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It is very damp in Lithuania and my hands are cold. Typing is difficult.

Well, when you last pretended to read my blog, I had just left Tomsk/Novosibirsk and was on my way to Nizhny Novgorod (previously Gorky, after the writer). I spent two uneventful nights on the train, with only a screaming child to interrupt my reading (my Russian isn't so good, but I figure most of what he said was 'No! Its mine! I want it!'). In Nizhny Novogorod I stayed at at totally dodgy Soviet-era hotel. As I have come to learn, when a hotel is described as 'Soviet' it is best avoided. Every time I got in the lift the light would dim and it would rattle a lot. Nizhny Novogorod, hotel aside, is a lovely town with a big ol' Kermlin and lots of onion domes. It snowed while I was there, and my Canadian soul was warmed by the sight of babushkas sweeping snow from their front steps.

From (Ctrl+V) Nizhny Novogorod to Vladimir. Non-Soviet-era hotel. Still no tourists to share stories about Russians with. Getting slightly nervous about going to Moscow. Vladimir is part of the 'Golden Ring' that surrounds Moscow, an ancient capital of the Rus. Which means it has a really important church. Even UNESCO thinks so. The town was easily do-able in a day, so I did it, then hopped a bus the next day to Suzdal, which seems to have more churches than people (I stole that line from the Lonely Planet). It boasts a monastery/fortress/prison sponsored by Ivan the Terrible, so maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all...

So, I journey by train (shocking, I know) to Moscow. No problem. Didn't get stopped by the police for looking like a tourist, didn't get lost, didn't get pissed on. Easy. First night in went to a hockey game, where we (another Canidiot, Japanese, Korean) decided to forgo buying tickets in favor of bribing a cop to let us in. It worked, until he came back later to ask us for the money for the tickets. Live and learn. As the other Canadian was an English teacher as well, we gave the Korean and Japanese lads some new vocabulary, such as 'slap shot', 'penalty box' and, perhaps most importantly, 'Zamboni'.

The next day, I moved into...I forget the name, whatever, its the biggest hotel in Europe, and waited for the dad to show up. Which he did, it only taking him 4 hours in traffic from the airport. The hotel was...interesting, and we saw a good old fashioned Russian gang beating across the street. Great location. The next day we were there was Nov. 4, Unity Day in Russia, "first celebrated in 2005, commemorates the popular uprising which ejected the Polish-Lithuanian occupying force from Moscow in November of 1612, and more generally the end of the Time of Troubles and foreign intervention in Russia. Its name alludes to the idea that all the classes of Russian society willingly united to preserve Russian statehood when its demise seemed inevitable, even though there was neither Tsar nor Patriarch to guide them. Most observers view this as an attempted replacement holiday for November 7 to counter Communist demonstrations, due to its proximity on the calendar" (Wickipedia). It also seems to be a good day for Neo-Nazis and nationalist goons to parade around, so getting access to the Kremlin or Red Square wasn't happening. We did get into the Red Square at night, and saw that big church thats on all the post cards. It looks way better from far away. Also got to see some Kandinskys (Gano!) at a gallery, a way cool park made up of toppled statues of Soviet leaders and a Soviet exhibition centre. Then we went to St. Petersburg.

Our catch phrase for St. Pete's was 'I bet its fantastic in the summer', because it being winter in Russia, the gardens and parks weren't so splendid. But, truth be told, the city is pretty bloody fantastic anyway. The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood totally doesn't live up to its gruesome name, but the workmanship that went into the place is breath-taking. A Czar was killed on the site they built the church, hence the name. Totally radical. See pictures below. Day 2 was spent entirely in the Hermitage, although that's not nearly enough time. The building itself it worth a day, and then theres all the art within. "Now beings our collective of 37 Van Goghs," says our tour guide. Michael slaps head in disbelief. What else...I'm going to cut it short, as I am rather hungry. More churches, another palace, loads of good food and a bit of vodka. My dad is behaving himself, for the most part. He pays for dinner, so I let him hang around.

We have since taken the train from St. Petersburg to Vilnius, Lithuania, and unlike a certain person I know, did not encounter any Belarussian visa problems (because we went via Latvia, although we slept though it). Next time; castles, Jews, eating Zepplins and Lithuanian adventures.

ciao

m

Everyone send me pictures of what you were on Haloween. I was dressed as a tourist sitting on a train reading a book. It was awesome.

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