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Dora,
The entire tour was excellent. The Budapest Hotel was the better of the two hotels (vs. Asteria, of course 4 star vs. 3) although the staff was nicer in the Asteria. Red Square and the Bolshoi theater (under renovation) are only a few blocks from the Budapest. I'm so glad we opted for the closer hotel as we went to Red Square or GUM once or twice daily. I don't recall what the Moscow 3 star hotel you offered was but central location at the Budapest was extremely valuable and I'm glad we chose that one. The Budapest is on a fairly busy street and there is a nightclub below it that was very loud until midnight on Saturday and Sunday nights. You might suggest to your clients that they request a room in the rear, not on the street. Fortunately, we were extremely tired from travel so were able to sleep through it. We did get tickets to Sparta ballet at the Bolshoi (actually held in the state theatre next door) and it was superb. The artist playing Sparta (Ivan Vasiliev) was as acrobatic as Baryshnikov used to be. And Swan Lake in the Marinski was superb as well and it was the ballerina's debut. We DID enjoy the Russian Cultural performance enough to suggest to you to advise that to your clients. I guess there is more than one such show in St. Pete's, the one we saw was at the Nikolai theater. The Red Arrow train from Moscow to St. Pete's was absolutely first class, clean as can be. The train we took to Voronezh (Northern something or other) was OK, acceptable, although not as clean as the Red Arrow. The Don Hotel in Voronezh is quite basic, but clean enough. It is only two blocks from Lenin square (just as you had said.) I consider St. Pete's to be pretty much a walkable city and the Asteria location is excellent for placement and for scenic value. We had a room overlooking the Fontanka that was very nice. Polot airlines sucks. You'll recall you could never get a straight answer out of them. I now know why. You can't get a straight answer out of them if you standing at their counter, especially if you don't speak Russian. After cancelling our 11:10AM flight to Moscow, it took them almost two hours to find somebody who could speak a little English to us Russian challenged Americans to explain that the flight would be rescheduled for 2:30PM that day, but didn't actuallyleave until after 4:30 or so. We had planned to take the train from Domedodovo to downtown on our last day, but arrived too late for this to be feasible. The guides were friendly, knowledgeable, reliable, punctual and spoke excellent English, and we were very pleased with them. Our guide in Moscow's first name was Tatyana and Julia was our guide in St. Pete's. I would use either of them again without hesitation. We were overall very pleased with your handling of our trip and wouldn't hesitate to recommend East-West tours to others.

Peter Jensen

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Rajiv
thanks for arranging a wonderful trip for New York-Niagra Falls-Washington DC-Boston.

Nina

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Hi Dora,
This email has been a long time coming, since my trip was back in May. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed my trip to Russia. I wanted other travellers who are plannig to travel on their own to know that even though I was travelling on my own, I felt safe and extremely well taken care of by the tour guides in both Moscow and St. Petersburg. The Meridien in Moscow was a great hotel and the perfect spot for seeing the military parade on Victory Day since the roads are closed and the parade goes right past the hotel into Red Square. There were so many celebrations on the streets that day, it was great way to spend my first full day in Russia. We were able to get a last minute ticket to the Bolshoy ballet which I attended before taking the night train to St P. I loved St. Petersburg with all its history and Maria as a tour guide full of every kind of story. The Radisson in St P was also a very nice hotel on the main street, which made it easy for me to navigate my way when shopping or looking for local restaurants.
Thanks for your support
Karen

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Hi Alex:
just a short not to say thank-you to you, Dora, and Bobby for all of your assistance with my recent trip to Russia. All of the transportation with Academ Service worked out incredibly well, very courteous, professional and punctual. I arrived sufficiently early at SVO from DME that I was able to go on the same flight as Kelley and called Elena from St. Petersburg to cancel my driver -- so hopefully that happened so someone was not waiting for me unnecessarily. The commuter flight from St. P to SVO on Rossiya (for Aeroflot) was like a 30-40 year trip back in time after Aeroflot but nevertheless fine. I certainly appreciated Dora and Bobby expediting my visa. I realize that you have your own connections for hotels in Russia but wanted to share with you that both hotels - Hotel Vera (St P) and Iris Congress (Moscow) were very good, so you at least had that information.
Again, many thanks, John
********************* Hotel Vera (St Petersburg): Great hotel (interesting history), recently renovated, very clean, comfortable and quiet (although street noise at night if windows open). Superb staff with fairly good to excellent English. Free tea or coffee brought to the rooms on request. Internet connection excellent and free. Had a deluxe room (2 queen beds) - very spacious, excellent bathroom - single rooms looked comfortable also. Breakfast buffet, modest (typical European - cereal, cold cuts, tomato, cucumber, boiled eggs, fresh fruit, juice, tea, coffee, bread and pastry selection) but plentiful. Hotel is an easy 6+ block walk to Moscow station subway on Nevsky Prospect. Easy walking in the area around the hotel to Smolny Institute/Church, delightful parks and also walked through the back streets back to hotel from the central part of St. P (~ 30 mins). Some good restaurants, bakeries, produce shops around the hotel (certainly within a few blocks). Would absolutely stay here again.
Iris Congress (Moscow): located in a quiet neighborhood ~ 9 miles out from city center (~ 1 hour by free hotel shuttle at 9 am to 6 Tsverskaya St ~ 2 blocks from Red Square and about 20 minutes return on the evening shuttles (3 from downtown at 7pm, 10 pm, and midnite ). Will drop at selected Metro stations on the trip in and stops at Pushkinskaya on the way in and out. Hotel staff spoke excellent English and attentive. Hotel quiet, clean and very comfortable with a good, varied breakfast buffet (mix of European and American and some variation each day). Health club had good exercise equipment, sauna and a small pool. Hotel has a gift shop and bank. The free hotel shuttle made the stay outstanding; however you need to plan on staying downtown for the day as there is only 1 shuttle in the morning. The hotel provides helpful instructions on how to navigate the metro and local buses if you do not use the shuttle. Internet available but ridiculously expensive ($12/hr). Since it was 3 nights for the price of 2 it was a great deal. May not be convenient for folks who want to be more centrally located because there did not appear to be much in the way of other shops/restaurants in the local area.

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Dora
Your tour guides are fabulous and the trip overall was excellent. One issue was that there needed to be some instruction or help in finding the bus to take from the local airport in Moscow over to the International terminal; we finally took a Taxi, but we were uncomfortable. Also, do you do bookings for Hawaii? My husband and I are planning a trip for December, but only need help with the airlines? And, Maria in St Petersburg mentioned that you are setting up 'INDIA' and I am interested in India for 2011.
Regards,
Sally Logan

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hello dora....
just a note to thank you for the lovely trip we had in russia thanks to your efforts... i am now back in chennai... and though the memories are there, it feels like i was never away!!! we had a really good time in spite of a few glitches--none of them really significant, and hope to be in touch with you again soon...
bye for now...
githakv

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Bobby
Just wanted you to know what a great trip we had in the Baltics. The guides were exceptional, the accommodations were very nice and in good locations and all our transfers worked out very well.
Thank you for your help
.

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Alex:

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We just returned from a 13-night trip to Moscow, Suzdal, Vladimir, St. Petersburg, and Kiev (2 people, privately guided), booked through East-West tours of Bothell Washington, and are happy to report that we had an excellent experience with them. I looked at a number of tour companies (including Exeter International), but was ultimately very happy I chose East-West. Russia and Ukraine are expensive places to travel, but I felt like we got very good value-for-money in these expensive destinations. For those of trying to decide between independent travel and guided travel, Russia is one of those few places in the world where I would really recommend a guide -- especially if your time is limited. For many sites, there seem to be lots of confusion about tickets, "special" tickets, and "super-secret special tickets," and as a first time traveller you will spend a lot of time unravelling all of this. Also, for places such as the Kremlin and especially the St.Petersburg - area palaces (Catherine Palace, Pavlovsk, Peterhof and the Hermitage/Winter Palace) we saw very long ticket lines that we were very happy NOT to be in, bypassing them with our pre-arranged tickets. Overall, we spend three nights in Moscow, one in Suzdal, one night on the overnight train Moscow-St. Petersburg, 5 nights in St. Petersburg, and 3 in Kiev. If I were doing it again, I'd probably try to spend an additional night in Moscow since I really didn't have any real free time there. The overnight train was okay, but I spent 5 grim hours waiting for it in the Leningradskaya station, which was not fun. I might take one of the fast day trains or fly, if I were planning it again. Underrated and/or highly recommended: 1. the Moscow metro. get on the circle line and get out at each station. This is easy to do as trains come every 1-2 minutes. 2. the Novedevichy convent 3. the inside of St. Basil's (smaller than most would expect, but really interesting construction) 4. Sergyev Posad. Easy day trip from Moscow, even if you aren't going to the Golden Ring 5. Suzdal and its museum of wooden architecture 6. the Church of the Intercession of the Nerl, near Vladimir (a gorgeous, UNESCO-listed small church, beautifully set. Not in most tour itineraries, but only about 4 km from Vladimir) 7. Peterhof and its fountains; try to get tickets for the "grotto" which shows you some of how the fountains work. If you have time for only one of the suburban palaces, I'd make it this one. 8. The Great Patriotic War Museum in Kiev. Great Stalin-era reliefs and huge "steel-lady" celebrating WW II victory 9. St. Sophia's, in Kiev. Extraordinary Byzantine mosaics, which I havn't anywhere except, well, Byzantium Overrated and/or not recommended: 1. the Arbat shopping area in Moscow. 2. expensive crappy Russian restaurants. you're better off shopping in grocery stores and picnicking. Take PowerBars. I just hate paying large amounts of money for terrible food 3. Russian and Ukrainian airports; please be advised that THERE IS NO PLACE after flight check-in to change your rubles/hrivna in the Moscow or Kiev airports. 4. Tretyakov (moscow) and Russian Museum (St. Petersburg). We went to both. They're both good museums, but unless you're really interested in Russian art, I'd go to one or the other, but probably not both. I enjoyed the Tretyakov more. Hotels: Moscow: Golden Apple (very nice design, good location, small rooms, ridiculously expensive restaurant, friendly English-speaking staff) Suzdal: Pushkarskaya Sloboda (odd but nice place in Suzdal, multiple restaurants) St. Petersburg: Novotel (good location, free internet in business center, outstanding breakfast, English widely spoken) Kiev: Hotel Opera (nice location, free internet in business center) Flights: Aeroflot's direct flight from LA-Moscow. This was by far the fastest option from our Southern California location. Aeroflot flies an older 767 on this route (2-3-2 configuration in coach), no personal video system, very mid-80's feel, 32" pitch in coach. Not luxurious, but affordable. We paid $860 per person for this flight, and among East-West's best decisions was to wait to book the flight because when we first looked the lowest price wast $1440/person. Aeroflot is not a great carrier by any stretch of the imagination, but any other option for us involved changing planes a couple of times. Overall, we enjoyed our trip and felt we had made the right choice by using East-West tours. Their contact info: http://www.east-west-tours.com/ email: dora@east-west-tours.com 800-776-3341

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We had a great time in Moscow. Tatyana was a great and helpful host. We enjoyed spending time with her and all the great history she showed us. Alex, thank you very much for having these tours arranged for us it made the trip very pleasant.

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Hi Alex
just wanted to let you know your guides have beeb excellent. Peter 1 Hotel was lovley and great location. Saw alot and enjoyed Moscoe. Overnight train was fun and very comfortable. Julia, our guide in st Petersburg is young,smart and very good and enjoyable, Spent the whole day in the Hermitage,took canal ride today-weather has been nice and just alittle rain. thanks for your help--WE'll be sorry to leave but am looking forwrd to Latvia and Estonia.

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Hi Bobby,

I just wanted to let you know we had a wonderful time in Kiev, Ukraine and in Russia. Hotel in Kiev was in a excellent location and we had nice time, We did have bad experience with bus driver and when they came to pick us up in a Van it was not big enough for luggage and all 14 of us and driver was angry (I was very nervous and praying that  hope rest of the trip is not like this) Bus driver just dumped us at the airport when leaving Kiev and our luggage was coming in station wagon. Hotel was nice and tour guide was nice but was in Hurry on 1st day and last day because she had another tour. Kiev is a  great city and our Hotel Location helped us enjoy it even more.
St. Petersburg we had great time, again location of the Hotel was excellent and tour guide Vladimir was excellent, he was going out of his way to do things, did not worry about time and made sure we enjoy his city and he stayed with us till end.He made sure restaurants we wanted to go to was open and he would drop us there and show us the way back to hotel.  We all had river view room so we could see Bridge opening right from our room and was very convenient to go to heart of the city on our own from the Hotel. Bus driver was very polite and nice and helped us get off and on the bus.
 Our Suzdel/Vladimir  experience was OK, tour guide and driver not so friendly.I am glad we were only there for one day. Hotel had no hot water for shower and no fans or AC. though included meals were good.
In  Moscow we had great tour guide, She was very friendly and worked with us. Bus drivers were different every time but they were all good. Hotel location was not as convenient as other ones but It was the best Hotel among all the others we stayed at.

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Bobby
the trip to Russia, Finland and Sweden went well. Thank-you for good planning and recommendation. As per your suggestion, the hotel in town was very convenient and allow easy access to food and shopping.
Elena was also an excellent tour guide from the feedback by the shadow group tour travelers..
.
sam

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maria ganina is a wonderful guide. her knowledge is extensive, particularly in art history. we had many great discussions. she also has an extremely pleasant personality. she was always punctual and smoothed every obstacle. i would recommend her to anyone.
you should think twice about putting american tourists in the demidov bridge hotel. most would run screaming. the approach to the hotel is terrible. there isn't any sign, just a steel door, looking like one to a jail cell. anyone traveling alone wouldn't know how to get in. once inside you are assaulted by stale tobacco smoke. the stairs and landings have grime from the time of peter the great. the elevator is so filthy you feel contaminated just getting in it. covered with grafitti and so dark you can't see the buttons, much less know which one to push. although it's so secure there is grafitti on freshly painted walls which should be removed immediately.
the room seemed nice, spacious with a nice bath. but the only place to sit in my room was a padded backless stool. i never could find any english tv. the switch for the lights over the sink are so high i had to stand on tiptoe to reach it as well as an outlet to charge my camera ( and i'm 5 feet 8 inches) the sheets aren't large enough for the bed so they won't stay tucked in. half the time you wound up sleeping on the mattress. street noise very loud, couldn't have windows open. breakfast room dismal but may be temporary as maria and i stumbled into an unfinished breakfast room.
i had trouble finding restaurants or cafes in the area.
since i was rarely in my room, i could take it but i would never stay there again.
the tour itself was excellent. i was picked up at the bus station without much difficulty - complicated by the fact the bus was 40 minutes early. the driver arrived at 3:00 am to take me to the airport.
all of the things i saw were wonderful, never rushed for time, never had to stand in a line to get in. i particularly liked pushkin and pavlovsk. i had some free time and was able to make my way around on foot. not being able to read any signs was not a problem as i had a good map.
although you were not involved i had wonderful seats for the opera and ballet at the maryiinsky which was within walking distance. maria found a concert for me at the yusupov palace that was very enjoyable. also within walking distance. i was able to avoid taxis completely.
because of the crowd, huge tour groups. i realize it would be almost impossible to do it by yourself. the tour was a great idea and met my needs completely other than the hotel. i would recommend the tour.

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Bobby,
Thank you for helping us with our trip to Russia and Ukraine. I wanted you to know that our guides and drivers were wonderful. They were prompt, knowledgeable, professional, and really nice! I can honestly say that our guides took a personal interest in us and our interests. Never once did we wait for a guide or driver. They were easy to find at airports and train stations.
Moscow: Svetlana, and our driver Victor were wonderful. We especially enjoyed the subway tour. Svetlana had energy and knew her Russian history.
St. Petersburg: Maria (Masha) Ganina, our tour guide, our van driver, Igor showed us a beautiful city. Masha has so much knowledge. We loved asking her questions about culture and history. She showed us our favorite souvenir store. Masha made St. Petersburg come alive for us with her personal approach. Igor was so polite and helpful.
Kiev: Guide Elena Parshutina and Sasha, our driver showed us a wonderful time in Kiev. We appreciated them making an extra stop for us at one our church sites. Elena was patient and taught us so much. Kievo-Pecherska Lavra was such an interesting site.
Crimea: What can we say? Aleksandr Shybanov and driver Peter are now our friends. We loved Sevastopol and Yalta. Aleksandr helped us to tweak our tour a bit so that we could have a day of much-needed rest and not miss any sights. Peter not only drove us, but entertained us with his beautiful music. Aleksandr has recently been a guest in our home here in Utah. No one should tour Ukraine and not see the Crimea. Such wonderful history.
Kharkov: Alex and our driver were fantastic. Alex had excellent English skills and showed us unique things about the city. Highlights: 1) Hotel Maxima Irbis. Even though it was far from city center, we liked the rooms and the restaurant was very good.Highlights: 1) Hotel Maxima Irbis. Even though it was far from city center, we liked the rooms and the restaurant was very good.
2) Kremlin and Red Square--Thanks Svetlana!
3) The tea room in the basement of the Tretyakov Art Gallery. The art was so nice and the tea room gave us a needed rest.
4) The overnight train from Moscow to St. Petersburg was beautiful. Clean with great food.
5) Maria (Masha) Ganina. Perfect. Everything in St. Peterburg was a joy. Nice hotel with excellent restaurant in basement. Great location.
6) The Hotel Rus was wonderful. Everyone spoke English. Fantastic Breakfast Bar.
7) Kiev is not-to-be-missed. Our guide was very good and helpful. We really liked Elena.
8) Balaclava was great! The Hotel Sevastopol had a beautiful porch that overlooked the Black Sea. We ate breakfast there and it was perfect. Wonderful Guide (Aleksandr Shybanov)
9) The Hotel Bristol in Yalta had nice rooms and a beautiful indoor pool.
10) The Hotel Central in Donesk was our very favorite. Clean with wonderful staff.
11) Kharkov apartments gave us a glimpse into "real-life Ukraine".
Suggestions: 1) Never use the 2nd-class train from Simferopol to Luhansk. Horrible. 2) We would have liked to be closer to City Center in Moscow. The extra expense would have been worth it. We ended up taking taxis and vans to the ballet and train station. They travel was about an hour (one-way). 3) Hotel Luhansk was okay, but not near the quality of our other hotels. (It did have a great Chinese restaurant on the 7th floor!) 4) Check out the apartments in Kharkov before renting. Our 2 apartments were blocks away from each other and there was not an internet caf� or restaurant near.

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Hi Alex:

We are home after nearly 3 weeks of travel and had the most amazing time in all the cities that we visited. I wanted to let you know that the two guides that were assigned to us in Moscow and St. Petersburg were both delightful and intelligent young people, the tours were great as were the hotels.

Our flight from Vilnius to Moscow was delayed due to mechanical failure on the aircraft. Our original arrival time of 9 am was delayed until 3am the next day so we unfortunately missed an entire day in Moscow. Our guide, Alex, did his best to compensate working extra hours to be sure we had a wonderful time in Moscow, and we did!

I have two issues that were a bit disappointing. Our expectation was that we would have a Jewish Tour in each city. Neither guide was versed in Jewish history and only knew where the synagogues were located. We were fortunate in Moscow in that the director saw us and gave us the history.

The most difficult part was not having a place to relax while waiting for the midnight train to St. Petersburg. It should have been arranged for us to have access to our hotel room for those hours. The lobby was not adequate in that it was filled with smokers and we are both allergic to smoke. 

Thanks for your assistance in making my dream of visiting Russia come true!

 Arlene Karpel

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Hi Bobby,
i just wanted to let you know that we had a great time on our recent trip to Russia. adding Vladimir and Suzdal was definitely worthwhile and we really enjoyed it. the guides, with the exception of the one in Moscow, were exceptional and the accommodations and transportation superb. the guide in Moscow was adequate but he was very much in a hurry all the time and just not our style. the others, especially Maria in St. Petersburg were delightful and so personable and friendly.
what happened with the flights from Moscow to St. Petersburg is anyone's guess, but all ended well, and this was our only glitch
the hotel in St. Petersburg was spectacular. i have already and will recommend you to my friends.

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Bobby,
just wanted you to know that Shirley and I had a fantastic time in Russia. The guides and drivers were excellent and everything went smoothly. I will definitely recommend east-west tours to others.
Thanks for your hard work.

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Alex,
We have just returned from our trip. I want to thank you for all of the arrangements you made for us. Everything worked out very well; the guides were great, the pickups were on time and the train tickets were just right. Thanks again for your help.
Halyna Breslawec

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Hi Bobby,
We had a great trip to St. Petersburg and Moscow. Thank you very much for the arrangements, including the flights, hotels, transfers, local tours, and ballet and opera tickets. Thanks also for arranging to get us the Russian visas so promptly. I was impressed with how smoothly and professionally you handled all the arrangements. My colleague, Chetan, also appreciated your help in arranging his transfers between the airport and the hotel.
St. Petersburg is a wonderful city, and we got to see everything we wanted to. We liked the Novotel in St. Petersburg -- it's a nice hotel and well located. Maria (Masha), our local guide in St. Petersburg, was very helpful and knowledgeable, and it was clear that she took special care to do her job well. We enjoyed the Moscow part of the trip as well, although we felt that the guide there, Sergey, was not as painstaking as Masha was. The Borodino hotel was nice, although the location was not as convenient as the Novotel in St. PB.
One suggestion: you might consider offering the option of taking the fast evening train from St. PB to Moscow and spending the night in Moscow (there is a train that departs St.PB around 6 p.m. and arrives in Moscow around 11 p.m.). I think we would have preferred that, even though it would have meant paying for an extra night in Moscow. As it is, we paid for an extra half day at the hotel in St. PB since their check out time was 12 noon and our train was at 11:30 p.m. Also, when we arrived in Moscow at 7:30 a.m., we weren't able to check into the hotel there, and had to leave immediately for the city sightseeing trip. Some of your clients might prefer to arrive at night and check into the hotel.
Thanks again for all your help. If we travel again to Russia (or if we get a chance to go to the Baltics), we will definitely consider contacting you.

Best Regards, Umesh

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Dora,
Just wanted to thank you for putting together our trip. It was fantastic. Our guide, Serge and driver, Valentin were wonderful. Serge took care of my mother like she was his mother. The palaces we visited were unbelievable. Serge pointed out things of interest during the entire time we were in the van. The trip to Catherine's Summer Palace still seems unreal to me, I can't believe the opulence and wealth the ruling class had. It is no wonder the peasants revolted. The sancutuary where the tsars are buried was a fitting place to end our trip. It held so much history. I have travelled the US extensively but have never experienced the sense of history and era like I did in Russia. And I almost forgot the ballet. Experiencing Swan Lake in St. Petersburg is something I will never forget. It was beautiful. Tho costuming was supurb, the dancing flawless. Thank you so very much for your attention to detail. I will encourage my friends to contact you when they are planning their vacations. Thanks again.
Sue

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HI Dora,
I just wanted to report that our tour in Moscow and St. Petersburg went very well, and we returned this afternoon (Friday) to JFK from Moscow. The tour guides Olga Kareva in Moscow and especially Masha Ganina in Petersburg were excellent. Both were extremely well informed and seemed to enjoy explaining the sights to our students, and helped us navigate through a very busy schedule. The visit to the US ambassador's residence in Moscow was very interesting, and we invited Olga to come along with us, which she did. Masha's knowledge of history and architecture was thorough, and she worked hard to explain to our group the significance of the buildings and sights they were seeing in Petersburg. She told us she enjoyed spending time with you in Seattle. The only thing I would recommend not including in future tours is having a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe on the Arbat in Moscow. The food there is unbelievably bad -- even the teenagers with us thought it was awful. All the other restaurants were fine, and were nicely decorated. Thanks for putting the tour together for us. Our students thought it was great fun, and even as we recover from jet lag in the next few days we'll have many good memories of the trip. If you need any more specific information about a particular item on our itinerary, let me know. I'd be interested in finding out about how much to tip Russians these days -- we did give tips to Masha, Olga, our bus drivers, etc., but we were just guessing based on the current exchange rates.
Best, Tim Doyle

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Bobby,
I just wanted you to know that we were very pleased with the St. Petersburg tour arrangements made through your company. The hotel was in a good location and the room was very pleasant. Our tour guide, Ann Statina, was always prompt, well-prepared and very knowledgeable about the city and history. We were extremely pleased with the service she provided.
Thank you again for your assistance. Margo Ranucci

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Bobby-Our trip to Russia was an eye opening experience and we really appreciated the quality of the guides you provided. The night at the ballet was fantastic.
Thank you for your help.
Ronnie

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Thought you would like some feedback on our trip to Moscow & St Petersburg. First, there aren't words to describe what an absolutely fantastic guide Tatyana Surkova is. When we met her and explained that we wanted to visit the Impressionists Gallery at the Pushkin Museum as well as the Diamond Fund at the Armory, she immediately said it was no problem & worked it into our sightseeing program. The evening we decided to stay on the Arbat and have dinner before returning to our hotel, she wrote out our hotel information in Russian, including the price we should pay, to give to the taxi driver and showed us the best place to get a taxi. She was with us almost constantly, up to putting us onto the overnight train to St Petersburg & into our compartment. My camera stopped working in the middle of Red Square & she took us over to GUM to see if there was a camera repair shop or a place to buy a disposable camera. Unfortunately there wasn't, but she surprised us on the way to the train station with an evening tour of Red Square so we could take pictures with our other camera. The Borodino Hotel in Moscow was perfect, except for the fact that it was way too far from town if you've never been to Moscow before & don't speak Russian. The room & the breakfasts were wonderful and the staff very pleasant. The Arbat Nord in St Petersburg was a good location as we could walk to Nevsky Prospect. Decent size room, but no dresser or mini bar. Again, excellent breakfasts. Our guide, Victoria Barskaya, was a pleasure to be with. She went out of her way to handle our requests. Our driver, Alexander was also a pleasure. Our last day in St Petersburg, Carolyn decided she wanted to check through her carry-on bag, but needed a small lock & key. We didn't pass any place to buy one. Alexander dropped Victoria & us at the Russian Museum and we said our good-byes to him. About an hour later, Victoria received a phone call from him saying he had bought a lock & key and left it at the front desk of our hotel. What a nice thing for him to do! We couldn't have seen as much in St Petersburg as we did without them. It was a trip we will always remember.
Thank you so much.
Audree

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Bobby ~
Thanks again for all your help with these folks (Dottie & Luther Foster) ~ they had an amazing time!!
You're the BEST!
Thanks, Donna. We had a wonderful trip. Three beautiful cities with unique charms. Here are a few comments on the hotels. Each was very comfortable, ideally situated, with lavish breakfasts. Hotel de Rome had no "style," badly in need of an interior decorator. The room in The Three Sisters was very charming, but located right next to an outdoor cafe and an alleyway....So you needed to keep the shades drawn to avoid being in on the conversations of people at the cafe. Hotel Kamp--superb! All the transfers worked well, with one exception and that was my fault. I didn't read my paperwork carefully enough to realize that we had to go to another hotel to pick up the ride to the airport. By the time a realized my mistake, it was the pick up time (4 AM). We just took a cab. Trekking across town to catch a cab at another hotel at 3:30 in the morning wouldn't have been very convenient anyway. All three tours were excellent and the local guides, particularly the one in Tallinn, were charming and informative. I'm so glad you included the guided tours in the package. They oriented us to the city and showed us some sites we wouldn't have seen otherwise. In Riga there was a music festival in the town square, in Tallinn a medieval festival with crafts and music/dancing. Hilton and I did a lot of walking around. The food was splendid and we had some memorable meals--particularly the tasting menus at The Three Sisters and Chez Dominique in Helsinki. I really enjoyed the decorative arts museum in Riga. Also, the Arsenal Museum was having an exhibit of Soviet era Social Realism--all the smiling faces were chilling, a fascinating museum. Riga was Hilton's favorite. The market in Riga is truly something to behold. Its the largest in Europe. Hilton thought that Tallinn was almost too Disneyland perfect. I thought it was great -- charming cobblestone streets, spectacular views of the city from old town. I enjoyed the churches and the ecclesiastical art museum. Hilton like the maritime museum. The climb to the top of St. Olaf's is not for the faint of heart, but its worth the effort. There were more American tourists in Helsinki. We had some rain one day, but not enough to slow us down. We took a ride around the harbor. I took a walking tour recommended by a guide book that took me through parks, the residential area where embassies are located, and along the harbor where I had a glass of wine at Cafe Ursula. Finnish design is simply the best. The shop windows around the hotel were full of exquisite clothes. However, Helsinki is very expensive. We purchased little. All in all, truly enjoyable. I was concerned that there might be too much moving around. But that was not the case. Thank you. We don't have any immediate plans--but certainly we'll be going somewhere next summer or fall and we'll be sure to use you to make the arrangements.
Dottie

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Thank you very much for arranging this trip for us, Bobby! Seat selection is great!
Seat selection is great!
John

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Dora,
Just wanted to thank you for helping us plan such a wonderful trip to Russia. The trip occurred flawlessly with everything as planned and promised. We especially would like to praise the efforts of both our guides. Elena was excellent at making us feel welcome and comfortable in Moscow -- nothing was too much trouble, and it was much like visiting an old friend. Irina in St. Petersburg was just as outstanding, and had no difficulty keeping up with our desire to see as much as possible.
Thanks, again! We would suggest your services to anyone we know who might need to plan a trip to these fantastic cities
Sincerely, Peter Rosacker and Kevin Sexton

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Hi Bobby,
The Lippert's had the best trip. Thanks for all your help.
Lorraine Panizzi CTA,DS

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Alex,
Just wanted you to know that our trip went very well. The hotels were all excellent - just the right size (small but not too small) and location. All the staff at all the hotels were very good. We also enjoyed our guides. Our Moscow guide, Natasha, was especially good and we enjoyed working with her and learning about Russian history and art. In fact, if you have an e-mail address for her we would like to send her a note.
Thanks for your work organizing the trip. I would highly recommend East-West tours to anyone planning travels to Russia.
Chris Streck

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Hi Susie,
Our trip to Finland was fantastic! Thank you so much for your help. The hotels were excellent and our flights and car rental went very smoothly. Our guide and driver in St. Petersburg were excellent. I would never attempt to visit there without one! It was so nice to have our own guide and not be part of a huge mob. We loved the Swan Lake ballet, it was the perfect ending to our trip, as we had seen flocks of wild swans in Lapland.
Thank you again. Have a wonderful summer!
Sincerely, Sharon and Emily Nachison

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Thank you SOOOO much, Masha, for a wonderful tour in St. Petersburg!!!! You are a SUPBERB guide! Here are the two photos I took of you giving the sign you showed us referring to drinking. I'm also including a few photos of our group so you can remember the wonderful time we had with you.
Love,
Marian

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Alex,
Thank you so much for the splendid arrangements you made for us on our trip to Russia and The Baltic States. The air and rail travel went smoothly. The hotel accommodations were well located, well appointed and offered excellent breakfasts. Our tour guides were very knowledgeable, professional, courteous and helpful. Very importantly, I feel certain we never would have been able to see and enjoy all that we did if we had tried to go it on our own. Special mention: Our guide in Moscow, Natasha, was outstanding. Also, the hotel in St Petersburg had a great bathroom. (Always popular with us females.) .
Thank you again.
Vallie Bram

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Dora, In case you have not heard from Cindy about our St. Petersburg tour, I want to let you know that we have traveled the Mediterreanen, S. America, Hawaii, S. Pacific, etc. and Maria Ganina was the best guide we have ever had. She is just exceptional. I would like to have a mailing address for her, as we have several pictures with her in them that I think she would like to have. Please, if you can, send me the address so we can send her some remembrances of our visit with her.
Thank you again.
Dave Hubler

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Hi Masha
We four ladies have returned to the US and are recovering from our travel. That 11 hour time difference is a killer! I would just like to thank you for making our visit to St. Petersburg so memorable. You are an wonderful guide and have an incredible knowlege of history, artwork, antiquities, etc. We really enjoyed your company, as well. I hope you will keep my email address and allow me to show you Santa Barbara if you visit southern California. (I really mean it.) I know Pat, Shirley and Francoise would also be delighted to take you around the San Francisco Bay Area.
It was a wonderful trip. Thank you so much!
Karen McElwain

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Hi Dora, Many thank for arranging a great tour for us. Everything went like clockwork and we couldn't have been more pleased with the arrangements. I would definitely recommend Sergei in Moscow as a guide and you know how wonderful Masha is! Her knowlege is unbelievable. Thank you for all your help!
Best regards
Karen McElwain

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Alex, Just a note of thanks for all you did to make the trip my wife and I took to Russia a success. The Golden Apple Hotel was an excellent choice for visiting Moscow, and the guide you arranged for us to visit the Diamond Fund and the monastery was both pleasant and competent.
Thank you again.

Jack

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Thank you for a good quote Bobby! It's good to have business with you, keep that in mind. :-) Have a good day

Alex

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THope all is well with you. Just wanted to drop you a quick note to thank you for all of your efforts in arranging my trip to Russia. I had a great time and had no problems with my transportation and hotels. Also, Masha was an absolutely WONDERFUL guide!!! I can't thank you enough for putting me in touch with her. She was very helpful and accomodating and even helped me get a cell phone when I realized that the one I had bought in Spain would not work in St. Petersburg.
I will contact you again for my next trip to St. Petersburg - and there will DEFINITELY be a next time. I plan on recommending your company to everyone who is planning to travel to Russia.
Take care.
Noele Porta

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Thank you so much for the great job you did in planning our trip. The hotels and guides were excellent and the visa process was easy with your help. I will definitely contact you again on any future trips that include Russia/Ukraine or the Baltic's. It is wonderful to work with travel agents that you know you can trust and depend on.
Doug Havely

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I just returned from my tour of St. Petersburg and want you to know that you and your company did an outstanding job. Just wanted to send you a note to thank you for the great tour in Russia. The people you got me in contact with were extremely nice. It was fun meeting them and I really enjoyed the tour.
Julie Smith

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I just returned from my tour of St. Petersburg and want you to know that you and your company did an outstanding job. My guide Masha was very accommodating and she quickly learned of my interests and guided her comments accordingly. She was very well informed and was able to answer any question I had. She was very prompt to our appointments. If all your guides are as qualified as Masha, your clients will be very satisfied. The visit to the Siege Museum was a very good choice and it gave me a feeling for what the citizens experienced. I don?t think that as an English speaking person, I could have toured the city very easily. With a guide, I truly gained the most from the experience.
Frank Fujioka

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Thank you...
We had a great time.
We loved St. Petersburg the best...!
Take Care,
Tom Karpowski
Bennett and Company

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SUPER!  The trip was fabulous and Elena wonderful.  I will tell you more when I have time, but thank you thank you thank you.
Harry

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From: Ellen Victor
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 11:10 AM
To: dora@east-west-tours.com
Subject: thank you

We had a wonderful time on the trip.  The guides were knowledgeable.  However, the guide in St. Petersburg was spectacular.  My only problem with the trip was that we couldn't get to the diamond funds in Moscow or St. Petersburg.  I would be willing to pay any additional charge to see those sites.  Perhaps, people could be informed before they went that if they wanted to see those sites, they would be charged an additional fee.  Thank you for a special trip.

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From: Gertrude Burr
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 5:41 PM
To: dora@east-west-tours.com
Subject: Thank You

Hi Dora,
Thank you so much for arranging such a wonderful tour for us in Russia.  Our guides and drivers in Moscow and St. Petersburg were polite, knowledgeable and punctual.  The boat was an interesting experience, to say the least.  Although plain and not very fancy, traveling the river is a terrific way to see many of the towns between Moscow and St. Petersburg.  It was also extremely relaxing as I had enough time to read two books. Seeing St. Petersburg was the highlight of the trip.  I am so glad that we had almost a week to experience many of the palaces and museums.  Both hotels you recommended were also lovely, especially the breakfast room at the Metropol where a harpist was playing at 8:00 AM.  It is difficult to top that one. Everything considered, this was a vacation that will provide a lifetime of good memories.

Best regards,
Trudy Burr

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From: Anita Wentworth
Sent:Wednesday, June 20, 20072:47 PM
To: dora@east-west-tours.com
Subject: RE: Wentworth

Dora,

We returned from our trip today.  I just wanted to thank you?we could not have asked for a better experience in St. Petersburg.  Everything was perfectly organized, our guide was fantastic, and the driver was so nice and flexible.  Thanks for all you did?it was a magical experience. 

Anita and Bob Wentworth

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From: Janice Cassidy
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 8:02 AM
To: Dora
Subject: Russia

Dora, We returned from Russia yesterday and I just wanted to thank 
you for the great job you did organizing this trip for us.   We had a 
great time.  The drivers were excellent ( and it looked like a very 
challenging job!... the traffic was incredible in both Moscow and St. 
Petersburg.)    We loved St. Petersburg.... you were correct to have 
us go to Moscow first and end our trip in St. Petersburg.    All of 
the guides were great, especially  Helen and Masha....
The Mariinsky theater was a highlight... we had great seats!  ... 
all- in- all it was an excellent trip.....

Thanks again..... Jan Cassidy

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From: John Newcomb
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 20079:00 AM
To: dora@east-west-tours.com
Subject: we're home

Dora, we had a great trip.    Svetlana and Elena were terrific.  They were very knowledgeable and personable.  We would recommend both of them to anyone.  The cars and drivers and guides were right were they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be.  We were very happy with the entire experience. 

John Newcomb

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From: Ellen Newman
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 7:42 AM
To: Dora Rozet
Subject: trip

Dora,
 Thanks for all of your help on our trip plans.  We had a fascinating time. Both hotels were fine. The Ambassador was just lovely and the staff at both was very helpful. Also, our ballet and opera tickets were great...very good seats...delivered almost as soon as we arrived in St Petersburg. ?.St Petersburg is beautiful; the Kremlin is amazing, but I know you've heard all of that before. Again for all of your help and hard work.  I am looking forward to referring you to my friends. Ellen

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From: Nancy Tobin
Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 20072:42 PM
To: dora@east-west-tours.com
Subject: A wonderful trip

Dora:
I am really remiss that thanks are so late in coming for the package you put together for me and David. The guides were excellent and the planning was terrific. If we had had the luxury of more time, we might have done something slightly different, but you really saved us! Moscow and especially St. Petersburg were places that we will always treasure as memories. I doubt that we would have made the visits without your excellent recommendations and assistance. Thanks so much, Nancy

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From: Brenda Moroz
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 12:31 PM
To: Dora@east-west-tours.com
Subject: Trip

Thank you for organizing a great tour. Enjoyed Moscow more than I thought?. Sergiev Posad was interesting, so glad we were able to do that. The Metropol Hotel was fabulous & the grander & more lovely of the hotels we thought[ maybe b/c we like older buildings] St. Petersburg was great -- we had 4 days of sun & only one of light drizzle--the day we were at the Hermitage. Masha is a superlative guide who is not only well educated but extremely well informed. She knows her way around the Hermitage like the back of her hand & really kept us moving! We really, really enjoyed her. Again, thank you. Brenda Moroz

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From: Luss, Hanan 
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 20078:38 AM
To: alex
Subject: RE: trip
Hi Alex,
We returned yesterday from our trip. We would like to thank you for the planning and arrangements. The itinerary was great and both guides in Moscow and St. Petersburg were indeed excellent. The trip was very educational, interesting and fun.
We will certainly recommend it to anyone interested in going to Russia.
Best wishes,
Hanan

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Dear Alex,

We are back from Moscow! Just want thank you for your assistance and let you know that we had a great time and the service provided by Academ was great. The drivers were friendly and helpful, and our tour guide Olga was excellent. We will keep in touch regarding our trip to Hawaii and we look foward to your assistance and services for our trip to St. Petersburg next year.
Thank you!
Dania Benavides

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From: Harry Streep
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 20072:37 PM
To: dora@east-west-tours.com
Subject: Re:

SUPER!  The trip was fabulous and Elena wonderful.  I will tell you more when I have time, but thank you thank you thank you.
Harry

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From: Ann
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2007 5:00 PM
To: dora@east-west-tours.com
Subject: Thank you!

Hello Dora,

I traveled on with my sister for a couple of weeks after our incredible week in Russia so this is my first opportunity to email you.

Our trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg was everything we hoped it would be.  Your arrangements worked perfectly.  We were delayed by snow on our way to Moscow but were able to contact Julia and there was a driver to meet us at 2:00AM!  Our guide, Elena was concerned about the extra charge, but it was well worth it to us and we thought very fair.  The hotels were very comfortable and the one in Moscow was truly unique and in a wonderful setting.

Both Elena and Masha were great guides.  They picked up on our interests very quickly and their knowledge of Russian, culture, art and architecture was incredible.  Now we are back home with a thousand photos to sort through and million wonder memories.

Thank you so much!

Ann & Martin Harris

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Dora,
We enjoyed the trip! The guides, Tatiana in Moscow and Catherine in St Petersburg were knowledgeable and flexible. The driver, Alexander, was courteous and waiting when we were ready to go.
Thank you for arranging.
Tim

Timothy S. Gillen, CPCU

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Good Morning Dora,

Do you remember me?

Want to say the trip that you helped me plan throughout Russia, Kiev, and Budapest was
a "Trip of Dreams". The private tours were fantastic! Masha was great and very informative!
(You were right with the guided tours! Stuart and Victoria loved it!) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
?????????????????????????????????????????.
Look forward to speaking with you.

Regards,

John Napper

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Dear Alex,

Greetings!  I called your office today and was told you were on vacation until next week, so I thought I would send an email.

We wanted to thank you for all of your help with our recent trip to Russia.  All of the flights and the transfers you booked for us worked wonderfully and without a hitch.  Pastor Matthews has made many trips to Russia and he said this was by far the smoothest ever, referring to the transfers to/from the airports and hotels.

Thank you again!

Sincerely,
Ryan P. Ringwelski
Executive Assistant
SolidRockChurch

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From: jenny prokopovich
Date: Monday, April 11, 2005, 1:06:22 AM
Subject: hello and thank you

Sorry that I am so late but I wanted to say thank you and send you a photo from my trip.  I really appreciated your helpfulness and kindness - you really helped make my visit to St. Petersburg a special one!  I wanted to ask you for your mailing address as I have some yarn that I bought you as a thank you gift that I'd like to send to you

Jenny

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From: Phil Desiere
Date: Monday, June 13, 2005, 5:15:30 PM
Subject: Greetings from New York City

Tom & I made it back home safe and sound.
Let me restate how much we enjoyed your country and hometown: it was wonderful.
And you helped to make it so. Your command of information and fine presentation of that knowledge is first class. We will always remember our visit.

Best wishes to you.

Philip Desiere

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We just returned from our trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg and it was wonderful!  Thank you very much for a wonderful experience.  Both tour guides, Oksana in Moscow and Masha in St. Petersburg, were extremely good-- they were knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and very interesting.  My daughter and I truly had an unforgettable experience.  The highlight of the tour for me was the Winter Palace and the Yussupov Palace; for my daughter it was seeing the Bolshoi Ballet perform at the Marinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.

Thanks again!

Donna Sheperd

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From: Tom&Bettsy Leib
Date: Thursday, September 22, 2005, 1:01:55 AM
Subject: Hello from the USA

Thanks again for showing us Peterhof.  It was one of the highlights of our trip.  Here are a couple of pictures from our trip.  The first is of you and Bettsy.  The second is on the train - it does have separate rooms in first class, but the rooms hold six people, so it is possible we could have had company.  However, since the train was nowhere near full, we got the cabin to ourselves.

Best of luck in your continued pursuits. 

Tom & Bettsy Leib

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From: Matt Aho
Date: Wednesday, September 15, 2004, 5:02:53 AM
Subject: Thank you & Picture

Thank you again for sharing your beautiful country.  I had a great time and I appreciated your informative tour and Alexander's safe driving.

Matt Aho
Kirkland, WA

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From: Molly Keeney
Date: Monday, December 01, 2003, 11:50:04 PM
Subject: Thank You

I just wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed having you guide us through our visit to St. Petersburg last month.  We all appreciated your vast knowledge of the art and history of the city.  We know you helped us see the most possible in the short time we had and you made our visit there a memorable highlight to our trip.

We also appreciated the services of your driver, who, despite the language barrier, was very helpful in negotiating for tickets and overweight baggage charges.  Please pass on our thanks to him.

Again, we certainly did enjoy you during our tour in St. Petersburg.  In fact, I was showing my pictures to someone today and they asked how we managed to see so much in such a short time - I told them we just had a wonderful tour guide.

We will all recommend your services to anyone else who might be traveling to St. Petersburg in the future.

Best wishes to you and your family for the upcoming holidays,

Molly Keeney
Executive Director
VolunteerCenter of Greensboro

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From: Iris Groten
Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2006 8:26 PM
To: dora@east-west-tours.com
Subject: Thank you
Dora,

I wish to thank you for all your help in planning our trip from St. Petersburg to Moscow.  All went very well.   The train ride was uneventful.  We did need some assistance from the concierge at our hotel in St. Petersburg in deciphering the signs in the railroad station.  We had her write our the words "departure" and "arrival" in Russian, so we would know what track our train would be leaving. By the way, I would strongly recommend the Helvetia Hotel.  It was extremely clean.  The service was excellent and the room was large and had closet and drawer space to make unpacking very easy.

Our guide in Moscow was informative, helpful and tireless.  We got to see quite a bit in our three day visit to Moscow.  The driver was very competent, he was always on time but I must admit driving around in that city is extremely scary.  I now know why so many New York taxi drivers are Russian.  The Meridian National was a wonderful choice.  The location could not have been more convenient and it definitely is a five star facility.

We thoroughly enjoy our visit in your native country, but I am glad I live in the US.  Life is not easy there for many, many people.  Thank you again for all your help and feel free to use us for a recommendation at any time.

Iris Groten