St Petersburg Russia

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Geo: 59.939, 30.3158

Our intention was to sleep in this morning. We weren't scheduled to arrive in St. Petersburg until about 12:00 so there was really no need to be up early. That is exactly why I woke up at 4:10 am, just 3.5 hours after going to sleep.

I decided if I was awake I would go do some laundry. There was nobody in the laundry room so I was able to put all three loads in the machine and start them. When I went back to move them to the dryer the card readers were offline and so I called guest services. They said it would take maintenance 5 minutes to reset them. I called guest services 25 minutes later and they said they would contact maintenance again. 20 minutes later they called the laundry room to let me know that it would be reset in 5 minutes. Then, I was able to start the drying.

It just about 6 and we had told the girls that they could sleep in until about 9:00 so Nikki and I watched How to Train Your Dragon on TV. Then we finished the laundry, got the girls up and headed to Lumiere's for breakfast.

After breakfast we went to an origami flower class then played Cruisin for Trivia. It was a general knowledge game and…We Won!

While we were playing, the ship docked in St. Petersburg. WE WERE IN RUSSIA!

We met for our tour at 12:45 in Studio Sea and were taken to the Cruise Terminal where we had to go through Customs. Then on the bus to Downtown St. Petersburg. On the way we saw many sites including the Winter Palace and Hermitage.

For our tour today we were dropped off at a shopping area where we did some shopping for Souvenirs and then walked to the Church of the Spilled Blood. It was a beautiful site. Kelsie even said "We don't have anything at home".

We then did a little more walking around St. Petersburg before getting back on the bus and going back to the ship.

We made it back in time for our dinner (which had been moved up to accommodate the people on shore excursions in the evening). The Dinner Theme was Dinner of the Czars.

After dinner we went to the show and then back to the room to regroup about the day tomorrow. It is still light as mid-day outside but we are all beat so some of us are calling it a night because we have an early day tomorrow.

Dinner

Ric: Potato Ravioli with Mushroom Ragout, Borscht, Roasted Pork and Dessert Trio

Nikki: Potato Ravioli with Mushroom Ragout, Salad with poached pears, Chicken Kiev and Crepes Romanoff

Regan: Potato Ravioli with Mushroom Ragout, Split Pea Soup, Chicken Kiev and Crepes Romanoff

Kelsie: Potato Ravioli with Mushroom Ragout, Borscht, Mongolian Noodle Bowl, Prime Rib and Cherry Custard.

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Comments

[Mic]

Russia, how cool! I am so glad you get two days there!

[Mom, Gram, Grandma]

How was the Borsht? I wonder how Americanized ours is....can't wait to hear every detail about every thing. Love you!

[sdbaker99]

What a cool experience! Love the shot of the ladies in front of the Church.Steve