Half way to St Petersburg

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Hi again and thanks for all the footy comments in particular!

We are now in the little (300,000) town of Pskov about 280 km south of St Petersburg after an overnight train from Moscow. It was a bit more stylish than the Reunification Express in Vietnam and actually ran on time, but sadly I got very little sleep. Probably need to drink more of that flavoured vodka, rather than turning to tea!

Since emailing last we spent a night in Suzdal, east of Moscow, an old capital n now promoted as part of the 'golden ring'. Amazing numbers of churches and monasteries and this seems to be the main thing that they show tourists ... oops, correct that to 'travellers'. With Intrepid, you are a traveller, not a tourist!

We've done a lot of churches, which have been amazing and magnificent, but I'm feeling a little churched out. I passed on the one in Vladimir yesterday and browsed around the main street. Seemed to have at least a dozen shops selling mobile phones and everyone carries them.

But if they didn't show us churches I'm not sure there would be much to see. Communist stuff is out of fashion and not too many natural wonders about. The highlight here in Pskov was a 12th century cathedral with famous frescoes, and I guess that was the main reason for the stop.

Our slightly surly Russian guide Sergey insists that "any experience is a good experience", and that is probably a good motto for Russia. Getting service with a smile is a real challenge. Getting service of any sort is doing well, and patience is needed for any transactions.

My Cyrillic is improving, but still painfully slow. Think I've mastered at least half the alphabet now, but sometimes those lengthy translations only produce a mysterious Russian word, so not much use. I seem to be doing better than some of the group and am often requested to decypher street names as we wander the streets. As long as no-one is rushing anywhere it is fine!

Still waiting for the memorable gourmet experience, and maybe tonight's the night. Food has been okay, but that's all. Beetroot salad is becoming a local favourite. Can't complain about some prices however, as a cup of tea in a cafe a little earlier only cost 6 rubels and 10 kopecs. When it's 20 rubels to the Oz dollar I reckon that 's about 30 cents, which can't be bad!

We head on to St P tomorrow for more culture and history. Looking forward to that.

Georgie

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