Northern Capitals and Russia
18 Days
22 May to 18 June 2005

Tour Director = John Rasmussen
Driver = Derek (Dirk) Kellen

Group Total = 37

Group Mix =
Australia 14
Canada 14
Singapore 1
New Zealand 7
South Africa 1

Optionals Taken =

1. Stockholm - Swedish Summer Dinner (8 out of 10)
2. Helsinki - Cossack Dinner (9 out of 10)
3. St Petersburg - Peter and Paul Fortress (8 out of 10)
4. St Petersburg - Neva River Cruise (9 out of 10)
5. St Petersburg - Yusupov Palace (8 out of 10)
6. St Petersburg - Folklore Evening (10 out of 10)
7. St Petersburg - Catherine’s Palace (8 out of 10)
8. Moscow - Moscow by Night (9 out of 10)
9. Moscow - Armoury Museum (9 out of 10)
10. Moscow - Moscow Circus (10 out of 10)
11. Vilnius - Folklore Dinner (8 out of 10)
12. Warsaw - Vilanov Palace (7 out of 10)
13. Warsaw - Polish Meal and Entertainment (8 out of 10)

Optionals not taken = 4

1. Copenhagen - N Zealand and castle tour (not taken as we had done this one previously)
2. Copenhagen - Christmas Dinner (not taken as we had done this one previously)
3. Stockholm - Wasa Ship (not taken as we had done this one previously)
4. Warsaw - Chopin Concert

Hotels etc =

Berlin – Hotel Marriott (1 night)
Copenhagen – Hotel Phoenix (2 nights)
Stockholm – Scandic Hotel Alvik (1 night)
Ship – Silja Line Ferry “Symphony” (1 night)
Helsinki – Hotel Radisson SAS Plaza (2 nights)
St Petersburg – Hotel Pribaltiyskaya (2 nights)
Novgorod – Hotel Beresta Palace (1 night)
Moscow – Hotel Ukraina (2 nights)
Vitebsk – Hotel Lutjejesu (1 night)
Vilnius – Hotel Artis (2 nights)
Warsaw – Hotel Westin Warsaw (2 nights)
Berlin – Hotel Marriott (1 night)



Days 1 Sunday 22 May 2005

Today we finished our tour of Spain, Portugal and Morocco in Madrid.

Up at 5.45 am and left for the airport on our 7 am transfer but no breakfast this morning as breakfast at the hotel doesn’t start until 7 am.

Surprise, surprise, we had our Tour Coach, Driver and Tour Director from our Spain tour to take us to the airport as our TD was leaving at the same time for a flight. There were five of our group on the coach – 2 Canadians, 1 other Australian plus my wife and myself.

We had quite a long walk to our departure gates as we had been dropped off at Terminal 1 and we were departing from Terminal 2. At first we were too early for breakfast but eventually the cafeteria opened and we had a small breakfast with our Canadian friends from the Spain tour who were on the same flight as us to Frankfurt. Eventually we boarded our Spanair flight to Frankfurt where we said goodbye to our Canadian friends before boarding our Lufthansa flight to Berlin to start our Northern Capitals and Russia Tour that evening.

Arrived Berlin at 3.25 pm and had to make our own arrangements to get to our hotel as we were outside of the transfer times.

It had obviously been raining earlier but had cleared up by the time we arrived.

After checking into our Berlin Marriott Hotel (very nice) around 4.20 pm we just had time to unpack a few things and have a drink at the bar before meeting our Tour Director, Driver and travelling companions. I was pleased to see that we had a more mixed group than on our previous two tours.

Our Tour Director John is Danish and has 29 years experience as a guide. Our driver Derek is from Belgium.

After the usual “meet and greet” with introductions and explanations we all moved into the Dining Room for our included dinner.

Footnote: Our Berlin Marriott Hotel is directly opposite the Berlin High Rider Baloon which is a large Balloon, similar to the Hot Air type, with a large basket underneath. The Balloon goes up on a tether with the basket full of tourists for an aerial view of Berlin. We were able to watch the Balloon going up and down from our hotel room window.


Overnight Hotel Marriott Berlin

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Day 2 – Monday 23 May 2005

Fine but cool this morning and up at 6 am with a nice breakfast at 7 am and then on the road at 8 am for our morning city tour of Berlin with local guide Maria.

During the city tour we drove past the Triumphal Arch, Kaiser Wilhem Church and many other places including the Parliament building, Monument to the Soviet Soldiers, Museum Island (where the Cathedral and Museums are) and stopped at the Brandenburg Gate to walk through and take some photos. There is a large photo display showing the devastation of the Gate area at the end of the war. We then drove on for a photo stop at Checkpoint Charlie. We only had a few minutes to take photos here and this was disappointing because there is an excellent museum at Checkpoint Charlie which is dedicated to those who tried to escape from East Berlin but you would need at least an hour to go through it and that is conservative.

On conclusion of the city tour we called back at the hotel around 10.30 am for a quick wash room stop and pick up our TD John, then on the road to the small and neat village of Rostock where we stopped for lunch (toasted cheese and salami on a bun at a bakery) before boarding our ferry for the crossing to Denmark and the drive up to Copenhagen.

We arrived at the ferry wharf at 2.30 pm but had to wait for the ferry to arrive from Denmark. The ferry sailed at 3 pm for its one and a half hour crossing to Gedser in smooth, calm seas. We then had a two hour drive to Copenhagen.

On arriving in Copenhagen around 7 pm we went straight to the Tivoli Gardens where we were allowed two hours until 9 pm. We wandered around the gardens, the lake, food establishments, rides, etc. with two of our new Canadian friends and had a quick meal at one of the many food outlets.

This was our third visit to the Tivoli Gardens and we enjoyed it as much as the first. All of the tulips were out and the gardens were lovely with the varying colours of the tulips. The evening lights were just coming on nicely when unfortunately it was time to go and check into the Hotel Phoenix where we spend the next 2 nights.

A very nice hotel which is conveniently located but while most of the rooms contained safes, unfortunately our did not. We finished up leaving our valuables in the safe at the front desk but were not too happy with the arrangement as they only put them in a plastic laundry bag in their safe. The next morning we picked them up and kept them with us instead.

A long but enjoyable day.

Overnight Hotel Phoenix Copenhagen

Day 3 – Tuesday 24 May 2005

A fine sunny but cool morning.

Up at 6.15 am, breakfast at 7.15 am (not a big choice here) and departed for our city tour at 8.15 am. Our Tour Director John is a registered city guide for Copenhagen so we had no extra city guide today.

First an orientation tour of parts of the city then straight to the “Little Mermaid” arriving there at 8.30 am to beat the crowds. We were the first coach to arrive so there were no crowds. The area around the Little Mermaid has all been upgraded to cater for the number of visitors since we were there in 1995.

After our photo stop at the Little mermaid we continued our city tour passing many of the main sights including the 16th Century Fortress (currently occupied by the Danish army and not open to the public), the Botanical Gardens, Russian Church, Round Tower and City Hall.

We then stopped at the Christianborg Palace for our included visit to the Royal Reception Rooms. Half of the Palace is the Parliament buildings and the other half are the Royal Family rooms. We had to wear slippers over our shoes to walk through as most of the floors are parquetry in varying patterns. The Palace has a lot of large paintings of current and past Royal Family members and our visit lasted approximately one hour.

Next stop was the Amalienborg Palace which is now the winter residence of the Royal Family and the flag was flying over the residence of the Crown Prince and Princess Mary (indicating that there were in residence) but of course we couldn’t go inside (even though she did come from Australia).

This Palace consists of four identical Rococo buildings arranged around a large square with a statue of Frederick V in the middle and guards on duty in front of the buildings.

From the square we could see the Marmonkirken (white marble church) in one direction and looking towards the harbour side we could see Amalia’s Garden and, across the water, the new opera House.

From this area we drove back via Churchill’s Park with its large very nice fountain before arriving back at our hotel at around 11.30 am.

The majority of the group were leaving again at 12.30 pm for their optional North Zealand Castle tour then later this evening the group were taking their second optional which was a Danish Christmas Dinner. We did not take either of these optionals as we had taken them on a previous tour to Copenhagen. Instead we walked up to the Marble Church (1894 Romanesque Baroque) for a look inside and then walked back and had a sandwich for lunch at one of the little restaurants about a block from our hotel.

We then walked down to Nyhavn, the New Harbour (built 300 years ago) where we took a 1 pm canal cruise for one hour. They leave every half hour on a very enjoyable cruise firstly out into the harbor then through several of the canals and with a full commentary pointing out all of the places of interest.

Leaving the cruise boat we walked up through Rosenborg Park to Rosenborg Castle (this is where the Crown Jewels and Royal Treasures are kept) however we did not go inside as we had been inside on a previous visit.

Continuing on we walked back through the park again and down several streets to visit “Our Lady’s Church” (neo-classical 1829 Cathedral).

After walking back through part of the long pedestrian street we strolled through various side streets and visited other churches before returning to our hotel at around 4.30 pm.

There were many places that we did not walk to on this trip as we had walked to them previously.

At about 7 pm we walked back down to Stroget Street (the long pedestrian Street) for dinner, where we finished up at McDonalds as it was too cold to sit outside at the restaurants in the street or at Nyhavn.

Walking in Copenhagen is very easy as it is all flat. Some of the places of interest within a half hour walk of the Phoenix Hotel are: Round Tower (111ft high built in 1642) where you can walk to the top around the internal curving ramp for views over the city (they used to drive horse and carriages up the ramp); The botanical Gardens; Rosenborg Castle (which as I said earlier houses the Crown Jewels and Royal Treasures); Harbour and Canal Tours and “Our Savior’s Church” with its Baroque Spire and external staircase winding up to the top of the spire from which you can have views over the city (however be warned – it is 400 steps to the top).

In the opposite direction from our hotel is the Amalienborg Palace, Churchill Park with the largest fountain in Denmark and of course, the Little Mermaid.

Copenhagen is a lovely city with many interesting places which are all within easy walking distance.

Overnight Hotel Phoenix Copenhagen

Day 4 – Wednesday 25 May 2005

Very hot during the night. No air-conditioning and too much street noise when we opened the windows.

Up at 5.40 am and suitcases out and buffet breakfast at 6.30 am before departing the hotel at 7.30 am. A long day today as we leave Copenhagen behind and head to Stockholm in Sweden.

Weather is overcast.

We arrived Helsingor Denmark at 8.15 am and were able to drive straight onto the ferry which departed at 8.30 am. The ferry trip across to Sweden was quite short and only took about 20 minutes. We just had time to take some photos of the Kronberg Castle from the ferry and change our money on board before we docked at Helsingborg Sweden.

It started to rain lightly as we drove from Helsingborg to Lake Vatten.

We stopped at the Golden Otter Hotel Restaurant just before reaching Granna where we shared a table and had interesting conversation with a Swedish couple who had also stopped for lunch.

The rest of the day was on the coach to Stockholm and we arrived at our hotel Scandik in Alvik at 4.30 pm. It rained from our lunch stop at Nykopig until Stockholm but started to clear as we reached our hotel.

We checked in, showered, met our Tour Director in the Lobby to pay for our optionals and then left at 6 pm for our Stockholm Optional Dinner.

First we had a drive around parts of the city and a scenic photo stop (with some Schnapps) at a point that will not be included in the city tour tomorrow. Then on for our evening dinner comprising onion soup, meat balls and potatoes followed by apple strudel. A very enjoyable meal located in a delightful basement setting which was followed by a walk through parts of the Old Town.

We returned to the hotel around 9 pm.

I should mention here that the coach is the most uncomfortable that I have ever toured in. It is quite new and has plenty of leg room however it has a leg support that swings out from the front of the seat. This is level with the seat but when you sit on the seat the seat goes down a little leaving the hard edge of the leg support cutting into the back of your legs above the knees. This is the first uncomfortable coach that we have experienced with Insight and our previous tour coaches have been great.

Overnight Scandik Hotel Alvik Stockholm

Day 5 – Thursday 26 May 2005

Left the hotel at 8 am for our city tour with local guide Monica. Unfortunately it is raining this morning and the wind is also quite cold.

After a drive around the city we had an escorted tour of the Stockholm City Hall which is a tourist destination in Stockholm particularly for its Golden Room which is the large Byzantine inspired Ballroom with all walls finished with gold mosaic tiles, gold leaf and pictures in mosaic. We had previously visited here in 1995 but still enjoyed our repeat visit. Very impressive.

After our City Hall visit we drove to the old town and just before leaving the coach we had to wait while mounted guards and several horse drawn carriages went past (one of which contained the King). It was still raining lightly at this stage.

We left the coach in the old part of the city and walked to the Royal Palace where we witnessed a small changing of the guard. Afterwards we continued our city tour in the newer parts of the city before those of our group who were not going on the optional were dropped off in the centre of town around 11 am.

The optional was to visit the Wasa Warship. This is a very interesting visit to see this huge ship that sunk on its maiden voyage and was salvaged from the harbour in excellent condition after all of those years. However we did not take this optional as we had taken it on a previous visit to Stockholm.

Instead we walked across to the Island where the Royal Palace is situated to watch the full changing of the guard at 12 noon. At this stage it was only an intermittent light misty rain.

It was very crowded by noon but we took our place at the very front against the ropes at 11.45 am and waited so that we had an excellent view.

The rain stopped at this point and the sun came out, what great timing.

The Changing of the Guard was an impressive sight with a large number of Royal Guards marching into the square followed by 16 mounted guardsmen cavalry and 12 band members on horseback. The whole procedure lasted about an hour and the band played a variety of musical items while riding around the square in various formations. Well worth the 20 minute walk each way to watch.

Walked back into the city centre and had lunch at an open air restaurant in the park while “we watched the world go by” then walked across to meet our coach at 3.15 pm for the 10 minute drive to board our ferry for the crossing to Finland.

We arrived at the ferry (Silja Line “Symphony”) at 3.30 pm just as they commenced boarding on deck 7 and we were able to walk straight on board and go direct to our cabin which was an inner cabin on deck 5.

We immediately booked for the 8 pm Buffet Dinner (in order to get a good table for 4 as we were dining with two of our New Zealand companions) then after roaming the ship for a while we settled on deck 12 from around 5.45 pm to 6.45 pm and watched all of the islands going past as we sailed through the Archipelego (the ship had sailed at 5 pm).

Later, after a shower to freshen up, we joined our two New Zealand travelling companions for our 8 pm dinner booking.

The Buffet was one of the best I have ever experienced with a huge variety and quantity of food together with unlimited wine, Pepsi or fruit juice. I do confess that we all four over indulged. A fantastic meal, good company and good value for money at 30 Euro each. By the time we finished dinner at 9.45 pm we were well out into the Baltic Sea.

After another a quick walk around part of the ship we returned to our cabin to move our clocks forward one hour and get a good night’s sleep before docking in Helsinki on Friday morning.

Overnight Silja Line Ferry “Symphony”

Day 6 – Friday 27 May 2005

A smooth crossing apart for some swell for a couple of hours from about 2.30 am.

Weather fine but quite cool.

Up at 6.15 am and breakfasted at 7.30 am before going on deck to watch the arrival into Helsinki Finland. The ferry for the crossing was large with about 3,000 passengers and 500 vehicles.

The ship docked at 9.30 am and after walking ashore we boarded our coach with our city guide Oola for a city tour of Helsinki where we drove along the waterfront and then visited the Lutheran Church in the Rock (there was an orchestra playing during our visit and the acoustics were great) and the Sibelius Park and Monument. We then drove past the University, Finlandia Hall, The Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art and finished at Senate Square outside the Helsinki Cathedral. The Cathedral is a huge white building which reminds me a little of the Sacre Coeur in Paris.

We had 30 minutes free time at the Square so we climbed the steps to the Cathedral but unfortunately it was closed for a music recital.

As we walked back down a visiting Lapland Band started marching and playing in the Square so we stopped to watch and listen until it was time to reboard our coach.

We were dropped off at our Radisson Hotel at about 1 pm, waited until around 1.30 pm for suitcases, gave the video camera battery a small charge, then headed across the square near our hotel to the railway station where we changed some money and had a quick lunch at about 2.30 pm.

After lunch we walked down and visited the Helsinki Cathedral in Senate Square which was now open (very plain inside but still nice), then walked up all of the steps to the Uspenski Russian Orthodox Cathedral (truly magnificent inside) where there are some splendid views over Helsinki from the surrounding terraces, then down to the waterfront, up through the markets and then back to our hotel at 4.20 pm.

At this stage both video camera batteries are again totally flat so a chance for another small charge before our optional Cossack Dinner at 5.45 pm.

The optional Cossack Dinner was an enjoyable evening in a restaurant down near the boat harbour and consisting of Borsch, a sizzling dish of steak, potatoes, cabbage, beetroot, capsicum, etc., and Imperial Strawberries for dessert. The meal was cooked traditional Cossack style and was served with red wine, white wine and soft drinks. Prior to the meal we were all served with a drink comprising white wine, lemons, soda and cranberries, and during the meal we were entertained by a guy playing an accordion and a female singer, both singing Russian songs.

We left the restaurant (which had been owned by the one family for 100 years) at about 8.30 pm and were driven to the waterfront where we walked out onto a pontoon and drank “Bear’s Blood” which was some form of potent liquor provided by our Tour Director.

All in all an enjoyable evening and all too soon we were returning to our hotel at about 9 pm.

Overnight Hotel Radisson SAS Plaza Helsinki

Day 7 – Saturday 28 May 2005

Up at 5.30 am and departed Helsinki Finland for St Petersburg Russia at 7.20 am.

Weather is fine and cool.

We had a fairly quick border crossing from Finland into Russia and at our Vyborg lunch stop we were joined by our St Petersburg City guide Alena who will be with us for the next several days. We also turned our clocks forward 1 hour at the border.

We arrived St Petersburg at 3.45 pm and went straight to the Peter and Paul Fortress for those doing the optional while the rest of the group went on to the hotel.

The Peter and Paul Fortress included a visit to the Peter and Paul Cathedral and was an interesting optional where we saw the tombs of the Tsars and learnt some of their histories.

We walked through the Neva Gate and saw the markings of the flood levels and had a view across the Neva River to the Winter Palace and Hermitage buildings.

We were then dropped off at the hotel at 5.20 pm with just enough time to check into our room, have a quick freshen up and be back in the lobby at 5.50 pm ready for dinner at 6 pm and then leave for our Neva River Cruise option at 7.30 pm.

As it had been very cold and windy at the Peter and Paul Fortress we all wore extra sweaters and jackets for our cruise however we were in a closed in boat with big sunny windows and as a result were all too hot in our extra gear so had to take sweaters and jackets off.

The Neva River Cruise option travelled a fair way along the river, past the Hermitage, Peter and Paul Fortress and many other points of interest. It was a very entertaining night with a folk group on board and “audience participation”. A light hearted night of entertainment.

After the cruise we returned to our hotel at around 9.30 pm with a chance to do some washing before bed.

As mentioned earlier, today was a very cold day with strong buffeting winds.

Overnight Hotel Pribaltiyskaya St Petersburg

Day 8 – Sunday 29 May 2005

A chance to sleep in this morning as breakfast is 7.30 am with an 8.30 am departure for our city tour with Alena. This was a thoroughly enjoyable tour of the beautiful city of St Petersburg (formerly Leningrad).

We had photo stops for Peter and Paul Fortress (from the rivers edge across the river at Strelka), the Church of the Spilled Blood (a magnificent ornate church) and St Nicholas Cathedral (a blue and white Church) followed by the Aurora Warship (built in 1900) and St Isaac’s Cathedral.

After dropping off those in the group who were not doing the next optional tour, Alena then took us to Yusupov Palace (this was once an actual family home and was where Rasputin was murdered). Another enjoyable option with a lot of history, some beautifully decorated and furnished rooms plus a truly magnificent ornate private theatre.

Afterwards we had time for lunch in a Russian Bistro (fortunately Alena helped us all to order) before picking up the rest of our group to visit the Hermitage at 2.45 pm.

The Hermitage is HUGE and we first visited the Winter Palace with its opulent rooms before moving through some of the wings containing some of the finest Rembrandt collections in the world. We finished at 4.45 pm after only scratching the surface of the major highlights.

Returning to the hotel by 5.30 pm we had time to do a little shopping, freshen up and have dinner in the Bistro before meeting in the Foyer ready to leave at 7.30 pm for our Folklore Show optional.

What a great night. We were met in the Foyer of the Concert Hall with servings of vodka and a group of entertainers. At interval we were served vodka, caviar, canapés, cheese, fruit and champagne (our Tour Director was kept busy keeping “gate crashers” away as 3 cruise ships were in port and we had people continually trying to take our drinks and food from our private table – when we all left the table they pounced on the remains like vultures). The show lasted an hour and three quarters with musicians, singers, dancers and a quartet. All of the performers were very professional and our group thoroughly enjoyed the show. The entertainers were the Belarusian Ensemble and Belarusian Quartet.

We returned to the hotel about 10.30 pm after a long but enjoyable day.

Overnight Hotel Pribaltiyskaya St Petersburg

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Day 9 – Monday 30 May 2005

Bit of an upset tummy today so skipped breakfast.

Weather overcast and cool with a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius.

Luggage out at 7.30 am and left the hotel at 8.30 am to drive to the Victory Monument via St Isaac’s Cathedral, Fountain River, the Monument for Victory of Russia over Turkey, Ismilde Prospect, a train station (The Warsaw), Lemington Canal and Moscow Avenue.

Victory Monument is in the centre of a huge roundabout and is the Memorial of World War II with a museum, flame of remembrance and statues of partisans from the siege of Leningrad.

We walked through the tunnel under the roadway to the monument and spent 30 minutes, after Alena’s talk, walking around and taking photos. We were unable to get into the museum however as it didn’t open until 10 am and most of us were leaving at 10.15 am for our optional tour to Catherine Palace. Those not doing the optional stopped back with our TD to visit the museum and we picked them up after our visit to the Palace with Alena.

This lavish Palace was constructed in 1752 for Tsarina Elizabeth who named it the Catherine Palace in honour of her mother Catherine 1 who originally owned the estate. Later during the reign of Catherine the Great she had the baroque interiors redesigned to her more neo-classical tastes. Reconstruction is still continuing (following its destruction in World War 2) with 20 rooms now open to the public and the Amber Room having been recreated from old photographs.

Catherine Palace is another magnificent structure with elaborate rooms but the massive amounts of gold leaf in many of the rooms was a little overpowering.

An interesting visit and at 12.45 pm we rejoined our coach (which had already picked up those from our group who did not take the optional) and moved on to Peterhof, the Summer Palace of Peter the Great, with an included lunch on the way where everybody was unimpressed with the meal.

The grounds of Peterhof are stunning with its hundreds of fountains and gold leaf statues.

The statue in the centre of the Grand Cascade had only been regilded two months previously and looked superb in the sunlight. The fountains are only turned on from 9 am to 5 pm each day and are only operational from the end of May to the end of September as the water freezes over in the winter.

With only one and a half hours here the time went very quickly indeed.

Back to the coach at 3.45 pm and we returned to the Victory Monument at 4.10 pm for a quick rest room stop and say goodbye to our excellent city guide of the last few days, Alena. The rest room stop was interesting as a security guard rushed across and blocked the steps to the toilets and wouldn’t let anyone past until some money “changed hands” (all of this openly in front of our 37 tour group members, TD, driver, city guide and several interested spectators). Ironically a different security guard had been “looked after” earlier by our TD but apparently they had changed shifts. This was really just one of a number of such instances that we saw.

At 4.40 pm we departed St Petersburg for Novgorod (about 180 klms) where we arrived at 7 pm and our city guide Nataila took us on a one hour walk through the Novgorod Kremlin where, among other things, we saw the 11th century St Sophia’s Cathedral, the Millenium Monument in the shape of a bell and celebrating Novgorod’s one thousand years of history plus the St Sophia Bell Tower. We also walked through the gate overlooking the river where there is a small sand section they use as a beach.

We checked in to our hotel at 8.15 pm with dinner at 8.30 pm.

Dinner was a nice meal of Bulgarian Salad, steamed pork and vegetables with a cake desert.

Went to bed around 11 pm after another long day.

Overnight Hotel Beresta Palace Novgorod.

Day 10 – Tuesday 31 May 2005

Luggage out and breakfast at 7.30 am then on the road at 8.30 am.

Weather fine but overcast.

A long day today as we travel from Novgorod to Moscow. Apart from lunch and rest room stops we only had one 20 minute stop to walk around a small village. Some rain on and off while driving.

Our morning coffee/toilet stop was at a very small café alongside the main road. Our Tour Director said “Ladies use the toilet inside and men use the trees”. We thought he was joking ---- he wasn’t. There were only two small toilets inside – pitch dark with no lights.

We travelled on to have lunch at the Motel Tver (just before the Volga River) followed by a photo stop at the Volga River itself before travelling on to Moscow.

Traffic coming into Moscow was horrendous but we finally reached our Moscow Hotel Ukraina at 7.10 pm and waited in our room for luggage which arrived at 7.35 pm.

The Hotel Ukraina is one of the 8 Wedding Cake buildings built by Stalin with 7 in Moscow and 1 in Warsaw.

We were unable to get dinner tonight because of big queues at the hotel restaurant. It’s a 20 minute walk to shops and we leave at 8.00 pm for our Moscow by Night optional. We finished up just having a coke each at the bar. In any case I still have tummy problems so no breakfast, lunch or dinner for me today anyway.

At 8.00 pm we were joined by our Moscow guide Vera and a photographer (the photographer will be with us tonight and tomorrow morning to take video of our group while we are sightseeing in Moscow and then make the video available for purchase when we are leaving).

Moscow by night was a great photo trip with a stop at Tchaikovsky Lake overlooking the golden domed monastery ( it is thought that Tchaikovsky composed Swan Lake here), then Peter the Great’s massive monument (set in the river in the form of a ship with a statue of Peter the Great on the mast), followed by a riverside view looking across to the Kremlin, St Basil’s Cathedral and several other gold and onion domed churches.

It was at this riverside stop that our Tour Director served us all champagne and after dinner mints while we took in the fabulous views.

After about 20 minutes we reboarded the coach for our visit to Red Square. This is a massive square with great photo opportunities such as Lenin’s Tomb and St Basil’s Cathedral.

While we were in Red Square it gradually became dark and the lights came on. St Basil’s Cathedral looked magnificent with the floodlighting picking out all of the colours on the domes.

Reluctantly, we finally returned to our hotel at 11.20 pm after a truly fantastic optional Moscow by night.

Overnight Hotel Ukraina Moscow