Greetings Of Greatness From St. Petersburg!

No, not the warm and sunny St. Petersburg with palm trees and beaches, but the one that’s predictably frozen solid at this time of year, the city founded by Peter the Great. In 2018, I was here in the summer. Because winter is such a long season here, I wanted to experience it in this state. The temps during my visit have been averaging right around zero Fahrenheit, so I got my wish. No wonder it is advised to be careful what you wish for! I have to say that, having recently been in Siberia, these temperatures feel ‘almost’ balmy ?

As much as I have been enjoying the sights -and food- of St. Petersburg, today I will board yet another train to travel all day and all night, not to head toward some distant warm southern beach, but to venture even further into the frozen north. As usual, there will be more about this part of my travels later. For now, here are three new galleries from earlier in the travels:

Editor’s note and reminder ..to get the full experience with Goldballoon’s commentary …start by clicking on the right arrow near the top of the first slide then click the pause button top left and then the “i” button for “information” then resume at your leisure with the right arrow button also if you click on the links for further exploration that GB has provided ..when you go back to the slide show you need to click the “i” on the left to continue to see the commentary

https://balloonbill.smugmug.com/Other/Chechnya

https://balloonbill.smugmug.com/Other/Dargavs

https://balloonbill.smugmug.com/Other/Dargavs-To-Elbrus

Enjoy your explorations!

Bill