Garden Apple Novosibirsk

... but the whole journey was filled amass with trees, usually white birch. And since it was autumn it was very beautiful, most of the scenery was golden and yellow, some lime green and others still dark green like the conifers of Scotland. Occasionally we saw the odd settlement with houses that look like sheds, thinking how on earth they survive in the depths of winter.

Most of the travellers we have met had strange and not very nice experiences with the ...

Train ride was overwhelming... Four days on train made me almost sick. It took 4 days to reach that city in Siberia. After the train ride I heard the Iron Monster's sound in my head. Going from room to kitchen was a punishment. It seemed like everything is swaying. Or swinging. Recovered in 3 days with the help of a lot of sleep. Now I could realize the surroundings. Poor people. They live in such a humid climate ...

... Asunto oli aikamoinen läävä, ja punkat osoittatuivat kahdeksi vuodesohvaksi ja yhdeksi sängyksi, mutta olimme niin väsyneitä, että emme juuri välittäneet. Heitimme kamat lattialle ja asetuimme kuka mihinkin lepäämään. Mika ja Tero nukahtivat lattialle, mikä ja Tumppi sohville ja Roto päätyi asunnon ainoaan sänkyyn. Neljän tunnin tirsojen ja kuuman suihkun jälken tunsimme olomme ihmeen virkeäksi ja päätimme lähteä ruoan hankintamatkalle ...

nous changerons pour prendre un bus ou un autre train et nous rendre vers la prochaine destination!! just transfering to a bus or another train to go to the next destination!! Nous sommes arrives a Novosibirsk dans l'aprem. A la sortie du train, un orchestre jouait une musique enjouee sur le quai, quel accueil! Nous sommes restes dans la gare pour prendre notre connexion jusqu'a Biysk. Notre connexion fut douloureuse : quelques ...

... number 7 bus to the other end of Vasilevsky Island. Geography Noter: Vasilevsky Island is where St. Petersburg originally started, because it was the sturdiest ground in the whole swampy area. One end borders the Gulf of Finland, and the other borders the Neva River and the rest of the city, which grew outward to the south and east. You can see the Gulf of Finland from our dorm building. It's beautiful, but definitely too cold for swimming. The rocky ...

... of the lady who paid for the statue, as requested and which was saved by the local preschool kids when the council wanted to move it somewhere else. We discovered the 'perfect' street, each side is identical and the walls are 22m high and the street 22m wide and 220m long and everything is in proportion, saw the theatre where plays encouraged the people during the Leningrad seige and the statue of ...

... largest bell in the world is in the Kremlin), even big gutters! (see the photos) The whole society is a stew of the communist past, the commercialism (not capitalism necessarily) present and the ever constricting semi-tsarist government of Vladamir Putin. This neo-strongman has taken nearly complete control of the media, especially television media and in this fashion, has essentially made the office of President an appointment or coronation, rather than a ...

... worn out it only goes off once every 3 months, it did not go off while we were looking at it. Lunch was a weird affair, we really did not know what to do, it was like a buffet and you pointed out what you wanted paying only for what you get, I suppose we have the same at home but it would be like that throughout all of Russia, if you order something you then have to pay extra for the sides, nothing really comes with salad, or chips or rice. After finishing our city tour Natasha ...

... is that NOTHING in Russia is in English. So, when it came to finding where I was on the map I had some serious issues as the street names Cyrillic which I do not know. On top of that, I was so scared of looking like a tourist that I didn't want to walk around holding a huge map in front of my face. I wandered around for hours but finally figured out where I was and would somehow find places that listed the street names in English. I found an information board or two but even those ...

... comprehend. There's a new engine , a flat-faced red one with a large soviet star around its one eye - its powerful headlamp. But surely the engine was Green ? Blue you say ? And the outside world doesn't seem to change at all. Our jovial Alaskan companion has brought with him some tins of salmon which he's wood-smoked at home . Never travels without it . It is quite delicious in the extreme. Drinking sessions occupy the day although the time ...