Saint-Petersburg Excursions

The new prices for the popular train "Allegro", traveling between Russia and Finland, will become effective as of 1 July 2011. The price of the ticket from St. Petersburg to Helsinki will grow from 84 euros to 92.2 euros (second class). The price of the first-class tickets will grow from 134 to 144 euros.

Today, on Victory Day, May 9, in St. Petersburg the light and music fountain complexes, located on Moskovsky Avenue and on Lenin Square have started working. The fountain Complex on Lenin Square will run every day from 10 to 23 hours. It will show the light and music performances at 12.00 and 22.00 hours from Monday to Friday, and, on weekends and public holidays it will have the additional performances at 20.00 and 21.00 hours. The duration of light and music show - 20 - 25 minutes. The repertoire of the musical fountain contains the masterpieces of classical music, works of A. Petrov, V. Soloviev-Sedoy, Paul Mauriat, hits of 60's, marches and waltzes.

The first hotel of the famous brand W was recently opened in St. Petersburg, Russia. W Hotel St. Petersburg is located in the heart of St. Petersburg, at the address: Voznesensky Prospect, 3. The Palace Square and Nevsky Prospect are just a few steps away from the hotel. The rooms of the hotel overlook the golden dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral. W Hotel St. Petersburg offers 137 rooms, 10 of which are suites of various sizes and filling. All rooms are equipped with modern entertainment systems, and mini-bars. The most luxurious room - Extreme WOW Suite - covers an area of 106 square meters, with a double jacuzzi bath, a real fireplace, dining area and bar with a separate entrance for staff. All rooms are serviced by the 24-hour Whatever / Whenever service. The hotel restaurant "miXup" is managed by the company of the world-known French chef Alain Ducasse. The menu of "miXup" combines the dishes of European trends and traditions of French cooking. the "miXup" bar and open-air terrace are located at the 8th floor of the building, overlooking the majestic Neva river. The hotel also offers to it's guests the services of a Spa complex Bliss, an ultra-modern gym WET, a beauty salon, 3 conference rooms with a total area of 170 square meters, high-speed Wi-Fi, as well as a range of additional services and surprises from the hospitable hosts. The opening accommodation rates start from 7 999 rubles (nearly 200 euros) for two.

One of the most famous restaurants in Saint-Petersburg, and probably in the whole Russia - a famous wooden restaurant Podvorye was completely burned down during the accidental night fire. The accident has happened in the early morning on Aril 19th. Luckily, the restaurant was empty at that time, and there was no victims of the fire.

Restaurant Podvorye was opened in 1993. It became popular after the celebration of the birthday of president of Russia - Vladimir Putin, that has happened in this restaurant. Over the years, the restaurant was visited by the various world-known persons: from the top-level politics as Jacques Chirac and the British Prince Charles, to the stars of Hollywood - Kurt Russel, Goldy Hawn, Sharon Stone, and famous sportsmen - Italian FC Milan and Russian football star - Andrey Arshavin.

Podvorye was one of the key points of the tourism structure of Saint-Petersburg. It has a great location between the Pushkin Catherine's Palace and the Palace of Paul I in Pavlovsk. The restaurant had always provided a very fine level of service and cuisine.

Podvorye belongs to the company "Gutsait-group". This company also owns three more restaurants in Pushkin - The Admiralty, Yalta and the Old Tower. As it was told by the owners of the restaurant, Podvorye will be completely restored in it's original shape and look. The estimated time for rebuilding of the restaurant is nearly 1,5 years.

Some more photos at the link

International Mariinsky Ballet Festival is held every year since 2001 by the initiative of Maestro Valery Gergiev. This is one of the most significant events of the ballet season, which is attracting the balletomanes from around the world to St.Petersburg. The main strategy of the festival is to attract the international ballet stars to the cultural capital of Russia. The festival has always involved the stars of the Mariinsky Theatre - Uliana Lopatkina, Diana Vishneva, Catherine Kondaurova, Alina Somov, Victoria Tereshkina, Igor Zelensky and Leonid Sarafanov, Andrian Fadeev, Vladimir Shklyarov. Over the years, the scene of the International Festival of Ballet " Mariinsky ", was attended by such famous artists as Vladimir Malakhov, Agnes Letestu, Aurelie Dupont, Mathieu Ganio, Roberto Bolle, Mary Kovroski, Manuel Legris, Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg, Paloma Herrera, Nicholas Tsiskaridze, Svetlana Zakharova. Traditionally, each festival opens with the premiere of the ballet season, and ends - with a gala concert by the stars of the world ballet. XI International Festival of Ballet "Mariinsky" will take place from 14 to 24 April 2011.

Alexander Tikhomirov has entered into the history of official Soviet art as a painter of Leniniana and the author of the largest portrait of Lenin in the world (42 x 22 m). He worked at the Moscow plant of monumental and decorative art (KMDI) to create portraits of Lenin and the party leaders for a festive decoration of buildings and streets of Moscow. And very few people knew, that in his free time Tikhomirov was creating paintings on themes of biblical stories, East, theater and circus, inspired by memories of his life in Baku, Shakespeare's dramas, films by Fellini, symphonic music. For the first time his works were exhibited only in 1987. The exhibition "Alexander Tikhomirov. Paintings and graphics" will be first to present the works of all periods of the artist, reflecting the diversity of his talent, breadth of stylistic range, high craftsmanship. The exhbition is devoted to the 95-th birthday of the artist.