American Family Fall Vacation to St. Petersburg Russia 2005

personal letter home to US friends and family | 9/16/05 | schwing_wifey

[schwing_wifey]

This is our last major trip of 2005. Hopefully next year we'll do an African Safari, which would be a mind-blower I expect.

Hope you find this interesting.

"Natasha"

[jigsaw]

A very interesting read. Thanks!

[schwing_wifey]

You're so kind. Thanks.

I'll ping you when I post my next trip (Next year).

[jla]

Maybe chlorine in the water.
Enjoyable reading as always. Thank you for sharing, Natasha.

[ShadowDancer]

I have long held a burning desire to go to Russia, maybe someday I will make it there. Thanks for the post, it was a great read.

[jla]

Nevsky-Prospekt

[schwing_wifey]

Thank You. I still can't believe we went.

If you do go, St. Petersburg is the place (although Siberia intrigues me).

However, I've not heard anything good about visiting Moscow. Another European group we ran across in St. P. said it was a very dirty city. (Industrial?)

[schwing_wifey]

I've seen that but on our city map its spelled "Nevskiy" - I guess the translator had a little too much vodka....And I don't mean me.. ;D

[jla]

At that site if you go to the pages with the city maps it is spelled the way your translator said.

[jla]

And TAKE PICTURES will you?!
You do know that it is possible to focus the camera away from family and friends and just have scenery, or a local gal or two, in the image. :^)

[schwing_wifey]

Ok Ok... I've got a few... I just need to get a clue about the spots to host them. I know there are FAQs on this site and folks HAVE sent them to me, I just need to read and try them.

I'm really really sorry....don't mean to torture folks

Natasha

[ken5050]

Wonderful read...you write well....

BTW..Boris and Natasha works for me..(G), but instead of Boris Jr, I'd have gone with Rocky or Bullwinkle..

FYI..."peppered vodka" became a necessity in the USSR during WW II..because of shortages, the stuff was distilled using diesel fuel, which can kill you, and they didn't have really great filtration/distillation set-ups, so sprinkling pepper into your vodka before drinking..it causes the globules of fueloil left to clump together and sink to the bottom of the glass..

[schwing_wifey]

Thank You so much!

I wish I knew about the pepper so I could have added that tidbit to my travelogue. As it is, I forgot to mention the gang of old Royal Swedish naval officers and wives that we met in the hotel lobby on one of the evenings. (I never even knew Sweden had a navy. I thought the Vasa and Kronan took care of that idea...)

:D

Yes, "Rocky" would have been VERY appropriate.

[Freelance Warrior]

Someone told me it was their revenge for the American visa process
That’s really difficult. Any tourist is interviewed by an official, as an example

that smiling is against the rules or they don't like their jobs. Yes, that’s easily noticeable. On the other hand I felt in London’s Heathrow that they didn’t pay attention at the passengers at all.
Did you encounter any extra security measures? At Moscow’s Sheremetievo airport passengers go through x-ray gates twice before boarding, and they should take their boots off for inspection in a machine.

We also stumbled across a pepper flavored vodka called Nemiroff
That’s actually an Ukrainian brend which is been actively marketing in Russia. www.nemiroff.ru Anyway, pepper-flavoured vodka is traditional for Russia also.

There are places in the world that people warn of crazy drivers and St. Petersburg has to be on that list.
The St.Petersburg drivers looked polite to me, comparing to Moscow’s ones.

This means, if you get caught on the wrong side of the river when you're out at night, its so long to try go around that you just sit and wait till the bridges come back down.
That’s a traditional opportunity that St.Petersburg’s guys take if they don’t want to let their girls home after theatre or something. Distract her attention from the bridges for some time and you’ll be hanging out together all the night.

And, the Romanov family is now all buried there.
I’d rather say they are buried in The St.Peter & St.Paul’s Cathedral – the tradional burial place of Russian monarchs.

We were there over the weekend and there were a lot of people on the streets carrying open containers fairly early in the morning
Yes, drinking beer in such a way is very popular in Russia. It began in mid-90s when beer wasn’t an alcohol drink legally.

We ran into other tourists that said they found Moscow dirty.
I don’t think so, but Moscow seems to me less interesting place for sightseeing. St. Petersburg was the capital for 300 years until 1920 and best architects worked there.

[Cecily]

Great stories! I went on a trip to Russia and St. Petersburg in the dead of winter back when they were the Soviet Union and Leningrad. Ronaldus Maximus was president, and tensions were high over the Solidarity movement in Poland. We had a great time and enjoyed the Russians we met thoroughly (not so much the "official" Intourist types, and we did encounter a few shady characters).

I would love to go back for a visit.

[GarySpFc]

I have been to Moscow many times. I would not characterize is as a dirty city, rather as a thriving metropolis, with somewhere around 18 to 22 million. Seeing the Kremilin, GUMS and the Metro is worth the trip.

[grellis]

I went twice, back in the '80s. There used to be a tiny little hole-in-the-wall bar in St Pete's (Leningrad back then), next door to the Hotel Yvropeskya, a few blocks off Nevsky....good times, good times!

I had a truly wonderful time. Outside of Moscow, Russians are as friendly and hospitable a people you could ever meet.

[grellis]

I wouldn't call Moscow dirty, either, but I found it to be grim. Worth a visit for anyone who enjoys travelling. It's very different from St Petersburg.

[Cecily]

If you haven't seen it, you would probably love this movie after your trip to Russia. It is a good story and well made film about the new Russian oligarchs.