Russia

[Prawn_86]

At 17,075,400 square kilometres, Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than an eighth of the Earth’s land area; with 142 million people, it is the ninth largest by population. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 11 time zones and incorporating a great range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's greatest reserves of mineral and energy resources, and is considered an energy superpower. It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's unfrozen fresh water.

[ladyny]

Travel to Russia has become easier than ever. Remember, however those visas are required. And you need a fully licensed travel company like Isram World of Travel, or RNG to provide the necessary visa support and registration.
St. Petersburg is must to see. Few cities can offer so many stunning attractions and intriguing moods as St. Petersburg - City of the Tsars. Visit Hermitage museum, form that place, Dvortzovaya' Nabereznaya (bank of Neva River) take a high- speedboat to Petrodvorets, the summer residence of Russian Tsar, famous with its fantastic parks and fountains. It's about 30-40min o/w. Another very romantic suburb of St. Petersburg is Pushkin (Tsar's Village). Visit the Palace of Kathrine the Second with its famous Amber room. In Russia, taxi fees are usually negotiated with the driver ahead of time. I suggest you to stay in a center of the city, then you can just walk from one place to another and avoid the hassle of using public transportation, which is still leave much to be desired. Nevsky Prospect is the main street.
The best time of the year to visit St, Petersburg is the second half of June-July. In August it’s usually cooling down in St. Petersburg, especially at the end of the month.
September could be very beautiful with the at least a week of the warm, nice weather

[Prawn_86]

Hi ladyny,

Welcome to ATF :)

I would love to go to Russia eventually. I would love to see all the architecture and the like. Although i hear that corruption is rather rife throughout most of the country

[Joe Blow]

Okay, I'm finally posting on Russia.

I've been to three places in Russia - Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kostroma and have been there four times in total. I am lucky enough to have a very good friend in Russia and have been able to travel there thee times independently, avoiding organised tours completely.

Unless you speak reasonably fluent Russian getting around most of Russia on your own is virtually impossible. Outside of the large cities there is very little tourist infrastucture and almost nobody speaks fluent English (or anything else for that matter). My friend has a bilingual girlfriend so I was able to see a side of Russia that most non-Russian speaking foreigners don't.

My impressions:

Russians are very proud of being Russians and they are amongst the most nationalistic people I have come across, although it is not of the flag waving, jingoistic variety. Most Russians have never travelled outside of Russia so that may have something to do with the fervent patriotism. However, because most have never travelled outside of Russia they are very interested in foreigners and hearing about your impressions of Russia. In many cases they are also very interested in trying out their broken English on you!

Russian food is a bit bland and they generally do not like and are not used to spicy food. Beef is rare and the main meats seem to be pork and chicken. They like to pickle a lot of things, particularly cucumbers and tomatoes. They also love their cabbage. They eat a lot of soups with meat and vegetables.

The reputation Russian have for drinking vodka is well founded. They like it cold, in shots, with a slice of lemon. Don't challenge a Russian to a drinking contest. You will lose.

Most Russians live in large Soviet-style block houses - huge buildings with lots of small apartments. These block houses are generally old and run down as most of them were built in Soviet times. However, these days, Russia is becoming a bit more prosperous (by Russian standards) and there are many new developments going up, particularly in the bigger cities. However, these new developments generally have the same block house look, just with slightly different designs and improved construction.

In my experience there are two types of Russians - super rich and just getting by. Capitalism has created many Russian millionaires and billionaires and they live like royalty with the finest clothes and sports cars. I saw more Ferarris and Hummers in Russia than anywhere else. However, your average Russian lives very modestly.

They all seem to really like Putin and he is a bit of a cult like figure, mostly because he seems to have done a lot for the economy and improved things for the average Russian. You can purchase lots of Putin related memorabilia. I got a t-shirt and a magnet. :)

In St. Petersbug there is a large network of "black taxis" which are basically unlicensed taxis operated by private citizens. I'm sure this happens elsewhere but my only experience with it is in St. Petersburg. You put out your arm to hail a taxi and anyone could pull up! We got picked up by a grandmother one night who said she "liked to drive" and obviously earn a bit of money on the side! The prices are cheaper than licensed taxis but many of the vehicles are in poor condition and are mostly old Lada's.

Anyway, that's it for now. Needless to say I enjoyed my visits to Russia as it is not very touristy and is a fascinating place to visit, especially when you manage to do it independently. Also, Russian women tend to be very attractive! :D

[kennas]

Photos of local fauna Joe?

:)

[Joncya]

Indeed, Russia is a very big nation, even if some of the provinces breakway, it is still the largerst nation. Well, I guess it is really nice to visit Russian now a day. What are the best months of the year to visit?