Rus Hotel Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy

... everywhere in the Baltic region. That really helps out as far as my travels in the Baltic countries. After I finished booking everything, I tried to print my tickets but the internet cafe requires me to save the file then print it. The computer gives command in Russian plus when I try to move the file to that folder, the program won't let me. Its too difficult.... It is nice that all of my bookings went to the e-mail ...

... so good. It sure is interesting that MOST of the people here DON'T speak any English at all, while other part of Europe, English is quite commonly spoken. Since it is only 7 pm, I went back to my home stay family back in Moscow and met up with Ms. Maio. As I explained to her about my situation with the confused ticket, she welcome me in and let me used her computer while I waited for the night train. We chatted for a while and she was ...

... one of the biggest galleries in Europe - it is huge and you'd have to go back many times to see it as there are over 3 million items. The building itself is worth the visit and the it includes a great number of famous worked from the likes of Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, Matisse, and many more. We had a tour from a strict Russian guide who called us her 'dear friends' and we were all frazzled at the end of the whirlwind trip. Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood / Church of ...

More on the tourist trail in st pete. Today to the Hermitage, a complex of museums including the Winter Palace, choc-a-bloc full of art, sculpture, tapestry, all either acquired by the tsars or the communists in the revolution. We knew it was likely to be busy, but 3 hours in a queue! So was it worth it, well... the interiors were spectacular - baroque OTT, gold, silk walls, marble ...

6th August Wednesday Good thing we booked breakfast for 9am, I didn't really wake up till after 8 and Peter even later. Weather looked really good, and the forecast 9assuming we were looking at the correct city) showed we would have 16 degrees today. After breakfast we set off for the moorings below the Hermitage to see if we could get a boat ride on the river and canals. Once we were outside, we once again wished we had put more clothes on. While it was sunny there was ...

... as part of his ongoing efforts to "Europeanize" Russia. He bought the collections of scientists, doctors, and anatomists and brought them here to be displayed to the public. Then to attract visitors, he offered free vodka to everyone who came. (Good PR, Peter.) The collections are mostly of deformed fetuses pickled in jars, both human and animal, some skeletons, preserved body parts, stuffed animals with deformities...it's pretty creepy, but kind of cool ...

... sometimes, like if i was living in that city for 20years, i've been driving car, bycicle, having keys from flats and be on my own, 1 places even with a sauna in the flat in the middle of old Taalinn...thanks Thibaut;)... meeting friends and famillies, beeing in the middle of St Petersburg on the roof of the building at night time with 25 people i just met at the hitchicking meeting they have every week in a ...

The first stop this morning was to see the Arora Battleship. During the war with Japan there was a 45-minute sea battle in which 45 Russian ships were lost and the only ship to survive was the Arora. We snapped a couple photos and picked up some items at the market there and then were back on the bus. Next up was the Peter and Paul Fortress. To park anywhere near the Fortress you need to drive over a bridge that has a 14 tonne limit. Our bus was way over ...

... on a sheet of paper, but couldn't find the street on a map - great another adventure. All she said was that it was near Chernyshevskaya Station. So, we left and hurried to go get our visas. We weren't very far from the station she had directed us to, so it didn't take long at all to get there. Oddly enough, when we got out of the station there was a map that had the Belaurussian Embassy on it. Okay - shouldn't be too hard then. Yeah, right. 1 1/2 hours ...

... to overflowing. Yet, if you're really living it and not just peering in through a window or watching from afar, then it's all going into the memory bank. I'd like to think so. I honestly believe I could gaze at the unending, always changing boughs of the birch forest forever. Somewhere, north of here, this is the wilderness habitat of bears and wolves and even Siberian tigers readying themselves for the onset of winter. There is a whole life that I'll never know and more importantly ...