Hubby is a big fan of architecture, particularly ornate. So, we thought we may go to Russia. Besides, we think it’s kind of a cool country. We have seen beautiful pictures but also heard it’s a very expensive country. We have done initial investigation but has any doper ever been there? Anything you could share about travelling there?
I’ve been there twice, once on a school trip and once to play chess.
However it was several years ago and the country has no doubt changed somewhat.
I stayed first with a Russian teacher in St. Petersburg (who then came over here on an exchange).
He lived in a flat and drove a Lada. The menu (we never ate out) was determined by what arrived in the market each day. If a lorry load of pineapples arrived, that would be included!
We travelled around mainly by underground train, which was clean and totally reliable.
Since he was a native, he could get tickets cheaper (apparently tourists paid more). I visited the Hermitage (full of astonishing treasures), the Peter + Paul fortress and took a boat trip to a nearby island. We also took the overnight train to Moscow.All very cheap.
The second trip I stayed in a huge Moscow hotel. The food was fine, if rather basic. Our hosts said that there was good shopping on Nevsky Prospect, but that tourists paid more.
So from my past experience, it’s not expensive if you have a local contact, and there are real contrasts, such as the difference between the multi-millionaires and the vast majority of the population who have the basics, but no luxuries.
I have been there twice… once to St. Pete and once to Moscow (then took the train to Tashkent, Uzbekistan and went overland back to Paris via Turkmenistan, Iran, the Caucasus etc). The food is not great and the service about the same, but the architecture is amazing. If you speak even the most basic Russian, things will be easier… at least learn the alphabet.
We walked from our hotel out to Red Square (about 3 miles) one morning at dawn and stepped onto Red Square at perhaps 6:30 or 7am… and we were the only ones there on a May morning with perfect blue sky. Amazing.
I don’t know if it is still there, but the VDNK (sp?) (“Soviet Exhibition of Economic Achievement”) park in Moscow is a quirky “World’s Fair” type of place full of Soviet stuff (airplanes, lightbulbs, guages for nuclear powerplants, honey, furniture… you name it… if the Soviets built it, it is there). Worth an afternoon if you need to get away from the city a bit.
Never been there but was an avid student of the culture and language for years. I did get warned that if I ever travelled there I should first go to the Soviet (yes, this was a while ago) embassy in the US and fill out the proper forms to renounce my Soviet citizenship. Not that I have any reasonable claim to Soviet citizenship. I’ve never been there, my ancestors never have AFAIK, I have no contacts there, etc. The problem was that they would sometimes cherry-pick visitors and kidnap them by announcing that they were actually Soviet citizens who were not allowed to emmigrate.
I haven’t been there myself, but my parents went there on vacations for a month a few years ago. They loved it and say it is worth every penny you spend going there (This from people who have lived and traveled over the globe).
The one tip they would give you is to hire an interpreter full time. The few waking minutes they spent on their entire month without one are all full of crazy stories of misunderstanding and general loss. To give an example they love to tell, the one thing that can bail you out on every country is finding a taxi (conveniently labeled Taxi) and go back to your hotel (conveniently labeled Hotel). Not so in Russia.
Their interpreters ranged from old matrons to college students (they had a different interpreter on each city, of course). That gave them a very wide spectrum of experiences as each interpreter invariably filters what you see.
The only place I’ve been to is Sakhalin. There is no architecture.
I was there in August, '07, but I stayed with friends, in a private gated community.
I started and end in Moscow, with a few days in St. Petersburg in between.
I loved it, but it is exhausting.
It is very expensive. The less expensive places tend not to have English speaking staff. There are food kiosks on the streets that I’ve heard are good and inexpensive, but I didn’t try them.
People used to dealing with tourists usually have some English, but they do appreciate a few introductory words of Russian, such as: Pardon me, please, how much …
Moscow is a lot like New York; St. Petersburg is more like D.C. The Moscow metro is fantastic; huge, fast, reliable, and very crowded. (The Italian restaurants are usually very good).
Here are some notes from another board:
Moscow & St. Petersburg are not well air-conditioned. While this is understandable, Americans who are used to agressive AC in public building should be prepared.
Men do not wear shorts ‘in town’.
The Metro is fantastic. It is also often crowded.
Vendors are often short on change; they typically will ask for extra coins or small notes to make the change round up to whatever larger notes they have.
The sidewalks, curbs, and even steps are often uneven; watch your footing.
People and drivers often jockey aggressively for position.
Beer to go is common outside of Metro stations.
Vendors and officials are sometimes impatient with those not fluent in Russian; others are not, and those with any English enjoy using it.
Respect is enforced at Lenin’s Tomb, but not, unfortunately, at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The streets have a special kind of dirt that is attracted to the feet of tourists; do not wear sandals.
Public toilets cost ten rubles.
Russian personal paper products [toilet paper, napkins, tissues] are skippy and rough; keep a supply of personal tissues and hand-wipes handy.
No one drinks municipal water, but bottle water is cheap. You will be asked to specify ‘gas/no gas’ or ‘spark or still’.
Stay hydrated.
Learn the alphabet.
Study the Metro Map.
Thank you for all the information. The trip is still in investigative stages but so far, it looks very interesting, if not a little on the expensive side.
I’ve visited St. Petersburg several times and Moscow once. St. Petersburg is MUCH more scenic and tourist oriented than Moscow, which is much more of a big city than a destination.
Learn the alphabet and a few words of Russian, such as:
PreevYET - Hello (informally)
ZDRASfootya - Hello (formally)
paZHALusta - Please
SpaSEEba - thank you
SpaSEEba bolSHOY - thank you very much
HaraSHO - ok, good (very commonly used for, well, everything)
izvenEETsa - excuse me, pardon
dosveDONya - good bye
SKOLka? - How much?
Be sure and visit the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, which is the most popular tourist destination, but my FAVORITE tourist attraction was St. Isaac’s Cathedral.
Don’t expect western levels of service. Even though the people look like us, their culture is MUCH different than ours.
Locals will be able to tell IMMEDIATELY that you are tourists or foreigners, just by how you look. Russians have a certain Slavic look to them that we don’t have, and which make us stand out, even if we are wearing Russian clothes.
Don’t drive there. The Metro will take you anywhere you need to go, mostly. If you must go by car, hire a car and driver or take a taxi.
J.
Money does not “change hands”. You must use an intermediary inanimate object. Thus: put the money on the counter when paying for something. Use the available trays or dishes when tipping the coat check.
When change is given to you, it will likely be placed in a little tray. Take your change from the tray.
Exchanging money hand-to-hand is bad luck because it symbolizes a continual flow of money from one to another. Thus, while people will sometimes take money from your hands (that’s your bad luck) they almost never will give you money from their hands.
I go there frequently as part of my job. Been to Novosibirsk, Ulan Ude, Khabarovsk, Moscow, and St Pete (several times each, except for St Pete, which I’ve only seen once).
I’ve been miserable pretty much every minute I’ve spent in that country. This may be partly due to the conditions in which I spend my visit: we are often doubled- or quadrupled-up in our rooms, which are usually much, much worse than a Motel 6. I’ve stayed in soon-to-be condemned hotels here in the states which were way, way nicer than places I’ve endured over there. That’s just the beginning. I won’t go on because I don’t want to sound like an over-the-top stick in the mud.
There is some interesting architecture (probably more so in St Pete and Moscow than anywhere else), but really, the rest of Europe has just as attractive buildings and monuments, and you can drink the water there, and use the facilities. Not so much in Russia, unless you pay a whopping amount for a really nice hotel in Moscow (and even then I wouldn’t drink the tap water). Also, when I go there I can only eat meals provided for me–I usually cannot choose what I eat. I can’t even begin to explain how much I loathe Russian cuisine.
Oh, and you may want to stay away from St Pete in the summer. Lots of bugs, and many hotels don’t provide much in the way of keeping them out of your room.