Business Hotel Avrora Chelyabinsk

... very very drunk after meeting up with Alex again, in a happy reunion, talking and dancing with a girl all night, making conversation with much difficulty, then stumbling home, when it felt like I have reached the limit. When I got home, in my intoxicated state, I thought somebody took my breakfast cereal, so in response, hid the raspberry jam, so nobody could have any of it for breakfast, and went to bed. Needless to say I could not find it in the morning, until after much ...

... are heading to Kazakhstan tomorrow) later in the evening for dinner...at an Irish Pub with the menus in English! A great night, swapping tales and hints. Keep safe, guys.<br>We stayed at Hotel Meridian, a lovely hotel with unlimited WiFi (such a bonus). Olga, the hotel receptionist, who speaks amazing English, made us feel so welcome. Thanks, Olga, we can thoroughly recommend your hotel.<br><br>p.s. We have posted the pic's for the last few days.<br><br><br>

... index.php?o ption=com_content&amp;task=blogsection& amp;id=9&amp;Itemid=31 More information: http://wikitravel.org/en/Chelyabinsk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabins k

... The Urals aren't very big.) Some call it Lake Baikal's sister. But, various tourist spots and a dirt road around the lake destroy its natural-ness. I met an alternative-thinking, English-speaking, giggling, touching girl two days ago. She thinks water has "information" in it. She cited a Japanese scientist. He wrote "war" on jars of water, and the molecules went all screwy; he wrote "love" on jars of water, and the molecules were ...

... and although it's really ugly, it was quite moving. The kids look much younger than they were (they were all late teens, early twenties, but the statue looks like 10 year olds), and the Tsarina looks like she's trying to poke her eyes out, but I think she's supposed to be crossing herself. It was quite sad really. Ekaterinberg is more of a wandering city than a "doing things" city. There's a lot of little streets, old houses ...

... my nose and get to sleep. got some sleep after getting on the train at 4am. the whole of today, tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night before we escape. spent out time eating, sleeping, getting cross cos kiwi in the bunk below is snoring, reading, listening to ipod etc. toilets on train not as good as the moscow to ekaterinsberg train was. proviniste bit less house proud. not added extras in the form of tea and biks either!

oh dear. it gets worse. on the way to breakfast i casually commented that by the time this trip ends i'll have probably forgotten how to use a pair of eyelash curlers.... helen and claudia both piped up oh i brought mine. pants. ah well. after the 52 hr train trip we start out on tomorrow at 3am, i doubt even eyelash curlers can save them from looking less manky than me! walked the hour to an internet caff. emailed, blogged. **** weather, depressing city. tired. walking tour of the city ...

3 am - fell out of bunk. oops. 8am - examine shin. bit lumpy 8.30am - breakfast of banana and a few peanut mnms. sleep, eat, drink tea, read, feet up to let lovely attendant lady (provinste) hoover our compartment. two more hours to put our watches forward to. so arrived at 8pm. found hotel. pretty good. cheated and ate in restaurant again! got serenaded in the empty restaurant ...

... Russian people still come too weep, despite the Tsar Nicholas II, his wife and five children being assassinated roughly 80 years ago by the Bolsheviks. Unfortunately the house, known as Dom Ipateva, was demolished by the local governor Borris Yeltsin in 1977, supposedly on Politburo orders. The iron memorial cross was right in front of the quaint Chapel of Revered Martyr Grand Princess Yelisaveta Fyodorovna. To the side was a cool "ice church" made of large blocks of ice and ...

... good an ready. Another fine example of Russian service! After about 15 minutes of waiting we eventually got served and headed back to the room with our sparking mineral water (still bottled water is hard to find in Russia). We have discovered the joy of brushing our teeth with mineral water. The tooth paste fizzes in your mouth getting into all the nooks and crannies and leaving your mouth feeling really fresh. After a long overdue shower (3 days on the road) we crashed into bed.