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Published: December 29th 2005
Stairs up to the Cathedral Spire
Part of my Christmas jaunt around St. PDate: Dec 27, 2005
Christmas, St. P to Moscow
Temperature: -10C
Snow Cover: 20cm (35cm in Moscow)
I trust this finds you all well. I spent Christmas with two of my new Russian friends: Sasha and Andrei… there was no turkey or lamb to be found so I pulled off my tried and tested chicken penne. We also feasted on lemon sardines, red fish, chocolate and of course vodka. We then met up with Andrei’s sister Nastya and her friend Gunya and headed out for some reveling. We wound up in a VERY dingy smoke filled bar with a bunch of ex-pats from New Zealand and the US which was fun. All in all it was a great Christmas and it snowed ALL day!
I spent Boxing Day doing laundry and tidying up the apartment which after 6 days of neglect, needed it very much! The 4 Russians came over for dinner again and said their goodbyes. Sasha was kind enough to meet me and escort me to the train station today (27th). I can’t tell you how willing these people are to help out; it’s almost embarrassing as the next story will attest.
I got to the train station
well ahead of time and was to be in car #13. The train was 16 cars long and it took a good 5 minutes just to walk the gang plank to my car! I should preface my ‘Russians are great’ comment with the fact that they are wonderful once an acquaintance has been formed but they are rude and unaccommodating until such a friendship has been established. Basically I had to FIGHT my way down the car to my chair… taking out a few ankles on the way a la Bobby Clarke Summit Series ’72 style! The train was packed but I did manage to find room for my three bags. I met two girls on the train Janya and Julya and we chatted about all sorts of topics. Their English was quite good which was nice given my Russian is terrible! There were a bunch of drunken guys sitting near us and found the American (I told them I was Canadian at least 5 times) rather interesting. At one point, the girls informed me that they found my cell phone even more appealing and actually mentioned to them that they were planning on stealing it (I said they were
Meal on Train
Herring, bread, beer with a side of Crime & Punishment drunk, not smart!). So, the girls hatched a plan that 5 minutes before arrival they would come to me and one of them would escort me off the train while the other would exit from a different car. Janya’s boyfriend met us at the metro station (which was attached to the train station) and all 3 of them escorted me to the door of my apartment. This was an hour out of their way and insisted they take me to the door via metro and then a taxi. These are people I had JUST met and were dead set on making sure I would get to my apartment alive and with my cell phone! Whether this kindness speaks more to Russian hospitality or the fact that drunken fools would follow my anywhere to rob me I do not know… but I’m going to choose the former.
I am planning on hitting the Kremlin and Red Square tomorrow as well as the Air China office to get my Beijing to Manila trip secured.
Enjoy the week and Happy New Year to you and yours if I don’t communicate before then.
Best, Jason.
PS. I am on dail up in Moscow
(remember what that was like?!?) and it takes forever to add photos and doing a Google Earth map will drive me insane.
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Marianne in Montreal
non-member comment
Like the snow
Hey there - thanks for the photos - I love the snow. i'm in montreal right now and we were lucky enough to get tons of glistening white show without the usual -30C temperature! very nice. and yes i would much rather have my job that the "Babushkas" in the snow. So true. Enjoy your time in Russia!