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Published: June 14th 2010
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Well,
I am on a total travel high right now. The laziness that I will forever associate with my stay in Moscow has completely died off, and I am now more excited than ever for the rest of my trip. This is not to say that I did not enjoy Moscow, as I certainly needed a period of rest to gear up for this adventure, but I am happy to be much more mobile now than I was there. And I have spent the past few hours plotting out the rest of my trip. Itinerary, subject to financially based changes: Baltic states, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Istanbul and Aegean/Mediterranean Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt)
Currently I am sitting on the train from St. Petersburg to Helsinki and staring out at a forest of birch trees that has been recklessly ended about 50 feet on both sides of the tracks. I do not think that Russia, at least along rail routes, offers many other sights, as each train trek that I have taken in this country has been surrounded by similar scenery.
I believe that I left off at the end of
my stint in Moscow. My train ride was actually rather perfect, for I had been expecting the dull and cramped situation that we had experienced on other regional trains in the area, but was instead met with four-bed sleeper rooms and two quite cordial Germans. Although they were easily thirty years older than myself, we had a great conversation about European travels and places that "I must not miss." They also brought along a Ukrainian red wine, which tasted more like the crangrape juice they offer at communions on Sunday's, so that helped to shorten the nine hour journey.
Arrived in the city with no hostel reservations whatsoever around 10pm. As I had been instructed to expect, it was still as light as it would be at 3 or 4 in Austin, and yet I made the mistake of stopping to eat before finding a room. Of course, as soon as I left dinner the heavens opened up, and without an umbrella I was forced to search rather aimlessly around the main drag (Nevsky Prospekt) for a room. Ended up sitting in a covered alley with a flashlight (thanks Wyatt) over my Lonely Planet guide for a while, since
I had already stopped in at the two places I originally circled to no avail. Didn't come across an open place (it was a big holiday weekend unfortunately) until about 1am, and even then I was crammed into a six person room with four very drunk, and... large... middle-aged Russian women.
This had to be one of the more "Russian experiences" that I have had, for while I became immediately hopeful that their incredible drinking rate would lead them out on the town, by 3am I realized that they were instead intent on staying in. They kept popping their heads up to my top bunk to offer me champagne or vodka or something that resembled burnt toast topped with pure sour cream, and each time I respectfully declined or, towards the end, opted to act as if I was asleep. This whole process lasted until around 4 or so, (or at least that's the last time I checked my watch before falling asleep). And their snoring! I do not think the entirety of the Smith male lineage could combine to produce such a racket. I literally had, and I consider myself to be fairly adept at tuning out these
noises, my headphones in, with music blaring, topped with two pillows wrapped around my head; and I STILL could not cut the sound level in half. It was ridiculous. While i was relatively grumpy at the time, I now think it is one of my fonder memories of this country: a bunch of chunky Russian women, we can call them Olga 1-4, getting hammered in a cheap student hostel and annoying a groggy American boy. Why one would do this is part of the mystery of things in Russia that passes understanding, but in truth I probably would have had a good time had I been on their side of the equation.
Woke up and went off to find a new hostel, for that one was full the next two nights, and quickly stumbled upon a back alley with signs pointing towards two different options. Checked in and then went out towards the Hermitage, where I spent about three or four hours wandering around the offerings (which included two of six remaining original Da Vinci's). Two hours of these were spent with an absolutely ridiculous English tour guide who, after being asked by myself first and then twice more
by other members of our group to slow down, would simply reply, "Where do you come from?" We would respond with our respective American cities, and then he would proceed to tell us that we obviously have not learned the "real" English -- thus our inability to understand. While I was more startled than anything, especially since he was from Vladivostok and english was his third language, the others opted to leave the tour on the spot when he offered these "disgraceful" words. I ended up thinking it was pretty funny, and it was helped by the fact that when the lone Brit asked him to slow down, he actually did. So much for the end of the Cold War.
After the museum I wandered with the hopes of finding a bar near the consulate to watch some of the World Cup, for I hoped to meet some ex-pat fans to cheer with. Failed. Went home and napped, then met up with a couchsurfing friend I had met in Moscow, and we went to a pub near the stadium to watch the game. We ended up getting sufficiently rowdy, and then went off to Sensation, the all-night, all-white (clothing,
I mean), electronic/house music rave held at the main stadium. I opted to leave my camera at home, for fear of it getting lost amidst the ruckus, but I hope my words will serve to give enough credit to this ridiculous experience.
First off, the entirety of the sub-25 group of this city and the next thirty surrounding countries seemed to be making a Mecca-esque pilgrimmage to this event. The metro was teeming with similarly aged people dressed in all white clothing (this was required for entry) ranging from simple wife-beaters and jeans to hardcorde Siberia parkas, and by the time we got to the gates (around 1230, after it had started, but this was necessary for us to catch the game) the stadium was PACKED with people. I do not know that there is a feeling on par with walking into a Soviet-style stadium sparkling with the (almost) reflection of an intense electronic light show off of thousands of plainly clad partyers, and not knowing but a single person there. Managed to meet a few new faces throughout the night, but as I cannot remember any of their names, I will deem them, as Edward Norton would say,
Kazan Cathedral
Eastern Orthodox "single-serving friends".
Made it back to the hostel after a stop at McDonalds in the morning. I then proceeded to sleep until about one, thankfully not too late, and then hike over to the hyrdofoil (boat seen in the pictures) stop behind the Hermitage to head over to Peterhof. The thirty minute boat ride over was a great way to begrudgingly recall the fun of the previous night, and I think the angry stares from the lady next to me were more directed at the sounds coming from my stomach than at my entirety. The pictures describe the views better than I ever could, but I imagine that Versailles is the one place that I know of that could ever hold a candle to the intensely Baroque style that marked Peter's grand retreat. My favorite part had to be sitting on the rocks along the and sticking my feet in the most Eastern body of water I have yet to experience. Wandered back through town via the incredible Kazan Cathedral (which was surprisingly cool, as it offered a glimpse into the life of an Eastern Orthodox practicioner) and the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood (modeled after
St. Basil's in Moscow). I was exhausted from the day, and opted to turn in early.
Russia has easily been the most interesting country that I have visited. Between needing to pay for plastic bags for groceries and witnessing the amazing Orthodox onions, I have had an awesome visit in this country. After about a one hour stop at the border, complete with soldiers peering carefully under the train and through its innards, we have made it to Finland and should reach Helsinki in a couple of hours.
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