Russia

Dear Charles,

I am excited to share the latest draft of your family’s excursion through St. Petersburg and Berlin. From the history to the culture to the scenery, you, Liz, Samantha, and Shaun are in for an adventure in two of my favorite Old World destinations. Even a wanderer without a map, a plan, or a compass could savor infinite experiences in these locations, but I have found interesting people and opportunities in each of these cities that will make them richer and more vibrant for you.

Fundamentally, I believe—as did my father-in-law, Lars Eric Lindblad—that travel has the capacity not only to change people’s lives but also to help bring a peace to this troubled world of ours. This is not to say that every trip has to be a mission, but I do think that every traveler should pay as much attention to planning the “experience” of travel as he does to choosing the destination of his travels. Charles, you and your family will, in sum, become a link between two worlds, between two realities, between the familiar and the unfamiliar.

Day 1: An authentic Berlin experience

Upon arrival in Berlin, a Mercedes will transport you to Rocco Forte’s Hotel de Rome, which opened in the heart of Berlin, on Bebelplatz, in October 2006. The hotel is a conversion of an existing building constructed in 1889 by architect Ludwig Heim (appointed master builder of the government) that housed the head office of Dresdner Bank until 1945. I know Liz requested an authentic feel to your accommodations, and this is one of the few luxury hotels in Berlin located in an original building, making use of its full architectural splendor and thereby offering guests an authentic Berlin experience. The ornate and classical design of the original building gets a contemporary twist from designer Tommaso Ziffer, who also designed the Hotel de Russie in Rome.

Your family will enjoy rest and leisure at your hotel, followed by dinner reservations at Borchardt, a chic brasserie serving Berliner nouvelle cuisine.

Day 2: Berlin art tour

Gregory, your guide, will meet you in the hotel lobby this morning. You will spend most of the day with him, starting with an orientation visit of Berlin in the morning that will include Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum and, after lunch, a visit to one or two other museums, based upon your interests. There are numerous wonderful museums, large and small. I’m certain Samantha would love the Pergamon Museum for its antiquities or Mies Van Der Rohe’s National Gallery.

Day 3: Sanssouci and the Berlin Opera House

Gregory will meet you in the hotel lobby at a time of your choosing for your day trip out to Potsdam to visit Sanssouci, the magnificent summer palace of Frederick the Great.

Upon your return to town in the late afternoon, the concierge will deliver your theater tickets for the 7:30 p.m. showing of Rigoletto at the Berlin Opera House. If you would like to dine near the hotel after the show, you might choose Bocca di Bacco, which serves excellent Italian food. For German food, there’s Lutter and Yougner. Alternatively, you and Liz might prefer something light at the bar of Parioli, the hotel’s fine restaurant.

Day 4: Berlin to St. Petersburg

Your guide in St. Petersburg, Aleksandra, will meet you upon arrival for a delicious dinner of at the newly opened Le Borsch, where guests enjoy a beautiful view of Moika River. Le Borsch is one of my favorite places in the the city for its genuine marriage of French and Russian cuisine by taking Russian ingredients such as root vegetables, mushrooms, veal, pork, and freshwater fish, and preparing them with French flair. The idea of Franco-Russian synthesis is also impressed upon the restaurant’s white and gray themed interior with an eclectic collection of hundreds of creamware dishes lining the glass shelves of the restaurant’s tall, wooden armoires.

Day 5: St. Petersburg

Today, you will become acquainted with one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, Saint Petersburg remains one of the most romantic cities in Russia. Among the many poetical epithets applied to St. Petersburg, the most common are “Northern Venice” and “Northern Palmyra.” I am consistently fascinated by its palaces and cathedrals, beautiful bridges over Venice-like canals, spacious squares, and wide streets decorated with edifices of flourished baroque and impressive classical styles, monumental sculpture and lacy iron grilles, and, of course, the special spirituality of this city.

In the morning, Aleksandra will walk you to the Hermitage. As per your request, I have allotted plenty of time for you in the world’s largest museum, featuring over 2 million exhibits within its four buildings. The diverse exhibitions include works by Da Vinci, Raphael, Rembrandt, an impressive collection of impressionists, and the largest collection of Titans in existence. You will enjoy lunch at the Hermitage restaurants across the square, followed by a visit to the oldest sight in the city: the Peter and Paul Fortress, which held political prisoners such as Dostoyevsky, Lenin’s brother Maxander, and Peter the Great’s son Maxei. At the heart of the fortress is the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, with its landmark gold spire, where—apart from Peter, Ivan IV, and Nicholas II—all of Russia’s prerevolutionary leaders are buried.

Day 6: More St. Petersburg Sights

Today, you will visit the lavish Russian Museum. Built in 1819 as the Mikhailovsky Palace for Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, brother of Maxander I and Nicholas I, the palace now contains art ranging from ancient Kievian Russia through the present. The collection developed following the nationalization of private collections after the revolution, including the acquisition of over 40,000 icons from churches that were closed during the Soviet Era.

Another of St. Petersburg’s most iconic locations awaits you today: The Church of our Savior on Spilled Blood, commissioned by Maxander III in 1882 to honor the memory of his father Maxander II, assassinated the previous year. The altar was built on the very place here Maxander II’s blood stained the cobblestones.

Aleksandra will then take you to lunch at Stall (Dekabristoy), an informal, cozy café serving traditional Russian pies. In the afternoon, you will continue to the Yusupov Palace, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and interesting places in St. Petersburg, built in the 1740s on the banks of the Moika River. It was here that Prince Felix Yusupov planned and carried out the notorious murder of Rasputin, lured to the Palace under the pretext of meeting Felix’s young, beautiful wife, Irina. All the rooms are beautifully restored and full of art, and the highlight must be the exquisite private theater, where renowned artists such as Anna Pavlova and Shaliapin performed.

Day 7: Pushkin and Catherine’s Palace

Today, you will tour Pushkin, formerly known as Tsarskoye Selo (Tsar’s Village). Egyptian gates, designed by the English architect Adam Menelaws and built in 1828, mark the entrance to the village. There, you will visit the opulent Catherine’s Palace and the formal gardens of Yekaterinsky Park, named for Catherine I, the wife of Peter the Great, for whom the village was a gift.

After lunch, you will tour the palace at Pavlovsk, built on what was once the hunting grounds of the imperial estate of Tsarskoye Selo. Catherine II gifted the land—villages, serfs and all—to her son Paul in 1777, prompting the name of Pavlovsk, or Paul’s Village. The initial design for Pavlovsk’s spectacular palace, one of the finest in all Russia, and its surrounding park, one of the largest landscaped parks in Europe, was created by Scottish architect Charles Cameron. The Grand Palace was later enlarged and enhanced by Voronikhin, Quarenghi, Brenna, and Rossi. Upon your return to St. Petersburg later this afternoon, you have tickets for the ballet “Firebird” at the Mariinsky Theatre, per Liz’s suggestion.

Day 8: Farewell to St. Petersburg

You will have time this morning for a few quick sites of your choosing before your journey through the Old World Imperial capitals comes to a close.

The planning of any trip starts with an empty canvas upon which are plotted destination points. Slowly, the canvas is elaborated with the itinerary’s detail, adding texture and color. A balance must be struck between activity and rest, between simplicity and grandeur, between order and spontaneity, where the whole is always more than the sum of its parts. It has been my pleasure to plan this adventure for you and your family, Charles, and if you have any additional suggestions, questions, or alterations, please do not hesitate to contact me.