Holiday Inn Chelyabinsk-Riverside

... like an extension of our backs now, we did not even feel it. We walked past sleeping buildings and shops, only a few coffee houses open on this early sunday dawn, and in this part of town, only two very drunk people struggling to get home.<br>We hit the river, in a roundabout way, just as the sun broke the horizon, draping the city in gold, the light reflected by the buildings reflected by the Neva, so photogenic, so beautiful. We crossed the river, holding on to the lens on the ...

... 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>

Cheliabinsk is not on the Trans-Siberian-Railway. It is far more south. Here we had a wonderfull time with swimming, sauna and a russian massage: http://www.atlantida-spa ...

... complained, "Nesmotrit; idete, B'ISTRE!" (Don't watch; go, QUICKLY!) We had a lot of laughs at the expense of "Kamaz's", slow Russian-made trucks. They were his pet peeve. He laughed that their drivers had to hunch over in their square, army-brown cabs. When we reached the foothills of the Urals, I joked that it wasn't gonna be good for the poor Kamaz's. Once, he said, "Na eto, Kamaz xoroshiy." (That's something the Kamaz is good for.) I ...

... he's Oksana's brother, Ilya, come to take me to Oksana's apartment! Oksana lives in the centre of Yekaterinburg, in a gorgeously decorated flat (lots of hand decorated bits and bobs that she's done, and some amazing photography) with a finger-nibbling frog. She took out for a walk to show me some parts of Ekaterinburg - we saw lots of statues, she pointed out some pretty architecture, and some nasty soviet architecture, the order of Lenin ...

oh ****. 3am and the karma police have got us back for taking the **** out of karill. we'd been praying for the fourth bunk to remain empty but we get the compartment companian from hell. an 18 stone smelly kiwi with a hacking cough and a tendancy to snore really loudly. ear plugs helped but i didn't have a second pair to stuff up my nose. claudia's tiger balm proved invaluable - a smear on my wrist and i could hold it ...

... full of crisps and choc (helen's fault) and fruit (claudia's fault). the only thing i demanded was the russian equivalent of jaffa cakes. chose the traditional orange, even though these ones came in pear, cherry and peach flavour too.. don't mess with perfection. stopped off at the pizza place for beer and cheese and tom pizza. to hotel to shower and pack for train. now seasoned train peeps, we'll be packing everything we need in our day sacks so we can leave our big 'uns under the seats.

... cafe for borsch (yum) and dumplings (ick!!) with karill and brad. back to the hotel via a v hairy drive. if in doubt, create your own lane! out for a walk, claudia back to the hotel as not v well. me and helen found a pizza place but suceeded in getting one cheese and tomato and one seafood pizza. pulled off all the things with tentacles and knocked it back with some beer.

Breakfast was included in our hotel cost so we headed downstairs, not sure what to expect. We had our phrase book at hand in case we needed to interpret the menu, but luckily it was buffet. Breakfast started at 7am and we got there at 9am where we had to scrounge up some of the leftovers. It looked as though we had left it a little late as there was no bread left, no bowls or cups for the cereal and coffee, no knives and the dregs of juice left, but of course no cups to pour it ...

... 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.