Russia Vacation Review: Saint Petersburg, Peterhof, Pushkin, Museums, Culture, Art & History

We planned a 1 week stay in St Petersburg, and worked with this travel team for it. They did a wonderful job. Our travel planner in the US who is more in my timezone worked with me initially to plan the trip, and our day-by-day schedule. He listened to what I wanted, and also made very helpful suggestions.
Once we had worked that out, our travel specialist who is based in Russia became my lead contact. She initially helped with the onerous process of getting a visa, invitation letter and all the other painful bureaucracy that Russia imposes on anyone wanting to visit. As our visit neared, we made some last minute changes, and even made some while we were in St Petersburg. The travel specialist was incredibly responsive and helpful, and made everything run very smoothly. We knew we could count on her to respond quickly and to set things up exactly as we wanted it.
The driver and our guide were both amazing! Our driver was a reliable and safe driver, and on the day we had planned an unguided trip to Peterhof, he gave us a lot of interesting information along the way, and made some small detours to show us a couple of interesting sights. And our guide was an incredible guide - knowledgeable in art, culture,  and history. Wherever we went - the Hermitage, Pushkin, Museum of the Siege of Leningrad, the Fort, all around the city's key sights...- she had indepth knowledge and tons of interesting insights.
Overall, we couldn't have been happier. We plan to go to Moscow sometime soon, and will certainly plan to work with this travel team.