[Tayler's mom]

We are going to St Pete. Does anyone have suggestions for any tours or sites to see? How about necessities we should take on our trip?

[Ktates]

Hi there-
we are adopting from St. Petersburg as well. A friend is leaving today for her second trip and her pictures from the first were amazing. I got the Discovery channel book on St. Petersburg - it's great because there's maps and how to get around etc but it also has a bit on their history and culture as well. I hear great things about the Lonely planet guide too.

Here are some links:

http://www.saint-petersburg.com/
http://www.stpetersburgadoption.com/

The Hermitage is supposed to be amazing - it's art collection is so immense they can only display 1/20th of it at any time. There is the Church on the Spilled Blood as well - I think my friend said it is closed on Wednesdays.

We are really excited - we've met several families who have already traveled there and they all said it's amazing - also you can buy anything you need there so don't sweat your packing.

Do you belong to the St. Petersburg Yahoo group? The link is
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Adopt_StPetersburg/

My friend stayed at the brand new Renaissance hotel and said it was fantastic and she was able to book everything online.

Good luck-

[LindaBel]

Hi -

The Hermitage and churches were fabulous - way too much to see in a single day but worth the trip. If you're staying in a hotel they should be able to connect you with tour operators. We had a free day on our last trip and arranged (through the concierge, we stayed at the Radisson) for a half day tour with a private guide and driver. The cost was ~$100 (pretty reasonable for a private tour) and the guide was great. Her English was perfect, and she knew a lot of interesting sights and places to shop off the beaten path (like the buildings where Pavlov (of Pavlov's dog) and Mendeleev (creator of the periodic table) did their research).

If you're travelling in the winter remember days are much shorter there than here. We made our two trips to St. Petersburg in the summer, so we had the benefit of nice, long days.

[bopeck]

We were in St. Petersburg for 3 weeks this summer to adopt our 2 sons. It was quite an experience. If you have any specific questions, pm me and I will be happy to help.