ms_go's photos and (eventually) trip notes from Warsaw, Baltic capitals, and Russia
 

Hi all -

I have just returned from a trip, with my mother, through Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, and Moscow (yes, I'm exhausted; she, probably moreso).

This was all completely new for me, and it was extremely interesting and educational. I really liked all the locations and intend to return, albeit at a slower pace, someday.

I've returned to a mountain of work, but I will add some trip notes and reflections here over the next couple of days. In the meantime, I have posted some photos from each location (work in progress, more to come) in case anyone is interested in exploring some new destinations on this Monday morning.

http://community.webshots.com/user/go_family

Thank you so much for posting your pictures. They are fantastic! My husband and I are very much interested in visiting many of the places you just visited so I look forward to reading your trip report.

Thanks again for posting. It looks like you had a wonderful trip!

Tracy

...and I'm awfully happy to have her back!

Yes, Mr Go, wait til she reads the post in which she's hitting you over the head with a frying pan....

Ms Go, I am very interested in reading your trip report, since your one on The Amalfi Coast was so delightful!

BC

Hi ms,

Thanks for posting some lovely pix.

Italy in June and Eastern Europe in July; no wonder you're tired. :)

((I))

I am so jealous I could cry. Not just the trip but the great photo ops that I have missed.

Fantastic!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing. How can you get away so often for your trips?

I had no idea that Riga was so beautiful. It doesn't even look like a real place, but rather something out of a fairy tale. I'm going back now to look at more pics.

I looked at the Moscow pictures, went to college there. Peter the Great monument, where is it, would you remember now? Are you sure it's not in St Petersburg?

Thanks, everyone. Glad you are enjoying them. I'm starting to work on the trip report. Maybe by tomorrow....

TexasAggie: I'm freelancing now, which gives me some more flexibility.

Faina: the Peter the Great monument is fairly new in Moscow (and apparently not universally liked). It is on the river, just a bit north of Gorky Park. It was quite close to our hotel.

Bob: yes, but you did get some quality time with your granddaughter out of this :)

Now, what's this about frying pans??

Ms Go, check out the thread entitled "If you could blink your eyes and be anywhere right now, where would it be?" which I just topped for you. However, my general impression of Mr Go is that he is a quality person who has "confessed" by now!

BC

Hey, offering a libation to a fellow Fodorite is a rather minor offense in the greater scheme of things...especially compared to the indulgence of quoting starry-eyed poetry in the same thread.

I plead temporary insanity and throw myself on the mercy of the wife.

Mr. Go, I believe you referred to a woman who was not your wife as "sweetheart", although it was in the context of a fantasy. In some wives' books, that is a cardinal sin! Lucky you, Ms Go is not insecure, and is indeed very indulgent of you!

BC

Ms go, thanks for sharing your exquisite pictures with us. May I have your permission to do a watercolor of one of your photographs taken in Warsaw? I'm referring to the entrance to the reastaurant.

MrGo, that picture of a red cow in Poland... is this where mad cow disease came from?

Thanks, Treesa. Yes, please do. I'd be honored. I'm sorry that I don't know the name of the restaurant, only that it's on the old town market square. I just happed to walk by; I thought it had a pretty entranceway.

Faina, LOL. I have no idea. Warsaw has a 'Cows on Parade' exhibition now, kind of like the one Chicago had a few years ago. They are all over the city, in all sorts of decoration. This one was by the wall near the old town. I thought it made a fitting album cover.

P.S. Did you go on a tour or was this all independent travel? I confess, I don't know if I could plan out two back-to-back European trips... I take months and months just to plan one!

I'd love hotel info on Moscow and St. Petersburg whenever you have time to post. I've been trying to convince DH that we should schedule an Eastern Europe trip for 2007 but he has preconceived notions about safety, etc :-(

Without further delay, here is my trip report…

(TexasAggie, I think this will answer your questions)

Please excuse my verbosity, stream-of-consciousness writing, and any typos, as I’ve thrown this together very quickly. My chargeable work is sitting here on the table glaring at me….

A little background: I (early 40s) took this trip with my mother (70s). Russia and the Baltics were among the few key places left on her ‘list.’ In addition, she had a grandfather who emigrated (escaped, actually) from this area – most likely the area that is now Kaliningrad, but we’re not sure. She has been considering this trip for the last five years or so.

She wanted to include both the Baltics and Russia in one trip, as it is unlikely she would travel this far to see them on separate trips. Her usual traveling companion once lived in Russia and was not interested in returning. Since I, of course, welcome the opportunity to go just about anywhere, I figured this would be a nice opportunity to travel together and see some very interesting places.

We do have very different travel styles. I’ve become a staunchly independent traveler who has almost as much fun planning trips as I do taking them. She is a lifelong tour-group participant. I like to wander. She likes more structure.

After some cursory research, I determined that the only way to make this work would be to use a mode of travel that fits her style and comfort level moreso than mine. I simply did not have the time to put all of this together, and handling the on-site logistics would have been an awful lot of work for one person.

I decided to set aside my preferences and look at this as an opportunity to get at least an overview of the various cities to help in planning my own more in-depth trips in the future. And not insignificantly, I could sit back, relax and let someone else do all the work for a change. And, oh, did I mention? Mom was paying for this trip, so it essentially was free, save for a little spending money.

I researched and considered a great number of options. We initially were looking at a Tauck tour, but the price was quite high and there were some things she wanted that were not covered. I also considered Trafalgar, with whom she has traveled on a number of trips and has been very happy. However, I was concerned about the amount of time spent driving, including one very long drive across Belarus, and the fact that Trafalgar’s hotels are often not as centrally located as I would like and not always quite on par with Insight or Globus. Globus introduced a new trip this year taking in Warsaw (most of the others offered Helsinki), the Baltic Capitals, and one week in Russia. And for the most part, Globus’s hotels seemed to be much better located. We were a bit concerned about being part of a ‘new’ tour (ours was just the fourth one to go since Globus reintroduced the Baltics in May of this year), but we signed on. And so, the independent traveler was off on a group tour. More on the experience later.

While I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, I assembled my usual large collection of travel books and maps and considered, in advance, how I wanted to spend any free time that I might have.

I’ll add that I went into this trip expecting to like Riga, Tallinn and St. Petersburg. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Vilnius. I knew that Warsaw would present a lot from a historical perspective, but I didn’t know how enjoyable it would be (much more heard about Krakow). And, for whatever reasons, I expected Moscow to be kind of cold and severe.

I’m not going to go through a day-to-day recounting to spare you all the, “and then we spent the next two hours on the bus...”s. Rather, I’ll stick to some impressions and high-points for each of our destinations.

<b>Warsaw, Poland.</b>

Warsaw, as most know, was largely destroyed in WWII. It is not a beautiful city overall, but it has some very engaging parts. The old town has been painstakingly restored to its prior, colorful form and is very pleasant in the evening, with many locals out strolling (feels not unlike the Italian passeggiata). The more elegant Novy Swiat takes you past upscale shopping, and later embassies and government buildings. And there are some nice public spaces, such as Łasienki Park and the Saxon Gardens, which provide a respite from the hustle and bustle. I enjoyed wandering in these areas without feeling elbow-to-elbow with tourists – and particularly Łasienki Park, with its peaceful lake with swan boats, its various small palaces, and its theater in the lake. Worth the 30-minute walk to get there. Overall, I felt very comfortable walking around Warsaw – not from a safety perspective (that wasn’t an issue at all), but more from just a blending-in perspective. Maybe that's just because I come from the city with the world's second-largest Polish population - Chicago.

Our local guide for Warsaw was a charming older gentleman who has lived through the devastation and rebuilding of his hometown. He provided a lot of passionate historical perspective, reflecting on the facts such as that Poland’s absence from the map for more than 120 years, and more. His comments were supplemented with a number of stops, including:

The site of the ghetto and the modern day memorial

Pilsudekleyo Square (once called Hitlerplatz during the war), including changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The Chopin statue in Łasienki Park.

St. Anne’s Church, with its original crucifix, one of few artifacts to survive the war.

St. John’s Cathedral

The monument to the Warsaw uprising

The history museum for a 25-minute film detailing the destruction of the city during the war.

Another highlight was a private Chopin recital in the attractive, small Szuster Palace.

Looking back, I think that starting in Warsaw was a nice way to ease into Eastern European cultures, even if it did present us with a fairly long drive to Vilnius. It also added a slightly different perspective to the various commentaries we received along the way on the war, Soviet occupation, current economic issues, etc.

<i>Hotel: Westin Warsaw.</i>

This is a beautiful hotel; the nicest on our trip. It is just a couple of years old, if that. Heavenly beds with nice linens, marble bathrooms, a lavish breakfast buffet. Too bad I was still in jet lag mode. It isn’t right in old town, but you can walk there in 15 minutes or so.

Great photos!
I'm really looking forward to more of your report. I'm thinking of doing a similar trip with my mother and sister.

Thanks for sharing!