Blogs from Russia, Europe - page 9

Days 7 - 9/10 of 80 Hi all It's Monday here, it's exactly 1.00 pm as we start to write this into Notepad (that's how we do this, write blog in an off-line pad and then transfer into the blog when on line) and the high speed Sapsan train in which we are sat has off set exactly on time for our 4 hours - 3 hrs 58 mins if it's exact -journey to Moscow. (It arrived 1 minute early). It's like being on an airplane, but with more leg room, and, we expect, less turbulence. They even come through the cabin seeking your small change for charity ? However, unlike a plane, there is access to wifi, train/travel/theatre tickets booking, shoe cleaning machine, and something properly to see out of the windows rather than 'that's ... read more

Day 1 - 3 from 80 Good morning / afternoon /evening everyone, depending on what time it is there when you open this. Yes, we are on our travels again, so this is a sunny welcome and "Privyet!" from St Petersburg .... the Russian branch not Floridian. 3 months this time. St P, Moscow, Trans-Mongolian Express, Irkutsk, Ulaanbaatar, Beijing for a week, 3 weeks group tour of China, 3 weeks across S China and out via stays in Macau and Hong Kong. Phew... Started as usual by dropping off the car and the cat in Manchester to be baby sat by Simon. Flight to St P was with KLM via a very brief transfer in Schiphol, Amsterdam. 2 concerns about that as we set off. 1 - we had less than an hour for transfer, so ... read more

THE CRUISE CONTINUES Two Days in Saint Petersburg, Russia July 19th! The big day arrived. We were going to St. Petersburgh. I had been to Denmark, Finland, and Sweden before. But I had never been to Russia. Saint Petersburg - Day One We went to the Peterhof Palace and Gardens. At the entrance was the Grand Palace Church. Ah! The Russian domes. Then there were the gardens and the fountains: sixty-four fountains. The remarkable thing about the fountains is they operate without pumps. The elevation of reservoirs located in the upper gardens powers the fountains in the lower gardens. There is so much gold. Many of the statues are gilded, and even the rain could not dim their gleam. We walked for hours in a gentle rain. We had some respite from the weather when we ... read more

Once upon a many moons ago I started my first big adventure and moved to New Zealand for a year, with grand plans of returning home via Asia to Europe on the Transmongolian railway. I had a fab time in NZ, made it to Asia, but got slightly side tracked and moved to Australia for a year instead of heading home. Then when my time in Australia was coming to an end, returning via Asia felt like a missed opportunity, so I planned a route home via Africa, promising myself that one day I'd go back and do THAT train journey. I never thought it'd take 12 ish years to do so but finally.... I was sat on the plane at Gatwick airport when I had my first opportunity to muse that perhaps finding time to ... read more

Nach 3:15 Flugzeit mit ordentlich Gegenwind sind wir in Magadan (UHMM) angekommen. Leider mussten wir eine Crew (D-ITWL) wegen technischer Probleme mit der Druckkabine in Yakutsk zurücklassen. Sehr schade. Wir drücken die Daumen, dass die Probleme schnell gelöst werden können. In Yakutsk hatten wir noch 24 Grad mit praller Sonne, hier nur noch 7 Grad bei Dauerregen. Sehr ungemütlich; passt aber auch irgendwie zur Zentrale von Stalins Gulag-Systems. Der Anflug auf das ILS10 war richtig in IMC, aber kein Problem. Alles hat bestens funktioniert. Ein Shuttlebus bringt uns in die ca. 40km entfernte Stadt Magadan. Die Umgebung sieht eher trübe aus, passend zum Wetter. Die Hügel sind in Wolken, teilweise noch Reste von Schnee. Man sieht einige unbewohnte Häuser und vieles ziemlich heruntergekommen. Die Region hat nach dem Zusammenbruch der Sowietunion einen erheblichen Bevölkerungsschwund zu... read more