From Russia with Love
Hi everyone. Fiona and I got back last week from a fantastic 11-day summer holiday in Estonia, Finland and Russia. We started in Tallinn, Estonia. After arriving early afternoon, we spent the rest of the day wandering around the old town, which was really nice. The cobblestone streets and architecture gave Tallinn a really nice, small-town feel. There was one massive downpour of rain as we wandered around, but it only lasted about half an hour and the rest of the time was beautiful sunshine until after 10pm. We had a pre-dinner drink at a fantastic wine bar, “Gloria’s Wine bar,” which was built into and under the old town wall. It was a really lovely place, with great wine and very cosy atmosphere. We had dinner at “The Old Hensa,” a medieval restaurant in the town square. It was a bit touristy, but we enjoyed the boar and other delights – as well as the ladies dressed as maid-Marion types singing from a roof-top platform. All in all, Tallinn was a really nice place to relax and wander, and take in the sights for an afternoon or so.
The next day we caught a ferry across the Gulf of Finland is beautiful weather, flat seas and very hot and sunny. Helsinki was also nice and sunny, and we spent another afternoon wandering around the city sights, including the square and a couple of cathedrals. We had met up with our friend Ethan in Helsinki, and he and I spent 2 hours taking in the Museum of Finland, which was pretty good. Fiona and I had a smoked reindeer sandwich each for lunch and soaked up the sun. Fiona and I thoroughly enjoyed a touch of luxury by staying a night at the Hilton (which was actually not much more than a double room at a B&B) and would definitely recommend it.
Saturday we embarked on our historic train journey to St Petersburg, following in the footsteps of Lenin who travelled in “The Sealed Train” in 1917 (with the help of German funds) from Geneva, through Finland, to St Petersburg to lead the Revolution. Our journey wasn’t quite so dramatic - thankfully. The train was very comfortable with more leg room than any train or plane that I’ve taken to date. It was just over a five and a half hour trip and gave us a good look at rural Finland and Russia. We arrived in St Petersburg safe and sound, to a very hot and sunny place. The taxi we had booked never showed up, but thankfully I was able to negotiate a fair price with a Russian taxi driver who took us to our hotel, where we met up with the rest of our tour group and had introductions.
Sunday was a bit wet (our only rainy day in Russia), but a perfect day to tour around St Petersburg. We travelled around by mini-bus taking in a lot of the main sights: Nevsky Prospect, Smolny Cathedral, St Nicholas’ cathedral, the Aurora (the ship that fired to signal the start of the Revolution in 1917), and the fantastic Church on Spilled Blood. After lunch, we took a tour of the Hermitage, which is truly amazing! We spent three hours doing our best to take in the spectacular state rooms of the Winter Palace and a small amount of the over 1 million exhibits that it contains. We all really enjoyed the tour – but couldn’t take in all in, in that short amount of time. During the evening, we went to a Cossack cultural show, complete with dancing Cossacks, singing, sword slinging etc. We also had plenty of vodka (which was VERY strong) and caviar – mmmmmmmm! ;-)
Monday we did more sight-seeing around beautiful St Petersburg, exploring Peter and Paul’s Fortress and Cathedral (where Peter the Great and Tsar Nicholas II are buried) and St Isaac’s Cathedral – which was spectacular. As part of the tour we had a very nice 3 course “Russian” lunch, including Borsch (Beetroot soup – which just tasted like stock), and very nice beef Stroganoff and pancake and ice cream (which were great). In the afternoon, we visited Peterhof Summer Gardens. The weather was very hot and sunny (again, you’re getting the idea!), so it was perfect to just wander around the Palace gardens, which were full of fountains, lining a canal which ran from the Grand Cascade to the edge of the gardens, meeting the Gulf of Finland. Fiona and I then finished a fantastic day (possibly the best of the tour) by seeing the “Swan Lake” ballet at the Alexandriinsky Theatre. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the ballet and definitely appreciate the strength and skill a lot more now, having seen one live. And the music was great too.
Tuesday was our last day in St Petersburg and a free day to do what we wanted. We went back to see the inside of the Church on Spilled Blood (built on the site of the assassination of Alexander II). The Church was floor to ceiling paintings, which were very impressive. We also did some shopping at the markets in front of the church and I took in a few last sights (the field of Mars and the eternal flame in memory of lives lost in WWII), St Kazan’s Cathedral and the Bronze Horseman (statue of Peter the Great, named after Pushkin’s poem).
It’s difficult to describe, but for me, St Petersburg’s is easily one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. From the wide canals throughout the city, stunning architecture on every corner, amazing history, fantastic sites – it is a great place. We’d both really love to go back, especially to see the Hermitage, but we’ll have to see. If you get the chance, you really MUST visit St Petersburg.
Getting to Moscow was an “interesting” experience. We caught an overnight train from St Petersburg, to Vladimir – a small town and former capital. The train was really nice, modern and divided up into open compartments, each with its own table. It was really good, until you wanted to sleep; when it felt very hot, very small and not particularly comfortable. In saying that, we arrived in Vladimir at 5am and still managed to get 4-5 hours of sleep. Vladimir and Suzdal were two nice little towns, where we saw some lovely wooden churches and the old Kremlin.
By Thursday we’d made it to the Capital, Moscow, and what a difference to St Petersburg. Where St Pete’s had been beautiful, with a strong cultural and historical feel, Moscow was vey much the big, grey capital. However, despite the big-city overall feel, St Basils Cathedral on Red Square was absolutely spectacular (the one with brightly coloured, onion domes). There was also a fantastic market right next to our hotel, where we picked up some fantastic bargains, including Matryoshka dolls and one of those fluffy hats with the badge on the front. We also really enjoyed doing tours of both the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the Kremlin (although the latter was a little long). As well as a relaxing cruise down the Moscow River and seeing the Russian Art in the Tretyakov Gallery, our visit to Moscow was also a great trip.
And then we were on our way home. What can I say – Russia was a truly fantastic trip! Almost all our planning worked perfectly and we had a nice relaxing time in Tallinn and Helsinki. Our tour of Russia was brilliant, and I would thoroughly recommend On The Go for Russia. We had a superb tour guide; the food was mostly good, the sightseeing and cultural side of our trip was AMAZING! Our group was only about 12 people, a really nice size for a tour like that – and they were all really great people (aside from the fact the All Blacks lost to Australia while we were in Moscow, and 8 of the 12 were Australian!) All in all, I really, really enjoyed Russia and would recommend it to anyone. It’s not the friendliest place, nor is it particularly easy to get around without a little help (at least to begin with). But St Petersburg is just brilliant!
No more travelling for a little while now, but Mum and Dad will be here at the end of October, and we’re off to Egypt and then Ireland. Cheers!
The next day we caught a ferry across the Gulf of Finland is beautiful weather, flat seas and very hot and sunny. Helsinki was also nice and sunny, and we spent another afternoon wandering around the city sights, including the square and a couple of cathedrals. We had met up with our friend Ethan in Helsinki, and he and I spent 2 hours taking in the Museum of Finland, which was pretty good. Fiona and I had a smoked reindeer sandwich each for lunch and soaked up the sun. Fiona and I thoroughly enjoyed a touch of luxury by staying a night at the Hilton (which was actually not much more than a double room at a B&B) and would definitely recommend it.
Saturday we embarked on our historic train journey to St Petersburg, following in the footsteps of Lenin who travelled in “The Sealed Train” in 1917 (with the help of German funds) from Geneva, through Finland, to St Petersburg to lead the Revolution. Our journey wasn’t quite so dramatic - thankfully. The train was very comfortable with more leg room than any train or plane that I’ve taken to date. It was just over a five and a half hour trip and gave us a good look at rural Finland and Russia. We arrived in St Petersburg safe and sound, to a very hot and sunny place. The taxi we had booked never showed up, but thankfully I was able to negotiate a fair price with a Russian taxi driver who took us to our hotel, where we met up with the rest of our tour group and had introductions.
Sunday was a bit wet (our only rainy day in Russia), but a perfect day to tour around St Petersburg. We travelled around by mini-bus taking in a lot of the main sights: Nevsky Prospect, Smolny Cathedral, St Nicholas’ cathedral, the Aurora (the ship that fired to signal the start of the Revolution in 1917), and the fantastic Church on Spilled Blood. After lunch, we took a tour of the Hermitage, which is truly amazing! We spent three hours doing our best to take in the spectacular state rooms of the Winter Palace and a small amount of the over 1 million exhibits that it contains. We all really enjoyed the tour – but couldn’t take in all in, in that short amount of time. During the evening, we went to a Cossack cultural show, complete with dancing Cossacks, singing, sword slinging etc. We also had plenty of vodka (which was VERY strong) and caviar – mmmmmmmm! ;-)
Monday we did more sight-seeing around beautiful St Petersburg, exploring Peter and Paul’s Fortress and Cathedral (where Peter the Great and Tsar Nicholas II are buried) and St Isaac’s Cathedral – which was spectacular. As part of the tour we had a very nice 3 course “Russian” lunch, including Borsch (Beetroot soup – which just tasted like stock), and very nice beef Stroganoff and pancake and ice cream (which were great). In the afternoon, we visited Peterhof Summer Gardens. The weather was very hot and sunny (again, you’re getting the idea!), so it was perfect to just wander around the Palace gardens, which were full of fountains, lining a canal which ran from the Grand Cascade to the edge of the gardens, meeting the Gulf of Finland. Fiona and I then finished a fantastic day (possibly the best of the tour) by seeing the “Swan Lake” ballet at the Alexandriinsky Theatre. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the ballet and definitely appreciate the strength and skill a lot more now, having seen one live. And the music was great too.
Tuesday was our last day in St Petersburg and a free day to do what we wanted. We went back to see the inside of the Church on Spilled Blood (built on the site of the assassination of Alexander II). The Church was floor to ceiling paintings, which were very impressive. We also did some shopping at the markets in front of the church and I took in a few last sights (the field of Mars and the eternal flame in memory of lives lost in WWII), St Kazan’s Cathedral and the Bronze Horseman (statue of Peter the Great, named after Pushkin’s poem).
It’s difficult to describe, but for me, St Petersburg’s is easily one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. From the wide canals throughout the city, stunning architecture on every corner, amazing history, fantastic sites – it is a great place. We’d both really love to go back, especially to see the Hermitage, but we’ll have to see. If you get the chance, you really MUST visit St Petersburg.
Getting to Moscow was an “interesting” experience. We caught an overnight train from St Petersburg, to Vladimir – a small town and former capital. The train was really nice, modern and divided up into open compartments, each with its own table. It was really good, until you wanted to sleep; when it felt very hot, very small and not particularly comfortable. In saying that, we arrived in Vladimir at 5am and still managed to get 4-5 hours of sleep. Vladimir and Suzdal were two nice little towns, where we saw some lovely wooden churches and the old Kremlin.
By Thursday we’d made it to the Capital, Moscow, and what a difference to St Petersburg. Where St Pete’s had been beautiful, with a strong cultural and historical feel, Moscow was vey much the big, grey capital. However, despite the big-city overall feel, St Basils Cathedral on Red Square was absolutely spectacular (the one with brightly coloured, onion domes). There was also a fantastic market right next to our hotel, where we picked up some fantastic bargains, including Matryoshka dolls and one of those fluffy hats with the badge on the front. We also really enjoyed doing tours of both the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the Kremlin (although the latter was a little long). As well as a relaxing cruise down the Moscow River and seeing the Russian Art in the Tretyakov Gallery, our visit to Moscow was also a great trip.
And then we were on our way home. What can I say – Russia was a truly fantastic trip! Almost all our planning worked perfectly and we had a nice relaxing time in Tallinn and Helsinki. Our tour of Russia was brilliant, and I would thoroughly recommend On The Go for Russia. We had a superb tour guide; the food was mostly good, the sightseeing and cultural side of our trip was AMAZING! Our group was only about 12 people, a really nice size for a tour like that – and they were all really great people (aside from the fact the All Blacks lost to Australia while we were in Moscow, and 8 of the 12 were Australian!) All in all, I really, really enjoyed Russia and would recommend it to anyone. It’s not the friendliest place, nor is it particularly easy to get around without a little help (at least to begin with). But St Petersburg is just brilliant!
No more travelling for a little while now, but Mum and Dad will be here at the end of October, and we’re off to Egypt and then Ireland. Cheers!
posted by Steve at 11:05 AM
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