10 October I have managed to plan a one-day visit to Belarusian Mir and Nesvizh Castles, but it dawned upon me in the course of planning that it was not advisable to visit both castles on the same day, unless I had a private car. It turned out my changing of the tickets for a 2-day visit was the optimal decision, because I managed to sleep, eat well and comfortably visit the two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Belarus. I bought Ecolines bus tickets to Minsk and spent some 60 Euros for a night in Tourist Hotel. I chose this one because I and Luda had been there on 9 May 2011, and it included a breakfast. I chose it mainly because of proximity to the metro. I also bought two bus tickets from the Belarusian ... read more

I first visited Vyborg in the autumn of 2009, approximately at the same time as Veliky Novgorod. In 2013, the excursions repeated themselves, with the main difference being that in 2009 I went to the towns on my own, this year – with an agency, the already known Pervye Linii. The main reason I revisited these two towns wass to write entries for this website, because I have lost the previous photos, but, of course, I did indeed manage to see new things this time. It is a bit hard getting up so early in the morning, but I soon reached the departure point and again had a breakfast at McDonalds (near Vitebsky Train Station). In the bus I thought about many things, such as whether I’d like to travel by car. I do not drive, ... read more

Look at the globe: Here it is, the Earth And on it, Bashkiria, No bigger than a leaf. Just one small birch leaf, One leaf on a tree. And the birch, the great Russia, Stands so green and tall. (poem by Mustai Karim. Translated by Arthur Shkarovsky) My life has been connected with Ufa since times immemorial, perhaps when I was seven or eight years old (let’s assume 1992-1993). Basically, there are three important cities in my life: Birsk, Ufa, and St. Petersburg. When I was a little child, mother took me and brother to the circus, of which I remember only taking photos on the clown’s lap. Our sister was too little back then. Also, my brother was having some medical treatment many years ago in a sanatorium, and I also remember visiting Ufa when ... read more

21 August Pushkinskiye Gory is a settlement in the Pskov Region of Russia, with about five thousand dwellers. It has regular bus connections with St. Petersburg and can be reached in some 7-8 hours. The worthwhile sites are the Mikhailovskoye, Trigorskoye, and Petrovskoye homesteads and its memorial parks dedicated to the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, as well as Svyato-Uspensky Monastery with Pushkin's grave, lakes, Bugrovo mill and museum, and a lot of apple trees! The name of Pushkin is, perhaps, among the most well-known in Russia, the same as Lenin. I do not know about the perception of his works worldwide, but a titan of Russian literature he is. What I’m driving at is that I felt a need to go and see at least some of the places where the poet had been and ... read more

Luda had been to the Finnish Lappeenranta for a shopping tour in July 2013 with Orienta-Tour Company. Among their offers at the website I found the one-day tour to Savonlinna, and immediately decided to go there sooner or later, because it had a Fortress. About two weeks ago I registered for the tour (no prepayment) and at 23-30 on July 27 arrived at the departure point (St. Petersburg, Chernaya Rechka metro station). There were dozens of people awaiting buses, one was already full and departed to Helsinki, came another one also for Helsinki, and the third one was to Savonlinna. A crowd of people rushed to it, hoping to get their seats as soon as possible, and in this haste I was among the losers, because I had a seat with my back in the direction ... read more