Sokos Vasilievsky St. Petersburg

... hijacked the decks and put on some metric to speed things up a bit. A Russian joined us soon, and we established that there will be no communication very soon. Soon we were on the landing, as people came and went, and nobody stopped in the empty room, except to pick up a drink. The landing was the smoking area, though there were people who did not smoke. It's always the case, smoking seems to be more sociable than not. Talk was flowing. Everyone about russia, about themselves, their ...

Mosaic courtyard in St. Petersburg...Suzdal churches...peeling potatoes with the local family....mead-tasting in the painted hall...Moscow Kremlin...St. Basil's...trans-siberian grocery runs...shampanski toasts...vodka chonic...russian surprise candies..."stagnant bitter honey-chili liqeur cordial ...

... we bought an overnite train ticket to moscow... we got what we wanted written down and sorted.. Myself and karl were laughing even as you stand in a que to buy ur train ticket the Russians just skip you... Train and metro stations just seem to be a free for all. We spent more time out in the city the following day and got to mention the depth of the metros ... they have the biggest escalators in the world bringing you down underground. Onto the Night train Moscow bound...

... remarkable - beautiful Delft tiles - most of which have been re-created - you will see them in the photos. They are massive in size and I was curious as to why they were all done in blue and white when the majority of the rooms were of a distinct color palate on their own... Gold, gold and more gold....what would a Russian Palace be without it?!?! After touring Catherine Palace we headed back into St. Petersburg. We had a similar lunch as the day before - it ...

... and apparently that explains the weather - its been warm - around 25 degrees and sometimes up to 30 degrees but also very humid. It's been impossible to know what to wear - whether to dress for sun or rain. It could be worse - the winters here can get to around minus 35 during the day...the thermometer outside my bedroom window measure down to minus 50. The state of the buildings, pavements, roads etc. For a fairly new city, it is in a bad state. Roads and ...

... Knowing him it would be a different pair of skis every day though. Maybe one day. <br>And after successfully negotiating the Foreigner's ticket desk at St Pete's Finlandski Station, I'm on my way to Helsinki, Finland. While I was in the queue, it occurred to me that an office I used to visit in London was close to Vauxhall station. The Russian word for station is "vaxal", so to a Russian the place would have been called "Vauxhall ...

Perhaps the greatest introduction one can receive to Russia is to take a flight on Russian Airlines. It became very clear that I was leaving clean, efficient and safe Denmark, as I prayed that the plane we were getting on could actually get off the ground. One of the other people on the tour assured me about the airlines outstanding safety record by telling me, "Well this airline is only a year old." Great... I wish I had more pictures of ...

... 1728, 1732-1918). St. Petersburg ceased being the capital in 1918 when the government moved to Moscow after the Russian Revolution of 1917. With about 4.8 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest and one of largest cities in Europe, a major European cultural center, and the second most important Russian port on the Baltic Sea (after Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast). The city has a total area of 1439 square km. Among ...

... ve thought it eh? Sand, frisbee, beach volleyball and sunbathers. Didn't spot any loony swimmers, but I'm sure they must have been there earlier in the day. Walking back across Troitsky bridge we realise how awfully dusty it is in this city. Don't know if it's the time of year, or maybe it just hasn't rained for a while, but everything is covered in a thick layer of brown dust that the cars drive up in huge clouds. Water trucks are on constant ...

... made better by the fact by my winning a medal for being on of the most entertaining and memorable guests (green hair may have had something to do with it). The next day after visiting with some more cool people from Olga's family, we headed back to Moscow. Moscow was a whirlwind as well. Some of the more memorable activities: - ordering takeout and having it actually delivered. For those not impressed, this is an incredible step forward in the evolution of ...