A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 - Page 85 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
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Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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So happy the weather turned around a bit here for you guys. Those shots with the trees and grass.... you're just strolling around Moscow. No big deal....
I like your comments about how it didn't matter some things were closed. It's like that point in the day where reality strikes. Where you are, what you're doing, that's what's important; how how lucky you truly were to be there experiencing it all! And touching the wall!
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Another beautiful subway station. So glad the sun decided to make an appearance so that you could enjoy walking around Moscow and getting so really great pictures. Glad Mark was arrested for touching the Kremlin wall.
You'd never guess from today's installment just how hard it was raining only an hour or two earlier!
I think I made out 'Odessa' on one of the blocks, but that was the only one I managed.
So happy the weather turned around a bit here for you guys. Those shots with the trees and grass.... you're just strolling around Moscow. No big deal....
I know - it was a bit surreal!
Quote:
I like your comments about how it didn't matter some things were closed. It's like that point in the day where reality strikes. Where you are, what you're doing, that's what's important; how how lucky you truly were to be there experiencing it all! And touching the wall!
Another beautiful subway station. So glad the sun decided to make an appearance so that you could enjoy walking around Moscow and getting so really great pictures. Glad Mark was arrested for touching the Kremlin wall.
Great photos once again and you certainly got to see a lot! Everything looks so gorgeous with the bright blue sky! As usual, Mark is living on the edge! I'm surprised, you take him anywhere as you don't know what he'll do or the end result will be!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Great photos once again and you certainly got to see a lot! Everything looks so gorgeous with the bright blue sky! As usual, Mark is living on the edge! I'm surprised, you take him anywhere as you don't know what he'll do or the end result will be!
Sunday 12 June – part fourteen: those are slightly spooky for children…
Our tickets for the Armoury were timed entry and our entry time was 4:30pm. Even with us stopping for impromptu photo opportunities, we literally made it there dot on time. Dang it, we're good! We got a few final shots as we waited to pass through security...
When we did get to security, at first our guide told us to take anything out of our pockets which might set off the metal detector, which frankly was a novelty. Every time we'd gone through a metal detector (and we'd been through a lot today in the city), the things had continually gone off, as no-one was checking pockets etc. It did make us wonder what the point was in having them. Anyway, it was no different here. Apparently, because we were part of a guided tour, we were trustworthy, and it didn't matter when the scanner bleeped. Hmmm... does anyone see a slight problem to their logic here?
We were allowed to take photos in the courtyard:
We all headed inside, but Phylis opted to sit at the entrance and wait for the rest of us. I think she made the right choice, as I know she was having problems going up and down stairs, and there were a fair few to negotiate here. Although this is called the Armoury, it's actually home to a variety of items, all collected by various Russian princes and Tsars over the years. As you can’t take photos, I will try my best to insert links to the museum website, which may give you an idea of what we saw.
The first section you come to is a collection of costumes, some for various coronations and others for weddings. They were for both men and women as, for a period of Russia's history, women could lead the nation. In fact, the woman we know as Catherine the Great (the one who formed the Hermitage) was in fact the German wife of a Tsar, so was never a member of the Russian Royal family by bloodline. Can you imagine anyone like her getting into that position of power today? I know I can't.
Anyway, the outfits were spectacular, and it's just a shame that this is another place where you couldn't take photos anywhere. We all marvelled at the size of her waist. I know they had corsets in those days, but trust me, this was way too small to be healthy.
The detail on the dresses was quite something, with many of them containing literally hundreds of different jewels. They weren't easy to wear, with some weighing 5 - 10 kgs (and please don't ask me what that is in imperial, I am no good with weights ). What you see here are the originals, and some date back centuries, as far as the 16th century. At first, I was a bit sceptical that what we were seeing were actually the real things, but apparently because they were only used one for special occasions, after that, they were carefully stored away, which is why they've survived so well.
Then we moved into the section of carriages, and it was fascinating to see how they developed. The oldest one they have here is from Britain and it was from Queen Elizabeth I's reign, which places it in the mid to late 16th century. Again, I was amazed it had survived. I almost laughed out loud when our guide said it had no shock absorbers, but the smile was wiped off my face a moment later, when we fast forwarded maybe 150 years to the next one, and this did have it! Well, who knew?
Also in this section were a couple of slightly spooky looking carriages for children. Apparently they'd get used to being taken around in carriages from an early age.
They also had a sledge here, and it was beautiful. The amount of horses it took to pull it though was quite something. I want to say it was in excess of 30.
Some of the carriages they had here had a fundamental design flaw - they were too low to the ground. The one that apparently most visitors describe as being like Cinderella's carriage (and I could certainly understand that view) was only ever used once for that exact reason.
The next room we headed into showcased the armour worn by the horses that pulled the various carriages. These horses were never meant to be ridden, only for the job of pulling, and they were given every bit of conceivable clothing to do so. The idea was really dramatic effect, so you saw the horses first, and marvelled at all the gold, silver and jewels on them, before finally spying the magnificent carriage.
We next looked at a selection of crowns, sceptres and orbs used to crown the Tsars over the years. They were beautiful, but I was fading first. While it had been fascinating to see the Armoury, it was a lot of standing around, and after a long day, with a fair bit of walking, my chronic fatigue was starting to kick my butt.
I listened politely to the descriptions of the next few display units, figuring we were almost back at the beginning and nearly out, when I heard words that made my heart sink. "We'll head up to the second floor."
The second I got up there, I found my saviour in the shape of a series of benches, so I apologised to our guide and said I had to sit down. While there, she explained all about the amazing Faberge eggs that were made for the Royal family. Apparently there were 50 in total, and from one year to the next, they never knew what they'd be receiving, as it was always designed to be a surprise. However, they were never disappointed, and looking at some of them, I could see why.
Of the 50 originally made over the years, there are currently only 10 here, as the Communist regime sold a lot of them off. However, the ones they did have were just mind blowing. No matter how long you looked at them, you couldn't work out how they'd managed to add in so many delicate details and little intricacies. These really were stunning works of art, and our guide explained that the colour palette they used to create these still hasn't been equalled by anyone else today. I'd heard of Faberge eggs before, as I'm sure many people have, but I had no concept at all of just how beautiful they were, and I'm glad I got to see these.
Our guide asked if we wanted to do a walking tour of the rest of the Armoury, and everyone else was keen. I bailed, saying I really needed to sit down, as I could feel my internal battery (that's the way Mark describes it when my chronic fatigue gets bad) was getting really low and I wasn't going to last much longer. I settled down to wait, and they found me about 10 minutes later.
We headed back down to the entrance, where we found Phylis. I did wonder whether she'd think we'd abandoned her, given that we'd been gone for over an hour. On the way out, I got two fridge magnets for the equivalent of £1 or $1.40. Talk about a bargain! Now I was done with shopping, having got the final piece of the puzzle - some obligatory fridge magnets from the Russian capital.
Next: “do you want to watch the Changing of the Guard?”
The pictures from outside the Armoury are beautiful!! Your descriptions of the inside sound like it is a really cool place! I actually have.a friend who makes those Fabrege eggs. Those are stunning!!
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Not surprised you were wearing out - it's been a full day, with a very early start. And didn't exactly follow days of relaxation, did it? Hope you're able to relax on the train back to St. Petersburg.
Thanks for those links. Wow! I can imagine that dress is heavy. Some of the rhythmic gymnastics leotards that are loaded down with crystals, pearls, and beads are quite heavy - so a full length dress? Yeah, that's got some weight to it! And I'm fascinated to learn Catherine the great was German?!? Wowzers. I missed that in history class. The detail on those faberge eggs are just stunning.
Probably a good idea to sit and wait. You've been going for quite some time already, and that's impressive for someone who doesn't have chronic fatigue!
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That Mark is a rebel!!
Everything looks so gorgeous with the bright blue sky! As usual, Mark is living on the edge! 
Anyway, it was no different here. Apparently, because we were part of a guided tour, we were trustworthy, and it didn't matter when the scanner bleeped. Hmmm... does anyone see a slight problem to their logic here? 
We all marvelled at the size of her waist. I know they had corsets in those days, but trust me, this was way too small to be healthy. 
). What you see here are the originals, and some date back centuries, as far as the 16th century. At first, I was a bit sceptical that what we were seeing were actually the real things, but apparently because they were only used one for special occasions, after that, they were carefully stored away, which is why they've survived so well. 
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