Blogs from Moscow, Northwest, Russia, Europe - page 77

Moscu, capital de Rusia en la que viven casi 10 millones de personas, la ciudad esta bien, aunque a excepcion de la Plaza Roja si te plantan en medio de la ciudad, esta podria ser cualquier ciudad del mundo, lo unico que la diferenciaria son las pequenyas iglesias con las torretas circulares, redondas y doradas. Nos lo hemos tomado con tranquilidad en la ciudad, paseando por aqui y por alla, pero sin entrar a ningun museo. A lo que si que hemos ido es a la tumba? de Lenin, y digo tumba? porque el pobre hombre no esta bajo tierra sino expuesto en una vitrina de cristal, embalsamado en un edificio situado en la Plaza Roja. Da un poco de cosa la verdad, parece como si fuera una figura del museo de cera, de hecho se ... read more

...But now it's day 3 and I'm heading off on the Trans-Siberian Railway to Irkutsk in just a few hours. I'll be on the train for four days. I'm stupidly excited about this. I am a train geek, yes. But if there's a netcafe over there by Lake Baikal I'll be able to post about the great day we had yesterday in Moscow. Propaganda! War stories! The House of Tears! Lenin's waxen corpse! The Heroes of Communism! Havah Nagilah! And hopefully some pictures too... ... read more

A 'riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma...'. The 'Iron Curtain', the 'Russian Bear', the 'Great Game'... vivid images but what does all this mean today? And what can you learn of the famous Russian soul armed only with a few words of the language and a Trans-Siberian railway ticket? My expectations were low as I picked my way across the mini-potholes littering the platform at Belorusskaya Station. I did, however, have my own Russian Bear to help me through the culture shock and language barrier: negotiating potholes both literal and metaphorical. Vyachaslav, an aeronautical engineer, had come crashing into my sleeping car at Hanover. A high-flying scientist in the Cold War, he had been brought low by the botched reforms of Perestroika and the rise of the oligarchs. Now he survived on $200 a ... read more

Moscow, the nerve center of the Russian Federation whose landmass constitutes the majority of Asia and formerly extended all the way to the edges of W. Europe; this is the epicenter of the former communist experience where you can find the buildings of the former, but still infamous, KGB, the Kremlin, and the tomb of their still preserved icon Lenin planted firmly in the middle of the Red Square. I noticed immediately upon arrival that Moscow moves fast; it is a city that’s going somewhere and boasts a more reliable subway than any I have ever seen. I could swear that there is a train every 30-45 seconds. It’s a city that’s also struggling with its identity as it attempts to dismantle the pillars of socialism and move towards a market economy; however, from what I ... read more

hi everyone. thanks for all the comments again, great to hear from u. Well we have made it to moscow after 65 hours on a train through siberia. the train ride has definitely been the highlight of this entire trip so far for us both, it was really amazing, lots of relaxing, reading, playing cards, meeting ppl, eating the the dining cart, drinking lots of russian vodka of course. it was really great. The train stopped in stations everY 5 hours or so for about 20 mins and we'd jump off to buy food from the locals and get some fresh air. We slept a couple of hours each day, hung out the windows or just sat chatting in our compartment letting the hours pass away. We'd do it all over again in a flash except ... read more