Saturday, July 17, 2010

Day Zero - 6 more Sleeps and Plan B!

We have got 6 more sleeps!!

Patty and I have been buying pretty, floaty, little lightweight summer tops for our Summer Holiday in Russia. And then I checked the weather forecast for St Petersburg - it is COLD!! 5°C and 15°C on Monday, 7°C and 16°C on Tuesday!! Yikes! That is Jossi's weather ........brrrrrrrrrr! So, it is on to Plan B.
Plan B - a few long sleeve warm tops (to wear underneath the pretty little things), leggings, socks, scarves and jackets. It is summer in Russia - well, early summer - and the temperatures look much like winter in Durban!
Excepting for the sunrise and sunset times which are vastly different. In St Petersburg today the sun rose as at 04h35 and sunset will be at 23h24.
St Petersburg's daily temperatures range from 9°C to 20°C and Moscow, which is 650km further south, is getting warmer. By Sunday it will be 14°C and 26°C and next Wednesday 16°C and 30°C !! Lets hope we have some hot weather when we get there in two weeks time!

We have checked our tickets, vouchers, FOREX, necessary letters for Patty to fly and take her POC (Personal Oxygen Concentrator). We are still trying to sort out the plug adaptors for the POC battery charger and my laptop.
The map shows where the cruise - Waterways of the Tsars - begins in St Petersburg and ends in Moscow.

We will sail through the largest and second largest lakes in Europe, Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega, visiting islands and villages along the way.
The boat is the Viking Kirov and that is a graphic of our cabin. Unlike ocean cruisers, they don't have bunks or port holes so we should be pretty comfortable.

This is where I will post updates of our adventure so please visit us often!

Patty and Syl

ST PETERSBURG - PETROGRAD - LENINGRAD - ST PETERSBURG

We start our Russian holiday in St Petersburg which is within spitting distance of Finland (actually, about a 5 hour train journey from Helsinki).

St Petersburg was founded in 1702 – which theoretically makes it younger than Cape Town!
Jan van Riebeck arrived in 1652 to develop a way station and vegetable gardens to service passing Dutch ships.
In 1654 Asian ‘immigrants’ (banished to the Cape by the Dutch High Court) arrived and soon slaves from the east followed, no doubt to help build the Cape Castle and fort which was completed in 1679.
While this hive of activity was going on at the Cape of Good Hope, on the most southerly point of the African continent, 10 487.45 kms north east, Peter Romonav (soon to be Peter the Great) was born in Russia in 1672.
When he was about 22 years-old, he cast his eye on a marshy, mosquito infected piece of real estate made up of over 500 islands in the estuary of the Neva River and decided that this would be a perfect place to build his naval port and Western style city. The result is a city that looks like the Venice of the North.
In 1710 he moved his imperial family, lock stock and smoking barrels (all his new navy ships) and most of the government as well, from Moscow to his shiny new capital called .... St Petersburg.

It wasn’t always called that - you might remember it as Petrograd (1914 - 1924) or as Leningrad (until 1991) but now it has come full circle and is called St Petersburg again. Our ship will be berthed at the Salt Pier, Oktiabrskaya Nab. 29, in the River Neva.
Will take photos to show you when we get there!

2002 - PATTY'S RUSSIAN TRAVEL COUPON

Patricia
I have always wanted to visit Russia but was beginning to think that I would never get there. Now, I only have one more sleep before my sister and I fly to Johannesburg, Zurich and St Petersburg but SWISS air are giving us a hard time about me taking my POC (Personal Oxygen Concentrator) on board. Mango have passed it but if SWISS air don't pass it we either don't go to Russia or they will have to provide oxygen on board the flight if I need it and I'll have to send the POC through with the luggage. Our travel agent is staying up all night to sort this out - at the last minute!

When I was living with my son in Johannesburg, he kept saying to me, "Go to Russia if you want to Mom, just go." I used to think Yes, one day I will.
In 2002 he made me a special card for my birthday, cutting out a picture of a Russian stamp to put on the envelope. Inside, he printed a travel coupon in the value of RR53,806.14 (Russian Roubles - or R20,000) on glossy photographic paper complete with the Imperial Russian crest. The script he used made the 'S' look like a 'F' and the wording looked like "Ruffian Travel Coupon'!!
I couldn't believe he would do that for me, but that is the way he was - always generous and supportive.
There was always some reason why I couldn't go. In 2002 rebels took 800 people hostage in a theatre - 120 people were killed.
In 2003 suicide bombers killed themselves, and many others, in attacks on towns, railways etc.
In 2004 a blast killed scores of people in the Moscow underground and the Beslan school was held hostage. 334 hostages were killed, including 186 children. Each time something like this happened my son said, "You are not going to Russia this year Mom!"
In 2007 my son passed away and I moved back to Durban. Last year I told my sister that I really wanted to go to Russia - and that Shaun would have wanted me to go. So, we started making plans and even though there have been suicide bombings in Moscow and other parts of Russia, we finally booked with the airlines and Viking Cruises to go on my dream trip. Now, we wait to hear whether or not SWISS Air will accept my little oxygen machine.
Please hold thumbs that everything is sorted out by tomorrow!

PS: One can only do these cruises in the summer and there is a 3 - 4 month window so if we don't go now, we'll have to plan for next year

11 TH HOUR - WE HAVE TAKE OFF!

PHSEW!! 11th hour - cleared for take-off!


It is 11am and we have just received confirmation from Zurich that SWISS Air will accept Patty's POC machine on board. Yeee-haaa! We are all packed and ready to go!
Thank you Lisa from Flight Centre Pinetown who has worked through the night, many phone calls to Zurich, Johannesburg, Doctors, medical centres etc etc...

The POC (Portable Oxygen Concentrator) is a small (-2.5kg), handbag sized, battery operated machine that provides oxygen from the air. It comes with a waistbelt belt battery that lasts for up to 8 hours. For people with respiratory problems, it is an absolute boon.

Our flying schedule:

3pm - 4pm Durban to Johannesburg.

7:30pm from Johannesburg Zurich - arriving at 6h10am

9h20 from Zurich to St Petersburg - arriving at 14h20

Hopefully, after clearing customs, a representative holding a Viking River Cruises sign with the name of our ship will meet us and porters will then take our luggage to the transfer buses. Transfer to the ship takes approximately 45 minutes.
Viking advised that:

Sometimes, your transfer will wait for people arriving on other flights. The wait time for these guests is rarely more than 30 minutes, but could be as long as one hour.
If your flight to St. Petersburg is delayed or if you miss your connecting flight, call the transfer company or your ship directly with your new flight details. They will make every effort to meet you when you arrive.
If you are not met due to a delayed or missed flight, follow the instructions for On Your Own Transfers.

Syl and Patty - over and out!

In Switzerland

Sylvia
Everything went well travelling yesterday except that the Mango staff forgot us at the Assisted Passengers waiting area, even though I reminded them at check in three times that we were waiting. Finally they were calling our name when someone came to take Patty to the plane.
With SWISS air all went well.

We had a quiet flight. I tried to watch the new Alice in Wonderland movie with Johnny Depp but keept dozing off so don't really know if they got the Queen of Hearts or not.

We were woken at 4h15 for breakfast and landed just after 6am. We now have a 2 hour wait before we board our flight to St Petersburg where we will arrive at about 14h30. The Alps were covered in snow when we flew over and it made me think of this time 4 years ago when our little group crossed the Alps from Switzerland to Italy on our way to Rome.

Patty is doing fine but her ankles have puffed up and her feet are swollen. I've got her sitting in the wheelchair with her feet up on a chair reading her YOU magazine. I also gave her a coffee - hopefully it will work as a diuretic and get rid of some of the fluid build up

Day 1: THE OLD BIRDS HAVE LANDED

Patricia:
It is 4:30pm Russia time. Two hours ahead of SA time. Syl has put her watch forward. The flight from Zurich was only 2 hours not 5 hours because of the time difference. Everyone has been very helpful and all the way through there were people waiting with my hired wheelchair.

I'm sitting on the bed in our cabin with both feet up on pillows - they look like balloons. We've got a very nice cabin with two beds - not bunks - and, wonderful - wonderful - our RSA two prong plugs fit into the wall sockets here!! So, my oxygen machine will work perfectly!

We've got a shower with shampoo, soap and other toiletriies. We've got a safe, a large TV, a fridge - nogal - and free Internet access!

There is a coffee/tea and chocolate station upstairs where you can help yourself all day.
Cocktail hour is at 6:30 - 7:30 in the Panorma or Sky Bar and dinner is from 7:30 to around 9pm.
This news up-date for my arty-farty friends!  Guess what!
 On Sunday 27th June, during our stay at Mandrogy, we can book a place at an art class doing Matrioshka nesting doll Painting . The class will include 3 unpainted Matrioshka Dolls, paint, brushes and instructions from an artisan to create our very own, umique Russian Sounvenirs!! Hows that?? Eat your heart out Di !!!! When I have done my dolls we will take a photograph and post them on the blog.

So, the old birds are OK and we are looking forward to the two weeks cruise.
From The Viking Kirov - over and out!

Sylvia

The Mango cabin crew were all casually dressed in Bafana-Bafana shirts. Unfortunately, none of the ground staff knew about Patty's POC so we had to produce the letter giving permission for her to take it on board. The vibe in Johannesburg was incredible! Many staff members had Bafana t-shirts on, there were vuvuzelas everywhere. As we passed a restaurant on our way to International departures, people started cheering and dancing, porters shouting AYOBA! and others dancing and singing - Bafana had scored their first goal! Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, Brazillians, French, American, English - you name it - all were excited for the host nation! We were on our way to the News Cafe when Bafana scored their 2nd goal. WOW!! It was pandemonium with uluating chants, screams, jumping up and down! What a pity there wasn't a third goal - but The Boys-The Boys did us proud.

Swiss Air staff were very helpful and everything went smoothly - no problems with Patty's machine, my vegetarian meals were great and it was a trouble free flight to Zurich. I'm sure though that the space between rows has got even smaller since I last flew on Swiss Air - hardly anywhere to put your legs. A very pleasant assistant wheeled Patty through the crowds to the train that took us to the correct terminal for our flight to St Petersburg.

When we arrived in St Petersburg there were VIKING staff waiting for us with a Viking board and porters put our bags on the bus. It took about half an hour to the boat. The scenery was similar to most airport roads into a city - wide roads, trees, then high rise apartments, light industries and then the boat canal. We passed a number of huge chimneys - not sure if they were nuclear or coal reactors.

Our boat is moored next to the Viking Surov which is moored next to another and another - all facing east.

The crew and staff are a mixture of Phillipino, Korean, German, Russian. Our Program Director is Katherin, executive chef Thomas Harder, who we met to discuss dietery needs (ie vegetarians etc), the restaurant Neva manager is Gunther Andriska. The currency on board is a UNIT which equals 1 Euro and we can sign all on board purchases, drinks, etc and pay at the end of the cruise in euro, dollars or Roubles.

So, we will be having cocktails in the Sky Bar or Panorama Bar before dinner and then it'll be off to the Neva restaurant for our first meal on board. We only leave St Petersburg on Sunday and have a full program whilst we are here. Can't believe that we are in Russia

DAY 2 - Catherine's Palace - La Hermitage

Patty

After we settled into our cabin, Syl and I went on a little tour of the boat – thank heaven for the lift because the stairs are steep and twisting and I don’t think I’d have managed four floors without some serious heavy breathing!
I had a Virgin Mary (the works with no vodka) in the Sky Bar before dinner and Syl had a Russian Cranberry Juice. This is a bar at the back of the boat (stern) with an open sun deck beyond it. Most of the debriefings and lectures will take place here.
At dinner we sat with two ‘Brendas’ from England and an Australian couple. The menu was much better than we thought it was going to be and I over-ate as usual!
For Rene: Tomorrow I’m going to do all my Pushkins! Today was a heavy breathing day and a ‘Rushin’ day – rushin from one bus to the next!

Today we were taken to Catherine’s Winter Palace, now the Hermitage museum. I had to climb some steps to get inside but it wasn't too difficult. The museum has over 1000 rooms and over 3m exhibits so we only got to do and see a very few of those. The art collection was amazing and there was even an exhibition of Picasso but we were not allowed to take photographs of those – such a pity.  We could take photographs in the general areas but with no flash.
Tonight we can go to the ballet – Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky – but,
we were told that the theatre is very old, doesn’t have elevators and we have to climb stairs. I’m still thinking about whether to go to that one!
Dinner is early tonight (because of the ballet) so the boat is arranging for snacks at 11pm! Sunset is at 11:25 so I suppose that isn’t too outrageous!
We are going to go and have a cocktail now, and some more to eat!

Sylvia

The two cocktail bars are up on the top deck. Cocktails of the day were ‘White Nights for €5 or a Matrioshka – non alcoholic) for €3. Most of the other drinks, soft or alcoholic were around €2.50 but the whiskey, brandy etc are a little more, from about €5 - €6.
The dinner menu was good – a large salad bar for a starter (which was great for the three vegetarians at our table) and then every course offered a vegetarian alternative. I had a veg lasagne.  Not your run-of-the-mill lasagne, this was beautifully presented (wish I’d taken a photo – will start from now on- and the desserts were also well presented with strawberry and cream decorations. The chef has been with Viking for nearly 8 years and his food presentation is superb. Like this vegetable tureen with yoghurt-chive sauce.
Our cabin is very comfortable with two single beds, side tables, bedside lamps, dressing table with cupboards and drawer, a safe, small fridge, wardrobe and an en-suite shower, toilet, basin.
The wondows are large and can be opened (unlike sea going cabins that often have port-holes).  The cabin isn't large enough for a wheelchair user though and the en suite is not big enough to take a wheelchair but Patty can wak so she manages okay in the cabin.
Our beds are very narrow and I warned Patty not to turn too fast in case she fell out of bed! The cabins are air-conditioned but they were so cold I turned it down before we went to sleep. curtains are lined with black-out fabric and just as well, as the sunsets here are only at 11.24pm!! If we’d come any later in the year we would have had the mid-night sun!
Breakfast has two buffets – one with continental meats, breads, croissants, preserves etc and the other with fruits, yoghurts, cereals, eggs and sausages, bacon, toast etc. You can also order extras from the menu like omlettes, grilled tomato, French toast etc.
At 9h30 we attended a safety talk in the Sky Bar on what to do if the ship caught on fire or someone fell overboard. She said that the ship can’t sink – but that’s what was said about the Titanic! There are life-vests in our cabin closets and we were shown how to use them. Patty said that if the boat catches fire I must just throw her overboard and save myself!  But, the water is never more than 15m deep so I suggested we take turns standing on each other's shoulders to get air! If the water doesn't get us the pollution probably will.

After lunch we were all given a picnic box containing water, juice, banana, apple, two health-bar type sweets, packet of Lays chips, and a sandwich. There are 6 buses, each with its own tour guide and we have been allocated bus number 21. Our guide is Mikhail (or Misha) who didn't look too pleased to have a wheelchair person on his bus and wasn't very helpful at all. He was also rude to a couple on the bus and was sarcastic when they asked a few questions. (We heard that they have asked to be moved to another bus).
Our visit today was to the Hermitage museum, the former Winter Palace of Catherine the Great. Mikhail told us that it wouldn't be worth taking Patty inside because the only lift in the building wasn't working. We decided to go in anyway and keep to the lower floor exhibits. When the rest of the group walked up the stairs we continued on looking through the rooms on the ground floor. And then we came to the lift - which was working! We went up to the first floor and walked through the never ending, interleading rooms.

What an amazing museum – such opulence and excess. No wonder the peasants revolted against such wealth. I’ve never seen so much
gold on ceilings with huge chandeliers and gold encrusted crockery, tableware, and furniture. One room leads into the next and looking down the passageway is like looking at yourself in a mirror, reflected many times.

Many people told us that The Hermitage was on their bucket list and this is why they are doing the cruise. Can you imagine trying to view all of the exhibits? Just one minute looking at each one would take about 8 years!!

We finally bumped into Mikhail who didn't look too surprised to see us and just said, "Oh, you found us!" I don't think he can be bothered with people with disabilities. Patty and I have decided that we will go on the excursions that are part of the trip and if she can't get into a building, so be it but we are not going to let us put us off.