ExGingi's 3 generation wedding & Pesach trip to Russia.

[ExGingi]

IIRC the Tucker was amazed by something in Russian supermarkets in his recent visit.

Aha. Most references to things like that will be missed by me. I don't waste my time on people that sound like he does (for lack of other words), or on lengthy shows/podcasts unless there's some interesting/intriguing intellectual knowledge to be gained.

[ExGingi]

Apparently there's a labor shortage in Moscow now, as many Muslims fled after the terror attack, as they were harassed by authorities.

[ExGingi]

FYI most major VPNs don't work in Russia.

And some websites restrict access from Russia. Remote desktop to a computer located in the US is probably the most efficient way.

[ExGingi]

I was wondering how US brands get to Russia, until I saw:

[ExGingi]

Getting taxi rides with multiple kids under 12 is challenging. They are very strict about car seats. But cracked windshields are omnipresent.

[ExGingi]

Coffee machine at Bolshoi Bronnaya shul. Is it the only one in the world that displays Rebbe videos?

[Yo ssi]

I was wondering how US brands get to Russia, until I saw:

Isn't there Russian coke? (Branded in Russian)

[AsherO]

I was wondering how US brands get to Russia, until I saw:

Idk if it’s kosher, but at least it’s halal…

[ExGingi]

Isn't there Russian coke? (Branded in Russian)

There's Russian Cola. I doubt there's Russian Coca Cola, but maybe I'm wrong. The only major American brand visibly operating seems to be Burger King.

There are some Ford & Chevy vehicles on the street as well as some Dodge Ram. But many cars are Korean, Chinese, or Japanese.

[JMHO]

I doubt there's Russian Coca Cola, but maybe I'm wrong. The only major American brand visibly operating seems to be Burger King.

https://www.facebook.com/ChabadOrg/posts/i-have-found-two-things-in-every-city-i-have-visited-coca-cola-and-chabad-rabbi-/10151698925560883/

[ExGingi]

Managing to keep such a large group with 8 kids under 12 and several teenagers and young adults (2 sets of parents, older generation and younger generation) is really tough, we finally agreed to split. I am now on the way to S. Petersburg on an overnight train with 4 teenagers and a young adult.

It was extremely difficult to book online (even though I have a Russian debit card that someone loads for me). When I finally thought I figured out the right train for us, payment failed repeatedly. So I  asked someone who helps us to book for us. It also took him a while, especially since I didn't want my daughters to be in the same room with strangers.

According to Yandex a taxi ride to Leningradsky train station should take 10 minutes, but we had a long wait for a "minivan" (Citroën C4). I was told by locals that I should plan to arrive at the station at least 40 minutes before departure, so when the traffic on the block of the station seemed like we wouldn't even have 10 minutes if dropped off at the entrance, I used Google translate to communicate with the driver that we only have 15 minutes to departure. He dropped us off about 200-300 ft away from the station, and a brisk walk it was.

Security is the good old type, no TSA nonsense. Just bags through x-ray machine along with metal belonging. My Apple watch and my Shabbos belt keys didn't trigger the metal detector. Departure sign was clear and bi-lingual, and off it was to track #3. We found our cars, didn't have to show tickets, but had to show passports.

Train supposedly is air-conditioned and has wifi. But at lowest setting I am still too warm, and wifi is unusable, so it's back to mobile data.

Conductor (or attendant, or whatever it is) came and asked for our passports. I ask her in Russian for very cold sparkling water. She says the don't have. I say cold. Nothing doing. Only room temperature. Ice? Unheard of. I motion to show her that I'm hot, so she tries to lower the A/C setting, only to discover that it's already on lowest. She tells me what time breakfast is served, and I ask for kosher. She asks if I want Kasha. I say no, Kosher. Jewish Religious. Nothing doing. She offers drinks and all I ask for is cold sparkling water.

TBC.

[aygart]

Managing to keep such a large group with 8 kids under 12 and several teenagers and young adults (2 sets of parents, older generation and younger generation), we finally agreed to split. I am now on the way to S. Petersburg on an overnight train with 4 teenagers and a young adult.

It was extremely difficult to book online (even though I have a Russian debit card that someone loads for me). When I finally thought I figured out the right train for us, payment failed repeatedly. So I  asked someone who helps us to book for us. It also took him a while, especially since I didn't want my daughters to be in the same room with strangers.

According to Yandex a taxi ride to Leningradsky train station should take 10 minutes, but we had a long wait for a "minivan" (Citroën C4). I was told by locals that I should plan to arrive at the station at least 40 minutes before departure, so when the traffic on the block of the station seemed like we wouldn't even have 10 minutes if dropped off at the entrance, I used Google translate to communicate with the driver that we only have 15 minutes to departure. He dropped us off about 200-300 ft away from the station, and a brisk walk it was.

Security is the good old type, no TSA nonsense. Just bags through x-ray machine along with metal belonging. My Apple watch and my Shabbos belt keys didn't trigger the metal detector. Departure sign was clear and bi-lingual, and off it was to track #3. We found our cars, didn't have to show tickets, but had to show passports.

Train supposedly is air-conditioned and has wifi. But at lowest setting I am still too warm, and wifi is unusable, so it's back to mobile data.

Conductor (or attendant, or whatever it is) came and asked for our passports. I ask her in Russian for very cold sparkling water. She says the don't have. I say cold. Nothing doing. Only room temperature. Ice? Unheard of. I motion to show her that I'm hot, so she tries to lower the A/C setting, only to discover that it's already on lowest. She tells me what time breakfast is served, and I ask for kosher. She asks if I want Kasha. I say no, Kosher. Jewish Religious. Nothing doing. She offers drinks and all I ask for is cold sparkling water.

TBC.

My recollection from a summer there is that Russians don't drink anything at all cold and you are lucky that they don't cook up Coca-Cola before serving it

[ExGingi]

There's Russian Cola. I doubt there's Russian Coca Cola, but maybe I'm wrong. The only major American brand visibly operating seems to be Burger King.

There are some Ford & Chevy vehicles on the street as well as some Dodge Ram. But many cars are Korean, Chinese, or Japanese.

On the way to the train station I saw a KFC. Also seemingly US hotel brands are present, those are often long term franchise contracts. So Radisson, Marriott, and Intercontinental are all here (and I am sure other brands too). In the train station I saw a Pepsi branded vending machine, but not knowing how long it would take us to actually board the train, I didn't stop to look at details.

[ExGingi]

My recollection from a summer there is that Russians don't drink anything at all cold and you are lucky that they don't cook up Coca-Cola before serving it

That wouldn't bother me, as I don't drink anything sweet. I wonder how they have their beer.

[Dan]

My recollection from a summer there is that Russians don't drink anything at all cold and you are lucky that they don't cook up Coca-Cola before serving it

Warm vodka?

[aygart]

Warm vodka?

Room temperature to avoid losing the alcohol

[EliJelly]

Room temperature to avoid losing the alcohol

And taste, for scotch

[ExGingi]

Haven't seen such grandeur since I was in Istanbul as I saw in the Grand Choral Shul of Petersburg.  I will post pictures later bez"h.

[ExGingi]

Having people who ate at my Shabbos table, or participated at farbrengens in my house, all over the world pays off. Access to mikvah past closing hours in Moscow, being hosted for breakfast and a place for my daughters to stay while I was Davening in Petersburg. Those little things that make the difference between being a total stranger in a city to being able to get quirks worked out.

[ExGingi]

Petersburg definitely needs more than a day. Every place one goes to one can easily spend 3 hours or more. It's much colder than Moscow (about 20 degrees cooler). It's is a flat city. Beautiful architecture. Apparently was somewhat modeled after Amsterdam, after the Tsar who built up the city got back from there and wanted to build a Russian copy. Also brought artisans from the Netherlands.

We took a short river tour (1 hour, they can be 2 hours or more). Unfortunately narration was in Russian, so needed to split attention between Google translate screen and views. Was still worth it.

As Lubavitchers, the Peter & Paul Fortress (Petropavlovskaya Krepost) is a must. During October through April season, many of the museums (IINM 6 out of 9) are closed on Wednesdays. We visited the remaining 3. One of microscopic art is amazing (see www.konenko.net). Medieval torture equipment is sickening (might be as bad as the worst ISIS videos if not worse! A yid could never conceive these kinds of things). Was museum attraction for us is supposedly the Alter Rebbe, but it doesn't really look like the famous drawing. If the rest of the wax models are true to size, it's pretty amazing to see the dimensions of some (taller than expected, or shorter than expected). Prices for the various museums range between 400-450 for adults and 250-350 for "children" (no age definition) IINM.