A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 - Page 63 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
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.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
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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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.
I hadn't noticed the wires but after a second look, it's sort of odd! So observant of you and paying attention to details!
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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!
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.
I thought the same about Paris and yes, you're right about Schonbrunn. I don't think we visited Belvedere Palace on our weekend in Vienna - there was only so much we could fit in.
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 noticed all the overhead wires too.
Quote:
I had no idea that St. Petersburg had so many canals.
I'd heard that it was called the Venice of the North, but even so, it had way more canals than I expected.
Saturday 11 June – part five: oh my goodness – that line!
We set off again, and saw the stroganoff building, as this is apparently where it was created. I don’t remember who it was, but apparently it was created for someone with only one arm, as he couldn’t cut up his meat.
Once again we saw the Admiralty…
… and Palace Square…
We were heading here… the Hermitage…
When we pulled up, I couldn’t believe the lines. I’d heard they were bad, but I thought they’d be better for groups. Literally they snaked all along one side of the Hermitage and around the corner. I have no idea how long we’d have spent standing in line if we’d joined at the end. My heart fell, as there’s no way I can stand that long, but I didn’t need to, as Elena had other ideas. Because there were just six of us, brazen as anything, she walked straight up and cut in line right at the entrance. We all agreed there and then that was worth the entire price of the excursion on its own.
We headed inside, and cleared security, and headed for this entrance staircase. Oh wow! As I posted on Facebook, this is only the entrance. It really was something. The main staircase was designed by Rastrelli and dates from 1762.
If you haven’t heard of the Hermitage, and I’m sure you have as it’s one of the world’s most famous museums, it occupies a huge selection of buildings. One of those is the Winter Palace, which was the official residence of the Imperial family until the revolution put an end to Royalty in Russia. However, it could not contain the collections and over the years, it has been added to, with the Small Hermitage first added by Catherine the Great, followed by the Large Hermitage to accommodate the rapidly growing collection of art she was amassing. The theatre next followed in the late 18th century, while the New Hermitage was added in the mid 18th century. It was the New and the Large Hermitage that first opened to the public as museums in 1852, and then the Winter Palace was gradually incorporated into that. It was only in the late 1990s that the General Staff Building was also added into the Hermitage Museum offering.
We entered through the Winter Palace and if I’m honest, this is what I wanted to see. It’s no secret that I’m not a great fan. I can enjoy the occasional painting, but that’s about it. In all my visits to Paris, I have never once stepped foot inside the Louvre. I love the building from the outside, and I have no doubt I’d probably enjoy the interior, but I know it’s all about the art, and it’s regularly packed out with art lovers. As I’m not one of those, I don’t see the point of standing in lines and/or crowds, just to admire a building, if that makes sense?
The throne room was stunning, and Elena explained to us about this coat of arms. It’s a two headed eagle, and as we’d learn, any time we saw this in Russia, it meant that something either belonged to or was linked to the Russian royal family.
However, this was only the small throne room. You’ll see the large one shortly. This was dedicated to the memory of Peter the Great in 1833 and the throne dates from a century earlier.
Oooo, that floor is amazing! I would be afraid of stepping on it! And isn't it amazing how BIG all the rooms are and how his the ceilings are? Engineering like that is fascinating to me.
Stunning. This is beyond what I could have ever pictured. Wow! The Small Throne room. The floors, the ceilings, every single detail is covered!
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That seems to be one of the strengths of private guides in Russia, moving you u in line. We saw so much more that way. We needed that today as we waited for a bus back to the ship in Gijon!
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Oh my gosh...that Baltic cruise just took a great jump! If we do it, I might reach out to get Elena's contact info!!!
The 'small' throne room is stunning...I can only say that over and over...stunning!
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Oooo, that floor is amazing! I would be afraid of stepping on it! And isn't it amazing how BIG all the rooms are and how his the ceilings are? Engineering like that is fascinating to me.
I was in awe of the whole place. It was just beautiful.
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So observant of you and paying attention to details! 
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The square in a way reminds be of Place de La Concorde and some of the squares in Vienna around Schonbrunn and Belvedere palaces.
I can't believe that's the small throne room!!!
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