Moscow & St. Petersburg
Jul 25th, 2001, 04:31 PM
#1
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Moscow & St. Petersburg
Countdown-one week to go before we leave for Russia. Questions: What is the food like? What would you recommend eating and not eating? Do you think I need to pack some warm clothing,like sweatshirts? Do they have places where I can send E-mails? Again we leave from New York to Frankfort,Germany to Moscow..how long on the plane? Like it really matters as two years ago I was on a plane for l8 hours from Hong Kong. But just out of curosity...Again any new suggestions about places to shop (good prices) and what I shouldnt miss,even though everyone has already been wonderful in sharing all their past experiences with me. <BR> <BR>
Jul 26th, 2001, 11:40 AM
#4
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Frankfurt to Moscow is about 3 hours. Sweatshirts probably won't be needed - Moscow is in the middle of a heatwave. The food is great if expensive for decent stuff. We reckoned $100 a head for dinner. But there are McDonalds and TGI Fridays etc. Get a good guide book - you can see all the best sights in 4/5 days. Your hotel should be able to give you helpful advice.
Jul 26th, 2001, 12:09 PM
#5
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Most of my "deluxe" meals were in the $15-50 range in Petersburg this June. You can try Restoran, which is probably the 'hottest' current place to dine, for about $35-50/person. The dining situation has changed for the better in the last few years, but you do need to have some guidance (the $100/head price was truer 2-3 years ago).
Jul 26th, 2001, 12:12 PM
#6
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Most hotels have business centers where you can access your e-mails, but they are pricier than local "internet cafes". <BR> <BR>If you write me privately, I would be happy give you the contact information for the guide I used in Petersburg last month--she was trained as a translator and a guide, and was a treasure to me, even though I had been there twice previously. Her rates are quite reasonable--so affordable you can hire her for two or three days for the entire day.
Jul 26th, 2001, 12:14 PM
#7
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Dear Margie! <BR>The weather in St.Petersburg is about +25-30 celsium. It might get to +20. <BR>In case of restraints, the average cost for a good meal is about 900 rubles (30USD). If you pay more - it means you pay for the luxery of a place, not the food. Try the russian cusine - it's nice. There are planty of places to send the e-mail in the center of St.Petersburg. If you walk down the main street, you'll see the advertisement. The flight from Germany is about 3 hours, not more. I live in St.Petersburg and I find it to be one of the best places in the world. You'll like it. <BR>You can write me if you need more info.
Jul 26th, 2001, 07:59 PM
#8
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Olga, <BR>What is the weather typically like in St. Petersburg in May? We'll be there from May 15th until the end of the month. I had thought it would be pleasant, but someone told me that sometimes it gets cold and rainy, and that it even snows. Thanks.
Jul 31st, 2001, 11:46 AM
#10
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With respect to Marc, I was in Moscow this May, and top quality dinner was never less than $100 a head. It's not '2 or 3 years ago' my report is right up to date. Like anywhere, you get what you pay for. We also had a delicious McDonalds for $3 a head.
Jul 31st, 2001, 05:49 PM
#12
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A previous post indicated you were taking a General Tours trip-one of their features is a pre-departure phone call to answer those 'unanswered' questions-if they haven't contacted you by now, by all means, call them. It's a service you've paid for, so best to utilize it!
Aug 1st, 2001, 12:43 PM
#13
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Debbie: Your suggestions have been wonderful. General tours did call me and answered several of my questions. We are staying at the AEROSTAR Hotel in Moscow and PRIBALTISKAYA Hotel in St. Peterburg. Is that where you stayed? My problem is that Fodor's tour book indicates that they both are out of the way locations. I need to know how to get to Izmailovsky Flea Market from this hotel? Is it going to be difficult. Also do they have hairdryers in the rooms. I have converters but it seems everytime I go to Europe or Asia, I always have the wrong one. Also if you stayed at these hotels did they have E-Mail Centers within the hotel. I know that I have asked this questions about E-Mail sites, and have already gotten great responses. I leave tomorrow from New York at 7:30 p.m., so I hope you get this message. Anyone know what the present weather is in Moscow?
Aug 1st, 2001, 01:43 PM
#14
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Less than 24 hours until departure, and I just looked on the weather channel for Russia, and it doesnt appear that it is warm in Moscow, and it says showers for the next several day, now is showers constant rain or showers? I know this is a dumb questions, especially if "illiterate" gets on this board again. Also is Lenin's Tomb open? and where to buy fur hats? Thanks and counting...
Aug 1st, 2001, 05:59 PM
#15
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Margie-In Moscow, we stayed at the Cosmos Hotel, not the Aerostar, in Moscow, however, members of our tour group stayed there and they seemed to enjoy it. It looked very nice from the outside. I remember one of them mentioning that this hotel offered a shuttle to the Izmalovsky Flea Market. The Cosmos was further out, however, it was more convenient in getting to places as it was directly on the Metro route, while the Aerostar is not. The flea market is definitely worth the effort to get there. From what I recall, the Metro stop is a few minutes walk from the Aerostar. Any tour book will have the Metro routes posted, so it won't be too difficult go ride it. Although it looks confusing, the Metro is really easy to use, and it's quite inexpensive. The Metro stations are works of art in and of themselves, and the trains run every few minutes. We stayed at the Pribaltiskaya in St Petersburg-a much larger hotel than the Aerostar, and it's situated directly on the Gulf of Finland. The hotel is about a 15-20 minute ride away from downtown St P, and is located in more of a residential district than a business district. St P also has a Metro, however, we never rode it, but I do remember the Metro stop closest to the hotel was quite a distance. No, our hotel rooms didn't come equipped with hair dryers, however, using an adapter shouldn't be a problem. One helpful hint-the adaptor in the bathroom is generally only for mens shavers, so you need to utilize the outlet in the room, say, where a lamp would be plugged in. Maybe not the most convenient thing to do, but it works! Check out which type of converter you need to use, as each country is different. Sorry, don't remember if there are e-mail centers in either of these 2 hotels. Call General Tours tomorrow before you leave and they'll be able to answer not only this question, but your weather questions as well. <BR> <BR>Take as many optional tours as you can-we especially enjoyed The Kremlin tour in Moscow and the Peterhof tour in St P. We were fortunate to also get tix to a ballet performance at the Mariinksi in St P. Those were worth every penny. Unfortunately, you cannot do all the optional tours AND have free time to explore each city on your own. If you want to go to Izmo Park on Sunday, you'll have to forgo the optional tour that's offered that day. We opted not to see the Moscow Circus, so we literally had all day free to explore Moscow(which isn't nearly enough time) before we met the rest of the group for departure on the overnight train to St Petersburg. In St P, we again allowed ourselves one free day, so we weren't able to join 2 optional tours that were offered. We're planning to return to St P, so we'll catch what we missed the 1st time on our 2nd trip. <BR> <BR>You'll have a great time. Would enjoy hearing about your trip when you return. Again, take more film and money than you've already packed. You'll find so many great buys and photo ops that you'll be glad you did. Happy Travels!
Aug 1st, 2001, 06:54 PM
#16
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Deb.Thank you for your quick response. I am just getting around to reading the information from General Tours, and it does indicate that transportation to the flea market will be available, so you know I will be on that bus! Also since we are staying at the same location in St. Petersburg, where would you recommend for dinners? I have eight rolls of film, should I buy more? Also I did go to the bank and got my spending money in cash (not travelers check, which would make me feel a little more comfortable) and I got $20.00 bills, should I have gotten smaller amounts? Where were good shopping places in St. Petersburg? Your recommendations have been great. It is l0:45 in New Jersey and I should be sleeping or packing. I did use suggestions I found on a message board in regards to using Jumbo Hefty Ziplock bags (2 1/2 gallons) and they are wonderful. Again I hope I hear from you before I leave.
Aug 2nd, 2001, 06:43 AM
#17
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Margie, we did a General Tour 13 years ago and they are still using the same hotels. We were also at the Pribaltiska which is far out from central St. Petersburg but accessible via public transportation. I believe we used a tram not the metro. The hotel should be able to help you with that. <BR> <BR>We returned to St. Petersburg last month, we did some shopping at the market behind the Church of the Spilled Blood which was rows of kiosks selling nested dolls, hats, lacquer boxes. If you buy in quantity, the prices go down. My nephew really liked the hat we brought back for him with all of pins on it. I think we paid about $5 for it. There's also a large department store (Gostinyy Dvor) on Nevsky Prospect. On one of the floors there was souvenirs items-dolls, boxes, amber. There was also a small amount of vendors at the Peter and Paul Fortress. And if you're on Nevsky Prospect, stop by Yesileev's deli. We didn't buy anything there but the store was really cool. <BR> <BR>Most of the vendors could make change for larger bills but we brought along plenty of NEW $1, $5 and $10. Try to bring cash that is new and in good shape. <BR> <BR>We used an ATM in St. Pete and the transaction went through fine. I accidentally withdrew a $100 US bill the first tine I used it and then did it correctly in rubles. I read to use the ones that are associated with banks, the one we used was at a bank on Nevsky Prospect. <BR> <BR>I also read to stay away from tap water or anything with ice. Also raw foods that could have been washed with water (salads, fruits). Better to be safe than sorry. We ate gyros from a store front and some fried foods from a restaurant and had no problems. <BR> <BR>A lot of the museums charge an additional fee for using a camera. We bypassed that by bringing an ELPH camera with us that easily fit in our pocket. You could also bring good quality disposable cameras. <BR> <BR>If you haven't packed kleenex or toliet paper, do so. I thought it might have changed in the last 13 years, but the bathroom at the Hermitage was gross and they had no toliet paper. And on the last visit the opera house in Kharkov was really disgusting. <BR> <BR>If you need anything else, that's my real email address so try me there as I probably won't check back here today.
Feb 17th, 2002, 08:19 AM
#19
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Sneaking a small camera into museums to bypass fees is boorish behavior. The money from these fees from westerners is used for the upkeep of wonderful institutions that are in great need of funds. If you pay $10 in admission/photo fees to a Russian museum it has the same impact of donating $75-300 to an American museum--a small price to pay.
