Réinitialiser la recherche
Russia & the Western Front
  • Meaghan's Travels
  • Meaghan's Travels

Russia & the Western Front

Une aventure de 31 jours par Meaghan's Travels En savoir plus
S’abonnerAperçuAperçuCalendrierCalendrierPhotosPhotosPartagerPartagerListe de choses à faire
Les plus récents en premier
  • Début du voyage
    24 octobre 2018
    Meaghan's TravelsRussia & the Western FrontMeaghan's Travels
    Golden Dome at Dusk
    Love!Look at this leg room!Ok back to the normal economy leg room!A pretend business class traveler!1The real business class traveler!

    Getting out of Sydney

    24 octobre 2018, Australie ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

    So off to Russia we go and about 26 hours later we are there!
    Lots of last minute rushing around getting things organised for the trip. As is my usual style left the packing till the night before and was up all night. Then went to work followed by Dr, last minute shopping and finally home to finish the packing!
    Then off to collect Marge and my sister rings me telling me she isn't home from getting her hair nails and pedicure done! So sister in law is sent off to track her down and sister sorts out Marge's last minute packing. Margy meanwhile is found in the chemist. So more rushing around getting her ready. The 8 year packed the toiletries so will be interesting to see what we have. She seemed to be concentrating on lipsticks!

    Anyway first time flying with Qatar and the service was fantastic. Really above and beyond. The business check in even has a rug for the passengers to stand on as they check in. Nice!

    I am sitting in the upstairs part of the plane in this very small economy section just behind business. Very exclusive and bonus I am sitting in the bulkhead with a spare seat next to me.

    Stopover in Doha was good. We got driven around in a golf cart. So after setting up Mum in the business class lounge I check out the shopping. Its a good airport with lots of shops. Also there are lots of nice cosy places to sit. They have lots of small private tv lounge areas and quite areas with reclining lounges so a pretty good airport to hang out in.

    Next flight and we get onto the plane via a hoist into a metal room on top of a truck then another hoist onto the plane! So they are certainly looking after their disabled passengers.

    Finally we get to St Petersburg and our beautiful hotel. I could just hang out here watching the canal view. The staff are fantastic and could not have been more helpful. Pushkin Hotel if you are ever in St Petersburg. It really was a highlight and the location is 5 minutes from the Hermitage which you see every time you leave the hotel. And its about a 7 minute walk from the main street Nevesky Prospect, it runs parallel to one of the main cafe/restaurant streets and its 15 minutes to the markets and the Church of the Spilled Blood.

    We have a nice meal in a very trendy cafe on Nevesky and collapse into bed!    En savoir plus

    Voir la traduction
  • Meaghan's TravelsRussia & the Western FrontMeaghan's Travels
    Russia's symbol - the 2 headed eagle
    Peter and Pauls' CathedralInside Peter and Paul's CathedralResting place of former TsarsResting place of Nicholas, his family and devoted servantsOpulent!

    Glorious St Petersburg 1

    26 octobre 2018, Russie ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    Massive tour day today with our guide Alisa. I am using Toursbylocals which had great reviews. Each guide has a bio and various tours they have designed.
    If you have limited time and want to see alot then its the way to go. With Mum's mobility issues its a must.

    Most will customise your tour if requested.

    So in the morning we saw many of the key sights: Vasilyevsky Island, Peter & Paul Fortress and Cathedral (where tsars are buried including the last Emperor Nicholas II and his royal family) St Issacs Cathedral, Kazan Cathedral, Church on Spilled Blood, Palace Square and Nevesky Prospect which is the main street. Also generally just looking at the beautiful buildings, canals, bridges and statues.

    When the remains of Nicholas II and his family were found and DNA verified they were buried in the church with the other former tsars in 1998 with various world figures attending including Yeltsin. Most of the remains of the family were found in 1979. In 2007 the remains of the son and a daughter were found making the family complete.

    In 1981 the Russian Orthodox Church made them Saints and in 2008 the Supreme Court of Russia determined that the royal family were victims of political persecution.    En savoir plus

    Voir la traduction
  • Meaghan's TravelsRussia & the Western FrontMeaghan's Travels
    Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood
    How to wreck the money shot with ticket booths!Shrine on exact spot of assassination. Note preserved cobblestreetSt Isaacs CathedralThe opulent interior of St Isaacs CathedralMagnificiant mosaics

    Glorious St Petersburg 2

    26 octobre 2018, Russie ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

    Continuing on with the day.

    The Church of Spilled Blood was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was killed by terrorists.

    Next the majestic St Isaacs Cathedral which took 40 years to build and is the 4th largest cathedral in the world.

    It is all mosaics inside. The original paintings started to deteriorate due to the cold so they were made out of mosaics.
    When you look at the artwork from a short distance it looks like its painted.
    During the soviet era it was used to store vegetables. In the photo you can see 100s of cabbages!    En savoir plus

    Voir la traduction
  • Meaghan's TravelsRussia & the Western FrontMeaghan's Travels
    Winter Palace
    Palace SquareThe start!ThroneGetting ideas for redecorating my lounge!

    Hermitage

    26 octobre 2018, Russie ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

    Continuing on from one of the most jam packed tour days we have lunch in a local cafe where the speciality was pies. We had a no name some sort of meat pie which was served cold! Horrendous! Still having nightmares!

    Then onto the Hermitage. When I was here in Soviet times not many people and no cafe or tourist shops. I literally had the place to myself and part of the Hermitage's collection of impressionists were on the top floor in a couple of crappy rooms.

    Now its packed. In summer its like being in a jam packed lift. Given its off season it wasn't too bad so the guide and I had a nice time wandering around.

    Then the guide went on her way and mum and I staggered to the General Office Building across the road from the Winter Palace where the impressionists are now exhibited. Most of the collection is now on display.

    By this stage we were exhausted so the visit was a speed visit!

    And the eight year old did a splendid job with everything neatly packed. And you can never have too many lipsticks! Margy has a nice selection to choose from.    En savoir plus

    Voir la traduction
  • Meaghan's TravelsRussia & the Western FrontMeaghan's Travels
    One of the many pavilions in the gardensLovely gardens to stroll in

    Catherine's Palace 2

    27 octobre 2018, Russie ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C
  • Meaghan's TravelsRussia & the Western FrontMeaghan's Travels
    Soviet apartments
    Nice bit of industrial

    Train to Moscow

    28 octobre 2018, Russie ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    Took the fast train to Moscow. Went first class which was like travelling business class - huge seat, choice of meals, slippers, eyemask, wine. Four hour trip which was nice and relaxing.
    Driver from hotel was a no show to pick us up which was annoying.

    That left me to try and see if I could find the number of the hotel and then someone's mobile to ring them and I don't speak russian. My phone doesn't work overseas for some reason unbeknownst to me.

    Anyway the station information desk was hopeless and rude. Next was a bar where I targeted young people as they are more likely to speak some English. Anyway with a little help from google translate I got my message across.

    So the driver turns up and by this stage I am tired and even more annoyed. He then starts raving on in russian madly waving his arms. Then we have an erratic drive to the hotel with him talking on his mobile the whole way!

    Then he demands extra money for the parking when he came back for us. This is where I lost it as we had already paid about 20 times more than a taxi would cost. Plus he was not on the platform holding up his sign for us as he was supposed to be. Also not sure why he left in the first place without us.

    The hotel night clerk trys to mediate but this driver is crazy and does not stop talking (loudly)! So after wasting two hours because of this idiot driver I lose it even more and the hotel clerk orders him out of the hotel.

    Hotel sends up complimentary green tea and biscuits and we order room service given that we were too traumatised to go out!

    So we have arrived in Moscow.    En savoir plus

    Voir la traduction
  • Meaghan's TravelsRussia & the Western FrontMeaghan's Travels
    Russia=lots of churches
    Lets park in front of the famous church so no one can get a decent photo!Whats with the birds!Cathedral of Saint Demetrius - famous for carved exteriorBefore I got my new headgear! Oh and Assumption Cathedral in the background - model for cathedrals in RussiaVodka tasting - now we are talking!

    Arrive Moscow get out of Moscow

    29 octobre 2018, Russie ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C

    Day trip to Vladimir and Suzdal with our lovely guide Anna. She's a shopper so a kindred spirit and we had loads of fun. Needless to say we both bought vodka!
    Went to a shopping mall in Vladimir to get puffer coats as they are cheaper here than in Moscow. Tried on every coat in the shop - had a blast. Got our coats and we look fine!
    So checked out Vladimir and then onto Suzdal. Both are ancient towns forming part of the golden circle of old russian towns.

    In Soviet times most of the churches in Vladimir were closed and condemned for demolition.

    Suzdal has 305 listed monuments and buildings including 30 churches. It still has a rural feel with timber cottages. Luckily the Soviet era mostly bypassed Suzdal.    En savoir plus

    Voir la traduction