From Russia with love.

I love Russia. What a country. I wasn't ready to leave - I know there is so much more to see. I'm thinking about one of those river cruises now. Maybe 2008 (2007 is all booked up). A trip down the Volga River. Yeah, sounds like fun. Now I just need to convince my husband that its a good idea.

I saw Yusopov's Palace today - where Rasputin was murdered. Church on the Spilled Blood where Alexander II was assasinated, ate lunch at a place called "The Last Palace" where I had beef stroganoff. The story behind the meal was that some rich person named Stroganov was too old and couldn't cut his own meat. So they made the dish with sliced beef and boiled potatoes for him. At least thats what the guide told me. Makes for interesting stories.

Visited the Hermitage Museum. Now there is a museum. They said it would take you 7 years - going 7 days a week and spending 1 minute on each painting/piece of art etc to see everything. We got the quick tour. Some amazing stuff in there.

And now we're cruising out of the city headed for Estonia. Now there is a place I never thought I'd visit, but now that I've done some research on it, I'm excited. This is one heck of a cruise and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Definitely spend some time in Copenhagen either at the beginning or end of the tour.
Now if only I was booked on the extension of this cruise. After dropping off in Copenhagen, it heads home to New York. 15 days and it stops in several ports in England, Scotland and Ireland. I might have to quit my job - anything beats flying home......