- Packing
- A week of extremes
- Preparation
- Dress Rehearsal
- H6, #13, and Bo
- Vlotho
- Stockholm
- Tallinn
- Helsinki
- Helsinki II
- St. Petersburg
- St. Petersburg II
- Moscow
- Beijing
- Beijing II
- Beijing III
- Beijing IV
- Xi’an
- Xi’an II
- Shanghai
- Nara – Halfway plus one day
- Kyoto
- Back in the (Former) USSR
- Muroran
- 180th Meridian
- Seward
- Ketchikan
- Vancouver
- St Paul
- Chicago
- New York City
- North Atlantic
- 78 Days and 9 Minutes
- London
Alive and well. The train ride from Helsinki, despite being way too early, was fine. There was a lot of attention during the border crossing and checking through people’s bags. My guess is that they were looking for meat products in reaction to the hoof and mouth scare currently raging in Europe.
The media and our media-skeptical relatives each paint a curiously similar unpleasant picture of Russia. All I can say is what I have seen. Upon arrival, we experienced cracked and uneven pavement, Bangkok rules of traffic crossing, gaping holes in the road, a broken tram blocking three lanes of traffic flavored with the pervasive aroma of exhaust. And that was just after two blocks. But, Russia has made up for less than positive first impressions. There are a world of things that need to be addressed, but to the visitor things are not as bad as one is led to believe at least on our experience so far. Watch this space. Opinions subject to dramatic changes.
It is still cold here. As cold as Helsinki, but I must have adapted as my tolerance for the cold has improved somewhat.
Wandered the city after we got in yesterday to get our bearings. Went down Nevsky Prospekt (Winter Palace to Moscow Station is a LONG way on foot), past the church of the Spilt Blood, got our tickets for the trip to Moscow. There is a lot to see here.
Today was the Hermitage museum. We will need about three more trips to see everything we had hoped to see. The building itself is as impressive (and with as much history) as the art it contains. The layout can best be described as dynamic, the maps, audio guides, and staff are frequently in conflict as to what rooms are open and what they contain. The only certainty was the Kolyvanskaya vase which was so huge they built the display room around it to reduce the desire to ever move it again.
Olga, thank you for your help with Russian. We are far from fluent, but even knowing the Cyrillic alphabet and how to sound things out is a godsend! Made the metro system MUCH easier.
The metro stations are quite nice here. I am looking forward to Moscow, where they are legendary.
Thank you for the postings! We read them at every chance we have.
This entry was posted in Around the World, Europe
