http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Russia , Northwest , Saint Petersburg en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 03:07:04 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 03:07:04 +0000 It is Misha's birthday today I asked him how he was going to celebrate it. Me and some guys are going to have a bbq baring in mind it is 1112 outside Olga tells me this is his tradition and he does it every year. After breakfast Olga took me to Peterhof to the great palace. The palace gardens are full of fountains however in winter these are covered with boxes for protection and in turn the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-464368.html The start of my first full day in St. Petersburg. After a needed good nights sleep I was greeted by a cooked breakfast of eggs tamatoes oninions and basil. Olga took me to the metro to meet Bente where I had my first taste of the interior of St. Petersburg underground stations. Bente was explaining that the line we were taking the red line was the first to be built therefore more elaborate th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-464349.html Well after 26 years i managed to go to Russia. Oh yea....St Petersburg i always wanted to see this city with old and new. I always wanted to see what is the feeling of being in Russia how do the people live there and most of all...some places that i have seen only in pictures. So at the end of November we packed some clothes with us Me Mari Judith Christina and Vanda jumped in 2 b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-461203.html Still no photos I'm afraid once again cannot upload on this computer but I will update as soon as I can. I woke up very late this morning about 930am so I was either very tired or the beer I drank last night knocked me out or it was possibly a combination of both. After heading back to the hostel last night to pick up some more money I headed to that Irish Pub to get some food. It was rammed http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-460945.html Visited the Museum November 20th. There are a lot of pictures inthis blog ... see them in extra photos.The museum is dedicated to the peoples that inhabit the Russian Landt. Notes .... as written while walking thru the second floor entrance fee 350 rub. little blue footsie slippers are required over outdoor shoes people working are not wearing footsies. finding the stairs to go up http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-457414.html The Hermitage is why I came to StPB and I will concentrate on just that. Anything else will be gilding the Lily.Have now been to the Hermitage three times and have successfully covered the first floor. The East Asian section was closed on my third visit. It may be that more 'guards' are needed in high traffic areas today. There were hordes of people coming into the place via the front entrance th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-453590.html A six hour train ride to Moscow is what the day had in store for me. The wind in St Petersburg that blew straight through you threatening to take your umbrella with it quickly put an end to any ideas we had to spend our last few hours wandering the old streets. Back to the hotel and a long lunch before jumping in the waiting car to take us to the train station. Thankfully since traffic was abo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-445534.html The capture of Leningrad was one of three strategic goals in Hitlers initial plan codenamed Operation Barbarossa for invading and conquering the Soviet Union. Hitlers strategy was motivated by Leningrads political status as the former capital of Russia and the symbolic capital of the Russian Revolution its military importance as a main base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet and its industrial strength http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-445524.html I arrived in St Petes almost expecting the worse slow and rude bureaucracy little English and police officers wanting bribes and pickpockets as far as the eye could see. I must say so far there has been none of these issues.We were clever enough to secure a private city tour before we left Perth and we woke on our first full day in St Petes filled with anticipation. St Petersburg as a city is http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-444703.html On 1 May 1703 Russian calendar during the Great Northern War Peter the Great captured the Swedish fortress of Nyenskans on the Neva river in Ingria. A few weeks later on 27 May 1703 May 16 Old Style lower on the river on Zayachy Hare Island three miles 5 km inland from the gulf he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress which became the first brick and stone building of the new ci http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-444696.html Oh no looks like I have become what annoyed me while reading other peoples' blogs A rare poster.Truth be told I write every day but as it turns out I write elsewhere and sent the link to friends and family so they'd know how I am doingWhat can I say I am cheap and don't like to call out with my mobile. I guess I didn't think the decision through when I set up this account and realized that a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-444655.html After a very late night madly packing up the house and quick run across Heathrow Terminal 5 as they called our names for the last call we started our Round the World in St. Petersburg. It was a pretty cold start and took us a while to work out what was going on with the language but we managed to survive the 3 days here by finding the two restaurants that had an English menu that weren't McDonal http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-443487.html Hello againSo we arrived in St Petersburg after our overnight train from Lithuania train was quite an experience. Basically there is 1st Class not sure what its like then 2nd class which is 4 beds in a private compartment with a bed on top of the other and then 3rd class which is called Plaskart which is an open compartment similar to 2nd class but no privacy so like one big dorm except http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-439411.html Hi Guysfirst posting hereby. Made it to STP on Monday nice place. Add Budapest to Amsterdam and divide by 2 then you get a feeling for the city o Went to Hermitage saw the Aurora ship and enjoyed nightlife so far. My rusty russian knowledge is kinda useful. Tonight we head off to Moskow by nighttrain more story telling from theirAgnes http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-439026.html Continued our tour of the city starting at 650 a.m. Supposed to rain but it never did sunny all day. Drove out of St. Petersburg to Peterhoff where Peter the Greatrsquos Summer Palace is located. Interesting ride out 10rsquos of thousands of apartments in huge complexes. The majority of St. Petersburg residents live in apartments which are very expensive. 1600 square feet with 2 bedr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-438780.html St Petersburg is a relatively young city by both Russian and European standards and was only founded in 1703 by Tsar Peter the Great. Despite its short life so far Petersburg has a rich and exciting history. From the early days of Peter the Greats Venice of the North to the modern events of the 1991 coup detat the city has always bustled with life and intrigue revolution and mystery.Up brig http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-438492.html To most Americans hockey is the bastard child of professional sports. With so many other sporting options to choose from the Stanley Cup Finals take a far backseat to the World Series Superbowl and dare I say it the NBA Playoffs. Head up north to Canada and hockey is a way of life. Head across the pond to Russia and hockey is well a great way to spend a Wednesday night. On our last day o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-435561.html A lot has happened since then but I haven't time to write about it now. But I have a few picture's that won't take long. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-433873.html Den richtigen Bus zu finden welchen einen an die richtige Metrostation bringt um dann an der richtigen Haltestelle nach dreimaligem umsteigen wider auszusteigen ist ne kleine Odyssee. Angeschrieben wird wenn berhaupt in Kyrillischen Buchstaben. Ne gute bung fr China lesen wird zu bdquoBilder vergleichenldquo. Was sofort auffllt in Peterburg ist dass Gott wohl ein wenig unfair war bei http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-432419.html The three of us departed Moscow on Tuesday evening having said our goodbyes to Jill Anne and Rachel. We set off in the pouring rain and headed for our overnight train to St. Petersburg. We departed the city at 1am and arrived in St.Petersburg at 9.45am. The train journey was the best so far the train was nicer the toilets were nicer and we all got a good nights sleep. We arrived into the city http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-430208.html