Trip to Russia (xmas 08')* Day 1

Russia - christmas 08*

Travelling account in Saint Petersburg and Moscow

Days of travel - 10 DAYS

22. Dec. 08   ---  [ Day 1 ]

We fly over to Moscow from HK. Quite a long flight (over 9hrs?)

Flights (Aeroflot) - Russian Airline only have flights from HK to Moscow (vise versa) every odd days in the week...

"From HK to be since that is my second longest-flight i had since Europe trip in 2006."

Anyhow, our first stop is exchanging from a domestic flight to Saint Petersburg from Moscow after we landed into our first* snowy grounds outside the airport!

^^ - forgive me for my excitement for seeing real snow! & taking random pics!

Outside the airport, we got our first taste of what snowflakes taste and feel like. ~ <3 ! Soft  and fluffy but once landed on your palms, it melts and become a tiny droplet of water =) and took a free shuttle bus from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 (Domestic) to board our flight to Saint Petersburg after 3 hours of waiting in the local airport. ~~

You might ask why not go visit Moscow first but before we pay our visit to Russia, we found out that the hotels there are peaking at its cost per room due to some winter ordothox holiday (some over $3000 DOLLARS) so we decide to visit Saint Petersburg first :p

We board our flight * New AIRBUS A330 !! - unusual for such short journey nn we are TV!! in every seat! (THIS IS BUISNESS CLASS SEATS - AWESOME!

Please compare our humble peasant seat at the back.. Still good. Result = Tied!

That is my brother but for privacy that is him in smiley face :) the humble screen he just pulled out has TV, Movies, games, music stations, radio to keep you constantly entertained with. : > 

The flight is NOT full unlike the one we flew from HK to Moscow! & EVERYTHING is great on board ~ its like a paradise after 12 hour of flying, seating, sleeping and eating routine on the plane .. at least service is much BETTER here! :p'

After that, we took BUS 47?? to the nearest Metro Station ! ~~

DECORATIONS on walls in entrance - stunning art**

OK.  So after a day of eating snow and having countless of un-understandable tlks of local people & pulling our 5 bulky luggages across the snow and slippery grounds. we proved to be successful on getting our way round to our lodge - cos we FINALLY arrive in Couryard Marriot Hotel along the main river in Saint Petersburg! Thank you god for letting in this lovely hotel! :>

We then unpack and took 2 rooms with 2 KING BED each - room is nicely furnished with strong IKEA smell?! But we are quite satisfied after more than a day of sufferage and arguing in the bitter-cold winter outside Saint Petersburg. :)

YAY!   ************************ '^ ^' ************************  YAY!

We explored the area a bit, walking past a Chinese Restaurant - : ) suprise suprise! and continued down a Prospekt (kind of like a main street in Russian) and had dinner (hot pancakes, salads + tea) in a sort of Russian Fast food chain store on the street.  :p (EXCUSE MY TERRIBLE DRAWING! :)

The PANCAKEs were YUMMY. I <3 THE SALAD ! ITS heavenly good. Just like the one we ate in the only restaurant in HK - ivan the Kossack? in Central Soho! MUST GO. MUST GO! if any of you reading my boring blog now is curious how it taste like :) :) :)

After this meal. we retreat back to our hotel like pigeons finding warmth in their nests... & basically its the end of day 1 in Saint Petersburg! --- mind 9 more days to GO! ~~

PS* - for those interest in travelling to Russia for leisure

You can find a lot of useful info in travelling russia on the internet or go to the embassy urself or read through my BLOG in case you have really nothing to do or just researching for what you need from my poorly written extract of my experience in surviving RUSSIA! :D

fACTS :)

Sun sets at 4:00 pm in local time there - equivalent to HK's 9:00 at night. Everything starts getting colder and snow falls during the night like a ballade in mid-air!  Its miraculously WONDERFUL !!  (which i secretly cannot FORGET even i am back hk now n i just wish i could be there now.)

Make sure you do things (orders + bookings, copies of passport, documents for your permission in arrival of this country in advance - always an advantage if you lose your way. got tangled up with some random n most ridiculour situation...

eg: lossing your luggage!  is a common problem for many who travel by air.!~ (sigh)

But overall.

i MUST say Russia is a MUST -SEE in your life-time. You would definitely be fascinated by so many attractions and stuff they have in their culture.  so. so.

PLEASE read my blog if any of you out there likes travelling or who are simply bored n wanted to look at something interesting.

I shared what every detail i know. heard. see. taste. smell in my stay over there.

Saddiie * :)  recapping from every HAPPY moment of life!