Blogs from Russia, Europe

How many times have you been asked to swap seats on a flight? And how many times have you asked? The subject rears its ugly head almost daily on travel websites, the news, and various airline blogs. On my rather long and circuitous trips through Asia and Europe, I rarely get asked. It seems the request comes most often in the Business Class seats that I have booked several month is advance. It appears two passengers have upgraded their seats at the last minute, either with money, points, or comped by the airline. I was already seated in an aisle seat in a 2x2 configuration in Business Class. I was asked not once, but twice to change seats, and ended up in the last row window seat. Not terrible, except for one thing. The guy next ... read more

Savoteur says these are the worst cuisines in the world. I have not been to all of them, but I will comment on the ones that I have endured. Iceland-the worst, boring, bland and five times more expensive than it should be. Try the fermented shark! England-I have never had a good meal in England, except for Indian food and the fabulous fish and chips at Wimbledon. Steak and kidney pie are for suckers! Australia-If you stick to Chinatown or seafood, I think it is more than passable. If you want wild game, this is the place. You can have the Vegemite! But the Aussies make up for it with their beer drinking! Mongolia-My friends on the Trans-Siberian Railway said the food was worse than Russia. The absolute worst was fermented horse milk. Kazakhstan-More fermented horse ... read more

Over the years, combined with my love for trains, metros, and public transportation, I have been fortunate to find some of the most beautiful stations in the world. Here are a few of my favorites (with help from tripsavvy): Komsomolskaya Station, Moscow (above) With its crystal chandeliers, marble pillars, and golden mosaics, you’d almost expect Moscow’s commuters to waltz through Komsomolskaya Station on their way to the platform. Constructed in 1952, the space was inspired by a wartime speech of Stalin, and the creative duo behind its extravagance (Artist Pavel Korin and architect Alexey Schusev) even won the Stalin prize for their work. Beyond its beauty is a blatant political mission. The station was also designed to promote Soviet propaganda, so you’ll find sculptures of fallen leaders and scenes depicting moments of Russian history. I was ... read more

Little known, at least to me: Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish speaking country in Africa. Sao Tome and Principe (two island country) is Africa's second smallest country. Nauru is the world's smallest island nation. The Vatican and Monaca are smaller. Moldova is one of Europe's least visited countries. It has only existed since 1991. Tuvalu and Montserrat are still part of the Commonwealth. The newest country in the world is South Sudan. Canada has the longest coastline in the world. Greece has the longest coastline in Europe. Russia has 11 time zones. Russia is the country to have most consecutive number of time zones. Russian time zones are UTC-2, UTC-3, UTC-4, UTC-5, UTC-6, UTC-7, UTC-8, UTC-9, UTC-10, UTC-11 and UTC-12. (And I went through each one in 2014) The highest point in Japan is Mount ... read more

This was my last email from Russia, back on May 26, 2014, probably sent from St. Petersburg. Some of you ask if I would go to Russia again, or even take the Trans Siberian Railway again. Probably not. Once was enough. This is my last email (with some updates and additions)from Russia. Many of you are thankful. Back when Siberia was the land of dispossessed white Russians, the little towns did not offer much. It did offer space and quiet. Some day you could hear your watch ticking at high noon on main street. Life was so dull, that anyone receiving a telegram was expected to circulate it as reading material for the entire town.Most of the cities and towns along the TSR are gray, drab, and depressing. Meeting ... read more

Here is the last entry of our 5 weeks spent in Russia in these trouble times of 2022. Initially we were going to leave St Petersburg on the 12th of March, but we ended up re-booking our flight five days ahead of the schedule time. Result of this was our stay in Moscow would be shortened by few days too. The think I miss about the last 3 blogs is not to have been able to share great pictures of the great friends we met over the last 5 weeks. But let say that this part will stay private. We landed late Friday afternoon in Moscow arriving from Sochi and would leave on the Sunday late afternoon by the speed train to St Petersburg. Little point to note, in Moscow you spend a lot more time ... read more