June 7, 2013 – St. Petersburg

We’ve been “Beyond the Golden Ring” since Leaving Yaroslavl more than a week ago.  An objective of this trip was for me to experience the “real” Russia – the one beyond popular tourist paths.  I think I’ve accomplished that.

The Golden Ring is a collection of cites northeast of Moscow.  The road from Moscow to St. Petersburg, with a diversion to these ancient cities, is a well known tourist route. It’s popular because Golden Ring cities, sometimes called “open air museums”, are picturesque and charming.  They feature monasteries, kremlins, churches, cathedrals and small, quaint villages. You can find quality accommodations and meals there.

A negative aspect of this tourist route, especially for motorcyclists, is the 550 kilometers between Tver and St. Petersburg. It’s a major highway with a lot of commercial traffic. Friends had warned me about the route.  That’s why Sveta suggested that instead of continuing directly to St. Petersburg, that we explore Russia’s Northern European Region, featuring the great wilderness of the Republic of Karelia and Europe’s two largest lakes – Ladoga and Onega. We traveled to the Solovetsky Islands near the Arctic Circle before turning south for the 900 kilometer ride to St. Petersburg, exploring as many secondary roads and interesting stops as possible.

St. Petersburg is a beautiful city, but my friends cautioned me that “it’s not Russia”.  I think it’s like San Francisco – a lovely city and a “must see” destination, but not representative of the rest of the country. The city reminded me of Europe.  I had lived in Spain and St. Petersburg looks more like Madrid than any place I’ve seen in Russia.

We entered St. Petersburg and headed for a downtown hotel, planning to use the next day to explore the city’s attractions. We’re planning to have a free day in St. Petersburg during our tours and I wanted to capture photos to accompany our website tour descriptions and for our catalogue and advertisements.  Without Sveta to direct me to the most popular and interesting attractions it would have been impossible to scout the city in one day.  She knows St. Petersburg so well that I was able to visit popular attractions in the city as well as in areas nearby, including the palace and fountains at Peterhof and the Catherine Palace at Pushkin.

June 8 – The Road Less Traveled to Moscow

We wanted to find an interesting route back to Moscow from St. Petersburg, avoiding the heavily trafficked commercial highway.  Sveta suggested that riders would probably enjoy visiting the small cities of Pskov (pronounced “puh-skof”), Starry Izborsk, and Pechory. Although these cities are not nearly as well-known or frequently visited as the Golden Ring cities, I found them to be every bit as interesting and a bit more authentic.

Sveta has done an incredible job of finding outstanding places to use on our tours.  In Sortavala, just when I was satisfied that we had found suitable accommodations and was prepared to continue on our way, Sveta insisted on visiting a new lodge that she learned about from Vladimir, the pilot of the speedboat that took us to the island of Valaam.  Construction is almost complete and the lodge will open in a few weeks.  The place is truly stunning and I’m sure riders will appreciate our discovery.

This wasn’t the first time that Sveta’s relentlessness paid off, nor was it the last.  While returning to Moscow from St. Petersburg she also found a lovely boutique hotel in the small village of Starry Izborsk and a great lakeside lodge near Zapadnaya Dvina. She’s solved the accommodations piece of the puzzle and has suggested several authentic Russian experiences that we’ll include in our tours.

June 9 – Moscow

We arrived at Sveta’s Moscow apartment at 3:30 am.  Her mother Liudmila, God bless her, stayed awake to greet us and insisted on feeding us before we turned in for a few hours of sleep before my busy last day in Russia.  The day’s agenda included an afternoon meeting with a motorcycle tour operator and dinner with a group of Russian friends who I’ve been on tour with.

As much as I enjoyed the opportunity to explore Russia during the last two weeks, the dinner with friends was a highlight and a perfect way to end my visit. Nothing compares to the opportunity to spend quality time with friends and I had great fun posing for photos – especially with the lovely ladies of the group.  I admit to being a showoff for friends at home who were already envious of my Russian scouting opportunity. Fortunately, my wife Barb got a kick out of the photos too.

During the last few years I had come to know all of these riders and their co-riding companions – several of whom have done multiple trips with us.  During my travels with them many suggested that I visit their country and perhaps bring motorcyclists there. Talk is cheap, especially when lubricated with adult beverages that often facilitated our conversations, so I would not be surprised if they doubted my sincerity in planning to visit Russia.  They were happy to hear that I was coming to Russia and now they were interested in learning how I felt about their country.

What do I think of Russia now? What did I like the most (and the least)? What did I think of the roads? Did anything about my travels surprise me? Were there any disappointments? What type of Russian tours will I offer? When will I be back?

I’ll cover all of this in my next (and final) Russian blog, after I’ve digested and summarized my extensive notes, most of which were punched into my iPhone or MacBook while Sveta chauffeured me on our 11-day 4,312.2 kilometer ride beyond the Golden Ring and into the real Russia.

[SlideDeck2 id=8083]