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Day 10

January 22, 2009 in Godzillas, Moscow, Russia, St.Petersburg, hostel, illness, images, lockers, train, travel | 1 comment

Swapping StP for MCW

OUTLINE

Check out of Sabrina before 12, got our first smile out of our hostess. She must be happy to see the back of the English. Our bags were packed and waiting – I guess we really wanted to leave
March to the train station (without getting lost this time) head down, record time. Still found time for a few pictures!
Used the locker room beneath the station to store our bags for the day. The place could have been a KGB safe room. Bet experience in St.Petersburg yet
Sightseeing can begin now the mornings work was complete. On to the Church of the spilt blood. That’s the one everyone recognises from the postcards
Everyone splits up and I get a bit moody. I blame the Lemsip. James and I wander the streets in a really nice part of town talking and exploring
Finally look behind the main street facades. They hide a mess of broken pipes and Ladas and frosty smashed windows. Also link ways through the massive city blocks and crumbling inner city housing projects. Kind of looks like an exciting place now, a bit dangerous though. We take a couple of snaps and keep moving
We pluck up the courage to walk out on to a frozen pond
Due to meet Jay and Sarah at the station we walk in the opposite direction in to a very rich looking part of town and an open area enclosed by a huge icey palace and some grand looking law courts. A great city space – finally. We bolt back down the 6 lane highway towards our sleeper train to Moscow.
unlocking the bags from the KGB lockers is easy and so is locating our train.
No sleep on the freezing sleeper
Picked up by a long haired, short armed Russian taxi driver with a small beige Mercedes cab. He’s not happy to see the size of our bags
Godzilla’s Hostel looks top. There’s a party going on when we arrive involving all the staff. The taxi driver uses a special phrase to get us into the small green door “WOMAN, PLEASE!”
Finally get some sleep after the drunk staff force feed us beer then decide to leave us alone

Musical showers are rubbish – loads of buttons but not much water.

Bright sunshine and a new city ahead leave smiles on every ones faces.

James’ camera has battery issues.

A frozen looking couple pose for photos on a pretty little bridge covered with pad locks. It’s definitely an Eastern tradition.

The biggest snow flakes fall in great blinding sheets on our way to the train. Makes me feel like St.Petersburg wants us to stay after all. I’ve had ups and downs here and it’s not as beautiful as I had heard but it is interesting and there is lots to discover under the harsh exterior. I’m definitely glad I visited.

This sleeper, not a private train like our Vilnius beaut, had a brisk, thin Russian lady working it – she was not nice. The water was brown and dirty, the lights were never turned on and the heating was not used. One final dig for StP.

Getting picked up right off the train is a great thing especially at 3am in a big strange city. But it does cost allot.

Drunk Russian jokes aren’t so funny when all you want to do is sleep.

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Day 8

January 21, 2009 in Russia, St.Petersburg, comedy, hostel, images, map, moustache, travel, visas | 1 comment

Sabrina where are you?

OUTLINE

8.30am arrive in Saint Petersburg. We leave our comfy sleeper for a noisy, cold, dirty, smokey city
Discuss methods to reach our hostel – decide to march
Arrive sweaty and tired at the small crumbling doorway entrance to hostel Sabrina
Enjoy tea and jammy swiss roll while awaiting an English speaking taxi driver to take us to another Sabrina hostel. This one has a singing shower (?)
45 sleepy minutes later the crease faced, leather cap wearing crazy taxi driver shows up and we weave through busy traffic to our real hostel
No visa registration, it’s a 10 day Russian holiday

Explore the city to shake our dark first impressions of the district around the train station. We walk and walk but nothing really changes

Tonnes of Lemsip and a frantic march with a huge pack will do wonders for a cold.

Bums in train stations are the same the world over but in Russia the police are meaner.

Jay can’t map read.

Russian people are either stern and a bit rude or crazy and really nice but mos of the time they are all drunk.

St. Petersburg – Venice it ain’t.

Heating inside Russian homes is always on Max, this explains the huge stripey, puffing chimneys which dominate the skyline.

Sarah’s Russian is ace.

Russian tv looks 40 years old and is really over the top.

Driving is total madness and crossing the road is a leap of faith.

St. Petersburg is busy.

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Day 5

January 12, 2009 in NFL, Poland, Warsaw, hostel, images, turkish Cem | Leave a comment

The Turkish Incident

OUTLINE

Jay and Sarah arrive back from a night out in Warsaw
Our new friend Cem comes back next
James arrives home shortly after
Cem tries to get in every ones bed and stalks the room for the rest of the night with his phone torch on
You don’t sleep well when your worried you might get an unwanted guest
Morning comes, everyone is hungover and Cem claims his antics were only a drunken mistake
Cem invites himself around Warsaw with us today. He sticks very closely to James’ side. Things are getting weird
Cem finally leaves after our tour of Warsaw, he tries his best to kiss James. Definitely awkward
Dinner at the Sphinx steakhouse trying to calm James down
San Diego Chargers Post Season Wild Card Playoff game 2am – 5am. I love free Wi-Fi
Train to Vilnius at 6.30am