To Russia & Other Baltic Countries, 2018

Rulian Fiske
May 26, 2018
39 min read

Updated: Jul 18, 2023

Arrived in Warsaw, Poland; May 26-27, 2018

This is our first “group tour” experience (aside from with Nat Geo) – we’re taking it with trepidations ….

Trip starts ….

All packed and suitcases loaded into the car the night before. The morning started like everyday – played with the dogs, fed them, fed ourselves, then took them for a walk to town but only did it to the town hall. The weather was hot and we’re short on time. Around 9:30, we put them in the car and headed for Southboro Kennels, with a very heavy heart! I worried about them spending two weeks in the kennel, with Djuna’s eye problem, with Iubi’s not wanting to eat in a new place …. The worry ruined any joy I might have felt for the trip…. Djuna was funny. When we got to the kennel, we first went in with all their stuff and talked with Mary. The two of them stayed in the car. Djuna somehow jumped to the back seat. When we came out to get them, she was stuck – front half in the seat, hind half hanging on the back of the seat and could not get over. I had to climb in to hoist her hind legs so she could get to the seat. Poor girlie!

After leaving them in the kennel, we came home and did some last minute cleaning – I hate to come back to a dirty home. Then we left for the Framingham bus around 1pm. By the time we got there, the parking lot had been long since full, so we had to go to the overflow lot across from the theater. But once Bob learned how it’s done and paid etc. it was actually rather painless. We got to the airport shortly before 3. Luftunsa was not as crowded as we feared. We stayed at the AmEx lounge which was not fancy, but quiet and comfortable. The flight was on schedule and we took off at 5pm.

The flight to Frankfort was 6 hours 20 minutes. It was not fun to be in the economy class, very little leg room. Thankfully the flight was not that long and we got there before mid-night home time. I did not sleep at all, played the wood block game most of the time. Oh btw the flight was quite turbulent at times! And it landed with a big thump! Yikes!

After we got to Frankfort, we had to walk a long way, from Z to A, and had to go through border control. And that was messy and unpleasant. A LONG line – they let people into the room for border control by “batches”. Once in that room, the zigzag line started. It was quite daunting to look at the crowd. But thankfully the officers were efficient and we got through in probably 20 minutes or so. Met a couple who were going to Nuremburg to start their river cruise to Budapest.

To board the flight to Warsaw, we had to take a bus. And the plane was not ready yet, so we had to wait in the bus for a while. Ugh! The flight was short, only about 1.5 hour. We got to Warsaw local time before 9:30pm, home time around 3:30am.

After getting the luggage (both pieces made it! Yeah!!), we soon met our tour director Joey, and two ladies from Canada, Carol and Isabel. Joey is Austalian. Nice guy!

The shuttle van took us to our hotel, Sheraton, and we got our room – 203. I am pleased with the room! That’s a good sign for the trip!! We will meet the group for dinner before 6pm. Now Bob is taking a nap, and we will walk to the old town soon.

We did walk to the old town at noon local time, under the blazing sun, and among the crowds. Ugh! Really not my cup of tea. I did find some of the old buildings quite pretty. But all I had the energy to do was to take some iphone pictures, under the mid-day sun L

Had lunch at a tourist restaurant in old town – goulash soup and a polish sausage. But on the way back we saw a Vietnamese Pho place! How did we miss that?! Oh well, maybe tomorrow some time.

The group will meet at 6pm for a welcome dinner. Now it’s 3:20pm local time. I need to take a shower and change into something cooler. Do not like this weather! I start to doubt how much I actually enjoy this kind of city tour, vs the wild life safaris!! ….

Took a much needed nap on the sofa, then a shower, then it was time to meet the group for dinner. The restaurant was in the old town. The bus took us to a nearby place and we walked to the restaurant. Had a pleasant dinner – the duck was done very well!

Met a couple of more co-travelers: Bob and Fred, brothers from Washington state; Shirley and Guy from Australia; and Anson and Elisabeth from HongKong (Chinese!). We sat with Elisabeth and Anson for dinner and had a great chat! They were much younger than we, but also retired. Also world travelers. No children.

Tomorrow our tour starts at 9. I want to be down for breakfast early, like 6:30am. The only optional excursion we signed up for is the afternoon tour of the Wilanov Palace. Anson told us about a couple of good oriental restaurants: Spring Roll (Viet) and Thai me Up (Thai) – we will definitely go there tomorrow!

Warsaw; Monday, May 28, 2018

Up at 6am as the alarm rang – slept ok last night. The bed and beddings were comfortable and clean, but the comforter was too thick and warm. I woke up many times but was able to fall back asleep. Breakfast at the hotel was very nice, a nice big spread of everything. And they made a very honorable effort to provide Asian stuff – porridge, small dishes, chopsticks, etc. But they need to hire someone who knows the oriental stuff to make them right J

At 9 am sharp, we left on our coach bus and started today’s tour. In addition to Joey, we have a local guide, Maria, join us who guided our tour today. We did most of the sightseeing on the bus which drove through the more important areas of Warsaw. Maria pointed out the important buildings along the way and talked about the history of the places. Warsaw was divided into three main sections historically – the German section, the Polish section, and the Jewish ghetto section. I did not know so many Jews were persecuted here! Poland seems to have really suffered a lot during the wars! The old town was actually entirely rebuilt!

We stopped at a few places – first a famous park where had a famous Chopin statue and was next to a palace. Second was the Jewish “Museum Poli”. Then it was the old town square. And we had a couple of hours free time there. We followed Maria to a Amber/Jewelry store and I actually bought an amber bracelet which I had been wanting for a long time. It was not as big as I would have liked. But pretty. And the price was acceptable – less than $300USD. Bob and I had lunch at a café where I had the worst quiche in my life (corn and chicken?). Anson later told me they found another Oriental restaurant and had Singapore fried rice! How do I envy that!! How come we just don’t seem to find these places!?

We met again at 12:30 and those of us who signed up to go to the Wilanov Palace went straight there. It was an half-hour coach ride – good to take a nap. Then we spent a couple of hours visiting the palace, then going through its garden outside. The weather was unusually hot! It was painful walking under the blazing sun! I want to say that aside from the few very famous museums in Russia, I am DONE with these museums or gardens! Especially if it’s this hot!! Yikes!!

Back at the hotel around 3 – went straight to the store across from the hotel and got ourselves some popsicles. We are resting in the room now. Will head out to look for the Vietnamese restaurant “Spring Roll” around 5pm and have some comfort food for dinner!!

Had some first tastes of the group tour – not bad if the group is not bigger and will avoid summer tours from now on!!

We both took a nap and then set out to look for “Spring Roll” for dinner around 5:30. It was still very hot at that time and walking in the heat continued to be painful. We found the restaurant! It was actually quite close! I had the first satisfying meal since we got here! Can’t say definitely if the food was Vietnamese or Thai, and it was different from the food back at home, but it was good!! Very happy with it! Ate too much! After dinner, we went across the street to a chocolate store that Anson mentioned and got some dark chocolate. Hope to be able to bring them home but fear they would all melt in this heat ….

Back to the hotel after 8. It is almost 9pm now and sun has set, but it is still quite light! Will go to bed in a while. Tomorrow the suitcases are to be put outside the room at 7am and we will leave at 8am, heading to Lithuania. It’ll be a day of traveling on the coach bus.

We stopped at a few places – first a famous park where had a famous Chopin statue and was next to a palace. Second was the Jewish “Museum Poli”. Then it was the old town square. And we had a couple of hours free time there. We followed Maria to a Amber/Jewelry store and I actually bought an amber bracelet which I had been wanting for a long time. It was not as big as I would have liked. But pretty. And the price was acceptable – less than $300USD. Bob and I had lunch at a café where I had the worst quiche in my life (corn and chicken?). Anson later told me they found another Oriental restaurant and had singapore fried rice! How do I envy that!! How come we just don’t seem to find these places!?

Had some first tastes of the group tour – not bad if the group is not bigger and will avoid summer tours from now on!!

Warsaw to Vilnius, Lithuania; Tuesday, May 29, 2018

The comforter was too thick and the AC did not really respond to our adjustment so I woke up many times, not being able to control the temperature. I was up at 5:45am, Bob at 6. By the time we went down to breakfast before 6:30, I had all packed and the two suitcases were placed outside our door.

There was a Chinese tour group in the hotel that arrived last night. After breakfast we came back to the room hoping to relax a bit before meeting the group at 8. I turned on the TV, all of a sudden the alarm rang. I thought it was from the TV, so I turned off the TV and found out it was a real alarm. The loud speaker then told us there was fire detected so we must all evacuate. We quickly grabbed our stuff and headed down. Anson and I said to each other that it must be because some of the Chinese smoked and triggered the fire alarm. Ugh!!! ….

We boarded our bus, which was quite nice. Just like Lucy told me, the seats were comfortable and there was enough leg room. The only thing was that the overhead luggage rack was too narrow to fit any bag, so our duffel and camera bag had to stay with us under/on the seat. Since we only had 29 people, there was enough empty seats, so Bob and I each took a 2-seat row. Anson and Liz did the same.

There was not too much to see along the way – fields, trees, crops, houses …. Some reminded me of Chinese countryside. 2 hours later, we stopped at a gas station so people could get off to use the restroom. A break for 20 minutes, we all went to the McDonald to use their washroom. Then we got on the bus again. The next stop was at a small Polish town called Augustowa. We had more than an hour to find lunch. It was after 12pm and we had a hard time finding a fast food place. Finally the 6 of us (Liz and Anson, Mary and Oliver, me and bob) found a pizza place and each couple ordered a Margarita pizza. It took a while for them to roll the dough then make the pizza. We had about 10 minutes to wolf down the pizza then went back to the bus. Soon after the bus started again, we crossed the Poland boarder and into Lithuania – there was no passport change or anything. The bus only stopped for the driver (Richard) to go pay some taxes or something, then we continued on our way.

All along the way, Joey talked with us about Poland history, then Lithuania history, and some logistics stuff. I fell asleep many times – not because I did not want to listen or learn, simply because I was tired.

We arrived in Vilnius around 5:30. Our hotel was Radisson Blu, right in the center of town. Joey checked us all in and gave us our room keys – Bob and I were in 311. The porter later brought in our big luggage, just like Nat Geo did. Good! We were to meet for cocktail and dinner at 6:30pm. Bob and I took a quick walk around the hotel. This town seemed to be much more interesting and charming than Warsaw! I went into a souvenir shop by the hotel called “Baltic Souvenir”. The two girls there were very nice and I really liked their stuff! But I cannot afford the ones I really like.

Tonight’s dinner was included and it was rather nice. No complaint! We sat with two other couples – Betty and Fred from Australia, Ginger and Ross from Utah. All of them seemed to have traveled quite bit. This was the 7th trip Ginger and Ross have done with Insight Vacations! I think I would like to do more with Insight, just need to find the right trip!

After dinner, bob and I took another walk into the old town. It was around and after 9pm, and it was still light enough to take photos! And it was so much more pleasant at that time of the day for the walk! Today the temperature reached 31 degrees celcius! Yuk!

Tomorrow we will have the guided tour of Vilnius – walking to the old town (again) and driving tour of the city including Trakai (whatever that is!). Activities start at 9. We will get up at 6 to be ready!

Vilnius, Lithuania; Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Up at 6am as usual and done breakfast by 7:15. It was rather cool outside at this hour – I felt like I needed a jacket or something. But later it would get to above 85!

Met the group at 9. Today our local guide was another lady who was quite knowledgeable. We first did a drive tour of the city and she told us about the history and stories of some important land marks. We stopped at a place where we could get sort-of a panoramic view of the old town. Then we were back at the hotel for 10 minutes, before continuing a walking tour of the old town, meeting our bus at the Cathedral square. The bus then drove for half an hour and took us to “Trakai”. It was a very popular place and could be pleasant if the weather were not that hot. There was a rebuilt castle there – the original castle had only about 10% left and the rest was all new, and it showed! It was in the middle of a lake, there was a bridge leading across the water to it. We got there shortly after 12:30pm. It was painfully hot and there were quite some people visiting the castle, mainly school kids. Bob and I endured through with the tour and I really did not hear or remember much of what she said. The first chance we could get out, we left the castle. Found some quick bites (hotdogs), then waited for the bus – we were supposed to leave the castle by 2:30 and we were done by 2. This place, though a must-see for tourists, did not do anything for me – if it were a real original castle, it might be of some interests. And if the weather were not so stifling hot, I might have had some enjoyment. But as it was today, if felt like pure suffering.

Back to the hotel around 3:30. We’re not doing the KGB museum visit or the dinner/show. Will venture out on our own to visit an artsy area that’s not too far from the hotel. Then will look for an Asian restaurant and have some real food! Tomorrow will be another travel day to Latvia and it’ll be only one night there!

So the artsy area was quite close to the hotel. It used to be a poor ghetto then some artists moved in and how it has become a very trendy, and expensive place! There were a few famous stuff there – one is the constitution of their “Bohemian Republic” which has been translated into 29 languages, and all 29 languages were on shiny plaques on a wall. The other was some pianos standing in and by the river, with other artsy stuff. We found both places. Unfortunately it’s very difficult to take photos of the constitution plaques – they are too shiny, like mirrors, so the words are not clear. It goes as follows:

1. Everyone has the right to live by the River Vilnele, and the River Vilnele has the right to flow by everyone.

2. Everyone has the right to hot water, heating in winter and a tiled roof.

3. Everyone has the right to die, but this is not an obligation.

4. Everyone has the right to make mistakes.

5. Everyone has the right to be unique.

6. Everyone has the right to love.

7. Everyone has the right not to be loved, but not necessarily.

8. Everyone has the right to be undistinguished and unknown.

9. Everyone has the right to idle.

10. Everyone has the right to love and take care of the cat.

11. Everyone has the right to look after the dog until one of them dies.

12. A dog has the right to be a dog.

13. A cat is not obliged to love its owner, but must help in time of need.

14. Sometimes everyone has the right to be unaware of their duties.

15. Everyone has the right to be in doubt, but this is not an obligation.

16. Everyone has the right to be happy.

17. Everyone has the right to be unhappy.

18. Everyone has the right to be silent.

19. Everyone has the right to have faith.

20. No one has the right to violence.

21. Everyone has the right to appreciate their unimportance.

22. No one has the right to have a design on eternity.

23. Everyone has the right to understand.

24. Everyone has the right to understand nothing.

25. Everyone has the right to be of any nationality.

26. Everyone has the right to celebrate or not celebrate their birthday.

27. Everyone shall remember their name.

28. Everyone ma share wat they possess.

29. No one ca share what they do not possess.

30. Everyone has the right to have brothers, sisters and parents.

31. Everyone may be independent.

32. Everyone is responsible for their freedom.

33. Everyone has the right to cry.

34. Everyone has the right to be misunderstood.

35. No one has the right to make another person guilty.

36. Everyone has the right to be individual.

37. Everyone has the right to have no rights.

38. Everyone has the right to not to be afraid.

39. Do not defeat.

40. Do not fight back.

41. Do not surrender.

I still don’t know how this came about or who wrote these, but some sound rather funny J

Bob and I were thinking of going to an Asian restaurant we found on Yelp, but it’s more than a mile away. Then we asked a store owner (where I broke down and bought a funny stuffed rat) who told us there’s one very close to the hotel. We went and it turned out to be a Korean restaurant. We had dinner there – food was ok, similar price to the US, but 1/3 of the amount. And quite different from what we are used to. But we enjoyed it – better than any other food we were willing to risk. Oh, for lunch we each had a hotdog and an ice cream at the Trakai. Pretty awful.

We’re back at the hotel now. Bob is taking a nap. We will then go out to walk the food off before calling it a night.

Tomorrow will be an early morning and packing. Again, suitcases out by 7am, leaving 8am.

Vilnius to Riga, Latvia; Thursday, May 31, 2018

I was up at 5:45 and got all packed, suitcases put outside by the time we went down to breakfast around 6:30. I liked the breakfast at this hotel, especially their bacon, sausage, eggs, and fruits, etc.

Our bus started at 8am punctually. Less than 2 hours later, we stopped at sort of a rest stop for people to use the washroom and get some stuff for lunch later. Then before we reached the border between Lithuania and Latvia, we stopped at a place called the “hill of crosses”. It was a popular tourists’ spot – a hill with hundreds of thousands of crosses. It was quite a strange site. It had a history that had to do with the Soviet destructions and ruling, etc.

After stopping at the hill of crosses for about an hour, we continued on our way, and got to the capital of Latvia, Riga, around 2pm. Our hotel is Pullman – a new hotel in the old town. Just like with Nat Geo, Joey went in and got us rooms, and the porters delivered our luggage to our rooms.

Today’s optional activity was to visit the open air museum followed by dinner. We did not sign up, as we really did not like that type of activities. But after we walked to the old town for a short visit, we changed our minds and decided to go. So we met the group at 4:20 outside the hotel and the coach bus took us to the open air museum half an hour’s drive away.

Our local guide Juris came on board and guided us through dinner. This open air museum was actually better than I thought – much better than our Plymouth plantation. Most of the houses were real ones, some were moved here from elsewhere. One of the churches from 1600 was actually quite impressive – simple, rusty, but rather elaborate for that time, and well preserved.

Dinner was a farmer style dinner – sausage, ribs, beef, potato. It was ok food, but nothing to write home about. We’re back at the hotel before 9.

This Riga was a nice small city – the old town area was nice, but there was not too much to do. Tomorrow our local guide will guide our walk through the old town, before we do our driving tour on the way to Tallinn, Estonia. We only have one night here.

About this Pullman hotel, Joey said it was a 5-star hotel, but I found it hard to believe. It’s nice and clean, but our room is quite small, with only a low coffee table like thing as desk. Very European modern type space saving hotel. I think I prefer the Pullman in ZhangJiaJie better. Nothing to really complain, especially for just one night.

Tomorrow luggage out at 7:30. We will be up before 6.

Riga to Tallinn, Estonia; Friday, June 1, 2018

Today our start was at 8am – I was up before 6, got all packed then went down for breakfast. We first did a drive tour of Riga and Juris our guide talked about each of the important landmarks. Then we did a walking tour of the old down, including visiting the Dom cathedral. The tour ended around 11am and we were to start our journey to Tallinn at 1pm, so we had about two hours free time to wander around the old town. Some people went to the museum, some went to have lunch. Anson, Liz, and the two of us first did a little shopping, then at 11:30 we started towards a Korean restaurant Juris told us about. It was close to the hotel. But they would not open until 12pm. We begged them explaining we needed to learn for our bus at 1. And they agreed to serve us! We had a comfortable lunch! And got to know Liz and Anson a little more. It turned out Liz studied holistic medicine for 8 years and was quite good at it! We exchanged emails and phone numbers. Hope they will come to visit us some day!

We then went back to the hotel, used the facilities, and got on the bus at 1pm. The drive was 5+ hours, including two stops. And we got to our hotel, the Radisson Blu Sky in Tallinn at 6:30pm. It was a highrise hotel close to the old town. Our room was 1706, on the 17th floor. After briefly settling in, we left hotel heading towards the old town, hoping to find some Oriental food for dinner.

We yelped and looked up Tripadvisor. Bob suggested we try the restaurant called Tai Boh, which turned out to be very close to the old town’s gate. We found it without any trouble. It was a very funky and trendy restaurant, not the kind of Thai food place I was expecting. The food was well prepared, tasty, but amount was quite small by our US standard, and much more expensive. After dinner, we walked to the old town square. Today was Friday. There was some sort of a musical performance in the square. I looked into a couple of “Baltic Amber” stores and asked about the price of the big-bead amber bracelets. I was told before that the price of Amber in Tallinn would be better than Warsaw – WRONG! For a bracelet that I like, of the size I want, would cost 8 thousand EUROs! Even for the pressed ones, it would cost at least 1 thousand! Sigh! Should have bought another big bead one in Warsaw!! Too late!

Joey talked about Estonia on our drive to Tallinn and I learned quite a bit! Tallinn/Estonia apparently prides themselves on being medieval – the old town certainly has maintained that kind of a style and taste. But outside of the old town, there were a few very modern highrises, and the rest was quite nondescript and ugly! For my taste, the old town was too commercialized. And maybe because today was Friday, it was swarm with tourists! Everything was quite expensive. Joey told us a little about Estonia’s social system. It’s a capitalist country for sure, but people enjoy basic health care free. Also education all the way up to college is free, as far as you score well in the entrance exam. Estonia is also very advanced in the are of technology – all the person identification information has been digitized. Each person only needs to take a few minutes to file their income tax! Everything is online! Wow!! Free WiFi is pretty much available everywhere!

Also learned about the “Estonian grip” and the world championship race where men carrying their wives. Joey actually showed us a video from youtube. Quite funny!

Back to the hotel before 10pm. Did some laundry – hotel laundry was too expensive for washing a few casual T-shirts! Will call it a night soon, already 11pm, and it’s just turning dark outside.

Tallinn, Estonia; Saturday, June 2, 2018

Today’s activities started at 9am, but we got up at 6am anyway, so we had more than 1 hour after breakfast resting in our room. I did not have much expectation for today’s tour.

Our local guide was a lady named Christina, who was probably in her mid to late thirties, exuberant and with fluent English (turned out that she was a language major in college and knew a few languages besides Estonian and English). Again, the first part of the tour was a driving tour, with one stop at the Song Festival park (with a half-shell like state). Many tour buses stopped there. Ours being one of them. There was some sort of a motor cycle event going on in that park also. After the bus tour, we had a walking tour of the old town, where Bob and I already went last night. But of course Christina knew all the streets and places in the old town and took us through the many streets, finally ending at the Viru gate where we walked through last night. It’s the first time our group ran into so many other tour groups – groups from the cruise boats, from other tours, and people from Japan, China, and other places where the languages did not sound recognizable to me.

After the tour ended shortly before noon, Bob and I went to another Thai restaurant which we saw last night, close to Tai Boh. I thought this smaller less trendy place might have more casual food that we like. But it was more casual alright, the food was not as good as Tai Boh.

After wandering the old town a little more after lunch, we came back to the hotel. There was really not much else to do or places to go. We will meet the group at 5:30 to have our good-bye dinner as a group, because half of the group will finish their tour tonight and leave for home. The second half of the tour is actually called “Slow Pace Russia” and 19 more people will join us at St. Petersburg, making the total 38!

Dinner was at a restaurant in the old town. The big coach bus took us from the hotel to outside of the Viru gate, then we walked. It would have been an easy walk directly from the hotel, but I guess some of the guests might find it difficult. BTW – yesterday we ran into a guy with OAT. They have a similar tour. I asked how many people they had in their group – 14. We’ve got to give OAT a try! Seems that they use the same level of hotels which is perfectly acceptable to us.

Tonight’s “celebration dinner” was at a restaurant in the old town square. The food for the dinner was really so-so, but it was a chance for everyone to be together and for us to say goodbye to the people whose trip ends here (not going on to Russia). After dinner bob and I walked back to the hotel. It’s not yet 8:40 yet, and the sun is still up. But we needed a jacket or something walking outside – it’s cool and very pleasant.

Tomorrow it’ll be an early start – bus will leave at 7:15 to try avoid the passport check at the Russia boarder. We will be up before 5:30!

Tallinn to St. Petersburg, Russia; Sunday, June 3, 2018

We are in Saint Petersburg now! Got here around 1pm.

To beat the possible buses and crowds at the border control, Joey asked us to get ready by 7:15am, which was very smart! There were only 16 of us left so it was easier to move around. Bob and I got up at 5:30.

3 hours drive to the boarder. Going through was quite smooth – ours was the second bus, the first one was a public bus full of students. As Joey explained to us, it was a rather elaborate process to first exit Estonia, then enter Russia. Entering Russia was a serious matter. After entering Russia, it was our first bathroom stop. The two shabby toilets at the border control gave us the first taste of the former socialist country – it was like China 30 years ago!

After another almost 2 hours, we got to our hotel, the Crown Plaza at St. Petersburg. I could not remember which hotel I stayed at last time I was here with Eve on business – probably Courtyard Marriott, which was by the river and much closer to the Hermitage. But the Crown Plaza was nice, about 2 miles from the Church on Spilled Blood and the Hermitage.

After getting our room and settling in, bob and I walked across the street to the “Galleria” shopping center’s food court to have lunch – Joey said there was Asian food there. This was our first time being in a Russian shopping center. It was very similar to the one in WangFuJing – multi-tiers, with escalators going to each floor, and all sorts of foreign shops. I wonder who copied whom …. The top two floors – 4th and 5th – had eating places/restaurants. The food court was called Market Place (it was a chain operation as we saw quite a few of them along the main street, Nevsky Prospect. We were each given a card. At the food counter we chose, we simply needed to tap the card on the device on the counter, then we paid at the exit. Very modern! More so than the US! Similar to the place Kathy and I went to in WangFuJing. There was no cash changing hands at each food stall. We ate at the Asian place – they had meat and veges cooked and after you order, they just mixed the stuff together and stir fry them in a wok. That was it! Not gourmet food by any means, but tasty enough and we were satisfied! Better than McDonold or any other random tourist food!

After lunch, we wandered around the shopping center for Bob to look for a bathroom. Then we walked along the main avenue, Nevsky Prospect (avenue), towards the Hermitage. We did not really want to go that far, but we did want to see the Church on Spilled Blood. And we DID get there! It was probably 1.5 mile each way, so we got our daily walk.

That church has got to be the most beautiful site here! I remembered it from the last time I was here. Those shiny, colorful, union domes! Unfortunately the main dome was under some sort of repair (supposedly in prep for the world cup) and was under scaffolding. Sigh!....

We started walking back to our hotel after the church. The streets were quite crowded – maybe because this was Sunday?

We signed up for all the optional excursions in St. Petersburg and Moscow, except the ballet in St. Pete, so we will be quite busy for the next 3 days here, which is what we wanted. Do not want to randomly walk the streets any more. Once is enough!

Tonight we will have a welcome dinner when we will meet up with the 19 new group members.

The buffet dinner was not bad – chicken and pork were both tasty. Back to the room around 9 and called it a night.

St. Petersburg Day 2; Monday, June 4, 2018

Up at 6am even though it was not necessary – group did not leave for today’s tour until 8:30am. Today we would start with the group sightseeing tour, followed by the optional Catherines Palace tour. Then it would be our free time.

This morning’s sightseeing tour was mainly a driving tour, with a few stops for photos and one bathroom stop which was at a souvenir place and many of us bought some stuff. Our guide was a lady named Lena who spoke with very good English (she majored in linguistics and art history which she said was a requirement for being a tour guide). This was one thing I do appreciate these good group tours – we learn much more about the place than touring on our own! Even though it was not fun to be together with many other big tour buses and tour groups, we put up with it and our bus was nice and comfy!

This time I got some good views of the Winter Palace than what I did last time I was here. Very impressive! The scale reminded me of Versailles or our Forbidden City! The wealth and ability of the people who had them built was mind boggling! I could not memorize many of the history related things Lena talked about. But I had the desire to read more about it. Saint Petersburg was probably the city with most history in Russia! So many palaces, so many buildings with a rich history!

The tour finished at around 11:20 and we came back to our hotel. The optional afternoon tour of the Catherines Palace would start at 1:15pm. We went to the Vietnamese restaurant Anson and Liz discovered yesterday for lunch. It was very close to the hotel and we all liked the food!

Afternoon’s optional Catherines Palace tour was quite good! The bus drive was about 1 hour. The place was extremely popular and there were many big tour buses plus individual visitors. Our visit was scheduled for 2:40 and our group went in on schedule. The visit was more than 1 hour. The place was well organized and very impressive! The palace was 80% restored and the restoration work was very impressive! A very worthwhile tour. If we were on our own, we would never have made the visit!

Back to the hotel after 5:30pm. Then we consulted Lena and decided to go to a Russian restaurant, with Anson and Liz. It’s called Tsar. A bit of a walk from the hotel on Nevsky Prospect, cross one river, then turn right. Lena called and made a reservation for us, 6:30.

We left the hotel at 6 and got there without any issue. It was a nice restaurant – definitely a classy place, even with live music. The food was good, though not fantastic. I had my chicken Kiev and Bob had his beef stroganoff. Mine was fine, perhaps not the best I ever had. Bob said his was good. Anson had a fish dish, Liz had some sort of minced pork/chicken fried patty dish, quite good. We chatted a bit after dinner and did not leave the restaurant until 10pm. On the way back we visited a famous food place that had pastry, chocolates, cheese, and some people ate there. Many people were there taking pictures. We did not find anything too appealing.

Back to the hotel after 10:30. The sky was still not dark. It was quite cold and tomorrow is supposed to be colder, plus rain. We’ll need to put on every piece of warm clothing. The first activity is the included visit to Peterhof Gardens which is to the south of the city. We are supposed to take the hydrofoil but the weather may not let us. We’ll see. Then it’s the optional visit to Yusapov Palace which we will do. Good we don’t leave until 9:30am so we will sleep later.

St. Petersburg Day 3; Tuesday, June 5, 2018

We had a late start today, at 9:30. It was a cold and rainy day. We put on all the warm clothes we brought with us, and it was not quite enough. We’re told that here the temperature could change by 30 degrees in a day! Phew!

The hydrofoil could not operate today due to the weather, so we had to go to the Peterhof Gardens by bus which was less than an hour. I did not know this Peterhof palace and garden was such an impressive place! It was built by Peter the Great as his summer place and he had it built after he visited France and saw Versailles – he wanted to build one better than that! And he did! It was the Russian Versailles! Unbelievable!! It has 170 fountains! And they started the water display at 11am, with the St. Petersburg’s anthem. The crowds were impressive as well – so many big buses and so many people from all over the world! I saw a few groups from China!

It was unfortunately a very cold day for the visit – the visit was all outside, not inside the palace. The rain was not pouring, thankfully, but drizzling. And the wind was blowing! When we walked to the edge of the Baltic sea, we could see the rough waves – no wonder the hydrofoil could not operate! We would have had a great view of the palace if we were able to get there by hydrofoil! But as it was, the views were simply fantastic!

We’re back at the hotel before 5. Then we went to the galleria to buy the Heattech long underwear for me and bob. Then back to the hotel for the 6pm bon voyage reception. After that, we went to the Vietnamese place for dinner with Anson and Liz. We chatted till after 9pm. Because I bought the wrong long underwear, we had to go back to the Galleria and got another pair. The next few days will be all chilly and rainy and windy, we really needed something warmer.

Tomorrow will be a tricky day – we will need to pack an overnight bag and the two suitcases must be put out by 6:15pm. The bus will take our luggage to Moscow, but we will be taking the train on Thursday. I did not read the document carefully and did not pay attention to this detail, otherwise I would have brought a carry-on small suitcase! Sigh …. So after we’re back from dinner/shopping, I started packing. Sigh …. It’s 10:30 now. Tomorrow we’ll meet at 9 and I still want to be up at 6-ish.

St. Petersburg, Day 4; Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Up at 6:30pm then down to breakfast. Oh boy! What a crowded scene! Almost no seats left. Must be another few tour groups here! Sigh ….

Today’s main activity is the Hermitage. Bob and I have an optional river cruise to get to the Hermitage, then at night the folklore performance.

It was a chilly day. When we got up, it was sunny but by the time we went on the bus, it was cloudy and threatened to rain. The optional river cruise turned out to be quite good – got great views of St. Petersburg! I quite liked our guide Lena – she was a classy and knowledgeable guide! I cannot remember all she told us, only a few stories. Learned that Tchaikovsky was actually a law student before he became a famous composer! We saw the law school building he went to! The buildings along both sides of the rivers/canals were mainly old buildings – they have been renovated, and the government had strict rules that the renovation must maintain the original façade, only the inside can be modernized if possible. So the outside of the buildings was very nice looking!

I also did not know until this trip that St. Petersburg consisted of canals, like Amsterdam and Venice. But many of the canals had been filled and covered over. There are however still many rivers and canals. And there are many many bridges, some of them are very very low. We were asked strictly to sit down (on the top deck). Lena told us there’s the saying these cruise ships posed, that “there are 500 bridges, but we only have one head”. And some of the bridges were really so low that we all wanted to duck down our heads, even though we’re ok as far as we do not stand up.

The river cruise was about an hour. Then we joined with the people who did not opt to go on the cruise, at the Hermitage. Lena give us a guided tour of a small part of the museum. I learned much more than the first time I stepped into this museum (with Eve). And we did not see most of the stuff we saw last time. The museum was HUGE! Lena said that if we visit each room and stay one minute there, it would take 9 years!!

Our guided tour ended a little after 1pm. Our bus would take anyone who wanted back to the hotel at 2:30. There was a cafeteria in the museum but small and very limited, Bob and I decided to pass, and sat on a bench for most of the time, then took the 2:30 bus and came back to the hotel. We went directly to the Vietnamese restaurant and had a big lunch.

Back to the hotel before 4. Bob took a nap and I finished packing the 2 big suitcases which much be put out at 6:15pm today. We will be doing the optional folklore performances at 7:15pm – unsure what it’s going to be like, but will risk it hoping for the best.

It turned out that the show was not bad! It was for tourists alright, but the performers were rather professional. It’s mainly Cossack sing and dance, plus other Russian including former Soviet union countries’ dances. Fast paced and enjoyable!

The show ended at 10pm – it was still light outside, not like 10pm at all! Tomorrow we are skipping the optional Peter and Paul Fortress visit (saw it from afar the first day and decided not to go there). We can sleep in and don’t have to meet the group until 11:50am when we head to the train station.

St. Petersburg to Moscow; Thursday, June 7, 2018

I must have been really tired and needed the sleep, this morning I did not wake up until 9am when Bob’s alarm rang – last night he said we should set the alarm to 9 just in case. I said there was no way I could sleep till that late. And I was wrong! Must be because I watched the Chinese soap on my iPad too late ….

Leisurely breakfast then rested in the room, rested till around 11:30 and went down.

The train station was actually diagonally across the street, but we had a local bus picking us up (so we did not have to carry our overnight bags to walk), did a U turn and brought us to close to the train station. Lena our guide came with us. She and Joey escorted us all the way to the train, going through 2 sets of security scans then the passport check. Our train car was 17 and it was almost at the front of the very long train. Joey had already given us our seat numbers, ours was 31 and 32, which turned out to be facing the back. Train was clean and seats were comfortable enough. It was like the bullet train in Shanghai, it could go as far as 265km an hour.

The 4 hour train ride was smooth and pleasant. And it was very punctual. I think it made two very short stops between Saint Petersburg and Moscow. There were more groups on the train which I think was full. At 5 o’clock sharp, we arrive in Moscow. It was quite a crowd scene on the platform, and reminded me of China. We had a local girl from Insight picking us up and she assisted Joey to lead our way to our bus. Our coach bus from St. Pete was there waiting for us, with our driver Sasha. Great to see him again!

I guess usually Insight tours stayed at the Radisson but because of the World Cup event we could not get that hotel, so they secured another hotel for us. It’s called Azimut. Joey told us that it was built in the 80s for the Olympic event, for the athletes. I was rather apprehensive about what kind of a hotel it was….

A short ride got us to the hotel. Our passports collected because they must register each of us, same as in St. Pete. But this time everything was arranged in advance and we almost immediately got our rooms. Ours was 961.

After getting into the room, I felt relieved – even though the room was on the small side, and the rug showed its age, it looked clean and the two twin beds with white beddings looked fine!

Tonight’s dinner was included – as a compensation for us because we did not get our original hotel. We were to meet at 6:30 for the buffet dinner. This is a large hotel, with many restaurants, we were told. We will explore.

Tomorrow we will have our first optional tour, starting at 8:30am. Glad we slept in this morning, even though I heard that the church at Peter and Paul Fortress was beautiful. Oh well!

The buffet dinner was just a buffet dinner for the tourist group – not bad for what it is. And they had the kind of Russian salad I am used to and liked. After dinner, we wanted to take a walk around, thinking of walking in the direction of the red square which was about 4km away. But the concierge said we’d better take the free shuttle which runs every 2 hours or so. There was one at 8:30pm but the return one would not be until 10:30pm. We hesitated because we did not want to stay that late. So we missed it. We walked to the supermarket across the street and got a few little things, mainly to take a look and see what it was like. Not bad. It was a small market but had a little of everything. Not much in terms of snacks that we would like.

By 9:30 we’re back at the hotel. The hotel had an Indian restaurant and a Chinese one. We checked them out. The Indian one seemed to be the one we should try tomorrow dinner. The Chinese one did not look good at all – had a mix of Chinese and southeast Asian food on the menu. There was flashing multi-colored lights and an Indian guy managing …. Probably not evey worth a try.

Tomorrow we need to be up early again, so I’m calling it a night. There was not much around the hotel to walk to.

Moscow Day 2; Friday, June 8, 2018

Up before 6:15 – slept well even though woke up a couple of times during the night.

This hotel is meant for travel groups for sure – probably the worst of this trip. The room is OK. The food is edible. There were so many people from various travel groups!

This morning’s optional tour was “Sergiyev Posad” which was the name of a famous monastery. It was about 50 miles northeast of Moscow. It took the bus about 1.5 hours to get there. Along the way, we went by the suburbs of Moscow and saw some of the “dachas” – i.e. people’s country houses where city people built to come on weekends and planted their own vegetable gardens, crops, etc. We stopped at one that was painted very colorfully.

The day started as sunny and bright. But by the time we left at 8:30, it was clouded over and started raining by the time we stopped to visit that house. And it was raining when we got to the monastery. There were many many tourists there! Buses after buses. The building were very beautiful and impressive. Apparently this Sergiyev was a saint. But I cannot remember the stories about him. A very actively religious place! Russian orthodox. There were monks there and many people go there for religious purpose.

Our local guide in Moscow was Svetlana – nice lady but not as experienced as Lena in St Pete in handling a group among crowds. She guided us through a few churches then we had a little free time. It was raining so we did not linger for too long. At 12:30 we started heading back to the hotel.

It was past 1:30 when we got back, so Joey adjusted the schedule a little bit and we did not meet for the afternoon tour until 2:45 instead of 2:30. Anson, Liz, Bob and I immediately went into the Indian restaurant at the hotel and had a nice Indian lunch! Rather pricey but quite good! We did not even have the time to go back to our rooms and left directly for the afternoon tour.

By that time, the rain was getting harder at times. The first part of our tour was to take the subway, so the bus dropped us off at a rather famous subway station, Svetlana guided us to board the train. We rode for one stop and got off at the most decorated station, which was very impressive! One of our group members lost one of her shoes – someone stepped on her heel and her shoe fell off while she was getting on the train. So Svetlana rode the subway back to look for her shoe. Guess what, she found it and brought it back! The shoe fell on the train track and she had to ask the attendant to use a tool to fetch it up! We all applauded when she came back! Then we rode the subway for another stop, got off to admire another station. Then got on again, one more stop we got off, at where the famous Bolshoi theater. It was raining hard. The bus then picked us up there, and took us to the red square. Again, it was still raining. We admired the beautiful union domed Saint Basil’s Cathedral at the red square, the Kremlin, etc. I wanted to see the Red Square since my childhood, but I must say I was quite disappointed. There was some construction going on right in front of the Lenin mausoleum and we could not get a closer look and the whole place looked so small! Because of the direction of the light, I could not get even one semi decent picture of it! Sigh ….

We then all went into the famous and expensive department store right by the red square, called “GUM”. It was very pleasant to be able to get into a place that’s not wet. And it was a high-end shopping center, with all the big name stores. And it was not like the shopping centers such as the galleria, it had a traditional look and nice feeling. We followed Svetlana for a little while then had more then an hour free time. Bob and I went to the third floor and had some snacks. Originally we wanted to go to the place Svetlana recommended, but there was no display of the things we could order, so we went to the inexpensive eatery instead. While we were in the shopping center, the sun came out and the rain stopped! So we went out again to try taking some pictures. The buildings looked so much nicer under the sun!

By 6:30 we’re back on the bus heading back to the hotel. It was the worst time of the rush hour. We got back by 7:30. Joey adjusted the schedule, so our optional Moscow evening tour did not start until 8:30 (not 8). We came back to the room and had a little rest.

We left again at 8:30 for our Moscow at night tour. It was nice. We stopped at a couple of places to look at the scenery and take photos. The first was by a lake where there were many ducks and bronze duck sculptures that were given to Russia by Barbara Bush on behalf of the US children to Russian children. Very nice! Reminded me of the ducks we have in Boston Garden! The few minutes evening walk in that park looking at the famous convent was very nice, even though it was a bit chilly. Wish we had more time there!

Svetlana was telling us about the stories of the places we drove by, but it was hard to catch all because we sat at the back and could not really see what she was talking about. By the time we reached red square, it was after 10:30. There was less people at the square at that time which was great! And it was really pretty!

We came to the hotel shortly after 11. Bob and I did not want to have a full dinner, so we snacked on what we had in the room that we got last night. Tomorrow we need to be up at 6:15 again, to have breakfast at 7, then leave at 9, for the optional “Russian Mosaic” tour – a tour that covers a multitude stuff.

I really wish we had at least 4 nights in Moscow, so we would not be so rushed. Will write on the feedback.

Moscow Day 3; Saturday, June 9, 2018

Up at 6:15 again and met the group before 9am for our optional Russian Mosaic tour.

The first visit was the cemetery where a lot of the important people were buried. It was not a cemetery where anyone could get in – it must be approved by the government and must be some important figures. For example, Khrushchev (and his wife) was there. Stalin’s wife was there. The famous ballet dancer (the one I grew up hearing about), Wulanova, was there. And other famous political and military figures, artists, writers, doctors, etc. etc. A very nice cemetery. There was one grave that did not have any tombstone, just dirt and flowers. It was for the famous actress who played Anna Karenina. She died very poor so no one did a tombstone for her. Very sad! … And Stalin’s wife who was his second or third wife. She was more than 30 years his junior. Stalin was very hard to live with and they had an unhappy marriage. She wanted a divorce but could not. So she committed suicide. She was a beautiful girl ….. Someone should write a story of this cemetery!!

I also learned that many of the important people used to be buried inside the kremlin red wall, but now nobody could be buried there any more.

After the cemetery visit, we went to the Victory museum in the Victory park. I think it is like China’s history museum in TianAnMen Square, but it was done very very nicely! I DO admire the Russian people! And very impressed with this nation and with this museum.

After the museum visit, we were dropped off at a tourist shopping street where there were places to eat, etc. We were given 1.5 hours free time, while the bus went back to the hotel to pick up rest of the group for the afternoon included tour. The shopping street was not that interesting – all shops sold the same kind of stuff: the layered dolls, jewelry, etc. etc. I was quite hungry by then. We hoped to find something oriental, but there was none. So we ended up going to the burger place “Shake Shack” and each had a burger. Not bad at all! Much better than the McDonald!

Shortly after 1:30, our bus came and the entire group went on the afternoon tour – visit the Kremlin. It tured out everyone was taking the optional tour after the included one which made things easier.

The Kremlin, as Svetlana explained, was a medieval city that contained churches, palaces, etc. It was not just one building. There were crowds and crowds of visitors including a few Chinese groups. After airport-like security scan, we went into the Kremlin gate. Svetlana guided us through a couple of churches that had the original fresco at the inside of the church, the entire walls and ceilings! Quite impressive. She explained the various buildings to us. And we saw the Tsar bell, which weighed 220 tons! Then we visited the Armory museum. I thought it would just be a bunch of ancient weapons, etc. but it turned out to be the most impressive museum of all the stuff related to the royal rulers! Their clothes, thrones, carriages, gifts, etc. etc. Simply AMAZING! We followed Svetlana who pointed out the most impressive items to us. We walked and walked. I got very very tired, so were many others! But everyone seemed to agree that we could have spent much more time visiting this place!

We had our good-bye dinner at 6:30, in the dining room where we had our breakfast everyday. The food was very similar to the welcome dinner. We sat with Anson and Liz and chatted. Came back to the room around 8:30. I had already packed, only a little left to be finished tomorrow morning. Tomorrow we will need to be ready to head for the airport at 5:15am. Our flight is at 9am, same as Liz and Anson.

Time flies, especially when you’re enjoying it. The two weeks have gone by so fast! I think the Insight Vacation group tour is quite good! If we can find another one that we would like to go, we will definitely consider it. Joey is a good guide and we like him!

RWF Photography