post 2 of the cruise
Ok so after Helsinki we had a day at sea and then got to St. Petersburg Early for the 2 days we spent there. We were booked onto a 2 day tour of the city and all it had to offer.
8:30
Meet at the ship and getting assigned our tour guide Alexandria.
9:30
-
12:00
Excursion in Hermitage museum (early entry) this is really 3 or 4 of the Old Palaces linked together. We had one of our people get lost at the end of the tour so we were a little late for stuff as it took 20 min. to find them. This was a highlight tour only and still took over 2 hrs.
12:00
-
13:00
Lunch in a local restaurant was by far the worst experience on the trip. Everyone got a cold cabbage and onion soup which was kinda ok but I got no bread (gluten intolerant sucks). Then they got chicken Kiev (well stuffed chicken with cheese, ham and spinach) which was raw and had to be sent back. I got 2 slices of bell pepper, 2 slices of eggplant, 2 slices of squash and about 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes. Their second try on the chicken was good to go and then we got the small (teaspoon) scoop of ice cream with coffee or tea. I asked for a spoon as I didn't want to use my Hot teaspoon from the tea on the cold ice cream. I got it but wow the attitude they even told me I should use the spoon I had....!
13:00
-
14:00
Excursion in Church on the Blood This was a wow stop better than the Hermitage in ways. All the pictures were made in mosaics some micro-mosaics. Fabulous and there were pictures showing how destroyed it was after WWII, what the Nazis couldn't take they destroyed.
14:00
-
15:00
Excursion in St. Peter and Paul Fortress incl. inside visit to Cathedral this was a neat tour of a 5 Star fortress that was so well build that it was never attacked. It was used as a prison during Stalin to recent years it was known as the death prison.
15:00
-
17:00
City highlights drive tour through the historical downtown with the nice views on the bridges, squares; palaces and the Neva river embankments. Short walks and picture stops. This turned into Boat ride: City tour from the water angle a young man ran along side the boat to each of the over bridges for tips. Some good stamina and pacing.
Subway ride was really kinda fun as it was so deep (to pass under the river and to get down to bedrock so it was secure) and clean with nice pictures. I kinda think this was the only 2 stops with pics but maybe that is just me.
17:00
Onboard for supper and a break before heading out again.
19:00
Optional evening program which we went on and it was to the Museum of Vodka but as it was a group decide thing we ended up not doing it because others had read that it was not worth it. Our 24 strong group split with the I want to go to a bar headed off and the I want to see the city getting to go walk with the guide who was an 18 yr old man. Was cool at the end of the walk we had said we wanted to stop at a street side cafe for a night cap and he found us one that could take in our 14. Weird part was that part of our group didn't even want to stop at all so they sat outside as a boycott. Asses!
22 July 2013 Day 2
8:00
-
10:00
Meet at the ship. Payment for the tour (you go to a souvenir shop where Alla Tours has a shop; shopping. Very expensive country but we bought some of the small wooden dolls as keychain dangles, and I bought 1 of the 5 stack dolls for 50 euros. The really nice ones (good painting) ran up from 100 euros. I also explained about the crap food at the fancy restaurant the day before and was assured that the food that day would be much better (it was) and I had enough sense to bring some of the nice gluten free bread from the ship for lunch.
10:30
-
11:00
Travel to Peterhof via hydrofoil we lucked out and got to be the first people on the hydrofoil so we sat up front.
11:00
-
12:30
Tour of the Lower Fountain Park and Upper gardens which was also good but as it had started to rain was a little bit faster and kinda hard on some of the people in the tour. The couple from Spain were freezing as they had not brought warm gear and so they stayed in the food tent till the tour guide went back at lunch time to get them.
12:30
-
13:30
Lunch in a local restaurant was a lot better than the day before. But I can say that service is so not #1 for them, that said we had warm soup (same as the day before but it was a lot better warm), then chicken kabobs (5) with bell pepper and a side scoop of mash potatoes, and dessert was the small scoop of ice cream but with a berry syrup. We got a bottle of water for the meal and cup of tea at the end.
13:30
-
14:30
Travel to Tsars Village (Tsarskoe Selo) this was a beautiful drive which allowed us to see some of the countryside. Then we got to the TV and took pics and went through the WOW Catherine palace.
14:30
-
16:00
Excursion in Catherine palace incl. Amber room and walk through the park nope we did not walk through the park but the palace was full of Marquetry floors and small items from the royal family. The rooms were so over the top with gold leaf appliqued to every thing and Mirrors. It would be very easy to imagine the royal dances and balls and opulence indulged in.
16:00
-
17:00
Travel back to the city
17:00
Onboard
18:00
Sailing off to a sea day to recover and then Tallinn.
8:30
Meet at the ship and getting assigned our tour guide Alexandria.
9:30
-
12:00
Excursion in Hermitage museum (early entry) this is really 3 or 4 of the Old Palaces linked together. We had one of our people get lost at the end of the tour so we were a little late for stuff as it took 20 min. to find them. This was a highlight tour only and still took over 2 hrs.
12:00
-
13:00
Lunch in a local restaurant was by far the worst experience on the trip. Everyone got a cold cabbage and onion soup which was kinda ok but I got no bread (gluten intolerant sucks). Then they got chicken Kiev (well stuffed chicken with cheese, ham and spinach) which was raw and had to be sent back. I got 2 slices of bell pepper, 2 slices of eggplant, 2 slices of squash and about 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes. Their second try on the chicken was good to go and then we got the small (teaspoon) scoop of ice cream with coffee or tea. I asked for a spoon as I didn't want to use my Hot teaspoon from the tea on the cold ice cream. I got it but wow the attitude they even told me I should use the spoon I had....!
13:00
-
14:00
Excursion in Church on the Blood This was a wow stop better than the Hermitage in ways. All the pictures were made in mosaics some micro-mosaics. Fabulous and there were pictures showing how destroyed it was after WWII, what the Nazis couldn't take they destroyed.
14:00
-
15:00
Excursion in St. Peter and Paul Fortress incl. inside visit to Cathedral this was a neat tour of a 5 Star fortress that was so well build that it was never attacked. It was used as a prison during Stalin to recent years it was known as the death prison.
15:00
-
17:00
City highlights drive tour through the historical downtown with the nice views on the bridges, squares; palaces and the Neva river embankments. Short walks and picture stops. This turned into Boat ride: City tour from the water angle a young man ran along side the boat to each of the over bridges for tips. Some good stamina and pacing.
Subway ride was really kinda fun as it was so deep (to pass under the river and to get down to bedrock so it was secure) and clean with nice pictures. I kinda think this was the only 2 stops with pics but maybe that is just me.
17:00
Onboard for supper and a break before heading out again.
19:00
Optional evening program which we went on and it was to the Museum of Vodka but as it was a group decide thing we ended up not doing it because others had read that it was not worth it. Our 24 strong group split with the I want to go to a bar headed off and the I want to see the city getting to go walk with the guide who was an 18 yr old man. Was cool at the end of the walk we had said we wanted to stop at a street side cafe for a night cap and he found us one that could take in our 14. Weird part was that part of our group didn't even want to stop at all so they sat outside as a boycott. Asses!
22 July 2013 Day 2
8:00
-
10:00
Meet at the ship. Payment for the tour (you go to a souvenir shop where Alla Tours has a shop; shopping. Very expensive country but we bought some of the small wooden dolls as keychain dangles, and I bought 1 of the 5 stack dolls for 50 euros. The really nice ones (good painting) ran up from 100 euros. I also explained about the crap food at the fancy restaurant the day before and was assured that the food that day would be much better (it was) and I had enough sense to bring some of the nice gluten free bread from the ship for lunch.
10:30
-
11:00
Travel to Peterhof via hydrofoil we lucked out and got to be the first people on the hydrofoil so we sat up front.
11:00
-
12:30
Tour of the Lower Fountain Park and Upper gardens which was also good but as it had started to rain was a little bit faster and kinda hard on some of the people in the tour. The couple from Spain were freezing as they had not brought warm gear and so they stayed in the food tent till the tour guide went back at lunch time to get them.
12:30
-
13:30
Lunch in a local restaurant was a lot better than the day before. But I can say that service is so not #1 for them, that said we had warm soup (same as the day before but it was a lot better warm), then chicken kabobs (5) with bell pepper and a side scoop of mash potatoes, and dessert was the small scoop of ice cream but with a berry syrup. We got a bottle of water for the meal and cup of tea at the end.
13:30
-
14:30
Travel to Tsars Village (Tsarskoe Selo) this was a beautiful drive which allowed us to see some of the countryside. Then we got to the TV and took pics and went through the WOW Catherine palace.
14:30
-
16:00
Excursion in Catherine palace incl. Amber room and walk through the park nope we did not walk through the park but the palace was full of Marquetry floors and small items from the royal family. The rooms were so over the top with gold leaf appliqued to every thing and Mirrors. It would be very easy to imagine the royal dances and balls and opulence indulged in.
16:00
-
17:00
Travel back to the city
17:00
Onboard
18:00
Sailing off to a sea day to recover and then Tallinn.