St. Petersburg and Moscow Trip Report

Old Jul 8th, 2007, 06:09 PM
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St. Petersburg and Moscow Trip Report

Hi, all! My husband and I are back from Russia and I wanted to at least begin a trip report tonight. So you'll know who we are we are in our 30's and 40's, usually travel independently, and look for travel deals whenever possible (if it doesn't comprimise comfort or safety) so we can travel more often. So, if you are wondering how we wound up in a country whose capital has just been named the most expensive city in the world, we just didn't realize it until we had already decided we wanted to go there! Overall, we are very pleased that we went. I was a little concerned with all the need for visas, invitations, and registration and the people who kept telling me that Russia isn't tourist-friendly. I was very pleasantly surprised!

We flew from Copenhagen to Sherametrov terminal 2 in Moscow and needed to transfer to terminal 1 for our flight to St. Petersburg. We were told there was a free shuttle, but we waited for about 30 minutes without it turning up. We were worried that we would miss our flight, so we hopped on the next public bus that had a sign for terminal 1. We had to stand the whole way, but we were delivered to the terminal without problems.

When we arrived in St. Petersburg, we were met by a driver sent from our hotel, Alexander House. I loved this hotel! We had a very large, air-conditioned room with a bathroom with a heated tile floor. We also had a very nice breakfast with cooked-to-order eggs and buffet every morning. The staff was super-friendly. The only drawback is that it is not centrally located and not very close to any metro station. It was about a 20-30 minute walk to get to Palace Square (depending on how distracted we got along the way).

Regarding tour guides, we finally decided to get a guide and driver for the suburban palaces. I checked out the public transportation options and they just weren't convenient. Also, it is somewhat difficult to get into the Catherine Palace because of the number of cruise ship passengers on tour every day. So, we decided to bite the financial bullet and get the guide for two days.

Before we met the guide, however, I have a funny story. My husband had somehow misplaced his saline solution for his contact lenses. So, before we met our guide, we went to a local pharmacy to see if we could get solution for him. I looked up "contact lens" in my phrasebook and pointed to it for the pharmacist. She immediately started pulling out packs of pills. Sensing that I had somehow misdirected her, I checked the phrasebook and found my finger pointing to "contraceptive," the entry below "contact lens"! We were able to correct this, however, and get the solution!
More report later!
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 04:07 PM
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Pavlovsk and Catherine Palaces

So, well-protected with the contact lens solution, we stopped at St. Nicholas' Church because it was in the neighborhood of the hotel. There was a mass going on and a few people were standing and listening to it. However, most of the local people were milling about writing out prayer/mass requests and lighting tapers in front of the icons. Unfortunately, the upper church is closed for renovation, so only the lower church is open.

We met our guide and set off for the suburban palaces on this, the longest day of the year. Because of traffic, it took almost an hour to get to Pavlovsk Palace. This was a beautifuly-decorated place with lovely parquet floors. We were required to put on little booties over our shoes (here and many other places) to protect the floors. I found it surprising that there were many little Egyptian touches around in the decor and furnishings of the palace. The curve of the wings of the building also lended itself to two lovely curving halls - one a portrait gallery and one a library housing a temporary display. There were few tourists here - even in June - so we felt we could really see the palace well.

Next, we drove to the Catherine Palace about 15 minutes away. The facade is really breathtaking. All of this blue and white expanse with little touches of gold. There were large crowds at this place. I also found the interiors (with one exception) to be less interesting than Pavlovsk - all Rococo gilt. The one exception? The Amber Room. I know it is a re-creation, but so is much of the palace. It is stunning. Also, I had just read a book about the search for it after WWII and was very anxious to see it. Unfortunately, there are really large crowds here, so it takes a bit of patience to see the aspects of the room. Additionally, this was the only place in the palace we weren't allowed to take pictures. So, I bought a pack of postcards (slightly cheaper in the garden), so that I would be able to study the details. My brother (a bit younger and cruder) is so glad I did. . .

One of the features of the Amber Room are the four mosaics depicting the five senses (why there are 5 senses and 4 mosaics, I don't know). For example, the one for hearing shows courtiers listening to music and using something like a tin can and string phone. Well - the one for smell shows some flowers, etc., but also shows two dogs "getting to know each other" by smell! That was pretty unexpected and we were too far away from the walls in the room for me to have seen that detail! So, the postcards were very educational!

We also had a nice stroll in the gardens there until it began to lightly rain. We headed back for the hotel, stopping at the small pink-and-white striped Chesma Church. The interior is similar to other Russian churches with icons, so if pushed for time, just view the exterior.

For dinner, it was raining, so we only ventured as far as a grocery on the corner and had a little picnic in our room. Although food in resturants is very pricey (almost always at least $60 for the two of us), we were able to get a feast at the grocery for about $12.

Speaking of dinner, I'm going to be late for mine tonight. More later!
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 04:30 PM
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Skedaddle, Enjoying your report - just returned myself! Will be fun to compare notes as we relive our respective trips. I'm going to check the dates - we may have been at Catherine's Palace the very same day you were! We were with one of those blasted tour groups, though.

Karen
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 05:38 PM
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Karen -
Thanks for the comments. I've been enjoying your report as it unfolds, too! How coincidental if we were there on the same day!
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 05:58 PM
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I just talked to my sister. She's going to check her journal. (I'm the one doing the trip report, but she's the one who kept better notes!) She, too, thinks we may have been there the same day. Will let you know! Looking forward to comparing our impressions of various sites.
We didn't make it to Pavlovsk - sounds beautiful!
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 06:12 PM
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The Hermitage and Some Other Places

We visited St. Isaac's Cathedral on our walk to the Hermitage. The interior was very nice with a large, open space and lots of frescos. It is possible to go up to the area just below the dome for a view of the city. However, we skipped that because my husband had just revealed a fear of heights when we climbed the outdoor stairs of a steeple in Copenhagen! A note, however, about the churches that have been secularized. They operate as museums and, therefore, charge. St. Isaac's charges 300 rubles per person and an additional 100 to take photos. You get a little sticker for your camera. So, that's approximately $27US for the 3 of us (me, my husband, and my camera) for these churches. Just a little note to help people plan. . .

We bought tickets via the Internet for the Hermitage. If you do this, enter the museum through the Palace Square side and walk through the courtyard to the ticket booths. We had no problems exchanging the printout for the tickets and a floor plan in English. If you do this, your camera/camcorder fee is already included. Of note, the lines weren't long at all when we visited (Friday, 10:30 am), but this might have just been a fluke.

The collection here is spectacular and, as with most museums of this caliber, overwhelming. Many of the halls are in the Winter Palace and are beautiful in their own right. We wandered around, trying to hit the highlights, but also getting caught up in all of the other exhibits along the way. They have a little cafe which we found handy for a break. Also, we have an interest in Asian art. It's on the 3rd floor and no one else was there - many of the guards had even abandoned their posts because there was no one to watch. It made a nice break from the crowds in the more famous exhibits. Hands down, our favorite was the loggias after Rafael's in the Vatican. What detail is in those panels! Another big favorite was the peacock clock.

After about 4 hours, we stumbled out of the museum a little dazed. Soon, we found ourselves in front of the Church on Spilled Blood. It's another museum, so everyone needs a ticket. I usually slip my camera in and out of my pocket and eventually, the little photo sticker fell off. Then I was told (I think, the only word I understood was "photo") by one of the guards that I needed it. This went on as I turned my pocket inside out and eventually found the sticker. Meanwhile, my husband appeared to be slinking away in embarrassment. These people are serious about those photo tickets!
So, this church is really, really incredible! It is embellished with mosaics and lacquered domes on the outside, but it is absolutely covered with them on the inside. Zow! It was a very satisfying church - exactly what I always had in my mind's eye when thinking about a Russian Orthodox church. IMO, a must-see.

We strolled along Nevsky Prospect afterwards. I know that this is the main drag in St. Petersburg, but I found myself pretty happy that we weren't staying on it. It was very busy with people and, therefore, difficult to just stroll and see the sights - similar to how I feel in some areas of Chicago or New York City. Perhaps it was just the time of day when I visited.

We also stopped in at Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral. This one is actually a working church and it has a very different feel from the other churches we visited today. The exterior is columned and domed and really does remind you of the capitol building in Washington DC.
We had a really long, but scenic, walk back to the hotel along the Fontanky Canal, stopping for bilny and kvas along the way.

Tomorrow, we head to Peterhof!
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Old Jul 10th, 2007, 03:08 AM
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We'd like you to know about our guide in
St. Petersburg; Julia Ivanushkina;
www.spbwondertour.com; [email protected].
She spent two days with us and thanks to her husband's driving we saw far more than if we'd been herded in a tour; she was prompt with her emails, discussed our proposals, got us tickets for the Hermitage theatre,brought a picnic on the first day and took us to a cafe which avoided tourists on the second day; an
unpretentious place where we were glad to have a snack lunch; she was very prompt, patient and flexible.Can you tell me a guide who brings a small collapsible stool because I said we might have difficulty walking,( we're
in our seventies); gets ointment for feet from a chemist, measures your foot and buys comfortable flipflops and
charms the birds out of the trees? She wanted to show us so much more but we
weren't rushed..it was great to avoid the queues. I did mutter an apology as we passed by without glancing at the Rembrandt room and hope we're forgiven; Julia remembered
what we wanted to see and showed us the way round. You'll count yourself lucky to be with her in and outside her beautiful city and want to return as we do.
Peter and Prue Smith
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Old Jul 10th, 2007, 06:27 AM
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Seaboat and Skedaddle--

Can you please tell me about what a guide costs per day? We typically travel independently like Skedaddle and watch how we spend our dollars so we can take more trips. So, I'm guessing a guide would be quite a splurge for us.

The hotel in St. Petersburg also sounds quite nice. Was it pricey? Thanks.
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Old Jul 10th, 2007, 07:12 AM
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checking in....
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Old Jul 10th, 2007, 07:40 AM
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I'm enjoying your trip report very much. I'm helping my dad and brothers with a trip they are planning to St. Petersburg, and at first he was hesitant about a guide, as he has never used one anywhere else. I'm glad to see that it is useful. Looking forward to the rest of your report.
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Old Jul 10th, 2007, 04:45 PM
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Really enjoying your report! Your collection of photo stickers sounds about as big as mine was upon our return home! But it was money well spent IMHO! As we waited to enter the Hermitage, there was a little 3 or 4 piece band playing Lara's Theme from Dr Zhivago-all the band members were wearing Cleveland Indians baseball caps-and we're from Cleveland! Once inside the Hermitage and like you, we found ourselves in some uncrowded spots-it was overwhelming to realize that you were looking at such beautiful art masterpieces!
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Old Jul 10th, 2007, 05:41 PM
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Thanks, everyone for the nice comments!
Julies - The guide priced services for herself (I think 18 Euro/hr) or herself and driver (22 or 23 Euro/hr). I think she used Euros because it is a bit more stable, because then she converted to rubles to pay. It wound up being about $250US/day plus whatever admissions costs there were. You won't need to pay for the guide's admission as their license gets them in. However, if you do something like take the hydrofoil or subway, you'll have to pay for that for the guide.
The hotel was also priced in conditional units (most similar to Euros), but it worked out to be about $250US/day. That's quite a bit more than we usually spend for a hotel, but when you start pricing Russian hotels, you'll find that it really isn't bad. Their rooms start around $200US/day and their website is http://a-house.ru/eng/alexanderhouse/. Again, the drawback is that it will be a fairly substantial walk everywhere you want to go except for the Mariinski Theater.
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Old Jul 10th, 2007, 06:48 PM
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Peterhof and a Surprise Palace

We met our guide again for our trip to Peterhof. We decided to take the hydrofoil. Naturally, it's pricey too (about $28US each). They leave from the Palace Embankment behind the Winter Palace. In my opinion, the hydrofoil was nice because it's nice to be on the water, but after leaving the immediate St. Petersburg area, there's not much in the way of scenery. You arrive at a dock festooned with flags on the Gulf of Finland. You'll have to buy tickets before entering the gardens ($12US each). Soon after entering the gardens, you'll see a long, straight canal with small fountains along it. There are a couple of bridges across the canal that are good vantage spots for photos. However, you'll want to make your way toward the palace to see the Grand Cascade. And pretty grand it is! Stepping down from the palace are a series of gilded figures spouting water. This all serves to focus on a large allegorical fountain at the base that gushes a ton of water into the air. The total effect is very sparkly and really eclipses Versailles. The best effect will be on a sunny day, so I would postpose if rain is in the forcast.
We were very taken with all of the fountains and very much enjoyed using our time there seeing many of the other fountains in the gardens. There is a charming one in front of the orangerie (that is now a cafe) with turtles and other sea creatures shooting water into the air. There is another one that my husband particularly liked with an automated dog chasing several ducks in an eternal circle complete with barking and quacking.
And now, some more financial information to keep in mind when visiting Peterhof. There are several buildings on the grounds - the main palace, 3-4 other palaces, a kitchen/bath complex. Each one charges separate admission in addition to the admission already for the gardens. Obviously, these $12 tickets can really add up if you plan to see several things.

We had seen several palaces already and were in the mood for something different. Instead of more rococo, we went for the kitchen and bath complex. I think this threw our guide for a loop because she seemed a little unsure about the exhibits, etc. However, she asked questions of the docents and we really thought this was a nice glimpse into something we hadn't seen. First, there is a royal bath. This is very much a ladies area with roses twining around the showerhead and many toiletry items. There is a banya or steamroom area which was interesting for me to see. I read a great book called In Search of the Perfect Bath, if anyone is interested in a more in-depth discussion of the banya (also covers Japan and Turkey). Next is the dining area with a table set for a banquet. A kitchen comes next - I thought it was pretty typical for period kitchens, but it was the only one we saw in any of the buildings we toured in Russia. You step out of the building next into a Chinese garden. This actually can be viewed from outside a little fence, but it was very nice inside, too. So, then, I thought our tour was over, but the best was yet to come! The next room was called the Cavalier's Bath. It was a large room with wooden slat flooring. This decking stepped downward to a bench area in the center of the room. A very large showerhead held the place of honor in the very center of the room. When we walked through, we saw that the floor was wet. As soon as we had cleared the room, the attendant demonstrated the shower. Well, water spouted from everywhere. Not only the showerhead, but also from between the slats of the floor! Very interesting and fun.

At this point, we had used our alotted time in Peterhof (and it really was enough, if we weren't interested in the other palaces). We made our way to the front gates and met our driver. Because of this, we only paid for the driver for 1/2 of a day. However, taking the hydrofoil kind of negated any cost-savings here.

Now, so far today, we could certainly have done all of this on our own without the benefit of a guide. She did add some nice stories and descriptions, but really, it was mainly fountains and gardens. However, having the guide was absolutely essential for our next destination, Orienenbaum. The Chinese Palace there is officially "not open," but our guide negotiated for us to see it. She also said, that they don't allow visitors if it is raining, etc.

It wasn't a long drive to this palace from Peterhof. However, there are several other palaces on the grounds, so unless you have an interest in them or the park around them (didn't really see anything of interest to me in the description), have the guide take you to the entrance closest to the Chinese Palace.

The exterior is currently covered in scaffolding, but the interior is very interesting. It is the only suburban palace in St. Petersburg that didn't have significant damage during WWII. Also, it didn't have any electricity because it was only intended for use in the long summer days. Currently, with the scaffolding, the curators have set up flood lights in the rooms because they are so dark with the windows partly covered. You also are not allowed to take photos inside here at all.

Catherine the Great followed the current fashion for chinoiserie when she built this palace. I've already mentioned that we are interested in Asian art and so we found this palace really wonderful. In fact, it was probably our trip highlight. There are a lot of Russian interpretations of Chinese designs as well as an entire room covered in beadwork! Really exquisite stuff! The floors are very intricate and all original here as well, reflecting the bas reliefs on the walls and ceilings for each room. Because the palace wasn't officially open, we had our own docent showing us all the details and our guide handling the translations. We had a very interesting and detailed visit. We enjoyed this very, very much, but I recognize that it might be a little much for many visitors. My guidebook really didn't have much to say about this palace and I probably would have overlooked it except that the Asian designs caught my eye and I found that it was fairly close to Peterhof. Additionally, I was feeling a little guilty about a guide for this day, so I thought I would get a little something special out of it - really glad we did!

All of this constituted a pretty full day, so we returned to the hotel for a rest. Later, we went to dinner and for a walk to Decemberists Square and the Admiralty. Well, June 23rd is the evening for Crimson Sails. This is a festival honoring the year's graduates. We saw many, many young people with red, white, and blue sashes decked out in prom-type clothing. We were walking around at about 9-10 pm and it seemed that 1/2 the people of St. Petersburg were graduates, taking pictures of graduates, or just eating ice cream in the parks. We sort of thought that was the whole of the festival and returned to the hotel.

Later that night, we saw a television broadcast of the festival. The entire Palace Square and Palace Embankment were thronged with people (official estimates = 50,000). There were temporary stages erected in both areas and live bands alternated with arial acrobatics and other acts. Long after we drifted off to sleep, there were fireworks in the twilight over the River Neva.

That's it for tonight; more adventures tomorrow!
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Old Jul 11th, 2007, 05:46 AM
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Fantastically detailed report! Thanks for doing it. Sounds like I'll really have to save my pennies if we want to visit Russia. All these prices are much more than we typically spend. We just returned from a trip to Turkey and having things there priced in euros also really hurt us Americans.
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Old Jul 11th, 2007, 04:50 PM
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Yes, it is really expensive! I just kept chanting to myself, "I'll probably never be here again. I'll probably never be here again." It helped a little! Also, this is going to be our big trip for the year, I think!
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Old Jul 11th, 2007, 05:36 PM
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Peter the Great Day

We started out this day with a trip to the Kundstkammer. Peter the Great established this museum to display a collection purchased from a Dutch anatomist. Inside the dome of the building, there are many oddities preserved in formaldehyde just like in your college biology laboratory. Some of these are animals and some humans. We swept through this section quickly and, quite frankly, found it a little gross.

We did, however, enjoy the rest of the museum. There are exhibits on the peoples of the world. Many of them are in charming, old-fashioned display cases. There is a tiny bit of signage in English, but most is in Russian. If your time is limited in St. Petersburg, I would skip this museum because there are so many more famous museum.

Down the street, the Strelka protrudes out into the Neva and there are great views of the Peter and Paul Fortress and the fountains in the river. It appears to be a very popular place for wedding photographs on a Sunday afternoon. We stood there for about 20 minutes and witnessed seven wedding parties pose for photos. Then, we turned around and there was a Baltika beer wagon hitched to four white horses trotting down the street. We were thirsty then, but they didn't stop!

To enter the Peter and Paul Fortress by the Death or Neva Gate, you must slog across a popular, sandy beach. The sand in my shoes was partially compensated for by viewing the very intricate sand sculptures on the beach.

I couldn't get very excited about seeing anything inside the fortress except the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral. The interior of the church is all pink and green lightness and many of the tsars are entombed there, including Nicholas II and his family (with Anastasia).

We took the Trinity Bridge to the Field of Mars and the Summer Gardens. This was a cool, shady spot for a rest.

The following day, we did a quick trip on the metro to see two of the stations, Atovo and Kirovsky Zanvod. In St. Petersburg, this was the first time we had been on the metro. You buy a token (just one, no matter how far you travel), then feed it into the turnstile. Then you join about a million other people on a very long, long ride down the escalator. You can spend this time marvelling at the depth (said to be because of the rivers) or at the fact that there is no grafiti. The trains come very frequently and people just pile in. I was able to see the station names generally without a problem from the train, but I always count the stops when I am unfamiliar with the metro anyway just in case I can't understand the announcements (even in English) or can't see the signs. It's true that most of the signs are in Cyrillic, however, I just delt with that the same way as in Japan. Don't panic and match up the symbols/letters. Really, really, this wasn't a problem. I was more concerned about pickpockets given the crush of people. We didn't have a problem, but please keep track of your stuff!

We decided to visit Yusopov Palace next. There, you are given an audiotour (unless you visit with a guide) that is quite good. There is a precious little jewelbox of a theater and a Moorish sitting room that is quite elaborate. However, many of the rooms are really over-the-top!

We were going to the ballet that evening, so we stopped by the Mariinski Theater to exchange the voucher (bought the tickets on the Internet) for the tickets. No difficulties with that. I would like to echo what others have said about their website. It really is great and very easy to order. There are several levels of tickets. I found the orchestra seats too expensive and went with the benois level. We could easily have gone one or two levels up with good angles on the stage though. The theater has quite a curve and it isn't very long front-to-back, so it is very much better to have a direct sight line to the stage than to be very far to the side. The benois level is really little boxes elevated a few feet off the floor level. Within each box, there are three rows of chairs. The last row is up on a small platform, so the best views are either on the first row or the last row of this level.

We saw a modern ballet and it was very good. However, my feeling is that the setting (cream and gold leaf) would be best enhanced by a performance of Swan Lake or the like.

We left the next morning for Moscow by air. We did elect to do transfers both ways by a driver sent by our hotel. They were able to add it to the bill.

We'll save Moscow for the next post.
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Old Jul 19th, 2007, 04:24 PM
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Moscow

Sorry that I've been away from Internet access for a few days! To resume our tale . . .
We flew from St. Petersburg to Moscow. I know that many people take the train between these destinations, but we were already flying between Copenhagen and St. Petersburg; to do a multi-destination ticket was only $50US more, so we did that.

On arrival, we took a mini-bus to the closest Metro station and rode the Metro into the city. This was much easier than I expected. The mini-bus/van had a sign in the window that had the 2 terminals and the metro station listed. The fare was about $2US. The fare for the Metro is less than $1US. In Moscow, you buy a ticket with a magnetic stripe. It's the same price, no matter the length of the trip. The card goes in the turnstile and you walk through.

We stayed at the Hotel Budapest. It was fine, nothing special. Good-sized room, nice bath. My least favorite thing about it was that they bring a room service tray with a second-rate breakfast (a big second-rate breakfast) to the room instead of having a buffet.

After stowing our stuff, we walked to Red Square. It really is breathtaking! We walked through the Resurrection Gates with their tiny chapel and saw St. Basil's slowly come into view over a little rise. The charming Kazan Cathedral on the left was belting out some appropriate chanting over the loudspeakers on the outside of the building, too! GUM, a large turn-of-the-century shopping mall looms on the left and the right is completely dominated by the Kremlin and Lenin's tomb.

After taking a few "Live from Moscow"-type shots in front of St. Basil's, we headed inside. The interior feels very small, considering the size of the exterior. It is a little warren of chapels covered with altars and frescos. Really, it's pretty marvelous, but the outside completely steals the show! We did stand in the square for a long while trying to take in the juxtapostion of so many colors and patterns. We wandered around in the area for awhile getting the feel of Moscow and then headed back to the hotel.

We had a Kremlin tour with Capital Tours the next rainy morning. Here was a time when I thought the tour was very well-conducted and really added to our appreciation of the site. The only downside was that it felt pretty rushed. We walked along the Kremlin walls through Alexander Gardens in time to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. As you would expect, this is a solemn affair. What you probably won't expect is the height to which the guards raise their legs - 90 degrees.

We entered the Kremlin and saw the Tsar's bell and cannon, the exterior of many buildings and the interior of the Assumption Cathedral. Also included was the Armoury. It should be obvious by now that the tsars had quite a bit of money and objects, but if it isn't, this museum really drives it home! There are gowns and crowns, eggs and sleighs, jewels and ewers, and well, you get the idea. I had thought that we might want to visit the diamond fund as well, but our appetite for things made of precious stones was sated after the Armoury!

We spent the afternoon strolling the Arabat for some gifts and visiting the Museum of Oriental Art. We really enjoyed the museum (but, remember, we really like Oriental art). The other nice thing after the hordes in the Kremlin was that we had the whole museum practically to ourselves.

The next day, we visited the Trevalaskoy Gallery of Russian Art. There are bunches of icons and some very interesting later works. We walked along the Moscow River past the completely ginormous monument to Peter the Great - really, this thing is ridiculous it is so big! Our destination was Gorky Park. Rather than finding mysterious bodies like in the novel, we found a lovely cross of a garden with fountains set to music and an amusement park with rides. By far, the most interesting of these is the Buran space shuttle. Yes, really a space shuttle. It never flew, but there it sits in Gorky Park. The paint is peeling and it's much smaller than I imagined, but very interesting.

This night, we went to the Nikulin Circus. This was a real treat! The size of the ring seemed small, but we had purchased mid-price seats which put us only 5 rows off the floor. There were high-wire acts, dog acts, horses, lion tamers, clowns, strong men, and on and on. There was even an orchestra for this extravaganza!

On our final day in Moscow, we visited the Novodichy Convent. The grounds were pleasant and the main cathedral was nice. Here was the only place we visited where you had to pay to take photos outside. However, the ticket covered all the museums inside the convent.

After lunch, we did a self-tour of the Metro. Now, I thought this was probably something that package tour operators dreamed up to entertain people while saving money on transportation, but we were pleasantly surprised. We did, however, see plenty of package tourists doing this, both Russian and foreign.Each of the stations we visited had a theme. There were mosaics, full-sized statues, stained glass, huge light fixtures, marble, and so on.

In Moscow at this time of year, it does get dark, but fairly late. We strolled around Alexander Gardens, had some dinner, and returned to Red Square at dusk. I'm so glad that we took the time for it. All of the buildings are dramatically lit and very beautiful!

Well, that's it for the trip report. I hope it helps some future travelers! Happy trails!
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Old Jul 19th, 2007, 04:47 PM
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Thanks, very enjoyable. I'm curious about the Hotel Budapest, how much it cost and what you get for the money.
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Old Jul 20th, 2007, 01:45 AM
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We reserved the Hotel Budapest on Travelocity (the hotel website said there were no vacancies). It was about $250/night. I thought the location was good - about a 10 minute walk to Red Square or an area with lots of resturants. It's not particularly close to a Metro station, if you are hauling bags (also about 10 minutes).
Value for money: so-so. If this were anywhere but the very expensive city of Moscow, I'd say it was poor. It really didn't measure up to the hotel in St. Petersburg! We had a king-sized bed in a large room with a large bath with a tub/shower. There was a towel warmer and plenty of reasonably soft towels. Ok lighting in the bath; good water pressure. The bath was definitely the highlight of the hotel. The decor was dated and faded, but not horrible. There was a fridge with a mini-bar and a small tv with a couple of English-language channels. As previously discussed, the breakfast was pretty disappointing. There is a little hangtag that is theorectically left in the room (it was 1 of 4 nights, the other times we had to get it from the front desk) for you to tick off your choices. What you get is a juice box, a milk carton, a ham and cheese sandwich, a packaged, jam-filled croissant, a yogurt, and tea/coffee. It was very pre-packed and not very tasty, but quite ample food. One morning we only got one tray, but we just shared it and it was plenty. Also, the time of tray delivery that you check on the tag is just approximate. Allow at least 15 minutes either way.
Service: Ok, but nothing exceptional. Most requests were met with a stoney stare, but then whatever we were asking for was provided. Conceirge services are through the Hotel Paul (I think) that is around the corner or actually connected through the interior. There, we were able to get tickets for the circus and a transfer back to the airport without any problem and with a half-smile.
I know this is a luke-warm review of this hotel and that's pretty much how I felt about it. On the one hand, I was happy to find anything close and clean under $400 in Moscow. Empirically, though, it could never be worth $250/night.
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Old Jul 20th, 2007, 03:41 AM
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Loved the report. Would be interested
to hear if dining was expensive too.
And any food you found delectable.
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