When in Russia......

Be careful of pickpockets!! I know we hear this alot while in Europe and we were warned in Russia..........and it did happen to us. Be especially careful if you take the excursion to the Ballet at night. Normally we use backpacks that are hard to get into or PacSafe type items while on excursions but when you have to dress up somewhat for the Ballet those items dont exactly match so my mom carried a regular shoulder type bag that zipped shut to hold our passports (which you must carry in Russia) and her coin purse that had one credit card and various types of monies. When entering the ballet a rather large crowd has to squeeze in thru the narrow door and that is where it happened. We did not know until we got back to our cabin on the ship and the card had been used and the bank had caught the activity and suspended the card. To report your card stolen you must use a land line. No land line, so Viking helped us out and used the satellite phone (at midnight). Thank goodness it wasnt worse and they didnt take our passports too.

So sorry to read about your Mom's experience. My DH almost had a similar experience in St Pete outside of St Isaacs Cathedral. There was a crowd and we needed to go through a fairly narrow barracading entrance. The fellow in front of him stopped right in the middle of this narrow entrance to seemingly take a picture. The guy behind my DH banged into him and my husband instinctively clamped his hand over his back pocket only to find another hand inside his pocket. He elbowed the guy behind to push him back and both men took off. His wallet was safe but only by a miilisecond. Be very careful in crowds!

Good of you to post this warning. Those security gates are obviously a favorite area for thieves. They observe and target you before you even get to the squeeze.

Thanks for the heads up. We are normally cautious but will leave anything behind that is not needed in St Petersburg and keep our possessions close at hand while touring.

I always keep my wallet, etc in a front pocket. When in a crowd I always keep a hand in that pocket. I also have pants with zippered inside pockets. These are available from outlet specializing in travel clothing.

Those are the same things we do also but when you have to dress up a bit, like for the ballet, remember to have something safe to carry your passport and money :)