 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Entire Team Has Arrived in St. Petersburg Our days and nights in St. Petersburg continue to be rich, full and fascinating. After the ballet two nights ago we returned tired but satisified to the hotel.
When we pulled up to the front at about 10:30 in the evening, we saw Wayne, Nicki, Steve and Jeri unloading with their large duffels bags, having arrived from the airport and their flights from the U.S and Europe. Danny had arrived earlier in the afternoon.
By the early evening the rest of the team, Peter Amantia, Mike McCabe, Martin Glynn, Erin and “Opus” (Andy Veres) had all arrived safely at the hotel. We joined for a team meeting and welcome dinner at the “Beerstube”, an Austrian restaurant in the hotel. We enjoyed a private room there, where we covered some details about our upcoming adventures, but before we began we gathered round the big screen TV in the main part of the restaurant to watch coverage of the Tour de France. Now it is once again time for our jet lagged and now complete team to try to get some rest. The conversations at dinner were full of laughter and excitement – this is clearly a very compatible, fun loving group. It already feels that we know one another well. We have sent along some photos of our first days and hours in Russia.
A group photo at the Peterhoff Palace
Steve and Jerri on their first day in Russia at the Summer Palace
BAI Elbrus 2005 team at the welcome dinner
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Above: Comet Hale-Bopp over Mt. Elbrus from Pik Terskol, Caucasus, April '97. ©"Observers", AlltheSky.com |
||||||||||||||||||||
Today, Saturday, the team members who had already arrived, met Lina for an early morning departure to visit, Peterhoff, the Summer Palace, on the shores of the Gulf of Finland outside St. Petersburg. It was a beautiful morning and early afternoon to wonder the grounds and visit the museum with many local people from St.Petersburg out enjoying the weekend. 
