Travelrific® Travel Journal
A blog for travel enthusiasts. Listen to our podcasts at Travelrific® Radio, and visit our Wanderful Places® Travel Shop!Archive for russia
Underground at the Hermitage
By Linda Tancs
To tens of thousands of travelers, Russia’s Hermitage is the cat’s meow, its 365 rooms in the Main Museum Complex located in the historic centre of St. Petersburg boasting nearly three million works of art by the likes of masters from Italy, Spain, Holland, Flanders, France, England, Germany, and other Western European countries. What most visitors may not know is that its labyrinthine underground tunnels are home to nearly 100 cats, whose function is not to meow but to rid the massive complex of any mice or rats, a tradition begun centuries ago by Tsarina Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the First. Sounds like a purr-fect solution to a vexing problem.
Ukraina’s Facelift Complete in Moscow
By Linda Tancs
Warm spring weather in Moscow provides leisurely boating opportunities down the Western bank of the Moscow River. For guests at the newly renovated Hotel Ukraina, a jaunt from the hotel’s jetty makes cruising a breeze. The 1950s Gothic-style monument to Stalin’s regime strikes quite the pose against the skyline opposite the Russian Government’s White House. A stone’s throw from the commercial hustle and bustle of Novy Arbat Street, the 30-story building with a combination of 1000 rooms, suites or apartments will reopen on 1 June, offering grand panoramic views of the city. In keeping with its moniker, the hotel offers a renowned authentic Ukranian restaurant. Other amenities include a 24-hour fully equipped business center, conference facilities, on-site shopping and a sightseeing and excursion bureau, all in the heart of Moscow.
DISCLOSURE OF NO MATERIAL CONNECTION
The author has not received any compensation for writing this content and has no material connection to the brands, topics, products and/or services that are mentioned herein.
Road Rage
By Linda Tancs
Of the world’s economic superpowers (to the extent we have any these days), the award for worst traffic goes to (drumroll, please) Russia. Funny that a country producing over 15 Nobel Prize winners has accomplished so little to unblock the box–gridlock, that is. Moscow stands on the brink of traffic collapse as drivers idle along at 8 to 11 miles per hour through major arteries that were never designed for the influx of over 3 million vehicles pounding the pavement daily. Add to that reports of the underground suffering under the weight of nine million commuters; it’s only been designed to handle seven million. So what’s an anxious motorist to do? Might want to try the helicopter taxi–at a mere 2000 euros per hour. As the writer Jim Herron observed, “All they have to do is look down at the traffic and suddenly they don’t feel like [flying is] that expensive a way to travel after all.”
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White Days, White Nights
By Linda Tancs
Are you dreaming of a white Christmas at the Winter Palace? If so, start packing your mukluks (leave the stilettos home) and ushankas and head to St. Petersburg’s Hotel Astoria for their special White Days package. Valid now through March 31, 2008, the 3-day package includes buffet breakfast each morning, a ticket to the Hermitage and a Russian Table (no, not roulette) in the Davidov Restaurant. As you sample from eighty or so vodkas and dine on the finest caviar on earth, enjoy the hotel’s view of the gilded cupola of St. Isaac’s Cathedral, which dominates the city’s skyline. Also nearby are the Winter Palace and Hermitage, Peter and Paul Fortress and Mariinsky Theatre. Be sure to buy your matryoshkas at Nevsky Prospekt, the main shopping mecca. After your 3-hour tour of the city’s highlights, you’ll be ready for your complimentary Russian classical leaf massage at the spa. Chances are, you’ll never look at an oak leaf the same way again. The Mongols managed to conquer Russia in winter. In great style, so can you.
