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Location: St. Petersburg, Western (European) Russia
At the Barrikada movie house (15 Nevsky Prospekt),
Star Wars, Episode One is playing. Unfortunately, it
is playing only in Russian. There are several English language
theatres here, and you would think that this would be one
of the movies played in English. Instead, we get to see "The
Mummy" in English, Star Wars in Russian. Being a long
time Star Wars fan, this has been a kind of torture for me.
Good thing that the Barrikada has a billiards bar on
its second floor, which is where my weekend started off on
Friday night. A bunch of folks from the St. Petersburg
Times were seeing off their editor to a new job, and I
tagged along for the farewell party. We were there right around
dusk, and at the time there was a great view of the spire
of the Admiralty on the western end of Nevsky, silhouetted
by an orange sunset and streaky gray clouds. Nice place to
spend the early part of an evening.
The bar features both Russian and American style tables.
They both look the same - green felt, six pockets, fifteen
balls. Critical differences, however, make the Russian game
much more difficult. The balls are much bigger, the table
is bigger, and the pockets are much smaller, allowing barely
a millimeter or two of space for the ball to make it into
the pocket. The game usually deteriorates into a series of
random whacks at the cue ball, resulting in many near misses,
but rarely resulting in balls actually going into pockets.
All these factors combine to make a game of Russian billiards
a saga of un-ending futility; maybe this is why Russians like
it.
Later, we moved on to a bowling alley. Yes, bowling
in Russia. It has become quite the pass time here in the New
Russia, with palatial bowling alleys popping up all over the
place, again with a peculiarly Russian twist. In the states,
we think of the typical bowling alley as a working class joint,
a bit run down, with a massive row of dozens of lanes filled
with middle class families taking advantage of an inexpensive
night out. In Russia, it is strictly upper class; bowling
alleys here are advertised using pictures of waiters in tuxedos
carrying a dish of caviar and chilled champagne. The interiors
are sparkling, some with disco balls spinning over the lanes,
long stemmed wine glasses, coat checks, and menus of complete
Russian meals. Each lane has an electronic scoreboard with
two screens so bowlers need not master the intricacies of
keeping score. And it is often rather expensive - sometimes
$20 an hour for one lane. A big group is necessary to help
split the cost.
The bowling alley we visited (Leon, 34 Ul. Dekabristov) is
not far from the Marinsky Theater, in the centre of
town. The bowling was great, but the real attraction is the
billiards. Walking toward the back of the bowling area,
we found another massive hall with what the bar claims to
be one of the biggest billiards clubs in Europe, sporting
53 pool tables (both Russian and American). Saturday night,
it was filled to capacity. The room looked like it had once
been a theatre itself, with warehouse-high ceilings and a
stage at one end.
Saturday began with a softball game of rather international
proportions. A group of Russians run a little sandlot (at
the corner of Anglisky Ul. and the Moika canal) where Americans,
Russians, and of all people, Puerto Ricans, congregate to
play a game or two every weekend in the summer. The flags
of the U.S, Russia, Puerto Rico, and St. Petersburg fly on
flagpoles along the first base line. It is supposed to be
an organized league, with teams sponsored by local businesses,
but if teams are short, anyone available can play, which is
how I got involved. Somehow, I became the first baseman for
a team that is cruising through the playoffs at the moment.
Quite knackered after a full night of bar-hopping and a day
of playing softball, some friends and I retired to the nearby
Café Idiot (82 Naberezhnaya Moiki), which is
on the Moika canal, near St. Isaac's Square.
The Idiot is a rather popular coffee house/bar, which serves
vegetarian food. The food is mediocre, but the atmosphere
and the coffee make up for that; it's a rather bohemian place,
with monthly art shows, low ceilings, and jazz on the stereo.
Upon sitting down you are presented with a complimentary shot
of vodka. Combine this with happy hour, during which you get
two for one beers, and it becomes clear why the place is called
the Café Idiot. We went there ostensibly for a quick
meal intending to head home for an early night; five hours
later, we left feeling no pain, heading to another bar.
This time we ended up at the Jimi Hendrix Blues Bar
(33 Liteiny Pr.), a great little underground pub just off
of Nevsky. The bar is fairly new to St. Petersburg, but has
become quite the spot; Wynton Marsalis played there
this summer in a post concert jam session. It has live music
every night; we arrived after the band had stopped, which
is OK too, as it is a nice place to sit and have a conversation.
It is one of those rare bars in Russia which has finally mastered
the fine art of creating a comfortable atmosphere; the music
is just the right volume, the lighting is low, the seating
comfortable, and the service quick.
All in all, a pretty good weekend here in St. Pete.
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Travel Writers: Billiards, Bowling and Idiots
by Tim Russo
