's WTA tournament in Hamburg, organizers said on Thursday.
The 19-year-old Russian, who has been sidelined since February with a stress fracture in her left foot, was to play in the event starting on Tuesday.
Tournament director Walter Knapper said she had decided not to come because she had not fully recovered.
"We regret that Anna will not be coming, but we still have a top-class field with players like Venus Williams," he said.
TITLE: Russia Picks Up World Cup Qualifying Win
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: LONDON - The World Cup finals may still be more than a year away, but Russia, Ireland and Austria all moved a step closer to them with important qualifying wins on Wednesday.
The Netherlands also kept their hopes alive with a 4-0 win over Cyprus that featured a goal from Manchester United's new 19-million-pound ($27.28 million) striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, while San Marino picked up its first World Cup point in eight years with a 1-1 draw in Latvia in Group 6.
Russia, which missed out on the 1998 finals after losing in the playoffs, scored a 1-0 win over Yugoslavia in Belgrade, dealing a bodyblow to Yugoslav hopes of qualifying.
The victory, courtesy of a 72nd-minute goal from substitute striker Vla di mir Beschastnykh, lifted Russia to 13 points from five matches at the head of Group 1 - five clear of second-placed Switzerland and six ahead of Slovenia.
Yugoslavia is fourth with five points from four matches and now needs to start winning to make the playoffs.
There were wins for Ireland and the Netherlands in Group 2 with Ireland having to come from behind to beat Andorra 3-1 in Dublin and the Dutch cruising past Cyprus 4-0 in Amsterdam.
Ireland moved clear at the top with 14 points from six matches, while the Dutch have 11 points, the same as Portugal, but have played one more match.
Ildefons Lima stunned the home crowd at Lansdowne Road when he put Andorra ahead after 33 minutes with a wonderful header. But Ireland was level inside a minute through Kevin Kilbane.
Mark Kinsella (36) and Gary Breen (76) secured the points for Mick McCarthy's men, but they were made to work for their victory.
"I hate those games," said the deadpan northern-England-born Irish coach.
"We were never going to win any friends in a game like that, but the three points is all that matters. It is very hard to play against 11 men getting behind the ball, falling over and wasting time."
The Dutch had fewer problems against the Cypriots with van Nistelrooy marking his British transfer record move from PSV Eindhoven to United this week by scoring the fourth goal.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (29), Marc Overmars (35) and Patrick Kluivert (44) scored the others, setting up a three-team qualifying race between Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal.
Austria moved to the top of Group 7, but the expected goal-glut against Liechtenstein failed to materialize, although they ran out easy 2-0 winners.
Adi Gleider (43) and Thomas Flogel (75) scored the goals that took Austria into the top spot with 11 points from five matches - one ahead of Spain (10 points), which has a match in hand.
In other action, Iceland beat Malta 4-1 in a match between the bottom two teams in Group 3.
TITLE: Agassi Bounced From Verizon Challenge
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: DULUTH, Georgia - Top-seeded Andre Agassi lost for just the third time this year Wednesday, while No. 3 Michael Chang continued his downward spiral in early-round play at the Verizon Tennis Challenge.
Qualifier Nicolas Thomann , a 28-year-old Frenchman playing in only his fifth career tournament on the ATP Tour circuit, beat Agassi 6-4, 7-5 in a first-round match that was pushed back a day by rain.
Chang, who is just 2-8 this year, lost 6-4, 7-6 to Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea, ranked No. 79 on the ATP Tour entry system, in a second-round match.
In other matches, fourth-seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany was routed by Xavier Malisse of Belgium, 6-1, 6-1, while fifth-seeded Andrew Ilie of Australia, the defending champion, defeated Jens Knippschild of Germany, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Agassi, the world's No. 1-ranked player and winner of the Australian Open and two other tournaments this year, said he was hampered by the playing surface at the Atlanta Athletic Club.
"This green clay is more slippery, and it's a harder way to start" the clay-court season, Agassi said. "This is a good platform to throw myself in the water and tell myself to swim. Today I was out there fighting for my footwork and my balance."
Agassi, who came in with a 23-2 record this year, had three double faults in the first game of the match.
"He made some mistakes," said Thomann, who served well and returned even better. "Of course, he can play much better."
In the second set, Agassi gained confidence in his groundstrokes and forced longer, more varied rallies. He led 5-4 and had two break points with a chance to even the match.
But Thomann fought off the first break point with a 198-kilometer-per-hour ace, played a delicate drop shot winner from the baseline to escape the second and evened the set 5-5. Agassi showed little interest in playing the next two games, dropping serve for 5-6 and then falling to Thomann's strong serve.
Agassi, who has won all four major tournaments in his career, scoffed at the idea of winning the Grand Slam this year after his performance against Thomann.
"The Grand Slam is nonsense," the 31-year-old said. "I have to start executing and get through these matches. Tomorrow, I need to get back to work."
He will play at Rome and Hamburg before the French Open, which starts May 28.
TITLE: Heavyweight Champ Thrown From Car In Post-Rally Crash
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: BALTIMORE - Newly crowned heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman and his family were thrown from a convertible in a motorcade accident Wed nes day after a celebration at City Hall.
"Everybody's O.K., Rahman said after leaving The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
The champ said he was feeling "excellent" and was "ready to talk about the next fight."
Rahman sustained minor cuts on his elbows. His wife, Crystal, sustained cuts and bruises and was fitted for a neck brace before being taken from the scene by ambulance.
The boxer, his wife and at least two of their three children were sitting in the back of a convertible when it struck a taxi, hurling them from the car.
Rahman had been honored at City Hall for winning the IBF and WBC titles Saturday night in South Africa with a surprise fifth-round knockout of Lennox Lewis.
Police were escorting Rahman in a red convertible toward the Inner Harbor when an officer in a cruiser tried to stop traffic, police commissioner Edward Norris said. As the officer stepped out of his car, a Volkswagen ran a red light and hit the convertible, causing it to collide with a taxi.
Mayor Martin O'Malley said the convertible was being driven by someone on his staff.
The Volkswagen's driver, Mike Heisler, told WBAL-AM that he had the green light at the intersection.
"All of a sudden, a red car comes flying through at an amazing speed," Heisler said. "I tried to hit my brakes and I almost made it through without me hitting him, but I hit the back tail and he spun around and that's when he hit the taxi cab. That's when everybody flew out."
The children were taken to The Johns Hopkins Children's Center and Crystal Rahman to Johns Hopkins Hospital.
A Hopkins spokeswoman said Rahman and his family were not seriously injured. Crystal Rahman was being kept overnight for observation.
"Everyone's here and they're fine," spokeswoman Beth Simpkins said.
The accident followed a ceremony in which Rahman was honored as a hometown hero.
O'Malley said Rahman told him the accident made him understand what was important in life.
"They're all doing well, they're all in good condition," O'Malley said. "It was a great rally, a great day for the city and none of us wanted to see this happen, but this is a happy ending."
The last time Baltimore staged a sports-related motorcade, a police car was struck by a bus carrying the Baltimore Ravens before the team left for the Super Bowl in January.
The revelry for Rahman began in East Baltimore at the dingy gym where he learned how to box when he was 20. Hundreds of neighborhood residents gathered to catch a glimpse of the 28-year-old champ.
Rahman showed up late at City Hall, where O'Malley gave the champ a key to the city before reading a proclamation making it "Hasim 'Rock' Rahman Day" in Baltimore.
That ceremony took place in a makeshift boxing ring.