Started the day with a City Tour, not exceptional but some of it was interesting. Found out that the Estonian Parliament is elected by the people, the Parliament elects the President and the President has very little power. The Parliament actually makes things happen. Sort of like our government but at least they’re honest about [...]
Traffic is notoriously bad in St. Petersburg so I had a 7:30 am pickup to ensure I would arrive at the bus station in time for my 9:00 bus. This morning it took all of 10 minutes to get to the bus station. Amazing what no traffic does for a commute. Nobody at the Bus [...]
Up and at ‘em and off to Pushkin (Пушкин), or more specifically, Catherine Palace (Екатерининский дворец). Everyone seems to refer to the palace by the name of the town, I certainly did, and do. The palace was almost completely destroyed during World War II but has been extensively restored. It was amazing, I loved seeing [...]
We arrived in St. Petersburg at 6:45 am. None of the rooms at the hotel were ready; the tour company really should book and pay for at least one so we don’t have to leave our luggage sitting in a hallway. Had a very basic breakfast at a café before heading out for a walking [...]
Bye Bye Yaroslavl, we’re off to Rostov (Ростов) to see Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery (Спасо-Яковлевский монастырь). This one was interesting for a couple of reasons: you can walk the walls, look over the grounds and imagine what it must have been like AND there are several very friendly kitties here. I even saw an orange tabby and [...]
Up and at ‘em. We left the hotel at 10:00. Gotta hate these early starts. Drove to Yaroslavl (Яросла́вль) stopping at a roadside vendor where I bought a bag of cucumbers and a jar of pickled cucumbers and tomatoes. Hopefully they will be yummy. Also drove through a town known for their stuffed animals. [...]
Off to Vladimir and Suzdal. In Vladimir we checked out the two churches in the heart of town (of course I don’t remember their names, do you think I actually pay attention to those sorts of details?). Addendum: Assumption Cathedral and St. Demetrius’ Cathedral. I was more interested in the monument in the parking lot. [...]
What do you think of when you hear Russia and Kremlin (Кремль)? Am I the only person who thinks “KGB, spies, mean people and torture?” Apparently, every Russian town has a Kremlin, it’s their government center. Who knew? I bet some torturing took place there back in the day, I didn’t come up with that [...]
After sitting in the lobby, watching for anyone who looked like they might be part of my group, I met Kirsten, Bowen and Erin (my roommate). They were nice enough to let me tag along with them for the day. Since it was raining, we started with the “Underground Tour” which is literally a tour [...]
I left San Francisco Friday morning and should have arrived in Moscow about 17 hours later. Should have. The flight from SFO-NYC was fine, I even had an empty seat next to me (I actually had empty seats next to me on 3 of 4 flights). It wasn’t until I arrived at JFK that things [...]
