Blogs from Vladimir, Centre, Russia, Europe

Somtimes Trans-Siberian train journeys can be lots of fun .. this wasn't one of those times. When boarding the train my spirits rose a little when I noticed it was a good quality train, but they were dashed oncer I discovered my bunk buddy. A quick survey of the carriage occupants revealed that I was paired up with the most repulsive charactere of the lot. Plascartny '3rd class' standard means that there are no closed compartments in the carriage, but the bunks are arranged in groups of four, with additional sets of two, one upper and one lower, on the side passage. Mine was the upper side passage and my neighbour, 'Mr Stinky' was the lower. Mr S wore silky tracksuit with the top permanently unzipped to reveal his flabby verandah. He reaked of probably both ... read more

C'est un peu soulages que nous quittons Moscou, parce que mine de rien la ville est crevante, et il nous tarde d'aller tater de la plaine herbeuse sous nos petons qui saturent de bitume. Du coup solution de facilite : le train, qui en 2h30 nous emmene a Влади́мир (Vladimir), receptionnes par Irina qui nous fait l'honneur de son chez-soi pour ce soir, avec une bonne salade de chou et des discussions souriantes. Le lendemain notre fiere hotesse nous fait une dynamique visite guidee de la ville, ce qui est a la fois tres chouette de sa part mais laisse un petit gout de "j'ai pas assez traine dans les ruelles", qui reste le meilleur moyen de se faire une idee de l'ambiance et du caractere du lieu. Mais comme la route n'attend pas (je piaffe ... read more

The Baltika Index - BI Definition : the price at which 500ml of locally produced beer of 5% abv strength can be purchased from a shop or hostel in a given location, expressed as a decimal fraction of the price of 500ml of Baltika 3 lager as purchased from the mini-bar in room 418 of the Hotel Vladamir, Vladamir, Russia in June 2009 (50 rubles or approx £1) I have this theory that the relative expense of town can pretty much be determined by looking at the price of a pint of lager, that's certainly been my experience in the UK anyway. After all, the post work pint/half litre of lager is a fairly common tipple amongst, for example, most "western" societies (I use the term loosely :) ). Hence, demand and supply (assuming there's a ... read more

I have been wondering around the Golden Ring Towns in Russia. See if you like what I have seen... Csavarogtam az Arany Gyűrű városkáiban, Oroszországban. Nézd meg, tetszik ezt az, amit láttam... Me he perdido entre las ciudades y pueblos pequenitos del Anillo Dorado de Rusia Mira ver si te gusta lo que he visto...... read more

Hi everyone, Sorry I have not been able to send an update, it has been hard to find somewhere with internet. Russia is great so far except that the airline lost my luggage so I had the same cloths on for like three days (well I did buy some more shirts and stuff). We spent the first few days in St. Petersburg and it was really good, I am going to have to tell more about it in a few days thought becasue I only have 5 minutes on this computer. Sorry about the shortness of this but I wanted to let people know that I am fine and not to worry, Russia is actualy quiet safe. Love Danielle... read more

Finally arrived at Valdimir at 1pm then caught a bus to Suzdal, checked in to the hotel and had a welcome shower and then sent the laundrry to be done. Walked around the town with Liz and Christa visited most of the 35 churches then went for dinner in the irish pub. John used his translator and tried to order lemon tea, the waitress burst out laughing and when Marsha saw the translation it read tea with a slice of raw meat.... read more

I'm about to take the train into the heart of Siberia, Irkutsk. But not just any train. It's the MAGICAL HIPPIE RAILROAD! ... Okay, so it's the Trans-Siberian railroad. The Trans-Siberian, known by many Russians as the Newspeak-y 'Transsib', was constructed between 1891 and 1916 by teams of peasant workers and highly skilled railroad ninjas. The railway was designed to not only open up travel to Siberia for exploitation of its resources, it also just plain gave the Siberians something to do.... read more

(Written 03/02/07) Hey all! We thought that we would fill in some of the missing links in our blogs by adding pictures from our stays in Suzdal, just outside Vladimir, and Kungur near Perm. We only had short stays in both places; we headed to Suzdal in search of a quiet few days before setting off on the Trans-Sib. A well known destination on the "Golden Ring" (a string of towns which once formed the cultural and religous centre of Russia) it seemed like a good place to spend the Russian christmas period. Had a great time, although it wasnt the sleepy town we expected! It was packed full of Russian tourists, but we still managed to chill out after our stay in Moscow. As the pictures show, we FINALLY got our white christmas! Kungur, about ... read more