Agreed with earlier commenters that you can walk around StP (at least, the historic center) at any time of the day or night more safely than in any American cit...
The Mariinsky's current Cinderella is very, very good, as you'd expect, but the Mikhailovsky's is more than that - it's magical. Just my two cents.
The Grand Choral Synagogue is really beautiful, and just around the corner from the Mariinsky Theatre. Does your tour guide have to be Jewish? Would it be good...
Day 1 looks overwhelming - are you planning on a tour bus that takes you by all these places? I can't see doing that on foot in one day! On day 4, you might wa...
"...we like anything that has to do with a country's history..." Well, then, you must go to the State Museum of the Political History of Russia. Before the rev...
"...get the front row, as seating is quite close, and quite a few in the front row have an annoying habit of resting on the balcony ledge, so 2nd and 3rd row ge...
There are countless pizzerias in Napoli, and they all do pizza more or less the same way, so you might think they're all the same. Not so! There are some that j...
@ CityMomChicago - ouch, you're missing by just one day a really, truly, magical production of Prokofiev's *Cinderella* at the Mikhailovsky, 14th April at 19:00...
Wow - @$92 for a seat in Box 12? in March? Ouch.
Happy Ending Rome Central Inn has let me go with a penalty of just €10. They thereby guaranteed themselves a friendly review. I mean, c'mon, people - this is...
...and thank you, for this great series of posts.
"This isn’t some moral discussion about right or wrong, it’s a business and industry practice" Wrong. Everything you do in your life is part of a "moral discus...
"who in their right mind books again the same hotel they have just cancelled!" I want them to either (1) act like good Christians, or, (2) look me in the face...
"You must really love the look of that hotel to have paid for it twice" No, it's nothing special, but it's about as good as I could find next to where the rest...
"It doesn’t matter if you book 3 days out or 3 months out, non-refundable generally means no refund." It should matter. 3 days out means the hotel may miss the...
"I believe there is a 24 hour grace period or period when you can cancel, but only if you have booked the flight on the airlines own official website, not if yo...
"They won’t let you stay there in that room because you chose to cancel it. If you wanted to stay you should not have cancelled." Jeezus, dude - look at yourse...
"When we use booking sites and something says non-refundable you can’t just assume or hope or expect that won’t apply to you and you will have a grace period." ...
Chapter 2: I have now rebooked the same room at Rome Central Inn, at the same price. Will they really charge me twice for this room?
"If the hotel said they wouldn't reinstate it the booking that's their prerogative" Yeah - no kidding. But is that the *right* thing for them to do?