Enjoy the White Days of Russia
Moscow and St, Petersburg
February 9 - February 20, 2007
M&M Art Travel has created a White Days
package that offers visitors to modern-day St. Petersburg the opportunity to find
themselves in an earlier age of elegance and romance.
Winter is also the perfect time to visit St.
Petersburg to tour the art collections of the Hermitage and the Amber room of
Catherine's Palace, and avoid the large crowds that flood into the city in
summer. Spend the days touring the city's finest museums, palaces, and
galleries.
Another reason to come to Russia in winter is "Maslenitsa".
Maslenitsa - is something very Russian to experience! It is celebrated for a
whole week before Lent. This is a time of pancakes with caviar and vodka, group
merrymaking, and the storming of snow fortresses. This old Russian tradition of
seeing-off the winter came from the pagans and is still alive and well in
Orthodox Russia! This is one of the merriest winter holidays in Russia when you
will find yourself feeling like a Russian.
St. Petersburg certainly has a distinct charm
when its architecture is powdered with snow and the winter sun is reflecting
off the city's canals. Take advantage of a traditional Russian troika
ride through the parks of tsars and the Dr. Zhivago image is complete!
ITINERARY
February 9 - February 19, 2007
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Day 1 USA/Moscow
February 9, 2007
Friday
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Departure from your home airport for Atlanta
where you will meet the M&M Art Travel Group prior to our afternoon
flight to Moscow.
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Day 2 Moscow
February 10, 2007,
Saturday
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Arrival in Moscow (morning)
Transfer from the airport to the hotel of choice.
Check-in at the hotel.
Lunch
After lunch enjoy the city tour and the visit to the
beautiful Cathedral of our Savior.
Dinner
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Day 3 Moscow
February
11, 2007, Sunday
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On this day your guide will take you to the heart
of Moscow - the Kremlin, Red Square, the Kremlin
Cathedrals, the Armory & the Diamond Fund
Lunch
In the afternoon you will explore the Tretiakov
Gallery. This world famous gallery contains works of Russian art at the
beginning of the 10th century through today.
After
a light snack you will attend a performance at Russia's most famous Bolshoi Opera
and Ballet Theater prior to the late evening train ride to St.
Petersburg.
Transfer
to the Leningradsky train station for an overnight ride to St. Petersburg in
first class accommodations.
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Day 4
St. Petersburg
February
12, 2007, Monday
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In the morning you will arrive in the former Imperial capitol of Russia, the
city of St. Petersburg. You will be transferred to your hotel in a
comfortable bus. After refreshments and breakfast at the hotel you will start
exploring the city. Your guide will take you down the famous Nevsky
Prospect, to the Palace Square which is home to the Winter Palace -
home of the Tsars.
You will also visit the Peter and Paul Fortress. This
fortress was founded by Peter the Great. The fortress includes the Peter and
Paul Cathedral which is the burial place of the Russian Tsars and the final
resting place of Nicholas and Alexandra.
Lunch
Tour of the Menshikov
PalaceThe palace belonged to count Menshikov - the first General Governor of St.
Petersburg and was the first palace built in the new Russian capitol.
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Day 5 St. Petersburg
February
13, 2007, Tuesday
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Your guide will introduce you to one of the best
museums in the world - the Hermitage museum.
The museum consists of nine palaces including the unique
Winter Palace - the residence of the Russian Tsars. The museum contains over
3 million pieces of art with dates ranging from antiquity to the present day.
After lunch you will visit St. Isaac's Cathedral.
This church is one of the finest architectural constructions
of the XIX century. This former principal cathedral of the Russian capital
has a capacity to accommodate 14,000 people. The observation platform on the colonnade provides a
magnificent view of the city.
Dinner
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Day 6 St. Petersburg
February 14, 2007 Wednesday
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This morning continue your
Russian journey visiting Peterhof
, a jewel of Russian art - a town of
parks, palaces and fountains. The grand palace is a magnificent example of
Russian Baroque architecture.
After the tour of Peterhof you will
visit a true Russian
village Shuvalovka for the Maslenitsa celebration.
You will see traditional Russian huts of the 18 century, taste national cuisine, and witness the traditional Russian
Maslenitsa celebration.
Dinner
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Day 7 St. Petersburg
February
15, 2007 Thursday
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In the morning, you will
visit the Mikhailovsky Palace, which houses the Russian Museum. Its collections boast the great works of outstanding Russian masters.
The museum also owns collections of sculpture, applied art, and numismatics.
Lunch
The Cathedral of the Savior on the
Spilled Blood is
one of the most beautiful cathedrals built in early Russian style. The
cathedral stands on the place where Tsar Alexander I, the Tsar Liberator, was
assassinated by terrorists.
That night you will have a rare opportunity to attend a Ballet Performance at the private
theater of Catherine the Great - the Imperial Hermitage Theater.
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Day 8 St. Petersburg
February 16, 2007
Friday
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On this day you will be taken on a tour
of the Catherine
Palace and Park of Tsarskoye Selo,
which is a former Imperial summer residence of the Russian court. Catherine's
Palace also contains the world famous Amber Room, exquisite decorative
objects, furniture, Russian and Western-European paintings, plus unique
collections of porcelain and amber.
Lunch at the local Russian style
restaurant which is a favorite of President Putin.
In the afternoon after a
short ride you will visit Pavlosk which was built in the late XVIII and
early XIX centuries as a residence for Emperor Paul I and his family.
Residential rooms of the Empress Maria Fedorovna are enrapturing with their
harmonious beauty and are open the public. This is an excellent opportunity
for a troika ride over the snowy palace grounds.
Dinner
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Day 9 St. Petersburg
February
17, 2007 Saturday
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At 8.00 AM, our driver will pick you up
to depart for Novgorod. Novgorod is one of Russia's most ancient cities. It is about 3 hours
drive from St .Petersburg and will give you an opportunity to see the Russian
countryside. Your guide will be a professor of Ancient Russian Art, Dr.
Valery Shilov from the Academy of Arts.
You will eat lunch at an 800-year old
church converted into the restaurant "Detinets." The menu consists
of old Russian dishes popular in ancient Novgorod.
Shopping is extremely reasonable in
Novgorod in October and your guide will help keep the prices down as low as
possible.
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Day 10 St. Petersburg
February 18, 2007 Sunday
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The Yusupov Palace is an extremely interesting palace to tour. The building is notable both
for its beauty and for the historical events that have taken place within its
walls. During our visit you will admire the elaborate ceremonial rooms, a
unique home theater and the cozy basement drawing-rooms associated with the
assassination of Gregory Rasputin.
Lunch
In the afternoon you will see the
largest monastery in Russia, the Alexander Nevsky Lavra built near the place
where Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky won his victory over the Swedes and the
Teutonic Knights in 1240. Alexander is also buried inside the Lavra.
The monastery is also notable for its
graveyard. In the graveyard, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Rimksy Korsakov,
Mussorgsky, Glinka, Dostoevsky, Lumonosov, and others are buried.
Dinner
A ride to the train station for the
return to Moscow.
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Day 11 Moscow
February
19, 2007 Monday
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Transfer to the airport in the morning
Flight Home
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Pricing information
Three-star
accommodations $5,800
Five-star
accommodations $7,800
Price
is all-inclusive, per person, double occupancy. Single supplement is $500.
The price includes your visa, coach class airfare, accommodations, meals,
museum entrance fees, guide service, train ride in shared sleeping compartment,
transportation in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and one musical performance in
Moscow and one in St. Petersburg.
*
Delta frequent flyers can be upgraded to Business Elite transatlantic for $600
fee plus 50,000 frequent flyer miles.
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