We visited as part of a cruise holiday. You can apply for a visa yourself, which sounded a bit bureaucratic, or you can go on an organised tour with a tour agency registered in Russia and you then use the tour agency's blanket visa - this is what we did. I booked with a tour agency based in Russia (SPB Tours, who were excellent) before we travelled, which was much cheaper than using the cruise ship's own tour.

All the other countries didn't even look at our passports but Russian immigration / border control was, as you would expect,very strict and they checked everything carefully before they'd let us through.

Thanks John - especially with abstracts I struggle with exactly where to crop. I originally kept the "steps" through the arch at the bottom because I thought it leant an Escher-like quality. Were you thinking more of a crop like this? Do you think this works better?


alternative crop by Roy Coote, on Flickr

Not sure I could avoid the hotspots apart from waiting for the sun to go behind a cloud and fortunately for the holiday, if not this image, it was sunny all the time whilst we were in St. Petersburg. I get your point though now you've pointed it out and maybe I can do something in post-processing.

Thank you. Well, here are a couple more. A little more obvious / stereotypical but to give more idea of St. Petersburg.

5. St. Isaac's Cathedral

IMGP1943 by Roy Coote, on Flickr

6. Peterhof Palace

IMGP1902 by Roy Coote, on Flickr

Thank you for the positive comments.

St. Petersburg is the most interesting and beautiful city I've ever been to and it's a little further off the beaten track than some more accessible European cities. It's a photographer's paradise.

Shot on a recent trip to the Baltic. Constructive criticism welcome.

1. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

IMGP1798 by Roy Coote, on Flickr

2. Chandelier at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

IMGP1868 by Roy Coote, on Flickr

3.Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg

IMGP1862 by Roy Coote, on Flickr

4. Oliwa Cathedral, Gdansk, Poland

IMGP2024 by Roy Coote, on Flickr

A few images shot on a recent trip to Iceland. Constructive comments and criticism welcome if you think any of the images could be improved in post-processing or I could've done something different when I took them.

The first three images were taken inside the Harpa, Reykjavik's stunning concert hall, which has been designed to use lots of irregular angles:










Some more traditional Icelandic architecture:




And finally, the obligatory Northern Lights shot:




Roy

So, I finally spoke to the Director's office. They won't give me the lens and camera at the advertised price and a £20 Argos voucher was offered as compensation. I initially refused but, with a builder extending my house who is currently claiming it is impossible to build the extension to the architect's diagrams I have other fights that need my energy, so I caved and accepted.

I don't think I'll bother with any further Argos "too good to be true" deals. Amazon pricing glitches I have never had a problem with them honouring.

I has a message on my home phone on Monday from the Director's office in Home Retail Group in response to my email to the CEO. This was a message to call them to resolve the issue with me. I called back and just got voicemail. I called again today and got voicemail again. I will keep trying and post an update when I do actually speak to someone about this.

Roy

So, I phoned Argos Customer Service today and was told that the order had been cancelled by them due to "pricing error" and my payment would be refunded to my credit card. I pointed out that nobody had informed me of this and that over three weeks is, in my opinion, a long time to determine a pricing error, especially as in the meantime I have had to settle my credit card balance.

So, I have today sent a polite email to the CEO of Home Retail Group to point out my issues and see if he will honour the original price and send me the camera and lens.

Let's see how responsive Argos / HRG will or will not be before I decide if and how to pursue further.

Same here. Order status just says they'll contact regarding delivery. Initial email did say by 25th but that has been and gone.