Porvoo I had thought about visiting Rauma long ago, when I checked up the lists of UNESCO World Heritage sites in European countries. Of Finland’s World Heritage Sites, I have seen only the Suomenlinna Fortress, and the other few ones I’m not yet planning to visit. It was not a nearby town, and when I checked up the total price of getting there (from Petersburg) I thought it a bit expensive, but nevertheless made plans to go there. Finally, I had the opportunity of arranging a short journey to Finland. According to initial plan, my work in Moscow was to be finished by October 14 but I will have to stay till the end of October. However, when I was planning this trip I yet thought I’d be at home during this time. So, I bought ... read more

The visit to Porkhov seems to crown my exploration of fortresses in the Russian Northwest (starting point always being St. Petersburg). There is still Narva to be visited (on the Russian-Estonian border), I think I will go there in November or December while my visa is still valid. I am always thinking about completing a certain list of interesting places in a certain area of Russia, but new interesting ones are popping up like mushrooms after a long rain. I bought the excursion to Porkhov with Pervye Linii Company on the very day I got my salary. I was then in St. Petersburg and my wife was glad to join me on this excursion. This was an exhausting excursion from 7-30 in the morning till 22-30 in the evening. I had ‘fun’ getting to St. Petersburg ... read more

I got up early in the morning without much wish to go anywhere, but still decided to hurry up to the bus station. Today I visited Pereslavl-Zalessky, an ancient Russian town not very far from Moscow (140 kilometers). The bus departed from Schelkovsky bus station at ten o’clock. The web schedule also stated a bus at 9-30 but the tickets seemed to be sold out (recommended to buy one or two days in advance). Everything was all right except for a traffic jam which lasted for almost one and a half hour. The highway (‘so-called’) was for many kilometers under repairs and construction works, narrowing it down, so that the everlasting flow of vehicles, damn them, seemed to go on forever and the bus moved a meter at a time. I was so annoyed. The traffic ... read more

I made a failed attempt at visiting Rostov several weeks ago and this time got up quite early to be able to catch the train in good time. The only bad thing about this was impossibility to have breakfast at the hotel (I departed at 6.30, the meal began at 7 in the morning). Nevertheless, I felt quite good in the train and enjoyed its fast ride without any stops, the train did not even seem to decelerate anywhere. Its final destination was Yaroslavl, and the duration of stop at Rostov was one minute. The majority of people went to Yaroslavl. During the train journey, I read Gerald Durrell’s “The Whispering Land” – an inspiring story of author’s adventures in Argentina in quest of animals, containing colourful, witty descriptions of nature, animal behaviour, and the locals. ... read more

Combining a trip to both these towns within a single day is a hard task but I managed to do it, though with a very stupid mistake. Both these towns are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and so are of highest priority for me. This time I managed to board the train without any occurrences, and arrived to Vladimir in three hours. Instead of doing the sights at once, I decided first to go by bus to Suzdal, and proceed with Vladimir. All would be done rather quickly. The bus station is right in front of the train station, nevertheless, I had to wait for half an hour for the bus. I bought a ticket to Suzdal (there were many people in queues) and it turned out I, as many other passengers, had standing places. ... read more