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From Russia with Borsch
Greetings from Moscow!
We're not even one week into our trip but feel like we've been gone for months. That's probably due to the complete language block we've encountered in St Petersberg and Moscow what with the cyrillic alphabet being a complete mystery to us. That said we seem to be getting by pointing, gestures and using 'da' (yes) and 'nyet' (no).
As you probably were all aware, Russia is bloody cold! The layers and thick socks have been a must. Wearing our cream coats we seem to stand out against the sea of black coats sported by the Russian populous.
We arrived in St Petersburg on Wednesday (26th October) and were straight out exploring the Nevskiy Prospekt, the main street in St Petersburg which is reminiscent of a French boulevard. This is a prime example of the cities European feel.
On Thursday we met up with the 'honcho', Julia supplied by Vodkatrain (our tour company) who took us on a mini tour around the center of St Petersburg, or what she called the 'circle of culture'. This included the Saviour on the Blood, a cathedral similar in appearance to Moscow's St Basil's (so don't get confused when you see the pictures); The Soldiers of the revolution monument; Peter and Paul's fortress (the first building of the city); and past the Winter Palace.
Stunning structures and scenery. We were even treated to some mad Russian lady taking a dip in the river Neva.
Thursday night went from a civilized couple of drinks with people from the hostel which turned into into a full blown St Petersberg night out! Ended at about 4am in bar Belgrade surrounded by some friendly drunken Russians. See the photos as memories are pretty hazy.
Thursday night wrote off the majority of Friday but we managed to visit the Saviour on Split Blood, St Issac's and the Hermitage museum (an amazing and humongous collection of international art) before we got the night train out to Moscow on Saturday night.
With St Petersberg fondly placed in our hearts we headed to the Russian capital Moscow, whose reputation preceding it as being 'uncompromisingly' Russian.
We were happy to find this was merely the bias perspective of those native to St Petersberg. That Moscow was in fact a lively, picturesque and exciting city.
We've spent the last couple of days exploring Moscow; from the Kremlin and St Basil's cathedral; to the University andGorky Park and taking a stroll (a very long stroll) along the Moskva River . We also took the metro up to the cosmonaut museum only to find it closed. Not the highlight of our day.
In the evening we met the Moscow 'honcho' and everyone else who'll be touring with us and went for a 'proper Russian meal' (filling) and a few drinks (vodka). We've just come back from the supermarket stocked up on instant noodles so are ready for 4 days on a train. Well if Karl Pilkington can do it.
We hop on the Trans-Mongolian tomorrow so will not be able to catch any more of Moscow, which is a shame really because we feel we've barely scratched its surface.
Hope you feel suitably up to date with our ongoings. We'll be in touch when we get to Beijing.
Speak to you soon,
Paul and Amy
P.S. Photos coming soon
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