NEWFOUNDLAND HISTORY

A Little Trivia Too

     John Cabot sailed to Newfoundland in 1497 with sixteen Englishmen and one Burgundian, but the English made no effort to colonize. Portuguese established the first regular fishery in the early 1500s. In 1583 Sir Humphrey Gilbert arrived in St. John’s with letters from Queen Elizabeth authorizing him to take possession of Newfoundland. However John Guy established the first English colony in 1610. In 1623 Sir George Calvert, later known as Lord Baltimore, arrived in Newfoundland from Yorkshire, England. A patent from King James conveyed the whole southern peninsula to him. He built a fine house and resided there with his family for many years. In his later years he left for Maryland and founded Baltimore.

     In 1713 British sovereignty over Newfoundland was recognized by the Peace of Utrecht. Labrador became a British possession in 1763 under the Treaty of Paris, but it was transferred to Quebec in 1774. It became part of Newfoundland in 1809, but the boundary with Quebec remained in dispute until 1927. Colonization of Labrador did not take place until the 19^th century. In 1832 Great Britain granted Newfoundland representative government and self-government in 1855. In 1948 Newfoundland united itself with Canada and in March 1949 became the tenth Canadian province.

     In 1650 the population from Cape Race to Cape Bonavista was 2000. In 1662 The French founded Placentia, known as ye ancient capital. Nearly thirty-five years later in 1696 The French captured St. John’s and all surrounding areas. In 1729 Captain Henry Osbourne, an Englishman, was appointed governor.

     Historical records mention the first seal fishery in 1763. The first lighthouse was built at the entrance to St. John’s harbor in 1811. Fires in 1816 and 1817 destroyed St. John’s. The railroad arrived in 1881 and electricity in 1886. In 1888 dollars and cents replaced the pound shilling and pence. In 1892 another fire in St. John’s destroyed the city leaving 11,000 people homeless. The Wabana iron ore mine opened in 1895 and shipments were made to Europe and America. Mail and the first passenger train arrive in 1898. A hydroelectric plant at Churchill Falls, Labrador began operating in 1971.

    Exploitation of the abundant mineral resources began in 1864. Disputes over fishing grounds have existed for years.

A little Trivia

    The trans-Canada highway starts in St John’s with marker zero and extends 4660 miles across the country to Victoria, British Columbia,

   The word fish refers to cod, if any other fish is talked about it is identified by name.

   Tickle refers to a small stream of water.

   Wedgies are fried potato chunks.

   Deck on a house is called a bridge.

   Shed is a store and a store is a shop.

   If you are not a Newfoundlander, you are from away.

  In rural areas front doors frequently do not have any steps because the house is      considered not finished and the taxes are lower. It is referred to as the mother-in-law door.

  Screech is rum.

  The pitcher plant eats bugs.

  The partridge berry tastes a lot like a cranberry.

  Scuff means to dance, scoff means to eat so one can partake of a scuff and dance.

  The Newfoundland pony was imported from Ireland and England. They weigh about 700     pounds and have strong forequarters.

ADDITIONAL MOSCOW HISTORY

More Moscow History

Our Moscow hotel, situated on the western bank of the Moscow River, is one of Stalin’s seven famous gothic skyscrapers. Built in the 1950s they demonstrated the prowess and glory of the Soviet regime. Stalin’s Gothic buildings, are referred to as wedding cakes or seven sisters. Across the river sat the Russian Government’s White House. The hotel was not far from the bustling Novy Arbat Street and a ten-minute walk to a Metro station. With a population of ten million, the city has two and a half million people arriving or departing every day! The city runs 25 miles north to south and 19 miles east to west. Russia has 93,000 miles of railroad. Like Rome, Moscow is built on seven hills

     The old red flag of the USSR with the sickle and hammer is gone. Today’s flag now goes back to the days of Peter the Great who was quite taken with the Netherlands, so the flag reflects the colors and style of their flag. The flag of the Russian Federation has three equal stripes, one of white, blue and red in that order from top to bottom

Russia, the largest state of the former Soviet Union, spans two continents, Europe and Asia, and is the largest country in the world. On the west it is bordered by Norway, Finland, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, and the Black Sea. On the south lies Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. The Northern Pacific Ocean is on the east, and the Arctic Ocean borders the north.

       Moscow, Russia’s largest city, is the country’s current capitol. In 1147 the prince decided the area had the makings of a future metropolis, and in 1156 when a wooden fortress was built the city of Moscow was born. Today the 850-year-old city exists in the midst of rapidly changing political and economic conditions. The city presents a dizzying array of the old and new, the alienating and quaint, the shabby and sparkling. The city is full of mammoth buildings, many spanning an entire block. Moscow has several ring roads around the city. They are wide with six lanes going in each direction.

      Mongols burned the city in 1382. In the 15^th century Ivan the Great declared Moscow the capitol of Russian lands. Italian architects were summoned to rebuild the old wooden Kremlin in stone. By 1495 the walls and towers were completed. New cathedrals were commissioned, squares laid, decorative gardens planted and Moscow became known as the ‘beautiful big village’.

     Ivan the Terrible was born at the Kremlin, and crowned himself czar at age 16. He married seven times and killed his own son in a fit of rage. He claimed the entire Volga region for Russia, and he also commissioned beautiful St. Basil’s Cathedral.

     Between 1610-1612 Polish forces occupied Moscow during the peak of the Time of Troubles. Moscow’s fall from grace began during the rule of Peter the Great, 1696-1725. He believed Russia would be better westernized from the Gulf of Finland, and started building St. Petersburg as his new capitol. In 1712 Peter’s “Window on the West” wrestled the governing powers from Moscow and moved them to St. Petersburg.

      Napoleon went after Moscow in 1812, but found himself and his troops in a basically abandoned city to brave the cold winter on their own. When leaving he burned most of the city, but failed to topple the mighty Kremlin itself.

    A year later a large-scale industrial expansion created smoke-belching factories, and shabby suburbs sprang up around the city to house the influx of workers to Moscow.

    In October 1917 the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, overcame savage street fighting to capture the Kremlin. Six months later Lenin brought the capitol back to Moscow. When Lenin died in 1924, Josef Stalin took over Russian leadership. Stalin along with other irresponsible leaders virtually raped the city by blowing up thousands of historical and architectural monuments, including the Church of Christ the Savior. (It was totally rebuilt in 1997) Streets were straightened and widened, neighborhoods demolished and seven ‘Stalin Gothic’ skyscrapers appeared on the landscape. Fully one-half of Moscow’s monuments had been turned to dust by the time Stalin died in 1953.

       During Khrushchev’s years, 1957-64, hastily built concrete block residential projects appeared in Moscow’s outskirts. Except for a brief period in 1880 when Moscow prepared for the Olympics, Brezhnev’s years were marked by stagnation.

     Privatization sparked by Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika resulted in renovation of world class hotels and the appearance of up-scale restaurants, clubs and casinos. In the 21^st century Moscow resembles a bustling Eurasian metropolis as kiosks and street traders enter Russia’s furious fledgling capitalism.

     There are 17 convents in the city, 18 monasteries, and 450 churches, which is about half the number of churches before Stalin set about blowing up and demolishing them, and most are Russian Orthodox.

You may want to check Posts 3-27-13, 12-5-10, 8-21-10, 11-20-10, 2-26-12, 7-8-12, 7-22-12, 2-10-13, 2-17-13, 2-13-13, 7-3-13, 10-30-13, 7-10-13, 10-10-13, or 3-17-13

KALOCSA, HUNGARY

                                 Hungary's Cowboy Country
        Once a swampy area, homes are built up off the ground to cope with frequent flooding.  A visit to a country home revealed white walls were covered with floral designs. Originally only the ceiling borders were painted, but eventually  painting emerged to cover the entire wall. White lace curtains graced the windows below the open-beam ceiling. Even the stove in the corner of the room was painted with flowers.

       On one wall was a picture of a girl    in native costume which  is worn only to church or for special occasions. Over the years the colors of the flowers on her dress change. Young girls would have red roses, as she grows, matures and marries the flowers will change to lilac and in old age the colors will be quite drab. The art of Kalosca embroidery was born in the second half of the 19th century. The motifs were borrowed from nature.

      Assumption Church is the fourth built on the same site, this one 1734-1755. The 4664 pipe, 3 keyboard organ is the second and dates to the mid 1800s. One of four Roman Catholic archbishops of Hungary, the town has a beautiful cathedral, archbishop's palace, and seminary.  The unusual thing I noticed in this church was the use of pastel pink and yellow in many places on the walls. There are four side chapels. We enjoyed an organ concert here but the music was very loud.

    Kalocsa is located six miles from the eastern bank of the Danube River in the Puszta, the Great Plains of Hungary.  Hungarian cowboys are called csikos.  There are many large ranches in the area, and we drove to one of the horse farms for an excellent goulash served over barley. An interesting milk pie, like nothing I’ve ever eaten before, topped off lunch.  

     At the Puszta horse show Magyar cowboys demonstrated their equestrian skills. The entertainment started with a horse parade, followed by all sorts of exercises that were once practiced for wartime. For example, riders taught their horses to sit or lie down providing a

smaller target or protection for the rider during battle. A boy on a small burro provided comical contrast to the magnificent steeds. The highlight of the show was when a cowboy completed a complicated twist to the Hungarian five-horse racing, more commonly known as the Puszta-fiver. Standing on the rear ends of the back two horses the cowboy controlled eight horses with his reins!  Amazing! It was my first such show and it was outstanding.

You may want to read all about Paprika on post 7-31-11

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KIEV'S CHURCHES

                              Just a few plus a Couple Sweet memories 
       Kiev has many churches and we by no means got to them all but we did visit a few impressive ones

      St. Vladimir’s church took 30 years to complete, 1862-96. The seven dome, three aisle church only slightly resembles old Ukraine. A team of accomplished artists did the inside decorations and painting in eleven years. On each side of the big door were bronze figures of Princess Olga and Prince Vladimir on a blue enamel background. The white marble walls, marble floor, and richly painted walls accented with bronze ornamentation, all gave a feeling of spaciousness inside the church.

    

       Old Town’s historic buildings include St. Sophia’s, a UNESCO site since 1990 and the oldest church in the city. The 11^th century, 13 domed church is considered one of the most remarkable structures from the Kievan-Rus period. Built 1017-31 by Prince Yaroslav, the church houses some of the country’s greatest mosaics, frescoes, and ancient icons.  Modeled on St. Sophia in Istanbul, the church is actually a small complex of two churches, bell-tower, school and monks’ cells. Renovation in the 19^th century was done in Renaissance and Ukrainian baroque styles.

      On the extensive tour of the complex we learned there are 177 hues of color used inside. The old frescos were magnificent. Stalin closed the church in 1934. Gold covered domes were very popular with Slavs and the city is full of them---there are domes everywhere! The iconostasis is gilded over carved linden wood, a popular technique and is about one third the size of the original one.

      The four-story bell-tower stretches 230 feet into the air and features several architectural styles. The first story is typical Ukrainian of the early 17th-18^th century. The next two stories are embellished with molded decorations of Ukrainian baroque style and the fourth story is pseudo-Byzantine.

       We had a clear view of St. Michael’s domes in a straight line from the large church plaza. Almost a straight shot, it was an easy walk. A large statue sat in the left side of the large front church plaza. We did not spend a lot of time here but did marvel at the hues of slate blue, tan, brown and black that decorated the inside.  

    The magnificent 11^th century Cave Monastery is a collection of gold-domed churches and underground labyrinths lined with faithful monks who were mummified by the dry soil. Monks who lived in natural caves with the goal of spreading Christianity founded it in 1051. Spread over two rolling hills southeast of the center of Kiev, and located along the Dnipro River the Monastery of the Caves (Perchersk Lavra) is an active, functioning monastery compound containing restored churches and towers, as well as a printing works and miles of maze-like underground tunnels where ancient crypts hold ecclesiastical treasures.  For centuries Orthodox Christians from throughout Europe traveled on pilgrimages to the famous monastery. Many compared Kiev to Rome as a religious destination.           

      The 11^th century (1051) monastery consists of 86 buildings and eleven churches. At its zenith 1200 monks lived and studied here. Now there are 100 monks. Holy Assumption Church  has been damaged and rebuilt several times since 1073, but in 1941 Nazi planes reduced it to a pile of rubble. In 2000 the present cathedral was rebuilt in the same spot as the original one. There is a concert hall in the church.

      The bell tower was built in 1744 by a German after he won a competition. The 96 meters, four story tower  is the tallest monumental structure in Ukraine and is the center of the monastery. A library is housed in the first two stories. Three of the original 13 bells remain on the third story, and the clock is on the last story. There are 239 steps leading up to the top.

     Monks have a three-year probationary period. Monks do not marry, but priests do. The monastery was closed in 1922, became a museum, and reopened in 1988.

KIEV MEMORIES

     We had many vodka drinks on this trip. We learned that vodka is often mixed with a fruit liqueur. Many of them were very good.

    I happen to like borscht and I ate a lot of it on this trip, however, the very best was in a Kiev cafeteria. It was hearty and superb. The worst was in the Kiev hotel.

      That year the Russian Orthodox Easter corresponded to May 1. Big festivities were planned for the breaking of the fast. Walking into the restaurant on the sunny Sunday morning we accepted a glass of wine and was greeted with Christos voskrese (Christ is risen). We were unable to respond in Ukrainian. We were then directed to a nearby table holding decorated hard-boiled eggs and paska. Paska is a special decorated bread which is always torn and never cut. The breakfast buffet held special Easter fare. A local gal translated much of the food for us. What a nice surprise!

    Later in the morning at the Lavra Monastery there were long lines of people with their baskets of food waiting for it to be blessed by the priest.

     We  learned about salo—a pig fat product that is served many ways. It is white in color and reminded me of Crisco. Apparently it is popular in this part of the world although it did not appeal to me in any form.

KIEV, UKRAINE

                           A Visit During Happier Times 

      With all the recent problems in Ukraine I do not want to get into politics. My goal is to share the wonderful time we had in this lovely city before venturing on to Russia—before Putin regained power. My many Russian readers may or may not agree with me, but all I can do is relate my personal experiences. Three years prior to my visit I had breakfast one morning in Winnipeg, Canada with a Ukrainian business man. He was friendly and talkative and I enjoyed his company. I remember that he impressed upon me that when referencing Ukraine it was exactly that---not THE Ukraine or The Canada. I have passed that on many times, even a couple of times to reporters who were not in the know.

      Ukraine, slightly smaller than Texas, is Europe’s second largest country, and the largest country of what once was the Soviet Bloc. Ukraine was the most populous and developed republic of the USSR. Its longest international border is with Russia on the east. Balarus borders the north. To the west lie Poland and Slovakia. The Black and Azor Seas border the south, and on the southeast are borders with Hungary, Romania and Moldavia.  Besides Ukrainian, other languages spoken include Russian, Romanian, Polish, and Hungarian.

      Russia dominated Ukrainian history for centuries, but the Ukrainian culture stretches even farther back in history. The country was the center of the first Slavic state, a powerful nation called Kievan Rus, which dominated Europe in the 10^th and 11^th centuries. Invasions by Tartars and Poles weakened the country throughout history until 1654 when Ukraine joined the Muscovy.    

     Ukraine covers less than three percent of what was the USSR landmass, but its rich black soil produced over a third of the Soviet food supply while its mines produced 50 percent of Russia’s iron ore and 25 percent of its coal. 

      Brief independence for Ukraine followed the czar’s abdication in 1917. The Bolsheviks began a brutal civil war in Ukraine that ended with the Soviets taking most of the country and forcing it into the Soviet Union. Eight million people died when the brutal Soviet rule orchestrated artificial famines in 1921-22 and again in 1932-33. 

      Stalin made a vicious attack on Ukrainian culture by exterminating a large part of the intelligentsia. It wasn’t long afterward when horrific fighting between the Germans and Russians took place on Ukrainian soil during WW II, killing an additional eight million people. Large numbers of Russians were encouraged to move to industrial regions of Ukraine and soon became a sizable minority of 11 million. During communist rule the Soviet Union imposed the Russian culture and language onto all Ukrainians. But in spite of this the Ukrainian culture, which stretches far back in history, managed to survive. Even with repression, suffering, political turmoil, and ecological disasters Ukraine’s spirit and national identity have never died.

       The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the slow Soviet response embittered Ukrainians. A small nationalist movement, founded in Kiev in 1990, contributed to the country’s independence in 1991.

      The ancient city (5^th century) of Kiev is known to Russians as the ‘Mother of Cities’, due to its long and prominent history. A river city as well as the country’s largest city, Kiev also is the capitol city.

      Kiev had established trade routes with Western Europe and Arabia when Moscow was still a village in the woods. In 988, during the golden age, Kiev’s Prince Vladimir gave Orthodox Christianity its Slavic foothold with a mass baptism in the River Dnieper.

       Modern Kiev combines three 9^th century towns: Podol, the lower town closest to River Dnieper, Pecherch, and Staro Kiev, site of the modern center. Since independence Ukraine has experienced many traumatic growing pains as a new democracy.

     Transportation includes trams, trolleys, buses and the metro and transfers are allowed from line to line.  However, Kiev is not a pedestrian friendly city. Crossing the street can be hazardous to one’s health and is the best incentive for using the underground passageways/tunnels to get from one side to the opposite side of the street.

      Old Kiev with its narrow streets and small shops is the heart of the city. Merchants and craftsmen worked and lived, often for a lifetime, in the same small area. Kiev is known both as the Garden City and as a Green City. A large part of the city is park area.  As we got around the city, I realized that the city of three million people seemed like a small large city.

      After the Danube and Volga Rivers, the Dnieper River is Europe’s third longest river. Flowing through the city of Kiev, it also flows through Russia, and  Belarus to the Black Sea.

     Our local city guide pointed out art nouveau buildings, Stalin-era buildings that generally had a large star on top, many of the city’s 80 churches and numerous 11^th century well-preserved buildings. Kiev is both the modern gateway to Ukraine and a historic town that blends commercial streets with modern byways with its old town. The city is the place of presidential administration, parliament and government departments. Actually Kiev is twice as old as Moscow. Spellings of buildings and streets can be very confusing as there is almost always at least two spellings for any one place or street.

     At the 170-year-old Red University all the walls and buildings are painted a terra cotta red. Across the street is a large bronze statue of the famous Ukrainian poet, Shevchenko. He stands just inside the entrance of a park bearing his name ---an island of greenery in the middle of bustling down city.

     The old city gate, built 1017-24 by Prince Yaroslavl meant to underscore his country’s power. Under Yaroslavl’s rule the city increased ten-fold. Nomadic tribes never could penetrate the main gate to the city. During the 16^th and 17^th centuries the gate deteriorated and in the 18^th century it was covered with earth. In 1832 archeologists discovered the ruins and a portion of the gate was restored and protected behind an iron fence.

      Kiev’s main business district, Khreshchatik, was blocked off for the holiday, so we strolled down the center of the wide street lined with large old trees and grand monumental buildings interspersed with small shops. It was a beautiful warm day.

      Independence Square, where the Orange Revolution took place when the presidential elections were so hotly contested, was lovely. We had a wonder couple days in Kiev, ate some wonderful borsch and enjoyed delightful weather and the friendly people. I was heartbroken when I heard on the news that the square was again the site of protest and that much of the paving stones had been dug up. I feel  lucky to have been a visitor during happier more peaceful times.