A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 - Page 69 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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As I looked at your first few photos of the church's interior, I was overwhelmed by the details and wondered how long one would need to stay to take it all in. Then you made a similar comment. Totally stunning!
I'm another who is curious about this mashed potato.
As I looked at your first few photos of the church's interior, I was overwhelmed by the details and wondered how long one would need to stay to take it all in. Then you made a similar comment. Totally stunning!
I'm another who is curious about this mashed potato.
Saturday 11 June – part ten: salvation the shape of mashed potato
We then made another unscheduled photo stop for the Lion Bridge and to photograph these lions. They’re in such a bad state, as the students keep stripping off the paint of the lions. Why, I wasn’t quite sure.
We still had time to spare (we must’ve been motoring today on this tour ) so we took another drive, and found this canal, which had bridges over it in different colours. This one was the red one, and we’d see the blue one as well.
This was the St. Petersburg city hall…
We also had the opportunity to get some photos at a distance of the St. Isaac’s Cathedral. We were told that we’d be visiting it later, but we’d be pulling up right in front of it later on.
Finally, it was time for lunch here…
We were all seated together, which is nice, although I thought it was a bit sad that Elena and Daniel sat at a separate table, as it would’ve been nice to be with them. However, I quickly realised why, as we were eating off a set menu, and they were having whatever they wanted. That was a bit frustrating.
I used the restrooms here before our lunch, and my goodness, look at it – talk about cosy!
Our first course was salad, which was fine, but Ethan didn’t want it, as while he loves vegetables, he doesn’t like tomatoes or cucumbers – you get the message.
The second course was chicken soup, which of course I couldn’t have, so I ended up with a second salad, which was a bit frustrating, given I had notified the company when we booked that I didn’t eat meat and about my allergies to certain fruit. I did expect that they might’ve put something else in place for me, but that didn’t seem to be the case at all.
There was some discussion about this…
… and whether it was an egg or perhaps an eye. Thankfully, it turned out to be an egg, which was a huge relief.
When the entree turned up, I have to say I wasn't overly impressed with the sight of this...
If you think it looks decidedly unappetising, well frankly, you'd be spot on. It tasted like it had more of the same type of salad in it that I'd already had two portions of, and I wasn't overly impressed with. It kind of reminded me of the days many years ago when this was about all vegetarians could buy. Thank goodness things have moved on since then.
Salvation arrived in the shape of mashed potato. Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd write. When you put that with the pancake concoction, it was about edible. Phylis also had the same as me, as she said she wasn't keen on meat, and she barely ate any of hers. I managed most of it, as I figured I needed to eat.
Mark had what we believe were chicken and beef sausages, although there was some debate at the table about the content of the sausages and they came with mash. Everyone seemed to like them, no matter what they were. At least they'd done better than me. This is one of the rare times it doesn't pay to not eat meat...
During this time, we had to settle the outstanding amount we still owed for this trip. I may have mentioned in the pre-trip report that I'd decided not to pay the whole amount, just in case anything happened to us on board, and part of me also figured that was a darned good reason for them to turn up and meet us. We gave our credit card details to Elena, who kept coming back again and again to check on things, which was a bit of a pain. She did keep apologising though, bless her, for interrupting our meal.
We knew they must have the right details when I got a text message from our bank, asking if the transaction to SPB Tours was ours. I quickly texted back yes, and the payment was made.
Now it was time for dessert, and this was far and away the best part of the meal for me anyway. It was a meringue with strawberries, and it was just what I needed. In truth, I could've eaten two of these, after how little I'd consumed for the rest of the meal.
With that, we were done. I have to be honest, I was disappointed with what they'd served up for me, especially as they'd had a lot of notice about the fact I don't eat meat and my fruit allergies. It seemed as if they'd left it until today to sort that out, and this was probably the only letdown of the day's tour for me.
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What was that thing? Russian crepes stuffed with salad? How very strange. I hope you had a granola bar stuffed in your backpack for a snack. That meringue looked nice, though. Did you have tea with it?
I can't help but think it's a shame they didn't serve Borscht for the soup! My husband makes his Grandma's recipe (direct from her parents in Russia, well current-day Lithuania) and it's so good! They can make it with or without meat. What a bummer. I'm happy that at least dessert was good though!
Yes, what another bummer that Elena didn't sit with you guys. I understand for the meal reasoning, but I'm sure she could have shared even more info with you!
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I can't help but think it's a shame they didn't serve Borscht for the soup! My husband makes his Grandma's recipe (direct from her parents in Russia, well current-day Lithuania) and it's so good! They can make it with or without meat.
We did get Borscht a couple of days later, although it was made with meat, so I still couldn't try it.
Well, the potato salvation wasn't what I was expecting. We'd heard a story the the Church of Spilled Blood was used as a vegetable silo during the revolution, when churches were shuttered. I'd assumed the potato might relate to that. Guess not!
Our lunch in St. Pete was the worst of our whole trip. We ate at the Hermitage, I think, and had some kind of 'pizza' that was covered in bad-tasting tuna fish. We still talk about how awful it was (and we all like tuna).
Too bad the borscht never worked out for you. That is something delicious. Or they could've saved pelmeni - basically Russian ravioli.
Well, the potato salvation wasn't what I was expecting. We'd heard a story the the Church of Spilled Blood was used as a vegetable silo during the revolution, when churches were shuttered. I'd assumed the potato might relate to that. Guess not!
We didn't hear that story.
Quote:
Our lunch in St. Pete was the worst of our whole trip. We ate at the Hermitage, I think, and had some kind of 'pizza' that was covered in bad-tasting tuna fish. We still talk about how awful it was (and we all like tuna).
Now you mention it, I remember that from your trip report...
Quote:
Too bad the borscht never worked out for you. That is something delicious. Or they could've saved pelmeni - basically Russian ravioli.
That was the only problem I had with this set of excursions, a lack of vegetarian options for my meals. If that's the only problem, then I think I did Ok really....
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Thankfully, it turned out to be an egg, which was a huge relief. 
When you put that with the pancake concoction, it was about edible. Phylis also had the same as me, as she said she wasn't keen on meat, and she barely ate any of hers. I managed most of it, as I figured I needed to eat. 
and they came with mash. Everyone seemed to like them, no matter what they were. 
We gave our credit card details to Elena, who kept coming back again and again to check on things, which was a bit of a pain. She did keep apologising though, bless her, for interrupting our meal. 
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