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In St. Petersburg: Friday, November 21st, 2008, 1:59 am (GMT+3) Weather Temperature: -1° C (30° F) • Feels like: -1° C • (30° F) • Cloudy • Humidity: 92% • Barometer: 28.81" Hg (731 mmHg) • Wind: CLM 0 mph • Sunrise: 9:12 AM • Sunset: 4:17 PM •

WARNING START You are browsing 2001-2004 newsletters archive
Prices and events mentioned refer to past times, some links may not work, To get back to current issue, click here WARNING END

Dear Sir or Madam,

The year 2001 is almost over. It's had its good and bad moments, we all hope that more good than bad for you. Well, we are now all looking forward to the big party marathon. In Russia we start this celebration with Western Christmas on December 25th, than New Years Party on December 31st, and Russian Orthodox Christmas on January 7th, and, finally, this Russian celebration called "Old New Year" on January 13th. You are more than welcome to join us and Peter for any of those celebrations.

Russian Lessons from Peter
Or how not to get lost in St.Petersburg:

Russian people take holidays quite seriously. So I figured that I needed to be well-prepared for this Christmas - New Year marathon. As a part of my preparation strategy I had been training hard to drink vodka in big quantities. I had. Until somebody told me that for the New Years celebration Russians prefer Champaign anyway. And they like to propose toasts and congratulate every person around. 

This has just ruined my hopes to get by without saying a word, you know, by simply participating in mass drinking. I had to learn how to say all the congratulations to make Russian people happy. Well, I think it's good to know these words. After all, there are many other occasions when you could use them. 

Naturally, if you were to do congratulations, you'd have to start with "Pazdravlyayu s..." (The translation would be something like "My congratulations on...") If you feel like that's too much effort, I'm with you on that one. Luckily, Russians are not too particular on starting with that crazy word, and if you don't want spend half of your evening trying to say it - don't! 

For the New Years you can say "S Novym Godam!", short of "Pazdravlyayu s Novym Godam!" (you can say it this way too) or "Schaslivava Novava Goda". All those expressions stand for "Happy New Year". And for Christmas - say "S Razhdestvom" which stands for "Merry Christmas". If someone comes to you with congratulations first, it's wise to reply with "Spasiba, Vas tozhe" (for older people) or "Tebya tozhe" (for people of your age, and those who look casual). 

Oh, and if someone's birthday is one the way, you can use this scheme too! In Russian "Happy Birthday" would be "S Dnem Razhdenya!", and you can even put "Pazdravlyayu" in front of it if you wish. 

More Russian lessons from Peter in our future Newsletters!


As usual, some news from Russian St. Petersburg Tours company - my favorite travel services provider In St.Petersburg, and simply nice people.

!!!HOT DEALS!!! from
"Russian St.Petersburg Tours"

HOT!!! Russian Santa gives out presents too
Favorite budget package "The Week!" is discounted: US$499
US$399!

Russian St.Petersburg has its Santa for their clients too. The price for one week budget tour has been discounted! Only US$399, and you will receive full visa support, transfer to & from airport, good standard 7 night host family accommodation with breakfast, dinner plus map of St.Petersburg, guide magazine, individual list of places of interest and unlimited metro usage for travel within St.Petersburg. For offer and purchase details click here.

*****

NEW!  Christmas Special 
New Year Eve and Christmas with a Russian family in Russia!

Still have no plans for the New Years party? Want to try something very unusual? Those guys have something for you! Only with Russian St.Petersburg you can spend the most favorite Russian holiday with a Russian family. Come and try genuine Russian Home cuisine, walk on the streets of St.Petersburg on the New Years Eve, open a bottle of Champaign in front of the Hermitage as the New Year begins, and maybe find me in the crowd on the Palace square. 

Full visa support, airport transfers, accommodation, guided tours and anything else provided by Russian St. Petersburg Tours. Simply click here to learn more about this tour and other services!

*****

RST Team is growing!

RST is getting bigger, better, faster every day, even more so with a new member of the team, Luda Baykova. She will be responsible for web promotion issues because RST Team plans to empower their Internet presence. First step is link exchange program. If you would like to exchange links with Russian St.Petersburg, ask your webmaster to visit the Links page


St.Petersburg happenings:

Russian winter is already well-known in the world, and if you like snow, it's the place to be. St.Petersburg with all its Christmas outfit is really worth seeing too! Trust me, whatever your reasons for travelling to St.Petersburg are, there will always be plenty of things to do. 

As I've said the biggest news is that winter has finally settled in St.Petersburg. This means that all the winter fun and sports are back again! Downhill and XC skiing, skating and racing, snowmobiling, making snowmen and playing snow-balls, even traditional Russian Troika are waiting for you during the next 3 months here!

*****

Just as if 2 big celebrations were not enough for one month, Russians have managed to have one more holiday in December. The Constitution day on December 12th will bring fireworks, street celebrations, concerts and celebrities to the city, and yet, another day off to the country!

*****

One of the top sensations of the year was the exhibition "Golden Deer of Eurasia" at the Hermitage Museum. I can now see why! The exhibition features about 200 items of burial mounds from Scyntian-Samaritan times. A herd of heavy wooden deer covered in gold, golden inlays on cups, golden vessel, weapons and more. The exhibition is open through January 20th of 2002, so there's still time to see everything. By the way, another big exhibition, "The Treasures of the Holden Horde" is still on too! More about the exhibition here.

*****

Even for winter lovers like myself, it 's always nice to get away from snow and cold. And what could be a better way to do so, than watching brilliant performance of Latin-American and European dances by the best Russian and world couples at 

"ISDF Open. Petrovsky Cup."
December 15-16 at SKK sport and concert hall

A great chance to experience the drama of international competitive ballroom dancing at one of the world ranking festivals.

*****

A friend of mine took me to this "Toys of the peoples of the world" exhibition at Kunstkammer museum. Yes, if you think that my friend is a little funny, you're right. But was fun to see a wide selection of ethnic toys from various continents and countries. Some of those toys looked very strange... I have just realized how happy I was with the toys that I had as a kid. If you feel interested, the exhibition will be open through the end of December. Click here to see more.

*****

And this one I had to try with a bunch of friends. Because someone had to be responsible for taking all of us home after we went to check out new wine bar "Probka". This was a very wise decision, I'm telling you! In "Probka" you can choose wines from any of the five continents: a whole bottle, a half, a quarter. The wine is served in the appropriate glasses and at the correct temperature. Always something to enjoy for both wine gourmet and casual visitors.  

*****

Just in case you're thinking of something to do for the New Years party in St.Petersburg (just like me now :-), there will be plenty of different parties and big celebrations. All clubs, bars and restaurants are offering their special programs. The problem is that the choice is too big. So I'm hesitating between Sevilian Barber at Mikhailovsky Theatre, Tsar's Ball in Catherine Palace, and Russian Folk Party at Nikolaevsky Castle/ Art Centre. I feel like I'm going to end up in one of my favorite clubs. Who cares. It's still the party! Wishing you the best luck with the party choice too. 

*****

!!!And see you next month with more of my stories!!!

This is a monthly newsletter of your friendly travel company in St.Petersburg - "Russian St. Petersburg" with the most interesting news on St.Petersburg and the hottest deals from our company. Please, contact us if you have any questions about our tours. If you do not wish to receive our newsletter, please, fill in our unsubscription form.

 

Even though it's still a little early, we wish you
A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Peter and "Russian St. Petersburg" Team

e-mail : info@russian-st-petersburg.com
Web : www.russian-st-petersburg.com
Phone +7-812-974-0373  Fax +7-812-974-0373
22 Sinopskaya emb., St. Petersburg 191167, Russia


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