Photo by quinn.anya

And I’m so excited. If you’ve read my about me page, you’ve seen that I already spent 4 months there in 2003. This will be my first time back since then. But I’m only going for 2 or 3 weeks, and who knows when I’ll be back, so I need to make it count. Researching for this trip is going to be my big project for the next few months and I’ll need your help. When should I go? Where should I stay? And what should I DO?

So many decisions! So please, send me your tips, your success stories, or even better – your horror stories about your travels to Russia. I’m also looking for helpful books, websites, travel agencies, anything that can help me have a better trip. I’ll return the favor and report back as I figure things out.

I do have a couple things figured out already. We (my husband and I) are going sometime in the summer – probably July or August. Part of me will miss the charm of the beautiful Russian winter, but the rest of me wants to be able to spend a lot of time doing my favorite travel activity: walking around outside in between sitting in cafes drinking coffee.

The other thing we know is our main destinations – we’ll spend some time in both Moscow and St. Petersburg. I’ve been to Moscow, but this will be my first time in St. Petersburg, so any advice will be much appreciated!! I’m really looking forward to sharing my “passion for Russian” culture with my husband, who’s never been there. I want to be a great tour guide – and interpreter (which makes me a little nervous, but mostly excited) so help me out if you can!