Russia
Centralniy

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    • Day 2

      Welcome to Russia

      August 27, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

      Well it’s a solid start to the trip. Taxi on time at 06:30, 20 minutes to Heathrow T5, a quick check-in then bacon rolls for breakfast in the BA lounge. Board and take off on schedule at 09:40. Settled down for a while and looked forward to lunch...... unfortunately BA thought it was too early for lunch so it was a second breakfast but with some ‘bubbles’ now.

      Arrived at St Pete’s Airport early at 13:40 local time. For some reason approaching Russian Immigration had an element of fear and trepidation (obviously seen too many films and read too many books) but all entry formalities were surprisingly undertaken without being interrogated by the secret police in a soundproofed room. In fact we were through Immigration in a world record two minutes.

      Over the next month we will be greeted by multiple drivers and guides holding up pieces of paper with our names on. In these situations there is always a bit of doubt that someone will actually be there (silent contingency planning is usually undertaken to avoid potential panic)... However, no fear, our first proper Russian, Nadiya, was there to meet us and whisk us to the Rossi Hotel in her Kia (is every other car in the world a Kia now?).

      On arrival at the hotel an exceedingly helpful doorman/concierge/bell boy named Vitaly was immediately on the scene and into the taxi boot making it abundantly clear that we weren’t allowed to touch our luggage at all as that was his job. A quick check-in and Vitaly, resplendent in his uniform of shirt, tie, waistcoat and interesting hat, was leading us to our very nice room which has a beautiful traditional Russian ceramic stove in the corner. Not that we’ll need it as its been 26°C here today! The riverside Rossi Hotel is very impressive in all respects and we are very happy here.

      Unpacked, relaxed, cup of tea, sorted out the internet, shower and ready for the first night out. Decided on a quiet one and researched some places within no more than 15 minutes walk from the hotel. Had our first Russian beers pre-dinner in the ‘Siberian Crown’ bar nearby, then a nice meal at ‘Ivan & Maria’s‘ topped off with a post-dinner nightcap at a well recommended little pub next to our hotel named ‘Top Hops’. All three establishments specialised in a large array of Russian and International draft and bottled beers which didn’t disappoint. Janet ended the day with a very apt beer named ‘J&J’ which was mandarin flavoured and weighed in at 6% whilst John closed the evening on a local 5% Milk Stout.

      Will talk more about St Petersburg soon but first impressions are very good indeed as we reflected before sleep on a surprisingly quick and stress free journey and promising start to the trip.

      After a decent sleep we awoke to the first minor issue. At lights out John heard the unmistakable sound of an angry mosquito in the room. Tiredness ensured nothing was done about this (not sure what could have been done anyway) but lo and behold the Russian bloodsucker had visited John in the night and got him in various places (ankle, elbow, back and a particularly nice one on his forehead - reminiscent of a visit to Venice on our round Europe train journey which some of you will remember!). It obviously either liked (or maybe didn’t like) Janet as she escaped bite-free. Maybe it was the mandarin in the ‘J&J’ that put her off.

      We’ve had breakfast and now await a hotel pick up from a guide who will give us a City Tour. Over the next two days we’ll get to know St Petersburg well and share it with you.
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    • Day 11

      St. Petersburg at Night

      March 3, 2020 in Russia ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C

      Nachts schonmal recht geil... In St. Petersburg mussten wir ne Bar suchen Dune of... in der schon James Bond gedreht hat, war sehr interessant, ne Hardcore, Electro Punk Band aus Russland hat im oberen Stock gespielt und unser Taxi hat das Ding nichtmal gefunden, oder wollte er nicht?Read more

    • Day 11

      007 in St. Petersburg

      March 3, 2020 in Russia ⋅ 🌧 2 °C

      Challenge: Finde ein Beachbar im Herzen von St.Petersburg Passwort: Russian Viking
      Schon im Taxi fühlten wir uns wie in einer Action-Szene. Es fehlte nur das Gewehr- und Pistolenfeuer.
      Bar gefunden = Challenge 👍Read more

    • Day 5

      St. Petersburg Tag 2

      October 30, 2023 in Russia ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C

      Heute hieß es km zurücklegen, zunächst mit dem Bus über den Fluss Newa in die Stadt bis auf die berühmte Einkaufsstraße mit all seinen Sehenswürdigkeiten. Direkt am Beginn vom Newsky Prospekt ging es los, in einige Geschäfte einfach schauen und die Schönheit zu genießen. Sveta hat mir zu fast jedem Haus und Geschäft eine Geschichte erzählt. In der Folge habe ich Zar Peter den Großen getroffen, Freundschaft geschlossen gegen ein paar Bilder 😎. Über die Blutskirche, Kazaner Kathedrale zur Isaac Kathedrale. Die 200 Stufen rauf auf den Turm mit der besten Sicht von oben auf die Skyline. Das ist unbeschreiblich schön. Über eine Souvenirs zur Alexandersäule, Admiralität, eine Bootsfahrt über die Newa, Glühwein, einfach wunderschön. Seid gespannt auf die nächsten Berichte.Read more

    • Day 10

      10. Tag

      June 24, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      Tag 10: Petrosawodsk (RU) - St. Petersburg (RU)
      Gefahrene Kilometer: 449
      Gefahrene Zeit: 7,5 Std.
      Wetter: 22 Grad, meist sonnig
      Essen: morgens Brot, abends lecker Pizza in St. Petersburg
      Highlight des Tages: Unsere Tageschallenge, sich von Russen zum Vodka einladen lassen.

      Heute ging es von unserem Campingplatz nach einem ausgiebigen Frühstück ganz entspannt in Richtung St. Petersburg.
      Außer die lustige Tageschallenge, über die wir schon geschrieben haben, ist ansonsten auch nichts Spektakuläres unterwegs passiert.

      Die Stadt St. Petersburg ist der absolute Hammer. Verkehr ohne Ende, Party auf den Straßen die ganze Nacht...

      Wir haben uns abends noch auf ein Bier mit Team 16 verabredet und haben noch ein wenig die Stadt erkundet.

      Morgen wird ein Tag mit 0 km sein. Wir planen, einen ganzen Tag lang St. Petersburg zu erkunden. Fotos folgen...
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    • Day 4

      The World famous Hermitage Museum

      August 29, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      More quite serious stuff we’re afraid to say. This morning we had booked a three hour tour to the Heritage Museum, reckoned to be one of the World’s greatest Museum and Art Collections.

      Our tour commenced at 10am which is 30 minutes before the public are allowed in. This gave us a head start on the hordes and believe us when we say that we were soon joined by thousands of fellow visitors, including some huge groups from Cruise Ships and an appreciable number of kamikaze oriental herds (more of them in the next blog).

      The Museum is enormous with much of it housed in the Winter Palace. In three hours our guide Olga showed us (and an Irish couple) only a fraction of the exhibits however we managed to see all of the highlights, which after the State Rooms were art based. In terms of artists we saw examples of the World’s best including Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Rafael, Rembrandt, Goya, Velasquez, El Greco, Rubens, Van Dyck and Canaletto (plus the sculptor Michelangelo) to ‘name drop’ just a few.

      Here are some pictures of our visit.....
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    • Day 11

      Heutige Tagesaufgabe erledigt

      June 25, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      Finde den Beachclub und sage das Codewort, um eine geheime Botschaft zu bekommen. CHECK! Schnell noch ein Bier und ein Eis in der Bar genießen, bevor es langsam zurück zum Rallye-MX geht, um heute noch Richtung Estland zu kommen.Read more

    • Day 14

      Eremitage

      September 20, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

      Mit der Metro fuhren wir zur Eremitage. Besichtigung, dann Freizeit. Zur Stärkung einen Cappuccino, ein kleiner Spaziergang den Newski-Prospekt entlang und auf eigene Faust mit der Metro zum Hotel zurück.Read more

    • Day 16

      Katharinenpalast

      September 22, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

      Wer kennt es nicht, das legendäre Bernsteinzimmer?
      Heute besichtigten wir den Katharinenpalast in Puschkin, in dem das rekonstruierte Bernsteinzimmer zu sehen ist. Ein Palast voller Prunk und Pracht mit einer schönen Parkanlage.Read more

    • Day 11

      St. Petersburg und der Russian Viking

      March 5, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ❄️ -3 °C

      Die letzten Meter nach St. Petersburg schneite es heute morgen, angekommen standen wir erstmal im Stau.
      Heute haben wir das erste mal in einem Hotel eingecheckt, so können wir die Stadt ansehen und die Nacht in der Stadt verbringen ohne einen Stellplatz suchen zu müssen...
      Die Stadt ist sehr schön anzusehen, unsere Tagesaufgabe auf der Suche nach dem Russian Viking haben wir bereits erledigt.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Centralniy, Центральный

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