scubacruiserx2

We have booked our 4th visit to St. Petersburg this Fall. We will be glad to help - if we can. About 90% of what most visitors will see will be in this

3 square mile area.

We booked a last minute cruise on The Westerdam last week and were treated to a Sunset after St. Martin on 12-13-2012. Wish I had taken my DSLR !

And it got better.

DW and I drove down to Joe's Stone Crabs in Miami to meet some out of state friends for dinner. While waiting I'm glad I brought my little P&S.

Solar powered lighthouse

Catching some rays

Art Deco crankshaft

We saw the new Reflection sail (click for video).

And was treated to a infomercial in the sky (click for video).

Sunrise:

Fort Pierce

Reflected in the Miami skyline

Saginaw Bay

Mackinac Island

I have some noisy neighbors:

Always knocking

Screeching

Or borrowing Visine in the middle of the night.

Water Lelie

The helicopter flights are on weekends and holidays. I'm not sure if we got a special price because of Victory Day . It was 1000 R. The current price is 3000 R :eek:. Here's a link. http://baltairlines.ru/en/pages/72/

Thank you to those who have served and are serving.

Stuart Air Show 11-11-2012

P-51

Mirror image

F-18 Hornet

Navy Legacy Flight Corsair F-U4 and F-18 Hornet

Back from Michigan with pictures

Saginaw Bay Sunrise

Frankenmuth covered bridge

Beach walk

Lake Michigan overlook

Brisette Beach sunset

We would make several recommendations for you Baltic Cruise:

1. Book the May 25 date. There are 37 cruises in the Baltic and 68 in June. You will have fewer people at the busy places and less traffic as you travel.

2. There is so much to see and do in St. Petersburg 2 days won't be enough. Get a Visa and use a guide on the cruise stay. Return post cruise for a more relaxed stay in an apartment. The Visa will cover both stays and let you go where and when YOU choose. We have stayed twice in May 2009 and Sept. 2011.We used the guide as we pleased to help us shop for food and the transportation system. We just waved our Metro card at the gate and went all over- it war great to be free - in Russia !

We met many people who spoke English and were very helpful.

3. If you only stay during the cruise , consider the Baltic Air helicopter

that leaves from the Peter and Paul Fortress. You will see most of the city

in about 20 minutes.

Helicopter tour on Victory Day May 9, 2009

My DW told me "There are tanks outside". They were staged for the parade on Victory Day.

You will see this monument on the way to Puskin or the Airport.

If you go to the fountains at Peterhof you will see this cathedral.

Finally, if you go to the Spilled Blood make sure that you go inside to see the mosaics.

I f you have any more questions - just ask.

Me too. My parents got to see a lift-off - they went to Florida in the winter. DH and our sons and I got to see the Discovery land in California when we were stationed at Fort Irwin. Didn't have a good camera at the time so no pics of that.

Endeavor's last flight May 12, 2011 . We were 70 miles away when we saw, heard and felt the ground shake. Gotta find the video-it's better.

Thank you Bryan. Hopefully we can get some Fall shots in Mackinaw and Frankenmuth in mid October. My half Irish wife is from Saginaw.

Joe & Pat

Thought this would be a good time to post this picture that I took at the Waterford Crystal Factory in Ireland in memory of all who lost their lives on 9/11. We must never forget!

 

Thank you for your beautiful picture in Waterford. We didn't see Waterford when we were in Ireland but we did see some pretty views.

Thanks FLNaturelover. Came home from shopping at Publix and found this in our back yard. A gator!

More animals.

What do you mean by Lenin's office in "Smolny"? Would be great to see it...Read about it so much-but is it possible?As far as I understand it doesn't work as a regular museum.Have you been there?Is it really worth seeing-considering we have only two days in St.P? Thank you!

I think it depends where your interest lie. We saw Spilled Blood interior,Smolny and had Lunch with a Russian couple in the morning.

In Czarist times the convent was a finishing school. The Soviet government was headed by V.I. Lenin here. It is currently the St. Petersburg Government. Our guide retired from Security there and

wisked us past the armed guards like we were VIP's. We met another

guide who gave a detailed account in Russian (translated by our guide).

It was a very infomative and unique experence. The Smolny Cathedral

is next door.

This is directed to scubacruiserx2,

 

Have you contact information for the person you used in St Petersburg who did it all: guide/driver/interpreter. Would like to communicate with him.

 

Thanks,

Yes, his name is Gennadiy. www.guide-petersburg.com. We were there

on Victory Day 2009 and last October. The first picture is Gennadiy and

my wife going into the Hermitage. The rocket launcher was parked under

our apt. Please tell Gennadiy that Pat and Joe said hello. We really

enjoyed the visit to Lenin's office, the helicopter ride over P&P Fortress

and dinner with a Russian family (another story). We loved moving on our

own with no handlers.

Great experience! Thank you for sharing it! I believe that freedom is worth the money you have to pay for the visa and all the efforts to fill in the application form for the consulate. One question concerning lines for the Hermitage, Peterhof, hydrofoil and other places. I've heardt it could be a problem. Question for someone who recently was in St.Petersburg - are the lines awful? What is approximate time to wait for the main attraction? Thank you for help!

We agree, we cruised St. Petersburg once and liked it so much that we

returned and stayed - twice. It's very liberating to go where and when

you want. To circumvent lines and help us, we employed an a la carte

strategy to pick and choose mini tours and help us learn the transport

system. Get a good travel guide. I like Rough guides and DK Eyewitness

travel. We found a good guide who only charges us $25/hour to drive,

guide and translate.

We will have limited time in St. Pete in May, apart from our river cruise tours. My question is: is it possible to walk to Peter & Paul Fortress from Hermitage? A long walk?

 

Thanks to those of you who have explored the city on your own.

Yes, the walk is down the Neva to the right from the Hermitage, across

the Troitskiy Most ( bridge) 2 km. or 1.25 miles. The picture looks back

across the Neva to the Hermitage, as you are entering the Fortress.

How old are your children/grandchildren?

Grandson will be 10 1/2yrs old when we go.

That was in early May and it was pretty cool.

By the way, we have e-mailed back and forth with Best Guides. Their tours look pretty good. We are going to use them next year on our cruise with our grandson. If you are interested, I have a list books for children they recommended and a few others.

You may contact me at scubacruiserx2@gmail.com