Jonathan E Tyrrell

Well I arrived safely in Russia...

A couple of days ago I arrived in St Petersburg, Russia after a about a 3 and a half hour flight... made it through Terminal 5 with all my baggage intact. St Petersburg and Moscow (where I am now) is 3 hours ahead of the UK.

First day a bit tiring... arrived at hotel after 'hairy' ride across city from airport in a beaten up old 'Lada'... straight into tour joining meeting, then out for meal. Highlight of the tour group meeting was the warning... "don't drink the water" !

Next day we toured some of the city... Cathedral of our Saviour of the Spilled Blood (multi-coloured domes... I'm sure you'll have seen it!

Then St Isaac's with its 'golden dome', later a boat trip on the River Neva... where I got soaked as we went under on of those jet/pump things that use river water to put out fires.

невское or Nevsky beer... very nice!

Had an excellent evening meal with guys wondering around playing music on traditional instruments... my group of 15 includes a couple from UK... Paul and Helen... one Canadian (Mel) and the rest are from OZ. I'm therefore learning some great phrases... for example, 'DADS' ... 'Dump as dog shit'... and aparently the alcohol abuse amongst aboriganies is so bad that some shop keepers put methalated spirits in the cold cabinet for the blokes when the come into to buy some!

I have visited the famous Hermitage / Winter Palace of the Czars... fantastic building and interior with an amazing gallery... especially the Rembrandt collection. Urns everywhere... lapis lazuli, malakite... you name it. An aweful lot of the paintings in the gallery are there thanks to Russia soldiers 'liberating' them from the Germans in WWII.

Ended my day at a show of traditional Russian music and dance... amazing... stunning... you know the 'cossack' type leaping around. This was at the Nickelevsky Palace... it was called 'Feel Yourself Russian'... if it visits the UK... go!!!

The last 24 hours have been tough... after the show we had to get an overnight train to Moscow. Borded at about 11.20 and arrived at 9.05am this morning. This was the first part of my trans-siberian journey, the cabins were 4-berth and very tiny too say the least, but nice enough. Each carriage has a 'attendant' lady... the russian word escapes me... who makes the breakfast, tea, coffee, etc. and generally runs the carriage.

After a night of no sleep, finally arrived in Moscow. Today was the celebrations of beating the Germans in WWII... the way they talk on the TV you'd think Russia were solely responsible for winning the war!

Mind you millions of Russians did die... Leningrad for example. My group had a free day, as we could not visit Kremlin, etc. due to roads and Metro being closed for celebrations. Saw fly past of Russia's airforce might from hotel window and rest on TV!

Just  been out for lunch and had a few beers... off to the vodka factory in a bout an hour... looks like I'll be visiting the Kremlin with a hang-over!

Here for 3 more days then it is 4 days on the train to Irkutz... more (plus some pics hopefully) when I can...