Blogs from Moscow, Northwest, Russia, Europe - page 14

I'm actually writing this after just crossing the border into Belarus, a process that so far has taken 4 hours, so I'll hopefully add more when reaching Moscow! Arriving at Cologne station our train (EN447) appeared on the departure board with the right number and time, but Moscow was not listed as a destination. It turns out only one carriage goes to Moscow and after Warsaw this one carriage is connected up with other carriages from all over Europe to form the train to Moscow! Boarding was a simple procedure using a combination of basic German, English and pointing - something that served us well for the rest of the journey. After making our beds the rest of the journey passed pretty uneventfully until the Poland-Belarus border. On the Polish side of the border Schengen immigration ... read more

After pulling off the near miracle and arriving into Moscow last night, I made my way over to the hotel to meet up with Jenn and my colleagues, Sergey and Tatiana for dinner. Sergey is well versed in my affinity for Georgian food, so he chose a traditional Georgian spot nearby. Sadly, we don’t have any Georgian restaurants in Houston (to my knowledge). Of all the former Soviet republic cuisines that I’ve tried, this is my favorite. We had a feast of red beans (lobio), chicken in walnut sauce (satsivi), grilled meats (shashlyk), cheese bread (khachapuri), salads and desserts that I can't rememer the name of. Many people are familiar that Georgia is well-renowned for their high quality red wine. You can easily find it good liquor stores... read more

My Moscow trip was just a stopover on my way from the U.S. to Thailand. It should be noted first that most travelers visit Moscow in tandem with St. Petersburg, the latter of which is (from everyone I've talked to) unanimously the preferred city to visit. Moscow is sprawling, with no central area of affordable restaurants and pubs, and its sheer size can make it difficult to navigate. The imperial capital / the old Leningrad (St. Petersburg) is an 8-hour slow night train or 4-hour fast train and apparently, you should spend more time there than in Moscow. Also, before booking any tickets, be sure to look up visa requirements for Russia. If you're American, it's an extremely expensive and cumbersome process. I recommend using travelvisapro.com. I arrived at the airport at 7:30 AM, and after ... read more

Due to much popular demand, this entry will not only feature a picture of puppy, but also some photos of unattractive men on the train without their shirts on! Totally safe for work though, just maybe not safe for your delicate constitutions. And also just lots more photos generally! Especially of Lenin! You are all in for such a treat! Our second to last train trip took us from Perm to Moscow. Due to the number of mines around Perm, we were in a super fancy train, that even let you use the bathroom any time at all, even when you were at the station. It was crazy! It still contained shirtless men however, and I have put the photo of this spectacle in the photos down the bottom. About 24 hours after departure we rolled ... read more

W UE już chyba nie jest to możliwe... Natomiast Nasi rosyjscy bracia nadal palą w miejscach publicznych w tym nawet na lotnisku całkiem legalnie :) Cóż... Co kraj to obyczaj :D... read more