Getting Ready for Russia

We leave one month from today! :D

We have our Visas. We are waiting for our AMA package, but we have a PDF file with most of the information that our TA sent a while ago.

I have bookmarked the Weather Channel's pages for Moscow and St. Petersburg. Right now it is looking warmer than I thought it would be with temps in or around the low70-'s during the day and 50's at night. I can live with weather like that!

I'm going to keep watching the weather so I know what to pack. Does anyone else do this or am I just OC about travel?:)

I watch the weather also when we travel. Last time we went to St. Petersburg, Europe was having a heat wave in July. We arrived the first of August and it was raining and in the 50's. We were really cold, but it didn't matter, we loved St. Petersburg very much.

Sheila

I too, look at the weather before we leave for a trip, but it really doesn't make much difference. You have to prepare for anything! I find if I plan for warm, it will be too cool, so now I just try to have some of everything, and that's hard when you only have so many pounds of luggage!

Layers is the answer. I'm taking zip-off pants in case it is really warm. I figure if I bring enough rain gear it won't rain, so that is what I'm going with. Don't forget to bring a scarf or something to cover your head in the tours of the churches! I read that somewhere.

Have the visas, docs from the TA, started to lay out other things than clothes that I don't want to forget, and started to 'not wear' those things that I plan to take.

ITS GETTING CLOSE!! Janet, I think you are as excited as I am.

How long did take to get them ? Cost ?

Hi Janet,

I can feel your excitement!!!! I tried not to think about it while I was at work or my stomach would go in knots with the excitement. Then while we were there I kept thinking...imagine here I am in Red Square, etc. and I come from a small town or 20,000!!! How cool is that. When we were there in July of 2009 we had beautiful weather and very little rain which is an exception especially for SP they told us. A pashmina is an excellent thing to bring as it folds up very small and takes up no room and doubles as a shawl in case it is cool and you can put it over your head when entering churches that require a head covering. It also dresses you up for dinner if you wear it with an outfit. A great little invention lol. I am thinking of you for sure and can't wait until your return post.

Corinne

Corinne - I'm with you regarding the Pashmina. I have a white one and a black one that I always take with me to Europe. I used them quite often when I was in Egypt a few years ago. They were great when we were in the mosques as well as when we were sitting up on deck and it got a little windy. You're right about dressing up an outfit as well. They also made appearances at dinner.

I, too, have a black and a white pahmina, and those are the 'scarves' I was planning to take. Can never remember 'pashmina'!

Took 2 weeks for our visas to come back. They say to allow 4-6 so I thought it went very fast, but we were really early!

We just received our visas for our August trip. It took two weeks from ZVS, faster than expected. Cost including all fees was $240 pp.

ITS GETTING CLOSE!! Janet, I think you are as excited as I am.

You leave about a week before we do. I am getting really nervous, but that is the norm with me.:o

I have a jacket that has lots of pockets with zippers and Velcro and is water-resistant, too. I have a couple of sweat shirts and sweaters to layer. We have our travel parkas, that we have always traveled with and never used. They are the cheap rain parkas with hoods that one gets in the discount stores for a few dollars.

For those without moral objections to WalMart: the one near me has a display with travel-sized toiletries and containers. I got a couple more of those flip-top ones for shampoo, etc. Never can have enough. Found a travel-sized can of shaving cream with a razor for $1.47 that I bought for DH. He now shaves his cheeks around the beard. It's very cute. :)

Travel folders and a couple of cubes are on the bed in the guest room where all the travel stuff is stored.

Talked to the TA this morning. She's so positive! I just love her!

How long did take to get them ? Cost ?

ZVS received them on 4/11. Sent them back on 5/15.

We were going to be out of town so I called them to ask that they not ship them until we got back. The rep said they weren't even up for processing. Guess what? Got an email while we were away that they had shipped. Good thing my neighbor was home and nabbed them after the UPS truck left them or my passports would now be history.

Gave ZVS a piece of my mind about it and they credited me for the $25 shipping fee.

Cost was (with UPS shipping) $507 for both.

Hi Janet,

 

I can feel your excitement!!!! I tried not to think about it while I was at work or my stomach would go in knots with the excitement. Then while we were there I kept thinking...imagine here I am in Red Square, etc. and I come from a small town or 20,000!!! How cool is that. When we were there in July of 2009 we had beautiful weather and very little rain which is an exception especially for SP they told us. A pashmina is an excellent thing to bring as it folds up very small and takes up no room and doubles as a shawl in case it is cool and you can put it over your head when entering churches that require a head covering. It also dresses you up for dinner if you wear it with an outfit. A great little invention lol. I am thinking of you for sure and can't wait until your return post.

 

Corinne

Thanks, Connie.

I have several pashminas and I never fail to travel without at least two. I also have a black ruanna which is another travel companion, being a little easier to wear, though not as dressy.

From the woman who is always cold,

Janet,

We sent our visa applications with passports over a week ago. 81 days until our trip starts.

We signed up for many of the optional tours including:

Kiev-

Home-Hosted Ukrainian Dinner

Pirogovo Open Air Museum

Moscow-

Tretyakov Gallery

Moscow by Night

Sergiev Posad Tour

St. Pete-

Palace Theatre Ballet

Folkloric Show

Pavlovsk Tour

Rivers and Canals Tour

Peterhof By Bus Tour

Hi 4774Papa,

Does your optional trip to Peterof go into the Palace -- not just the grounds???? Is your tour company taking you to Catherine's Palace and doing the inside??? This are really "must sees" and I couldn't remember from your previous posts if you would see both of the Palaces inside!!

Sheila

Sheila,

Here is the tour description for Peterhof

Peterhof By Bus Tour

Peterhof, Russia

Evening Tour with Dinner

Summer residence of Emperor Peter the Great, the famous "Russian Versailles" is located 36 km from St. Petersburg, at the Gulf of Finland. The focal point of the Lower is the magnificent Grand Palace. The original palace was built for Peter the Great in 1714-25 and in 1745-55 was remodeled to its present baroque glory by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the architect of the Winter Palace in downtown St. Petersburg. Despite all the damage done to the Grand Palace during WWII, its interiors has been carefully restored and are truly breathtaking. Your tour includes visit of the Grand Palace, the sumptuous residence of Russian Emperors, and walking tour of the lower park enjoying the marvelous view: the Grand Cascade with the Samson fountain, Greenhouse, Roman fountains, Cascade "the Chessboard", amusement fountains (oak let, umbrella, bench), palace Monplezire, the Gulf of Finland.

Also, Catherine's Palace appears to include the inside.

Great! Make sure you have extra discs for your camera! They are really beautiful sights!!!

Sheila

To all of you going on the brand new AMA Katarina or Mstislav Rostropovich, SfromM from Moscow has been nice enough to post photos of the ship and a Russian Newspaper article about the ship (which, of course, I can't read) on the Roll Call for our sailing of September 8, 2011. So exciting!!

Sheila