Yusupov Palace or Additional Time at the Hermitage

[TLCOhio]

OK Terry, maybe 'Thrilled' wasn't exactly how I was thinking and it came out. I wasn't thrilled in a sense, but was Thrilled to be at places where history actually happened. Same for visiting so many other historic sites on this cruise. We spend a lot of time in Washington DC, and we also get that sort of 'thrill' to be in exact places where our history was created and executed. The memorials are great, but to be standing at the exact spot where Lincoln was shot, and visiting Mount Vernon, where Washington lived and died. For me, just 'thrilling'. You know what I mean. Cheers. Len

 

I know exactly what you mean about being in such historic places. As I kind of noted, I was having a little "fun" with you. Being on Red Square in Moscow probably gave us most that "thrill/chill" of being in one place with such modern (1950-70's) and much earlier history took place. That's the wonder of traveling in these great, historic locations. It makes you realize that the "good old days" were not always wonderful, especially if you were getting your head chopped off or being subject to being "drawn and quartered". Life expectancy was not great in those days. Then, there were all of the wars, over and over! Millions died in those deals.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest. This posting is now over 21,750 views. Appreciate those who have “tuned in”.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[Scotswoman]

We can recommend posting on your Roll Call and joining other people from the same cruise to make a group and get the best possible programme for your money. There were 9 of us (from 4 different countries), and we discussed up front what our interests were. My husband and I wanted to spend as long as possible in the Hermitage, whereas the others only wanted to spend two hours there. We were very pleasantly surprised when our guide agreed to our suggestion that we go to the Hermitage late forenoon and that DH and I continue our visit there while the others had lunch in a nearby restaurant. This worked very well for all of us.

We had three young men with our group, who really wanted to visit the Metro. We did a short trip - and I can really recommend it as an interesting experience which doesn´t cost much time. Our coach dropped us at the one station and picked us up at the next.

[rsquare]

I don't know what the official line is on this but when we were not in museums and palaces and doing sightseeing, like looking at the Aurura or Catherine II's statue our guide just said 'be back at the minibus in 5 minutes' and at the 30-minute shopping stop at a department store I asked if I could have a wander over the Trinity bridge to the other side and she said that was fine. In a large department store with 4 floors it's obviously not possible for the guide to be able to physically see 10 people at all times anyway. That's probably against the strict policy but is allowed as a common-sense compromise as all the guides know that they are our only way of getting back on board the ship as we can't get past the customs at the dock without them. So I would say we are semi-tethered to the guide

 

Actually, our guide had nothing to do with our getting back on board; in fact, she left us after dropping us off for dinner in SPB, and our driver picked us up after dinner. We were dropped outside the cruise terminal, and had to look around a bit to determine how to get back on board the ship, since only one of the booths was open, and it was hard to tell which one. We were away from the guide while on a canal cruise, and could wander around near any site if we were done before the rest of our party. I think that if you are on your own at or near a tourist site, there is no problem, but just wandering around is probably discouraged.

 

Weighing in (a bit late) on the Hermitage debate, we went during the late afternoon when the rooms with paintings were jammed. But we had told our guide that we were primarily interested in parts of the palace associated with the Revolution, and these were not at all crowded. We got to see the room where the Provisional Government met (the famous Malachite Room) and the small dining room next to it where they were arrested by Bolsheviks who had come across the great plaza just outside the windows. I was reading Ten Days That Shook the World on our trip, and it was fascinating to see where scenes from the book took place.

[GJH123]

Thanks so much for the information and suggestions Bob and Scotswoman!

Will add the book to my reading list; currently reading The Madonnas of Leningrad. Would highly recommend it, also.

[CintiPam]

Thanks so much for the information and suggestions Bob and Scotswoman!

Will add the book to my reading list; currently reading The Madonnas of Leningrad. Would highly recommend it, also.

 

A wonderful book. The author came to Cincinnati last year and spoke at a gathering of fellow art docents. When I read the book, it took me a lot of time, because I kept going to the excellent official website of the Hermitage to check out all the rooms mentioned!

 

Now that I only visit this board every two weeks or so, I am usually too late to make any helpful comments, but I agree with most of the others that the Yusupov Palace is worth your time. I visited there on a land trip three years ago, and in addition to the historical Rasputin associations, the palace itself truly is worth your time because it is original, not a rebuild like so many others, and the theater there is considered an architectural gem. It was featured about a month ago on a PBS concert special which toured St. Petersburg, with several of the songs sung in that small theater.

 

Also, as an art docent who spends a lot of time visiting art museums, I firmly believe that it really is very hard to look at artworks for more than three straight hours, no matter how great your interest is.

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

Pam

[GJH123]

Thanks for your comments, Pam. I really value your opinion, as I used your review of the Greek Islands Cruise in planning our subsequent cruise. Your suggestions were spot on!

So sorry to hear of your mother-in-law's passing, please accept my condolences.

[CintiPam]

Thanks for your comments, Pam. I really value your opinion, as I used your review of the Greek Islands Cruise in planning our subsequent cruise. Your suggestions were spot on!

So sorry to hear of your mother-in-law's passing, please accept my condolences.

 

Thank you. It has been a very difficult few months, with it simply too difficult to focus on plans for a trip as far away as next summer, when each new day brought a different problem.

 

Now I vow this week to contact TJ Travel, Alla, Anastastia and SPB Tours for a quote for my two-days in St. Petersburg next June. It will be odd to plan this stop because I spent four days there just three years ago with my sister, but my husband, a major history buff, has not been there. My sister and I did a Scandinavian trip then because scenery is low on my spouse's wish list - he's a big museum goer - but we snuck in a pre-trip to St. Petersburg before the "real trip".

 

Your post also reminds me that I never did a review of the last of our three Med cruises, finishing our east to west sweep by traveling Venice to Barcelona this past May. I did not keep a journal on that trip because I forgot originally to bring one, then decided I felt liberated!

[GJH123]

These are the same companies I contacted. All responded promptly: TJ Travel was offering a 5% discount for cash through December 2010.

Regarding your Scandinavian trip, may I again impose? Our cruise ends on a Tuesday in Stockholm and we'll spend either two or three days there. Then I was wondering about maybe doing the Norway in a Nutshell package ( a combination of train and ship travel from Oslo to Bergen via Flam) as a sneak preview of the fjords to see if we would be interested in a future cruise there. Not sure if this will work as our cruise is pretty port intensive and we may be too exhausted to enjoy the Norway in a Nutshell experience. Is a cruise a good way to see Norway or would a land tour be more scenic? Anyone have any recommendations?

[CintiPam]

These are the same companies I contacted. All responded promptly: TJ Travel was offering a 5% discount for cash through December 2010.

Regarding your Scandinavian trip, may I again impose? Our cruise ends on a Tuesday in Stockholm and we'll spend either two or three days there. Then I was wondering about maybe doing the Norway in a Nutshell package ( a combination of train and ship travel from Oslo to Bergen via Flam) as a sneak preview of the fjords to see if we would be interested in a future cruise there. Not sure if this will work as our cruise is pretty port intensive and we may be too exhausted to enjoy the Norway in a Nutshell experience. Is a cruise a good way to see Norway or would a land tour be more scenic? Anyone have any recommendations?

 

Tough question for me to answer because I only have a land tour experience when we took a ferry overnight from Copenhagen to Oslo, then did the Norway in a Nutshell package before spending a couple of days in historic Bergen. The trip with my sister was a Grand Circle Travel tour that, after our pre-trip to St. Petersburg, offically started with a couple of days in Helsinki, then on to Copenhagen, Oslo, Bergen, and ending in Stockholm. BTW, that overnight ferry, with a rough few hours on the North Sea, is the reason I so far only have cruised the Med. I really do not know if I am ready for the North Sea, a major reason we booked a Copenhagen to Stockholm cruise for next June rather than a trip starting in Dover. (The other factor being that we already toured Belgium and the Netherlands extensively on a land trip.) Also I must admit that I have never yet taken a "primarily scenery" trip in Europe or elsewhere, being a fan of art, history and museums.

 

However, one advantage of a cruise to see Norway is that the prices in Norway are so high that a cruise probably is a cost-effective way to travel in that country.

 

Frequent contributor TLCOhio (Terry) just took a Silver Cloud cruise of this area this past July, and his daily postings from that trip with his superb pictures make up a fantastic thread. The link is at the bottom of post #26 above, one of his posts earlier on this thread.

[TLCOhio]

Tough question for me to answer because I only have a land tour experience when we took a ferry overnight from Copenhagen to Oslo, then did the Norway in a Nutshell package before spending a couple of days in historic Bergen. However, one advantage of a cruise to see Norway is that the prices in Norway are so high that a cruise probably is a cost-effective way to travel in that country. Frequent contributor TLCOhio (Terry) just took a Silver Cloud cruise of this area this past July, and his daily postings from that trip with his superb pictures make up a fantastic thread. The link is at the bottom of post #26 above, one of his posts earlier on this thread.

 

THANKS, Pam, for the nice mention and comments! This posting is now over 22,700 views. Appreciate those who have “tuned in”. There's lots of interesting history/culture in Norway, plus its super great fjords, coast lines, islands with dramatic mountains rising up, etc. Folks can connect to that posting from below. Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[GJH123]

Terry, I have just completed viewing your incredible pictures and blog on your Silversea Cruise through the Norwegian fjords. This was an amazing effort and so helpful in answering my question about a post-cruise Norway in a Nutshell addendum. I think we will definitely add this itinerary to our bucket list.

 

I have a new MacBook Pro, but haven't worked with the iPhoto application yet. I have a Panasonic (pretty much idiot proof camera) that I purchased mainly because of the zoom and do okay with outdoor scenic shots, given a clear day. But, am planning on taking a digital photography class before our Baltic Cruise next summer. Your composition and resolution are fantastic! Thanks for sharing all your wonderful shots; they look like the ones in the promotional brochures. Maybe you have a new calling!

[TLCOhio]

Terry, I have just completed viewing your incredible pictures and blog on your Silversea Cruise through the Norwegian fjords. This was an amazing effort and so helpful in answering my question about a post-cruise Norway in a Nutshell addendum. I think we will definitely add this itinerary to our bucket list. I have a new MacBook Pro, but haven't worked with the iPhoto application yet. I have a Panasonic (pretty much idiot proof camera) that I purchased mainly because of the zoom and do okay with outdoor scenic shots, given a clear day. But, am planning on taking a digital photography class before our Baltic Cruise next summer. Your composition and resolution are fantastic! Thanks for sharing all your wonderful shots; they look like the ones in the promotional brochures. Maybe you have a new calling!

 

THANKS so much for your kind comments on my postings and the pictures! Yes, you need to start working and playing with your iPhoto application on your MacBook Pro. It will do some very nice things!!! Today's technology makes it easier to straighten pictures, adjust the cropping, fix color balance, adjust exposures, etc. I usually take my MackBook Pro laptop along, downloading and checking the pictures as I travel, etc. That helps to know what I'm getting and improve my "focus" as I travel in such great, scenic places. Playing with the pictures on the flight back while I listen to the "tunes" on my computer also helps pass the time quicker. The MacBook also has a great program to put these pictures into “slide shows” with various great visuals tools to add titles, do dissolves, etc.

 

For picture secrets, key tips, ideas, etc., check:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=977864

 

Let me know any added questions, reactions, etc. Happy to be helpful as you do your future travel planning. Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For lots of interesting details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. Don’t be shy and feel free to ask any questions of interest. This posting is now over 22,700 views. Appreciate those who have “tuned in”.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923