selclark

Geo: -27.3855, 153.122... read more

Geo: 47.4609, 8.55617As usual we had an early transfer from the hotel to the airport. Pulkovo Airport is newly built three years ago and it was fine. Our guide said Aeroflot has trouble competing with world airlines so the Government imposes high airport fees on foreign carriers. Residents of St Petersburg find it cheaper to train to Helsinki and then fly from there.We waited in the lounge with others from our group who were also flying Swiss Air. Then three hours to Zurich on an A320 and a long, six-hour wait before going on to Singapore. Swiss Air's Zurich lounge (their flagship, I guess) is the first we've seen with a chef on hand who will cook you a number of hot dishes including a minute steak, while you wait. Outdoor balcony, well stocked self-service bar ... read more

Geo: 59.8816, 29.9074Today we spent the morning at a pre-opening visit to the Winter Palace and Hermitage Museum. Then lunch at the Gogol Restaurant and a 35 min hydrofoil ride across the Gulf of Finland to Peterhof, to visit the gardens and bath house of Peter's Summer Palace.St Petersburg with its 42 islands and 500 bridges is known as the Venice of the North. It's a great city but is pipped by Moscow, in my opinion. I wouldn't let Natalaya hear me, but I think the exhibits in Moscow's Armoury Chamber surpassed those in the Hermitage.... read more

Geo: 62.0764, 35.2217Kizhi is a small island in Lake Onega in North Russia, east of Finland. Its wooden buildings were mostly built in the 18th century, and a large-scale restoration project has been underway for many years.The winters are long up here. The popular saying is "summer is nine months of anticipation and three months of disappointment". Today is the first day of summer and It is quite light still at 10:30pm. We were woken by the dawn at 3:30am.We had another culture presentation this morning by Ludmilla, that I am now finding too much. I am more interested in her history and "life in Russia" lessons. In the avo we walked around Kizhi for a couple of hours in very cold weather with occasional bursts of sunshine. Dominoes and cocktails, then after dinner more culture, ... read more

Geo: 57.636, 39.8928We had a long tour of Yaroslavl this morning. An industrial city of some 600,000 people. The Russian Federation has 13 cities with a population of more than 1M, in its total of 146M. Women outnumber men by a large margin: 78M to 68M. What was the USSR became 15 countries in 1991.... read more