Tips before a trip to Russia, #2 - don't travel light

Okay, so we touched upon food & drink, cabin size, and general preparedness. When traveling for the first time to a foreign country, you should expect it to be "different". I don't see the point of traveling abroad if you're going to turn your nose up at local stuff and keep saying "we do this better at home". Which was the attitude taken by a few of my co-travelers.

But when in Russia, no matter where you hail from there are some things you can't possibly do "better", I suspect. No one can do Russian mentality and attitude as well as the Russians :-)

Back to hopefully-helpful tips: (the first four appear in my previous post.)

5. The weather: So what if the weather forecast displayed blue skies and warm temps? Who are you going to believe -- some pretentious little app on your smartphone, or your own experience that says "Weather is Fickle and Not to be Trusted"?  I consulted the Internet over and over again, as well as my Russian friend from exercise class. They were unanimous: Peter (the locals' name for Saint Petersburg) will be cool, Moscow will be warm, or hot.
For the first time in my traveling life, I decided to travel light. Big, big mistake. As it happened, Peter and the villages & towns along the river (Mandrogi, Kitzhi, Goritsy, Yaroslavl, Uglich) ranged from T-shirt weather to shivering-in-my-sweatshirt-and-scarf weather; while Moscow was downright cold in Israeli terms, i.e. 9-15 deg C (= 48-60 deg F). For locals that's super-mild, of course. I would have been far more comfortable had I packed a few more long-sleeved tops and a warmer coat.

T-shirt weather @ Peterhof Gardens

All bundled up on the way to Uglich. Nina in orange coat.

Which brings us to tip #6

6. Don't travel light: Last time I traveled to the U.S. and Canada (April-May 2015), I was determined to travel light. I knew that I'd never be far away from shops, whether in town or en route. Why, half the fun is saying, "Ooh, I've run out of body lotion", or "Gosh, it's cooler than I expected", and popping into a local shop. This was not the case in our Russian trip. The river boat, M/S Rublev, had a busy souvenir shop, but nowhere to buy toiletries or an extra pair of socks. The tourist-trap stalls do not carry bottles of cough syrup. And though I didn't look into it, I suspect a pair of Nikes costs far more on Nevsky Prospect than in your home town.

Among the items that I or my fellow travelers were happy they'd brought along were:
- Their fave brand of coffee/tea
- Their fave shampoo/conditioner
- Hair dryer, curling iron, hair-straightener
- Granola bars
- Tablet, iPad, (in addition to smartphone, obviously!) chargers for them and for any other electronic equipment
- Walking-stick with folding seat
- Umbrella

Laundry:
Small items such as lingerie and socks could be washed in the tiny washbasin in the tiny bathroom, using the complimentary bottles of shower gel or shampoo (because, for your hair, you'd obviously prefer using your own stuff); and they took a day or two to dry in the cabin. Larger items could be handed in. Laundry costs were around 70 rubles per T-shirt and 30-35 rubles for smaller items. Jeans probably cost more. So do you own math.

Items I could have done without:
- Book. I'm in the midst of The Reluctant Fundamentalist. It's interesting. I want to know what happens next. But I didn't have the time or energy to continue reading it on this trip. Hubby did find the time/energy to read books on his iPad. Don't ask me how.

7. Souvenirs: By now we should all know to beware of tourist traps, right? How much are you willing to pay for a matryoshka? How many of them do you need? How many of your friends and neighbors would really like to have one? The typical multicolored shawl or kerchief: Can you really tell the difference between an expensive authentic one, and a cheap synthetic imitation? Do you really need another kerchief? God knows I don't. Will your friend ever wear it, except, perhaps, on Purim? As for the coarse linen clothes and knits -- personally, I don't care for them; and if I change my mind, there are several Russian shops in the center of Rishon LeZion that carry them.
Keep in mind that you'll see more-or-less the same stuff everywhere you go, at different prices.
Yes, of course I bought a few souvenirs! I don't practice everything I preach; that would be inhuman.)

That's all for today; but there are more Important Tips to come!

Tips before a trip to Russia, #1 - of cabins, food and drink

So you've decided to go on an organized tour of Russia.

Why organized? Because that's the kind of trip we went on, so that's all I know, for now.
As for "Russia" -- it's a huge country, you know, so take into account that I only visited a bit of St. Petersburg a.k.a. Sanct Peterburg, Санкт-Петербург, a bit of Moscow a.k.a. Moskva, Москва, some rivers, canals, villages and cities in-between, and the ins and outs of a river boat.

River boat M/S Andrei Rublev, moored at Uglich

All that took 11 days and 10 nights, leaving me and most of my fellow-travelers exhausted. So I hope you're either young, or fit, or both.

Israel is notorious for its strenuous organized tours. The local agencies, familiar with their target audience and knowing that people want to feel that they're getting their money's worth, cram as much as they can into their itinerary, rushing people off their feet from dawn to dusk, or more accurately,  from early morning till late at night. I don't know how you, dear readers, feel about this. As for me, I prefer to sleep in when on vacation. And on every other day as well. So getting up around six a.m. is practically a nightmare for me.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First things first:

1. Learn Russian. Okay, let me qualify that: Teach yourself the Cyrillic alphabet. If you're used to English, French, Spanish and the like, you'll find the Russian alphabet rather confusing. You look at the Russian sign above a shop or establishment, see the word ресторан, and mumble to yourself, "Pectopah? What on earth do they mean? Something to do with pectorals, maybe? Is this a gym, perchance?" Only to find out that it's pronounced "restauran", which is a perfectly understandable word.

Once you get acquainted with the alphabet, you'll find that you can make sense of lots of signs that provide a tourist with useful info. You'll be able to identify a traffic Stop sign (no, they do not use the standard hand symbol!), the location of bars and pubs, a few words on the menu (e.g. for soup, yogurt, banana, tea, coffee and more); and last but not least: туалет = toilet.

So, unlike my first tip concerning language in my China trip post, I am totally serious here.
Of course, you could travel with a Russian-speaking buddy and just follow him/her like a puppy. But I assure you you'll be awfully proud of yourself when you manage to figure out some of the words.
And remember the essential "please", "thank you", "hello", and "how much [does it cost]?" In transliteration, respectively: Pazhalista, spasiba, privyet, skolka soit...? [point to desired item].

2. Pick your travel agency with care. Research. Google. Ask friends for recommendations. Then go to their office if possible, or phone them, ask as many questions as you can think of, and write down the answers. Ask for the website addresses of the hotel/s or ship you'll be staying at; ask for names of the guides who will accompany you; make sure they speak your language fluently; ask for names of and contact details of previous travelers to your destination of choice. Read proposed tour plans. 

None of these steps are foolproof. But the more you know, the more prepared you are, the better.
For example: 
- We were told in advance that the cabins we would be assigned on the ship were small. We could easily see the cabins on YouTube, for example, and on the ship's website. So when we got there, we were not a bit surprised, and made ourselves comfortable. (No point in uploading a pic of a pristine, unlived-in room...)

Cabin #230, main deck

Another couple from our group, however, may not have looked into this issue, so when they walked into their cabin, they nearly had a fit, and demanded to be moved to a more spacious cabin. Which cost more, of course.

Nina doing her Russian homework

3. Food: Remember, you're in Russia. The food will most likely be either Russian, or an attempt at western/European food. It may not be what you're used to. But no worries! The big cities (certainly Moscow and Saint Petersburg) have plenty of McDonalds, McCafe, Burger King, Starbucks, and KFC. Of these, only KFC retained its English letters; the others' names are written in Cyrillic letters, which make them look weird... But the logos remain the same, and I'm sure you'll easily identify them. The  prices of light meals such as a sandwich or a salad at one of the bars aboard the Rublev were very reasonable, compared to Tel Aviv, say. See prices, in Rubles, below: (Yes, a sandwich is under a dollar, a Greek salad just over 2 dollars.)

However, the size of said salad or sandwich may be smaller than you are used to... For dessert, for instance, one of the options (after dinner) was always a so-called fruit platter. Which typically looked like this:

4. Drink: We were warned not to drink tap water. Bottles of mineral water were available on the boat, costing 130 rubles for a 1.3 liter bottle. That's just under 2 US dollars, or 1.65 Euro, or 7.30 NIS as I write, i.e. at late August 2015 exchange rates. That adds up if you consume a bottle or more a day. So, if convenient, buy water at any grocery or mini-market you come across. The sign will say something like продукт or similar, which -- once you've practiced your alphabet -- will sound like "product" or "products", which you can easily make sense of.

But cheer up! Beer and other spirits are relatively cheap! With special discounts during Happy Hour.(See below.)

On that happy note, I shall call it a day, and write my next list of tips as soon as possible.
See next list here.

Drinks menu #1 (prices in Rubles)

Drinks menu #2

Soft drinks & hot beverages

How about a trip to Russia?

The time has come for another trip, Hubby informed me.

- But, but... I haven't even finished posting about our trip to the U.S. and Canada! I blurted. - Not to mention those amazing weeks in Paris and in the Loire Valley! All those chateaux! Marcadet Poissonniers! Place des Vosges! Orleans! Jean D'Arc...  I continued, spitting out names, looking at the pics on my iPhone.

Hubby shrugged. What was, was. After all -- that was in September 2014... nearly a year ago. Who's fault is it that I made do with uploading a few pics onto Facebook, rather than consulting my handwritten journal and doing some real blogging?

Honestly, I don't know how we decided on Russia. I wanted someplace not too far away (i.e., Europe, because most other nearby destinations are enemy territory), yet "exotic", and new to us.

Russia has always intrigued me. I know precious little about it. Considering that my maternal grandmother was born there (well -- in the former USSR, to be precise), and that I am pretty much surrounded by Russians wherever I go here in Israel, I thought it was high time I popped over and had a look-see. After all, some of the best books, plays, short stories I ever read are by the great Russian literary legends -- Chekhov, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky. My mother's father's surname was Caranefsky; doesn't that sound like something out of Anna Karenina?...

The long and the short of it is, we're flying to Russia in about 24 hours' time.

Not that everything has gone smoothly so far. Theoretically, it should be simple: Google "trip to Russia"; narrow it down to "Moscow and St. Petersburg", look at dates and prices, compare Travel Agencies A, B, and C; take out your credit card; et voila! You're booked on a 10 day trip.

To begin with, we decided that, for the first time ever, we'd go on an organized tour from Israel. Which means that our fellow travelers will be Israelis, and that our guide will be speaking to us in Hebrew. Despite his xy years in Israel, Hubby feels more comfortable in the company of English speakers.  Can't blame him. My folks lived in Israel from 1946 till their dying day scores of years later (2000; 2009) and still felt more comfortable among English speakers. And, possibly more important, Israelis are notorious for speaking fast; which would make following the guide's explanations more difficult.

In addition, we're not used to traveling with a group. Our organized trip to China in 2012, through a [now defunct] British travel agency, ended up being comprised of only 3 couples; and our tour of Thailand in 2006 was privately organized by the very capable Hagai Lahav of Golden Lotus. So this is a first for us.

By now we've met most of our dozen-or-so fellow travelers, as well as the CEO of the agency -- Star-Tours -- and their chief guide, who was supposed to be our guide but was called to more pressing duties. But in the weeks between our first meeting with the company rep to the day the tickets finally arrived, we were unsure of what was going on. Oh well -- we'll chalk it up to experience. And now, I should really finish packing and try to get some sleep. In addition to everything else, I'm looking forward to the Russian lessons offered on board the Rublev, during the Peter-to-Moscow cruise. It's all very well to be able to write 50 assorted words in Russian, but in practical terms, let's admit it, on their own those words are quite useless.