St
Petersburg Journal; Sue and Dick, September 2002
DATE |
DAYTIME |
DINNER |
EVENING |
Tuesday Sept 24 |
Arrive, met at
airport. Stay at Raddison SAS Hotel*.
(Champaign at reception). |
Chinock Restaurant (Singing group; balalaikas) |
<- |
Wednesday Sept 25 |
Stroll the Nevsky Prospekt; Boat ride on the
Neva River; circumnavigate the Hermitage, spotted a pet bear. Walked around the Artist's Square area |
"McDonalds-ski's" |
"Feel Yourself
Russian", at the Nicholaiski Theater |
Thursday Sept 26 |
City tour with
Jean and Irine, followed by Hermitage tour
with Irine. Bargained
for and bought coins outside the Hermitage. Girls
riding horseback up and down the sidewalk of the Nevsky
Prospect (every day). |
Canal-side
local café, both lunch and supper. |
Mousorkski Theater, Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliette
ballet (sat next to mayor in Tsar's box). (It was leess than a
month later that the opera house in Moscow waas attacked by terrorists,
resulting in over 150 deaths) |
Friday Sept 27 |
Walking tour of
arts area around Church on Spilled Blood; Russian Museum; bought
knick-knaks. |
Superb sturgeon
dinner at the Count Suvorov Restaurant (folk music quartet). Pickle-potato-cheese side dish. |
<- |
Saturday Sept 28 |
Took Metro,
then ski-boat over gulf of Finland to Peterhof. (Fraudulent ticket sale led to security
incident.) |
Pizza
restaurant on Nevsky Prospekt |
Russian Army
singers, dancers, at the Cultural Center |
Sunday Sept 29 |
Took tram (fare
incident); spent
a leisurely four hours in the Hermitage. Visited
the church on Spilled Blood, poked through the souvenir market. Took canal boat ride (Alla was volunteer
translator). Visited at Kazan Cathedral; shopped street
market for paintings. |
Grand Hotel Europa;
Caviar and Vodka sampling; superb
Borscht |
<- |
Monday Sept 30 |
Walk Marinski area. Shopped
at jeweler now in original Fabergé
workshop. |
|
* Radisson
SAS Royal Hotel - Brochure quote:
The first class international,
Radisson SAS Royal Hotel opened its doors to the public in July 2001.
Behind an
original 200 year old facade but completely renovated inside, the hotel
offers
to guests accommodation of the highest standard, in a building which
has been
for a long time one of the leading establishments in hospitality and a
favorite
amongst both famous locals and travelers to St Petersburg. Located on
the
famous, vibrant Nevsky Prospect, the
Radisson SAS
Royal Hotel, St Petersburg is right in the very heart of this
beautiful,
historic city. With specially trained staff the hotel has a warm and
welcoming
atmosphere, combining the friendly Russian spirit with efficiency, to
make a
stay here a memorable one.
Room type
Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Avg rate (per
night) Superior Queen / Twin sleeps 3 $187.00
$187.00 $187.00 $187.00 $187.00 $187.00 $187.00 B\\
All prices are per room/unit for 2 adults and
may not
include: taxes, surcharges (including energy surcharges), extra guest
charges,
and extra cost options,