Text: Sergey Tokarev AT THE BEGINNING OF DECEMBER 2015, A NATIONAL VISIT RUSSIA TOURISM OFFICE WAS OPENED IN DUBAI IN DUBAI. AS THE HEAD OF THE NEW BRANCH OF THE ORGANIZATION MARINA MOROZOV REPORTED, THE OFFICE IN DUBAI WILL SERVE THE WHOLE MIDDLE EAST AND PROMOTE THE TOURISM PRODUCT OF RUSSIA FOR REGIONAL TRAVELERS.
Dubai International Airport, passing over 70 million passengers through itself for a year, saw a lot, so few people were surprised by a group of people talking animatedly in the early November morning on a mixture of Arabic, English and Russian languages and preparing to fly, judging by the equipment, to the North Pole.
In fact, their path, although lying to the north, was not to the pole, but much to the south. The weather forecast promised the whole coming week from zero to plus five, in connection with which I did not even take a hat, and other members of the group, who had time to get used to the extreme heat of the Arabian desert, apparently decided to play it safe.
Our motley group consisted of a dozen media representatives (television, radio, magazines and newspapers) working in the United Arab Emirates, whom the VISIT RUSSIA office in Dubai invited to visit the second largest and one of the most beautiful cities in Russia, St. Petersburg. A quick poll I organized right at the airport showed that most of the journalists have never been to St. Petersburg, but even to Russia, and this gave a special highlight to the upcoming trip - it is always interesting to watch the reaction of people who first find themselves in an unfamiliar country or setting.
As a matter of fact, starting to work on this material, I didn’t even plan to describe my own impressions of St. Petersburg, which I visited many times, and even more so I did not intend to tell Russians and residents of the CIS countries about its sights. I wanted to write specifically about the impressions of foreigners, and - thanks to the hospitable hosts - there were a lot of impressions.
As a theater begins with a coat rack, so a visit to any city usually begins with a hotel. It often happens that a bad hotel can negate any of the most positive impressions of the most amazing sights, or vice versa - a good hotel with friendly staff can brighten up other everyday troubles. I have to say right away: we were incredibly lucky with the hotel, as we settled in Four Seasons - perhaps the best hotel in St. Petersburg. Plus, the hotel management respected the press, giving everyone a room with a huge loggia that looked directly at St. Isaac's Cathedral. The view is amazing! If it were not for the dense cultural program, one could have had incendiary parties right on these loggias, all the more so since the open area of the famous Terrace restaurant at Hotel W, with exactly the same view, doesn’t work in November.
And finally - about the most important thing. Sometimes we, trying to show our city, our country in the best possible light, forget that we were born and raised here, and we cannot even imagine what would be interesting for tourists, especially those who visited more than a dozen countries. Yes, we rushed headlong through the traffic jams in St. Petersburg so as not to be late for the Mariinsky Theater, knowing for sure that this was not to be missed - generations of great masters forever put a huge equal sign between the words "Russia" and "theater". Ballet, like Pushkin, is "our everything." But you know why we were almost late there? Because with five votes to three, it was decided to call on the famous, as it turned out, St. Petersburg flea market! Flea market (flea market), located in St. Petersburg near the Udelnoe metro station, turns out to be incredibly famous outside of Russia, and everyone knew that it was a must visit, except for me. On the first day, we spent two whole hours there, having managed to buy rare Soviet Karelia cross-country skiing and a faulty copper trombone. But this turned out to be not enough, and already on the day of departure the guests asked me to take them to the flea market again - in order to take some kind of "Illich lamp" and a steel desk calendar with me to Dubai for trophies.
Actually, what else can I add? Just that the new Dubai office of VISIT RUSSIA has taken the right direction - Russia needs to be shown! By the way, when I showed the journalists who had already become friends to the photographs from my good friend from Gorny Altai, the idea of sending me for the next trip to Russia was born by itself!
I take this opportunity to express my gratitude on behalf of all participants of the trip:
Dubai office of VISIT RUSSIA and personally Marina Morozova and Katya Malyushenkova;
Hotel Management Four Seasons St. Petersburg;
the director of the travel company "Etoile" Levon Larbi.
Welcome to Russia!
“I really enjoyed the trip to St. Petersburg. Most of all I was impressed and surprised by the museums because it is history. It is amazing that most Russian museums are located in this city. And I would like to visit St. Petersburg again in order to visit everything museums. I don’t feel any frustration - we had a great group, and after this wonderful trip we became one family! "
Jumana Hussein, Emirates News Portal 24/7
“The highlight of the visit for me was the kindness and warmth of the character of the Russian people. In all the museums, restaurants and other places of interest that we visited, everyone who spoke with us was very friendly, welcoming us with a smile and willingness to share our story with us and "Far from everywhere in the world you get such warmth from others, often outsiders, and therefore the memory of this will remain with me for many years."
Cassidy Hazlbeikir, Villa 88 Magazine
“St. Petersburg not only lived up to, but exceeded all my expectations. Visit Russia proudly showed world-class museums, but when traveling I prefer to just walk around the city, and if I could, I would like to do it more often - it seems to me that’s the only way you can really feel the place. The flea market and ballet do not mix well with each other, but it is they that give the traveler the opportunity to plunge into Russian history and culture. Maybe someone does not like to delve into the old junk, but I found it completely amazing things are a lighter of the 1940s, for example, ballet ... Well, you can’t go to St. Petersburg and not go to the ballet! Of course, you need to go to the Hermitage too, but the flea market and ballet are what any Briton in St. Petersburg simply I’m obligated to visit. Four Seasons is a wonderful hotel. I will certainly go back there. Dubai Life is proud to present the Visit St. Petersburg program, which will tell you about the must-see sights of St. Petersburg. "
Ebony Jane Penny, Dubai Life TV
“I was pleasantly surprised by St. Petersburg. Despite the fact that tourists prefer to go here at other times of the year, everything was fine. This is a city of wonderful architecture, and for me, a history buff, this is one of the most interesting places that I ever or visited. We even managed to wander around the local flea market! I must say that the guide was very surprised by my interest in such places. It is difficult to find anything that disappointed me. I recommend everyone to add this city to the list for a mandatory visit next year! "
Steph Burgon, Dubai Eye
