A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 - Page 62 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
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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
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
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.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
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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If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I can't believe you dedicated an entire post to the two metro stations you visited upon entry/exit in St. Petersburg, but these were worth it!
I would've probably dedicated an entire post to them regardless, as I love subways, but I'm glad they were worth it.
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They are so clean, the decor is amazing and all the detail with the elaborate art is just perplexing! I don't know what else to say is I wasn't expecting it to be this grandeur!
In that case, you wait until you get to Moscow... oh boy!
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Just...WOW! and you covered it so well!
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Hope to visit these one day as St. Pete has always been on my list! Just for the worlds' best caviar alone!
I didn't know that - you learn something every day.
Saturday 11 June – part four: this isn’t like a standard store!
We set off again…
… and saw the Admiralty building that the station takes its name from..
The next place we stopped at was Palace Square. Before the revolution, this square was used for colourful military parades, some led by the Tsars on horseback, and I can imagine that would’ve been quite a spectacle to see. Sadly, it’s also known more tragic times. In 1905, it was setting of the “Bloody Sunday” massacre, when troops fired on thousands of unarmed demonstrators. News of this massacre spread across the country, and led to revolution. Then in 1917, Lenin’s supporters attacked the Winter Palace from the square.
From here, you can see the General Staff Building, built in the early 19th century, which was the headquarters of the Russian army. A row of houses was demolished to make room for it. Some of the square is also home to the famous Hermitage.
In the middle is the Alexander Column, dedicated to Alexander I for his role in defeating Napoleon. It’s the largest free standing monument in the world and the pillar is balanced by a 600 tonne weight. It took around two and a half thousand soldiers and workmen to transport the granite. It was erected between 1830 and 1834.
As you can see in some of the photos, they were setting up staging, for a concert to make Russian Independence Day tomorrow.
It was pretty cold here, as the wind was whipping around the square. Eventually Elena said it was time to head for somewhere a bit warmer, which sounded good to us. We headed over to a souvenir store, but my goodness, it was unlike your standard store.
You could use the restrooms, get a free drink (the tea we had wasn’t bad ) and try vodka and cranberry liquor.
We were that impressed with the liquor that we bought a bottle, along with books on both St. Petersburg and Moscow, as we were warned we may not have time for shopping tomorrow. We also got a Christmas ornament, some chocolates for my work and a couple of fridge magnets, so that was pretty much our Russian shopping out of the way in one go.
We came out and got some photos of the area. We could start to see why St. Petersburg is called Venice of the North. If I remember right, it’s got something like 60 different canals and 670 bridges. I think I got that right.
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Great googly moogly, those are some impressive buildings, squares, monuments and statuary! Very very grand! Can you imagine what it must look like when they snow arrives? (Did anyone else notice that there aren't any trees, bushes or plants if any sort?)
Pretty fancy shop you went to, bet it was nice to get out of the wind!
Where's my thesaurus.... beautiful. amazing. just... wow!
Did you stand there for a few moments and just realize where you were?! Those buildings are gorgeous. I can imagine how windy it is though as there is nothing there to stop it from blowing!
My husband is part Russian (his Grandma was 100%), so this is particularly fascinating! And our neighbors are too, they've given us some chocolates for Christmas.
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Oh my gosh...can I just add my repetitive vocab? Gorgeous! I love the colors, the history. How interesting to see the canals. OK, I think our 40th anniversary/60th birthday celebration is going to be a Baltic cruise, I've just about decided. Oh wait, I want to do knights and lights with A by D!!! what to do what to do???
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Originally Posted by chezp
You mentioned dirty and I was fascinated by how many staff they had on the subway there, so perhaps that's part of the reason it is so clean? They can be on hand to clean up and, if there are people around, I guess you're less inclined to litter....
It's not so much litter, it's just darkly lit, the cars are not cleaned, (many smell musty and stinky), run your hand down the escalator handrail at your own peril because it will come off gritty and black with dirt. Most stations have ONE station manager inside his little booth. Our system has some serious challenges ahead, safety included. Hopefully it will survive.
Great googly moogly, those are some impressive buildings, squares, monuments and statuary! Very very grand! Can you imagine what it must look like when they snow arrives? (Did anyone else notice that there aren't any trees, bushes or plants if any sort?)
Oh my goodness, I didn't at all! Wow, how did I not notice that? But you are so right - I bet it's quite a sight with snow. I don't know how much snow they get. I remember they told us in Tallinn that they don't get as much as we thought they would...
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Pretty fancy shop you went to, bet it was nice to get out of the wind!
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The architecture here is so much more beautiful and interesting than the communist era block buildings.
Oh my goodness You will see some of the communist era buildings when we get to Moscow and I'd have been very disappointed if that was all we saw in Russia, as they do get boring after a while...
Those are some amazing photos once again! The square, Hermitage and Alexander Palace are quite striking with such beautiful architecture! The square in a way reminds be of Place de La Concorde and some of the squares in Vienna around Schonbrunn and Belvedere palaces.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
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What a beautiful area! One of the first things I noticed in your early pictures was all of the overhead wires. I've become so accustomed to living in an area where most are underground, that that just really jumped out at me. I had no idea that St. Petersburg had so many canals.
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I don't know what else to say is I wasn't expecting it to be this grandeur!
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The square, Hermitage and Alexander Palace are quite striking with such beautiful architecture! 
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