Best Eastern Ast Hof Moscow

... that I would just arrive in Rome tonite, then have all day tomorrow to explore before meeting Jacqui at the train station in the airport on the 16th. I'm going to stay in the Alessandro Downtown Hostel for two nights. Seems like Rome is still a hopping place for backpackers so I should find some interesting people to hang out with.

Then it'll be on the cruise ship until Nov 1. Here's the ...

Well what a day it has been. I am writting this as I sit in my room on the train. Our second day in Moscow comprised of going to a history museam which detailed the history of stalin and all the hitrositesthat he did during his rain in charge. In the museam they showed films about the time and gave interviews with some of the people from the camps and how porrely they were treated. One man was saying how that people were so badly mistreated and tired ...

Tempers frayed on our first morning in Moscow as we awaited instructions from Pasha. We lugged all our bags into the centre, assured by the LP that 'all metro stations have left luggage offices'. Well we tried four or five and none of them did. Exasperated we went back to Kievskaya station and dumped our stuff there for the day. The walk from Okhotny Riad through Voskresensky Gates and onto Red Square is incredible and everyone ...

... 8230; Mother Russi* is sort of * legend*ry pl*ce th*t w*s begging to be explored. Ever since le*rning *bout the cold Russi*n winter th*t defe*ted two of history’s gre*test *rmies, the n*tur*l f*scin*tion with the Kremlin *nd Red Squ*re from the Cold W*r…communism…the Hermit*ge, etc. In short this is *n extremely import*nt pl*ce th*t is *lso * mystery. Or m*ybe I just w*nted to go somewhere cr*zy!

Upon *rriving from the bus to the ...

... if he had a cavity search but he did not elaborate any further. I did notice he walked now with a slight limp.We basically rode out of the border control area to the petrol station, filled the bikes, grabbed some food and dossed down in the hotel adjacent to it. Rick kindly laid on some fine food from the delicatessan in the rear of his wagon, we consumed a beer or two and then hit the sack. A very long day had by all! Cheers Baz

... was very rainy, so I didn't explore the city much more. At night, half an hour before my train's departure, Anna called me saying she was in S-P. Oops, too late, and also too late for us to come together to Moskva, I'd had to wait a bit alone there. The night-long train ride was good, though - a huge wagon in a huge train, and the wagon was actually a huge dormitory, filled with almost nothing but bunk beds. Of course I culdn't find my place number among the sea of ...

... we will witness in the coming days. After a few hours sleep, Elina, Aoife, Danny and I head for breakfast in the newly attached Russian dining car. We are greeted by a large, flame-haired woman, our waitress and information source in the coming days, and one of the few staff members to smile. Excellent ham and eggs with dark coffee and bread. At the end, Danny attracts the attention of a Mongolian trying to drink his way to Moscow. We retreat to our ...

... We also walked down the famous Old Arbat street which is filled with Souvenirs stores. It was absolutely hilarious, they even had Babushka dolls of the Simpsons, Spongebob Squarepants, US Sports Teams, etc... We finished off the day with a dinner of bread, cheese, and salami. It was a great meal for the equivalent of 5 dollars! We left our hotel at 8:30 pm to catch the 10:30 pm train to St. Petersberg. Our last train in Russia! WHOOO HOO!

... inside the buildings!), the garbage in the garbage shalfs (also inside, close to elevators) and general mess. It looks like the common corridors are never cleaned by anybody - on the floor in the corners, there is a centimeter thick layer of unidentifiable dirt. This week I am on my own and had a few adventures with our flat already. First one was when I heard an explosion in the kitchen and went to have a look - nothing was obvious but smell of burning plastic. This ...

... the "samovar" (a large kettle of boiling water at the end of the carriage). Also, traders constantly stop by trying to sell their goods be it toys, clothes, souvenirs, religious icons, blankets, or magazines. Being the only foreigners on board we were the obvious objects of curiosity. The young guy in the upper bunk across from us was a little aggressive, brash and loud. He seemed to think that the louder and longer he spoke to us in Russian the more we were going begin ...