Pulkovskaya St. Petersburg

... most European of big Russian cities. Often referred to as the Venice of the north for its many canals, St. Petersburg is certainly has some very picturesque locals and a wealth of old churches and museums. On this visit however I didn’t go to the grand daddy of all Russian museums, the Hermitage or Winter Palace, because I had already been there on a previous visit and didn’t feel like fighting the crowds ...

... br>Bernie wanted to give a shout out to Coach Cheryl: There are some kids (and adults) that could use your hygiene lecture!

We are back in the high seas on our way to Tallinn, Estonia tomorrow. We are looking forward to vodka tasting!

Bernie’s Highlights: Catherine’s Throne Room. Now we are talking!

Bernie’s Lowlights: My feet got wet, and my pants almost up to my knees. Who would have thought denim would act like a sponge?
St. Petersburg, North-West Russia, Russian Federation rhillaryj

... To buy a swimming pass you must go to a special office and tell the office what day of the week and what time of day you plan on swimming (you have a choice of hour slots once per week or you can pay for more time). I chose Friday 5:15-6:15. 2. Get passport photo. Everything here requires a passport photo. Because of this there are places all over where you can get passport photos made. Getting the photo was, for me, a bit of a difficulty because when I walked into the photo shop I ...

... getting nastier so museums are going to be more popular as the weather becomes more wintery. Sunday is pretty much the same thing. Sometimes we stay in Friday and go out Saturday so then Sunday is the day we go to museums. It all depends. So that's my schedule as of now. It probably won't change until I leave, but at least it's different from what I've been doing in the States for the past two years. It's always nice to have a change of pace ...

... occurred but not from the down pour of rain but from severe winds blowing from the Gulf of Finland up the mouth of the Neva River and stopping the flow out to sea. This was our last night on board so after dinner some of the passengers ended up in the bar and we had a few renditions of "Walzing Matilda", "Advance Australia Fair" and anthems from Canada, South Africa, and England and America. It was great fun and a bit of friendly rivalry between countries.

... tea. Ah yes, the Russians are tea drinkers. The Russian Tea Houses, the samovars. We had plenty of silverware, but what we had at the beginning is what we had at the end of the meal. It was rather refreshing not to have waiters hovering around to whisk away unused silverware and to lay out new silverware several times during the meal. It was very much as if an efficiency expert had analyzed the meal process and had cut ...

st petersberg is an absolutely brilliant city, very beautiful and with heaps of history. again, i cant be ***** writin a big blog so just gonna say wat i saw. went to the hermitage, home of the old tsars and a one of the best museums in the world. next up went to church of ...

... and why do you ask?" They wanted nothing more than for me to take their picture, which I obligingly did. When I asked them what made them think I spoke English, they replied that anyone wearing a Maui t-shirt must surely speak some English. Who was I to argue with that brand of logic. We stopped for a beer or three, then tired legs and feet (and an ever darkening and threatening sky) and the fact that the afternoon had faded into ...

Victory Day actually turned out to be more like our Veterans Day than Independance Day. We watched the parade that ran through the main street. It consisted of a bunch of different military units, all lead by old WWII vets. The crowd threw flowers to the vets as they passed, and they were many old USSR flags on display...So there we are, standing on a packed street in the middle of the 4th largest city in Europe, when Paul, the south ...

... have a long hallway with elevator looking doors. These doors align with the doors of the carriages. This also prevents people from jumping tracks. Fast Food My body missed US more than I was willing to admit - at least it missed the "American cuisine." During my short stay at St. Petersburg, I went to KFC, Pizza Hut and MacDonald´s for dinner. I even made myself dinner on another night - instant noodle with 2 eggs, finished off with a nice piece of ...