Blogs from Kazan, Volga, Russia, Europe - page 3

A mix-up this morning meant that the girls thought I was sleeping at 10.30, and left the hotel without me while I was having a shower to get ready to go somewhere with them. I had to settle for a walk around the kremlin in the rain on my own; the perfect weather had changed but it was warm never-the-less. Overnight my phone balance went from 9 y.e to minus 9 y.e so I had to call in at a phone shop to sort the problem out. The rest of the day was sports' day. AK-BARS beat Omsk again to win the Russian championship - the people in the sports bar were more excited at the end of the game this time, but still not as wild as Ella. We walked home across ulitsa Baumana, to ... read more

The sky was blue today also, with a few more grey clouds, and it was as warm as yesterday. I even spent the morning without my coat on. We strolled around town for a couple of hours to find some more places. Kazan isn't just beautiful due to the architecture, the people are beautiful too. The boys dress from the MTV Moskva guide-book in expensive jackets and ripped jeans; for the girls ulitsa Baumana is a catwalk, to show off their new hairstyles and spring collection miniskirts. the Tatar girls dress a bit more modestly, but are just as stunning. The town speaks both Russian and Tatar. About every third person is of Mongol descent, with higher cheekbones and ever-so slightly darker, oriental skin. It is impossible to judge what language a person speaks from how ... read more

Myself and Emma used each other's head as a pillow, and we put our legs over Chris J's body as he was lying down opposite us, with his head in the corner on Sarah's feet. We didn't sleep that much but we had a lot to talk about, so it didn't bother anyone too much. We played another game of twenty questions - Precious guessed my 'Olga's pet terrapin' in just four! We stopped in the wilderness at about 2 for a 'wee break'. When we were all back from the forest Chris took his guitar out and played 'Angels' by Robbie Williams; we stood in a circle and sang with him. It sounded superb, and was a beautiful moment - because it was such a clear night (and we were hundreds of kilometres from anywhere) ... read more

We squeezed into the minibus at 7 this evening, and set off for Kazan. The 850 kilometres of road was all bumpy and uncomfortable, and twelve seats for ten people didn't leave much room to sleep in. There were pot-holes everywhere that threw us around, and we even drove through two fields near Ivanovo when the driver got lost. Ivanovo in the dark was a frightening place, the fog and eerily silent wide streets making it feel hostile. We arrived in Tatarstan fifteen hours later, feeling very tired and sore. We got to Hotel Fatima at 10 in the morning, unpacked and had a shower. It is decorated in a middle eastern style: whitewashed rooms with low beds, Tatar paintings in the corridors, and cream teracotta floors and suede sofas in the foyer. I shared a ... read more