Blogs from Moscow, Northwest, Russia, Europe - page 3

It seemed, I discovered chatting to the Russian chap sat next to me on the high speed train from St Petersberg to Moscow, I'd inadvertently booked myself into the 'Premier Economy' carriage - snack included and would you like tea or coffee with that? All bought to your seat with no need to navigate to the buffet car with the riff raff. So yes, I had found the English language version of the Russian Railways website when booking my tickets, but the myriad of symbols for different classes and options, never mind the inference of the train number being high or low, or indeed whether the train had a name, was bewildering. If nothing else this trip will be a voyage of discovery as I find out exactly what I booked! I was also amused at ... read more

So my birthday did not finish as expected, President Putin did not send a undercover agent to pick me up for a meal in the Kremlin - I am sure it was because a major event was happening and he just could not spare the time in his busy top secret world. Anyway we decided to go to Gorky Park which to be honest was a BIG mistake I really did not want a birthday meal of eating a pizza or burger in a take-away (yes you guessed it Mike forgot to book a restaurant). Anyway we decided that we would walk back to the district named as Red October - yes that's correct Red October and no Sean Connery was not there waiting to wine and dine me for my birthday either (things are going ... read more

So it's day 2 in Moscow and we have a private tour booked - why are you having a private tour I can hear you ask! Well if you have ever been on a tour with me you will know the one person who asks so many questions and you are thinking not again!! Well that's me so that is why we have a private tour just to save everyone else the misery of another question. Before this we have booked breakfast in the hotel which is a novelty for us as I normally say no way let's eat like the locals. Anyway would you believe the breakfast room is situated around a fountain and that is not the best bit whilst eating your breakfast from an around the world buffet who walks out but a ... read more

We are now home and our cruise has finished. As you will see from the info below we didn’t really have a lot of time to write of our experiences. Too many jam packed days and yet still more to see in Moscow. Russia has been fantastic and very different from my trip in 1978. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the introduction of private enterprises there have been many changes. It is becoming very westernized which means more cars, traffic jams, but there are now shops, plentiful foods and smiling people. It is very easy to get around, particularly as most signs and stores have English signs. The children learn English at school, but as with many countries, older people while they may have an understanding they do not speak it. They do ... read more

Über St. Petersburg ging es für mich dann weiter nach Moskau. Kurz vor der russischen Grenze wurde es im Zug tatsächlich ganz ruhig. Die Grenzkontrolle durch die russischen Grenzbeamten erfolgte dann ganz sachlih, kühl und unfreundlich. Und schließlich kam ich in Moskau mit dem Nachtzug an, der auch in der 2. Klasse mit Tischdecken und warmem Frühstück sehr luxeriös war. In Moskau war ich zuerst so sehr von den wunderschön gestalteten Metrostationen beeindruckt, so dass ich gleich am ersten Tag auf eigene Faust eine Tour zu den schönsten Stationen auf der Ringbahn unternahm. Am nächsten Tag nahm ich dann an einem geführten, alternativen Stadtspaziergang teil, der sehr interessant war und für mich wichtige Informationen für die nächsten Tage in der Stadt enthielt. Später machte ich noch eine typische Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour für Touristen mit, um auch noch ... read more