Moscow and St. Petersburg for the non-Russian

[Johnson, Emily D]

You just need a better travel agent.  I am sorry you had such a bad time,
but there are a lot of honest and conscientious tourist firms in Russia that
provide good service at reasonable prices.  It may not be France, but it
still is a great place to vacation.

-----Original Message-----
From: Alla Nedoresow [mailto:alla-n at HOME.COM]
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2001 1:24 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Moscow and St. Petersburg for the non-Russian


A word of warning to anyone preparing to go to either Moscow or St.
Petersburg without a reasonable command of Russian and/or very close Russian
friends there. My husband and I have just returned from two of the most
miserable weeks we've ever spent - anywhere. I speak Russian, he does not
and that seems to make all the difference in the world. Tourist, especially
American tourist, equals "enemy," thus anything goes, all manner of
chicanery. The xenophobic "them" and "us" perspective ruled in Moscow from
the airport and its taxi drivers, to the Kremlin and its ticket booths, and
everything in between except for the lovely hotel, the Moscow Marriott
Royal, in which we stayed thanks to my husband's Marriott points. St.
Petersburg proved to be an nightmare from start to finish. The
"humanitarian-cultural center" Piligrim that solicited my patronage on March
22 from a notice submitted to this listing:

> I represent the Humanitarian-cultural center "Piligrim" based in
> St.Petersburg. We are specializing in receiving groups and individual
> tourists in St.Petersburg and can provide you with the required services
at
> considerable prices. As for accomodation we can offer private appartments,
> hotels for students and rooms in St.Petersburg hotels (*** to *****).
> You can advise us what amount of money you are ready to spend for your
> acommodation and we can choose the suitable accomodation for you.

started the ball rolling. I made a call to them from Moscow, a few days
beforehand, to confirm our arrival in St. Petersburg. No mention was made at
the time that "the suitable 'accomodation'" that we had chosen and for which
we wired American cash to them as a deposit, alas, could not be rented to us
because the owner (suddenly?) decided a longer-term rental would prove more
profitable. The apartment on which we had agreed was five minutes walk from
the train station. The apartment assigned to us was near the Neva and a good
hike from any metro station. The entry was dark and littered with trash, the
stairs were in total disrepair and a safety hazard, the closet-sized
elevator reeked of urine - everyday during our week's stay there. When my
husband mentioned our displeasure with the situation, he also remarked that
at the end of our stay, we should not be charged for the ride back to the
train station. We heard nothing more from this "humanitarian-cultural
center" until the day before our departure. At that time we were informed
that "the manager would not let the driver" take us to the train station for
free and were given the number of a taxi company. Nadia left the entire task
of making the arrangements to us/me after stating some "agreed-upon fee"
that proved entirely fictitious, and not in our favor, either! The farce
continued up to and including the taxi ride arranged in St. Petersburg with
Moscow Taxi to take us from the train station back to Sheremetevo.
Theoretically a reputable taxi company, they too stated one fare and charged
an entirely different, higher fare. Our sojourn at the airport needs no
comment. It simply provided the expected, carnival conclusion to the
grotesque nightmare of the preceding two weeks.

Once again, I share this experience in order to forewarn those planning to
set off to Russia on their own for the first time. If you have any illusions
that you're going to a civilized country, I would like to disabuse you of
them. In what western nation can "individual tourists" enjoy the experience
of being ushered into the wrong apartment through trash and darkness, up
broken stairs and a urine-scented lift? My husband was certainly impressed
by all the new experiences Moscow and St. Petersburg afforded him. And for
those imagining that this was my first time in Russia, you're sadly
mistaken.

Alla

Alla Nedoresow
102 School Lane
Trenton, NJ 08618-5021 USA
alla-n at home.com
+1 609 392-5231

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