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 "My mission in coming here was for these wonderful dancers to try to create something directly involved with their own generation," said choreographer John Neumeier of his first collaboration with the Mariinsky Theater. While the Mariinsky made its name with brilliant performances of 19th-century ballet classics, in recent years its repertoire has become more diverse. |
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The maxim that sequels aren't as good as originals is given confirmation once more in director Ridley Scott's film "Hannibal," based on the book of the same title by Thomas Harris. |
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The main live show of the upcoming holidays is probably Leningrad's "Best Concert of Spring" at Lensoviet Palace of Culture on May 1, and the main techno party is the all-night Vostochny Udar: Evolution on April 30. (See the full lineup on page iii). Tours of international rock acts continue with new and exciting names announced on a weekly basis, but Stereolab will not play in St. Petersburg as some expected. Because of a disagreement between local and Moscow promoters, the band's Moscow show on May 12 at the 16 Tons club will be the only one in Russia. Despite the rumors, The Tiger Lillies will play in St. |
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 Clouds of cigarette smoke fill the hall. The beer and vodka are flowing. Hundreds of people of all ages ranging from hippies to businessmen rub shoulders in the foyer and bars. |
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"Join the local foreigners at Pushka- Inn" proclaims the advertisement for this "restaurant-bar" which opened recently on the Moika, and you would be excused for puzzling a little over what a local foreigner is. The name is also cause for bewilderment. Using a rather strange play on words that combines the Russian word for cannon with the name of the country's national poet, Pushka-Inn is located right next to the last earthly residence of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin himself, and seems the perfect place for tourists to relax after spending an exhausting afternoon paying homage to the great writer. There was no one around, foreign or local, when we dropped into the place at around 3 in the afternoon on a Thursday, but we found a seat by the window. |
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 It may come as a surprise to those who have this newspaper in their hands, but St. Petersburg, with all its fabled architecture, culture and history, is far from being one of the world's best-known tourist destinations. |
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As St. Petersburg battles to increase tourism levels,
Tom Masters went out and about to ask some visitors to the city why they came, and what their impressions have been so far. Photos by Alexander Belenky. Berta Pfrand, 43, from Germany "Our son works in the diplomatic service here, and we are visiting him for a week. |
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While the romantic period of the White Nights is a good time for St. Petersburg's hotels, a couple of months later on, there are already free rooms at the luxury locations, while the lesser-known hotels, such as the Karelia and the Kievskaya, are by autumn half-empty. |
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Getting a Russian visa can be a hassle to say the least - especially when the rules are applied inconsistently. Claire Bigg asked some expats what they've learned from first-hand experience. Tom Stansmore, American citizen, head of Deloitte&Touche CIS, St Petersburg office My company sends an application to the Russian Foreign Ministry, who then sends a telex to New-York. I go through a travel agency in the United States, I just have to give them pictures, a filled-in application form and an HIV certificate, although you can probably buy it for $20 over here. And the visa is waiting for me at home when I go back for Christmas. |
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 In another indication of disposable income growth, the number of Russians traveling abroad grew 64 percent last year to 4.2 million - 167,000 more than pre-crisis 1997, government figures show. |
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If you're looking for an extra thrill out of your holiday, the world's largest country has much to offer. Aspera Explorations is just one of the agencies looking to push the idea of Russia as an ideal adventure travel destination. Through its Moscow subsidiary Talisman Expeditions, Aspera makes use of a network of expert guides who, as Aspera co-founder Annette Loftus puts it, "are predominantly Russian outdoorsmen who have turned their love of hobbies like whitewater rafting or fishing into a career. |
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Among those looking to cash in on any rise in tourism to St. Petersburg are airline companies. About 15 foreign carriers operate from Pulkovo 2, the city's airport handling international flights, including such major names in the industry as British Airways, Lufthansa and KLM, and they are facing increasingly stiff competition from domestic carriers such as Aeroflot and Pulkovo. |
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As summer is approaching, so is the high season for air charter carriers - crowds of tourists will be buying tour packages to relax under the sun. While tour packages including charter flights are popular for their low prices, they can still be riskier than using more expensive regular air services - as was seen in December and January, when several hundred passengers of the Rusavia air company were temporarily stranded in Asia. There are several reasons why tour operators use charter flights, which are offered by most of Russia's 300 or so air companies. Firstly, charters are cheaper. Tour operators calculate ticket prices on the basis that the flight is fully sold out with tour packages, while ticket prices for regular flights assume 70 percent to 75 percent occupancy of the seats. |
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 I had my first doubts about the wisdom of taking my two daughters a third of the way around the world on a train a few moments after settling into our compartment. |
 q: What kind of profit is St. Petersburg currently making from its tourism industry? a: The mechanism for an exact calculation is yet to be developed, so I can only give approximate figures. Local hotels received 1 million tourists last year. Over 3 million people crossed the northwestern border. |
All photos from issue.
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Hingis, Mom Split Up GENEVA (Reuters) - Martina Hingis' mother and coach Melanie Molitor said on Thursday that she has severed her on-court ties with the women's world No. 1 tennis player. Molitor told the Swiss-German newspaper Tagesanzeiger that she had not been involved professionally with Hingis for about a month and that she is no longer her daughter's coach. Molitor maintained in the article that her personal relationship with her daughter had not been affected by their professional split. Italian Alboreto Killed BERLIN (AP) - Michele Alboreto, a one-time Formula One star, was killed when the Audi he was test driving crashed in eastern Germany, the carmaker said Wednesday. |
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 LONDON - The World Cup finals may still be more than a year away, but Russia, Ireland and Austria all moved a step closer to them with important qualifying wins on Wednesday. |
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