Russia

In 1990 we had to good fortune to host a foreign exchange student from Belarus name Aleksey Nikiforovich. That relationship has developed into a lifelong friendship with many return visits over the years. He had long invited us to come […]

We have been lucky on two counts. We have managed to post a few photos via our iPad and the weather has turned in our favor in a big way. The last two days have been sun and outings. After […]

One of our favorite things to do when we travel to a new city is to ride the hop-on hop-off tourist bus. But in St. Petersburg, you can do that on a boat. It was a lovely, sunny day to […]

This is a middle-of-the-night post as that’s the only time to experience the once-in-a-lifetime wonder of the lift bridges opening during White Nights in St. Petersburg. The practical fact is that the bridges open in the middle of the night […]

It’s Hermitage Museum day! This has definitely been on Liz’s bucket list forever, so excitement ran high. Palace Square and the Hermitage were just a stone’s throw from our hotel, but once we arrived, we had to do a certain […]

If a person wanted to sample more than 400,000 works of art covering all of the historical periods, forms, genres, styles, movements and schools embracing nearly a thousand years of Russian history, a person would be standing in The Russian […]

With only one more day in St. Petersburg, we decided to stroll and eat and take a more leisurely pace. The weather was a bit chilly and overcast but nothing good Minnesotans and Muscovites couldn’t handle. With pizza and a […]

One final spectacular breakfast at the equally spectacular Kempinski Hotel, and we were off to the train station. Alexey had kindly made all arrangements, and in no time, we were happily seated in our luxurious car. Moscow is about a three and […]

Refreshed after a good night’s sleep in our comfortable bed, we were ready for our first full day in Moscow. Alexey, who’d already been up for hours which is his way, gave us a tutorial on using the new, high-tech […]

Aleksey arranged for an English speaking tour guide and we spent the day with her, in the rain, touring the many buildings of the Kremlin ( a fortress or citadel housing the offices of the Russian government. There are about […]

The tour of the ICBM bunker, now turned museum, was beyond belief. As a child of the Cold War I never in my wildest dreams thought I would very have such an experience. Hidden below residential buildings and 13 stories […]

The State Tretyakov Gallery is considered the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world. The gallery’s history starts in 1856 when the Muscovite merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating […]