For our visits to St. Petersburg and Moscow, I selected bed and breakfasts suggested by Way to Russia. In St. Petersburg, we’re staying at the SwissStar, and were picked up at the airport by a good-looking young man who said almost nothing on the ride. We were greeted by Lena, who spoke not very muchContinue reading “A word about our lodging”
Category Archives: travel
Autumn at the Russian Versailles
Today was a relaxing day, by comparison. The plan was to take the hydrofoil to Peterhof to see Peter the Great’s palace. But when we arrived at the pier with the big Meteorboat to Peterhof sign (in Cyrillic), it was deserted and the guy at the coffeeshop said there were no boats. “Because of theContinue reading “Autumn at the Russian Versailles”
The Rasputin Conspiracy
When I was in St. Petersburg in 2001, I wasn’t able to visit the cellar where Rasputin was murdered. Who even knows why I wanted to, except that I like macabre stuff. In my travel story, I said that it’s worth seeing the rest of the Yusupov Palace even if you can’t do the separateContinue reading “The Rasputin Conspiracy”
Everyone’s entitled to a crappy day
Rob is napping under a steel table in a Russian Laundromat, and for some reason the surly yet petite laundry lady is letting him. When we first entered, she had all eight machines running, and snarled at us something that I interpreted as “No time for your laundry. I have all these loads and eightContinue reading “Everyone’s entitled to a crappy day”
Lessons from St. Petersburg
When you’re used to visiting cities the scale of Florence or Prague, you look at a map of St. Petersburg and think it’s an easy walk from your B&B to the Church of our Savior on Spilled Blood. It is not. Take the metro. I’d forgotten, but that was the advice I gave in aContinue reading “Lessons from St. Petersburg”
Detour in Florence
We slept late our first morning in Florence, and weren’t particularly hungry, even though the last time we ate was crepes in Amsterdam. We’re staying with a friend of Rob’s who’s teaching at NYU here, and lives in a sweet penthouse in Piazza Pitti. The area is crawling with tourists, even though Florence’s main sightsContinue reading “Detour in Florence”
Pot jokes in Amsterdam
I’m waiting for my second hit of herb at a cafe in Amsterdam. Note I said cafe, not coffeeshop. That’s because my kind of herb is mint tea. Basically, they steep whole mint leaves in hot water and charge €2.50. We just finished visiting the Anne Frank House. I bought tickets online in advance soContinue reading “Pot jokes in Amsterdam”
Bongiorno & Do Svidaniya
Sorry if I seem to be getting ahead of myself. We don’t leave for our next international adventure for a couple of weeks. But honestly, I’m not ahead of myself at all. I’m way behind. Usually, I have my trips itineraried out to the day, if not the meal. Not this time. Maybe because we’reContinue reading “Bongiorno & Do Svidaniya”
Problem solved
One of my recurring anxiety dreams involves needing to pack up an entire apartment, but I’m running out of time and space in my luggage. Last night, I was in dream Chicago and was going to miss my flight, and the person traveling with me with hadn’t even started packing! Then the dream took aContinue reading “Problem solved”
Wherever I go, there I am
I’m experiencing some travel paralysis. After we got back from Hawaii, I fantasized about visiting beachy places in Mexico, but that didn’t speak to Rob. Last week, he ruled out the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. Apparently, all Spanish-speaking places are out. Brazil, on the other hand, is OK, because they speak Portuguese there. Rob’sContinue reading “Wherever I go, there I am”
Kari Neumeyer 