Trippin in St Pete

[2tallbill]

Happy birthday to your boy, Bill. And belated congratulations on your five year anniversary!

Thanks,

We've known each other 5 years we've been married only about half that.

[2tallbill]

Nice pics Big Bill; thanks for sharing.

I second that, thanks Bill! The young fella sure is getting big!

Thanks guys,

Mini-me is in the top 95 percentile in height, it's a big shock I know.

[Bounder]

We've known each other 5 years we've been married only about half that.

Then, congratulations on 5 years since meeting!

[Tom_traveller]

I also was in St Pete and I'm sure that this is one of the best reports. However,do you guys have some recommendations for cultural life and night life?

[2tallbill]

I also was in St Pete and I'm sure that this is one of the best reports. However,do you guys have some recommendations for cultural life and night life?

I was there over the New Year holidays and didn't follow my own rule of stopping and
smelling the roses, which was a mistake.

For Culture, I  would recommend that you go to the Hermitage, Church of the Savior
on Blood, and Peterhof Palace. There are many, many more. Going to a ballet or concert
are cheap by Western Standards and I recommend it as well.

For nightlife, I would date hot FSUW. I wouldn't go to bars to pick up on women.

Udachi!

Bill

[msmob]

I was there over the New Year holidays and didn't follow my own rule of stopping and
smelling the roses, which was a mistake.

For Culture, I  would recommend that you go to the Hermitage, Church of the Savior
on Blood, and Peterhof Palace. There are many, many more. Going to a ballet or concert
are cheap by Western Standards and I recommend it as well.

For nightlife, I would date hot FSUW. I wouldn't go to bars to pick up on women.

Udachi!

Bill

Thanks, Beel - I didn't realise the Palace at Peterhof WAS open during the winter months ... The gardens are only open May-Oct


I found this great Spb resource site :


http://www.saint-petersburg.com/peterhof/visiting-peterhof/


If Ballet is your thing - and even if it you THOUGHT it isn't - I recommend the Mariinsky Theatre 


http://www.saint-petersburg.com/buildings/mariinsky-theatre/

[2tallbill]

Thanks, Beel - I didn't realise the Palace at Peterhof WAS open during the winter months ... The gardens are only open May-Oct

I didn't follow my own advice and visit those places.

I recommended those places because Mendy wrote so elegantly about them and
I trust his opinion.

I went to the ballet in Voronezh but not in St Pete

[2tallbill]

Easter table, the soup is called okroshka it's a cold soup with
kvas, sour cream, cucumber, radish, egg, fresh dill and other
secret stuff.

Holodetz (which isn't for everyone) is meat with jelly,
the cake is called kulichi, it's a traditional easter cake,
caviar on toast, Russian sausage called old Kiev,
Russian candies and for the American part we had my
Potato salad, sparkling cider and Easter Lillies.

[mhr7]

We only had three cakes and all were purchased from a wonderful bakery in the city center. This was the first year I tried the tvorog Easter cake, which is quite good! We also spent a few hours at the church last night but came home around midnite. Happy Easter Bill!

[ML]

We were so busy past week that I forgot to call to make reservation at one of several upscale restaurants/hotels for Easter buffet.
I called yesterday (Saturday) but most were completely booked for all time slots.  Those that had time slots were for after 3 PM, and we wanted to go before noon for sure.
So we ended up going to Golden Corral . . . wow, big time place.
But Ochka was a good trooper and didn't complain about it, and she still dressed up pretty nicely.
We were more formally dressed than anyone there, but that's OK.
Ochka did insist on making Paska yesterday.
She did burn some of the beaten egg topping because of not returning from garden in time to get it out of oven.
Tastes OK to me, but she was disappointed in the outcome.

[msmob]

S.C. can't cook to save her life - other than great omelettes  

Neighbours presented us with cakes and homemade wine from Georgia - we politely ducked invites to Church - based on previous experiences - beautiful - but (sorry) - boring..  Orthodox services drag on, too long.

Went to the Irish bar to watch the F1 GP - but they wanted to show Manchester Utd v Chel'ski'   - so left in a 'huff' and watched it at home ...Man Utd beat Chelsea - so serves them right for not letting me watch the Formula 1

Lots of happy Russians were out on the promenades with their kids - 18C and sunny - but we could tell the non-locals as they dress like they are in Moscow / Siberia ..... look a little obvious amongst the Palm trees )

[jone]

Of cultural interest is the disparity of dates between most Western Christian Churches and the Russian Orthodox Easter.  Typically it is weeks or a month apart.  This year it is on the same day.  Convenient for Russian/Western couples.  Where is Mendy when we need him to comment on this stuff?

[jone]

We only had three cakes and all were purchased from a wonderful bakery in the city center. This was the first year I tried the tvorog Easter cake, which is quite good! We also spent a few hours at the church last night but came home around midnite. Happy Easter Bill!

No.  You can't stop there.  What did the cake taste like?   That frosting almost looks like vanilla ice cream. 

[jone]

Bill,

I know that your potato salad is tops.  Don't know how you keep the weight off.  However, when I was growing up, my grandmother made us German potato salad.  For those of you who don't know, this potato salad has bacon and vinegar to give it a kick.  It is usually served warm.

I got the recipe from my sisters and have made it several times over the past year.  Unfortunately, it never lasts more than a day as it seems to bring in lots of visitors to the kitchen.

This is a very close rendition to my family's recipe heirloom:



http://allrecipes.com/recipe/83097/authentic-german-potato-salad/

[ML]

Holodetz (which isn't for everyone) is meat with jelly,

Yes . . . I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

[ML]

This was the first year I tried the tvorog Easter cake,

Tvorog is a cheese; not a cake.

[mhr7]

No.  You can't stop there.  What did the cake taste like?   That frosting almost looks like vanilla ice cream.

It actually doesn't have frosting, what you see is how the whole cake looks. It's made from tvorog, eggs, cream, sugar, vanilla and various other ingredients. It has a texture similar to custard cheesecake and tastes very sweet. A mold, like the one below, is used to shape it and it needs to be refrigerated.

[mhr7]

Tvorog is a cheese; not a cake.

Not at Easter

[2tallbill]

Angel Eyes likes to drive into the mountains so we drove up to the Stanley Hotel.
This is the Stanley Hotel which was built by F.O. Stanley invented the Stanley
Steamer car. This hotel was inspirational role in Stephen King's novel, The Shining
and later made into a movie starring Jack Nicholson



A Stanley Steamer set the world record for the fastest mile in an automobile in 1906


All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy (one all kinds of cRaZy)

[2tallbill]

[2tallbill]

[2tallbill]

[2tallbill]

Yes . . . I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

I can choke down pretty much anything if I have to. Angel Eyes makes hers with
85% meat and 15% jelly which is far easier to choke down. I added a little bit
of Russian horse radish with beets which makes it even better.

[2tallbill]

Bill,

I know that your potato salad is tops.  Don't know how you keep the weight off.  However, when I was growing up, my grandmother made us German potato salad.  For those of you who don't know, this potato salad has bacon and vinegar to give it a kick.  It is usually served warm.

In the USA potato salad is like borscht in the FSU, every family has their own recipe variation.
I put bacon in my potato salad as well.

[2tallbill]

We only had three cakes and all were purchased from a wonderful bakery in the city center. This was the first year I tried the tvorog Easter cake, which is quite good! We also spent a few hours at the church last night but came home around midnite. Happy Easter Bill!

Happy Easter to you as well!

Happy Easter to ML, Moby, Jone and all those who have managed to muddle through my
saga.