Russian Country Tour

August 24-September 3, 2008

Day 2: Monday, August 25               Arrival in St. Petersburg, Russia
Upon arrival this afternoon, our Russian guide welcomes us. We transfer to our hotel, Moscow. Relax or do a little exploring on your own prior to our included dinner at the hotel. (D)

Day 3: Tuesday, August 26               St. Petersburg
This morning we begin with a city tour which takes us through the Industrial Park, past the Triumphal Gate, the University, the Arts Square, and the Admiralty.  We travel along Nevsky Prospect, the city’s key shopping district, lined with stores, cafes, and theaters.  We also see the famous warship, Aurora, the Kazan Cathedral, and we visit the Peter and Paul Fortress, considered to be the birthplace of the city.  We enjoy lunch and continue our sightseeing tour with a guided tour of the renowned Hermitage Museum, located at the Winter Palace.  The Hermitage is one of the most prominent art museums in the world and the main attraction of St. Petersburg.  The museum’s collection includes works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Rubens, Renoir, and Monet.  To round out the afternoon, we visit the beautiful St. Isaac's Cathedral.  The cathedral is the third largest domed building in the world and one of the finest architectural monuments of the 19th Century.  More than 800 pounds of gold and over 1,000 pounds of lapis lazuli were used to adorn the church.  Next to the cathedral, on St. Isaac’s Square, we see the equestrian monument of the iron-willed, despotic Russian ruler Nicholas I.  After dinner in a local restaurant you are sure to enjoy the Russian singing, dancing, and comedy at the Nicholas Palace.  (B, L, D)

Day 4: Wednesday, August 27          St. Petersburg / Moscow
Following breakfast at our hotel, we board a hydrofoil and skim along the Neva River to the Summer Palace built by Czar Peter the Great.  Gardens decorated with 144 fountains provide a beautiful setting for this lovely palace.  We enjoy lunch in the Gallery Restaurant of the Summer Palace and later this afternoon we return to St. Petersburg for our 4:00 p.m. train departure to Russia’s capital, Moscow.  Sit back and enjoy this daylight journey through Russia's beautiful countryside.  A late night dinner awaits us in our hotel in Moscow.  (B, L, D)

Day 5: Thursday, August 28  Moscow
Today we enjoy a full day of sightseeing.  We start our Moscow exploration on Tverskaya (formerly Gorky) Street, which is Moscow’s main shopping area, and Pushkin Square, with its monument to Russia’s classic poet, Pushkin.  We tour the Red Square, and see Moscow’s famous landmark, the colorful onion-domed St. Basil’s Cathedral, Lenin’s Tomb, the KGB building, and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Russia’s largest church.  Other points of interest on our sightseeing tour are Dzerzhinsky Square, the TASS newspaper building, the Lenin Stadium, built for the 1980 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, and Sparrow Hills (formerly Lenin Hills), the highest point in the city.  We stroll on Arbat Street, and visit the GUM department store.  We return to the hotel via Moscow’s subway, the Metro.  You cannot imagine how beautifully decorated Moscow’s subway stations are – this is a must see!  Tonight we see Moscow from a different angle while enjoying a boat excursion on the Moscow River.  (B)

Day 6: Friday, August 29                   Moscow / Yasnaya Poljana / Voronezh
This morning we start with a comprehensive inside visit of the Kremlin, a fortified enclosure with distinctive crenelated red brick walls consisting of tall towers, and cathedrals capped with golden cupolas.  The most prominent buildings within the Kremlin are the Grand Kremlin Palace, commissioned by Czar Nicholas I in 1838, the Assumption Cathedral, the Archangel Cathedral, and the Great Bell Tower.  We tour the Kremlin’s Armory and museum, containing an enormous collection of Soviet national treasures and a priceless collection of pre-Revolutionary War riches.

Day 7: Saturday, August 30  Voronezh
Voronezh was founded in 1585 as a fortress to protect the southern boundaries of Moscovy from the Tartar hordes’ raids.  The city, which lies in southwest Russia, near the Ukrainian border, is the economical, industrial, cultural, and scientific center of the Central Black Earth Region.  The Black Earth Region is one of the best farming regions in the world.  We will be welcomed by our local guide, Hanspeter Rikli, who moved from Switzerland to Russia to pursue his dream of large scale farming.  We enjoy a city tour and later we visit Hanspeter’s potato fields near Voronezh and meet with a private Russian farmer.  We also meet with the director of the Swiss Foundation, an organization that supports Russian farmers with business credits in Voronezh.  Tonight we dine in a local restaurant.  (B, L, D)

Day 8: Sunday, August 31                 Voronezh / Pavlovsk / Liski
We continue our tour of the Central Black Earth Region with a visit of the Aprotek Company in Pavlovsk.  The company grows and processes sunflowers on a 74,000 acre farm operation just outside the city.  Following an introduction by company officials we tour the farm and the sunflower processing plant.  This afternoon we board a small cruise vessel for a relaxing cruise and lunch on the Don River.  Later we travel to Liski, an important railway junction, where we conclude today’s journey.  (B, L, D)

Day 9: Monday, September 1           Liski / Voronezh
Today, we visit EkoNiva, a dealership for John Deere, Väderstad, Kverneland, Grimme, and others.  They also own and operate a 75,000 acre farm on which they grow winter wheat, summer barley and summer wheat, sunflower seeds, sugar beets, and forage for their 4,000 head cattle operation.  We meet Christian Kowalczyk, a young German Ag engineer who seized the opportunity and moved here to manage the crop production for the corporation.  Christian will share his insight on the challenges of Russian agriculture.  First we visit the EkoNiva service center where we see different farm machines and after lunch we learn about their milk and crop production.  We return to Voronezh and conclude with dinner in a local restaurant.  (B, L, D)

Day 10: Tuesday, September 2           Voronezh / Verkhnaya Khava / Tula
This morning we travel to Verkhnaya Khava, to visit a large private farm operation with dairy, hog and grain production, and a grain elevator.  A local administration representative will be on hand during a presentation to answer any questions you may have.  We continue on to the farm of Tobias Schenk, another young immigrant from Switzerland.  He and his Swiss business partner are quite successful growing potatoes and small grains on their 1,000 acre farm.  After lunch we begin our journey back to Moscow.  We overnight near Tula.  (B, L, D)

Day 11: Wednesday, September 3      Tula / Moscow / USA
We depart Tula and journey to the airport in Moscow for our afternoon departure to the US.  (B, In-flight meal service)

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