River Park Ob Hotel Novosibirsk

... a huge array of animals, who knows where they all came from. Everything from camels to monkeys to llamas to lions to dancing bears to horses to dalmatians to parrots to a boxing kangaroo!<br>I was blown away by the acrobatic skills; Japanese dressed in fluorescent yellow and travelling down slides on their heads. My utmost favourite were the mummies dancing to Michael Jackson. Thriller never ceases to put a rhythm in my bones. The mummies were capable of doing ...

... fog curtains small Russian cottages with wooden benches in front of them. Rains often. The first trial of taking a walk along the Village Verh-Icha's "street" ended up with "destruction" of my sports-shoes. Mud - my enemy for the next month and a half - was knee-high. Shocked with this discovery, I got acquainted with rubber boots. In 1939 the joint Russian-American company began producing rubber boots in Russia ...

... ei tarjonnut hirveästi mielenkiintoista koettavaa, mutta koska säätiedotuksen mukaan pilvien mahdollisuus oli kaikkein pienin juuri siellä, päätimme lähteä Altaille vasta auringonpimennyksen jälkeen. Ensimmäisenä päivänä me söimme ja rentouduimme pelaamalla Unoa. Seuraavana päivänä otimme taksin Ob-joen rannalle ja jäimme odottamaan pimennystä. Ilma oli ekana päivänä todella kuuma, asteita liki 30 eikä tuulen virettäkään. Itse ...

... en 'platskart' : wagon dortoir (juste des cloisons pour separer des zones de 6 lits) dans lequel il faisait tres chaud et mon voisin n'arretait pas de peter... Arrivee en pleine nuit. Heureusement les gares de Russie super pour dormir : chambres et salons. Nous avons donc passe le reste de la nuit sur un canape en cuir!! Le matin : Internet et agence de voyage pour infos. En milieu de journee nous prenions un bus jusqu'a Barnaul.

... at the views on both sides from Rostovsky Most (or bridge) across the Moscow River and then went home and packed, ready for an early start next morning as we were finally off to China! Rachel: After we had farewelled our grandma we set off to catch a plane to Russia St Petersburg. We arrived there to meet Katerina our tour guide and Alexi her husband who drove us round. We went back to their home which was about an hour ...

... were delicious, but stank the compartment out. There's a dining car, and when the train stops you can also buy food from the babushkas who sell it on the platform. This can be a bit hit or miss though, as they sell different things at different stations (in Kirov there was no food whatsoever, only cuddly toys) and you have to buy stuff when you can get it. This can result in some pretty strange meals - one night I dined on monkey nuts, apricots, hard ...

... Very warming on a cold winter's afternoon and certainly fills the hole left by tramping around the markets. Another bonus of finally locating the markets, I located a shop that sold nothing but Russian made watches so was able to get my POLJOT watch. As the evening closed in we headed back to the Hotel for a quiet evening in before a big day out tomorrow of touring the Kremlin and hopefully seeing the Moscow Circus in the evening.

... very funny has just happened the locals think that someone who is smiling is either simple, mad, drunk or laughing at them. If you want to get a favorable response while interacting with a Russian, a frown and a serious voice normally illicit the best response. Having missed the ballet in St.Ps we had our hearts set on seeing it in Moscow, however it turns out it isn't the official ballet season so no professional outfits are performing ...

... in what appeared to be military-type tunics and dresses (not terribly flattering, sorta reminded you of Agent Kleb, James Bond's nemesis in From Russia with Love. After being shown to our table, we were promptly provided with an English edition of the menu. The meal was OK, nothing special, but very reasonably priced, so good value. "The star of the show was undoubtedly the venue itself. It was filled with framed pictures of what I can only ...

... day is still a mystery to us all. There is 'trolley-Mike' , the cheery Russian fellow who has the pleasure of dispensing cans of beer and snacks during the journey . Backwards and forwards the length of the railway time after time with his trolley of much happiness. He has stocks of Baltika number 5 . Your mid strength lager. And the scale of alcohol goes up in increments from there. Baltika number 11 is thick and deadly strong . I try it only ...