Blogs from Suzdal, Centre, Russia, Europe

5 décembre 2012, Moscou Snif snif! Le train est fini… déjà! Depuis le temps qu’on rêvait au Trans-Sibérien, c’est déjà terminé, je n’en reviens pas comme ça va vite. D’ailleurs, on a passé le cap du 300 jours de voyage! Mais je ne pourrai pas dire que j’ai fait le TransMongolien au complet puisque nous sommes arrêtés un arrêt avant Moscou, à Vladimir, pour aller à Suzdal. En campagne! Pendant le trajet de bus d’une heure, j’avais l’impression de me balader dans la campagne québécoise. Des fermes par-ci par-là, dans des champs de foin séché, couverts d’une mince couche de neige balayée par le vent. Avec des gens qui embarquent et débarquent aux croisements de deux rangs, sortis de nulle-part. En débarquant du bus, au croisement d’un rang-pis-d’la-main, je me pensais presqu’�... read more

Suzdal (of many churches) We’d decided on Suzdal to get away from the hustle and bustle of Moscow. The suburban train from Moscow was an interesting experience – 3 1/2 hour journey with no toilets. Fortunately Vitali – an ex army local explained that we could use the gap between the carriages. We declined, but struck up a friendly conversation with him and he shared with us a strange alcoholic grape juice as well as a pocket full of roasted sunflower seeds. He was also determined to leave us his address, phone number and children’s details and so did. Meanwhile another local, Elza, had been roped in to translate. Her English was very good and we spent the rest of the journey chatting with her. Elza is a director of HR in Moscow and going to ... read more

The last time I wrote, I was just about to leave Vilnius, the current European capital of culture, in Lithuania. I had a slight feeling of anticipation about the next leg of my journey, as I’d read on numerous occasions that entering the Russian Federation can sometimes be a torturous, time-consuming affair. Luckily I was able to escape these feelings on the short walk to the train station. A couple of policemen flicked inattentively through a soft core porn magazine in their car. They gave me a look that wreaked of masculinity when they caught me peering through the car window as I walked past. Further on a group of tone deaf teenagers grunted to two friends who were walking in the wrong direction. Strangely enough they were oblivious to the calls and rapid hand movements. ... read more

Before I start, I'd just like to say: I LOVE MY RUCKSACK! I think that one of the last things that some of you heard me say in London was along the lines of "I hate this f-ing bag" but now I'm used to it and have got rid of the extra "day bag" as well as ditching a few things before we left London I am liking my new home very much. Train #1: the 120 from Moscow to Vladimir So, our first trans-siberian train journey was a miniscule 2.5 hours on train number 120 and very pleasant it was too! It was so short that we didn't take any photos but we were sat in a nice clean airy 6 seat compartment and to our surprise (for we had not requested this with our ... read more

February 22nd, 2009 - 1300 hrs I know I told myself that a break from the writing would be taken (lasting 2 days in length). However, I just wanted to mention a couple or few things that to date I have failed to comment on. These I like to call frustrations. First, and obviously, the weather. It’s not the slippery sidewalks, packed with snow and slush that will last until May. Its not the fact that you don’t need a forecast to tell you that everyday is “fucking cold” (I wanted to scream “da!” at a group of teenagers on the street complaining about “zimoi”). Nor is it the…actually, that’s about it. What really bugs me is the TIME you have to spend in it. Moscow is such a large city that even with all the ... read more