Ok, where was I? Moscow really truly has to be seen to be believed. It looks like Disneyland, for a start, with buildings painted in Technicolor and wide squares everywhere. We stayed in the Gamma/Delta Hotel (it possibly has another name). The hotel was gigantic, 23 floors or something, with two buildings connected by a lobby. The lobby and central area included an internet cafe, three restaurants, a pharmacy, bowling alley....it was a little crazy. After dumpin...

The train was old and creaky, with narrow hallways and narrower sleeping rooms. The decor was red velvet and old wood, and looked very much like the setting for an Agatha Christie mystery. Scott, Rachel, Katie and I shared a room, and played cards for a few hours before being rocked to sleep by the train. It was raining in Vladimir when we arrived, although we soon found our taxi who took us into Suzdal. There were met Vera and Xena, two sisters whose homes we i...

Our Intrepid tour is fantastic. Lauren, our tour leader, is lovely, as is everyone else. On Tuesday morning the eleven of us met Nick, our St Petersburg guide. We did a walking tour of the city, see all the main sights. Nick was a good foot taller than I am, so we did more running than walking to catch up. After arriving at the Winter Palace we went into the Hermitage. The Hermitage is one of the greatest galleries in the world. Iparticularly like the Egyptian mu...

We're in Russia!! I love it so much. The streets are wide and busy with people, and the building are so old they're falling apart, but the place is so elegant. Today we walked to the Aleksandra Nevskiy Laura monastery and cemetary, where great Russians like Dosteyevsky and Mussorgsky are buried. We arrived yesterday after a very harrowing taxi ride-there don't appear to be road rules or speed limits in Russia. The Cyrillic alphabet has us both a bit floored, but...

We're leaving Vienna this morning to head back into Germany, to Nürnberg. We are going to miss Vera very much! Last night we went to the opera house and saw Salome. It's definitely not my favourite story, but the singing and dancing were beautiful. We've also seen Schönbrunn palace, the Spanish Riding School, and a Van Gogh exhibition at the modern art gallery. Oh, and Christmas markets...lots and lots of Christmas markets.