A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 - Page 77 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
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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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Oh I wouldn't say it's a problem about TR writing, I'd say it's a benefit! How else would you remember those emotions if you don't write it down right away?
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You haven't exactly been blessed with great weather during this trip! I'm glad the cashier was honest and came back with your change. Not always the case when some like to take advantage with tourists. I had an experience with this in Berne, Switzerland several years ago at a pub getting a beer, when one of the bartenders( a female) gave me the incorrect change, when I'd had given her a larger bill. I persisted and it was resolved!
Very odd with the numerous and odd changes in the scenery. Someone didn't do their homework with the layout and flow of this!
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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!
You haven't exactly been blessed with great weather during this trip!
I was actually really pleased with the weather this trip. Up until this point, unless I'm remembering it wrong, we had a downpour in Tallinn, but good weather for our walking tour (thank goodness!) and a shower later in the day in St. Petersburg. Given the Baltic is not exactly known for its good weather, I thought we did quite well...
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I'm glad the cashier was honest and came back with your change. Not always the case when some like to take advantage with tourists. I had an experience with this in Berne, Switzerland several years ago at a pub getting a beer, when one of the bartenders( a female) gave me the incorrect change, when I'd had given her a larger bill. I persisted and it was resolved!
Wow, I'm surprised by that in Switzerland. I was wondering if I'd get the change back, I must admit...
Sunday 12 June – part four: this platform is long!
They announced we were arriving in Moscow about 10 minutes before the train finally came to a stop. We gathered up all our belongings, and all headed off the train. Look how quickly they started to clean the train!
Oh my goodness, I cannot begin to tell you how long the platform was. We walked and walked and walked...
... and then just for good measure, we walked a bit more...
Luckily, for most of it, we were with our guide, whose name I never really did catch. I know it started with an L, but that's about all I can tell you. I got the impression she was quite a nervous thing, and we talked to her a bit at lunchtime, and at that point, she asked us about her English, and we told her it was fine. After that, she was a bit more relaxed. I think she just lacked confidence.
We headed outside the station...
... and found our minibus for the day, which was a very snazzy affair:
Sadly, our driver wasn't the greatest, as we'd find out as the day wore on. We certainly missed Daniel today.
We headed first past what we were told is known locally as the "train plaza", as it's home to something crazy like three major stations, including one that takes you as far as China. It's when you hear things like that, it brings it home to you just how big this country that it has borders with a country that far from our own, yet the borders at the European end really aren't that far from us. We had come into Leningradskiy, which seemed a bit weird to me, to still have Lenin's name on something so prominent.
As we drove along, our guide pointed various buildings out to us, and I was fascinated by all the various architecture we saw. I could tell by the way she talked about it that she was a real lover of architecture. I can't remember what she described this building as, but I do remember it, as it had the overhanging balconies...
We found it really interesting to see which buildings we thought dated from the Communist era. They tended to be concrete monstrosities for want of a better term.
I was intrigued by these traffic lights - what a great idea!
As we drove along, we learnt that Moscow has two great big ring roads, except one of them is a boulevard. Sure enough, if you look it up on Google Maps, you can clearly see that. It was fascinating, another thing I never realised about Moscow.
We carried on driving…
We drove past the Parliament building.
Next: a glimpse of the backside of some Red Square’s famous buildings
My some truly beautiful buildings and some concrete blocks.
Hard to imagine the train to China.
I'm in awe of anyone who learns English as a 2nd language- too bad about her lack of confidence about it.
Our Rome tour guide asked us about his English and we did tell him multiple pieces of knowledge are not called "informations", but had the worst time trying to explain why. In the end he seemed unconvinced. I'd love that go back - I bet he's still saying it [emoji6]
Enjoying reading your experiences in a truly foreign place.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow, for all you know, tomorrow, the dream that you wish will come true.
My husband played "old man" hockey with a gentleman from Russia. While he spoke in broken English, it was still easy enough to figure out what he was saying. It was kind of funny though sometimes, the words he would confuse! English is not easy.... although I'm not sure Russian is either.
What a mix of buildings there, wow! A train..... to China?!! That seems surreal. Fascinating stuff, can't wait to read more!
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Tanya
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My some truly beautiful buildings and some concrete blocks.
Hard to imagine the train to China.
It is kind of mind blowing...
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I'm in awe of anyone who learns English as a 2nd language- too bad about her lack of confidence about it.
So am I. I think we probably all take it for granted that we can speak what is essentially a very difficult language to learn.
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Our Rome tour guide asked us about his English and we did tell him multiple pieces of knowledge are not called "informations", but had the worst time trying to explain why. In the end he seemed unconvinced. I'd love that go back - I bet he's still saying it [emoji6]
Enjoying reading your experiences in a truly foreign place.
My husband played "old man" hockey with a gentleman from Russia. While he spoke in broken English, it was still easy enough to figure out what he was saying. It was kind of funny though sometimes, the words he would confuse! English is not easy.... although I'm not sure Russian is either.
Oh my goodness Just trying to read basic words is a real challenge...
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What a mix of buildings there, wow! A train..... to China?!! That seems surreal. Fascinating stuff, can't wait to read more!
Lots more coming up from Moscow, that much I can promise you!
I think when I was in Moscow in 1995, there was some discussion about building a third ring road, so I guess they never did.
Those concrete blocks are so gruesome. I much prefer the older architecture, and hate to think how much was destroyed in the name of the revolution.
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I'm glad the cashier was honest and came back with your change. Not always the case when some like to take advantage with tourists. I had an experience with this in Berne, Switzerland several years ago at a pub getting a beer, when one of the bartenders( a female) gave me the incorrect change, when I'd had given her a larger bill. I persisted and it was resolved! 
Someone didn't do their homework with the layout and flow of this!
I know it started with an L, but that's about all I can tell you. I got the impression she was quite a nervous thing, and we talked to her a bit at lunchtime, and at that point, she asked us about her English, and we told her it was fine. After that, she was a bit more relaxed. I think she just lacked confidence. 
Just trying to read basic words is a real challenge... 
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