Ahh-choo!

So to pick up from where we left off, our second day in Vilnius we took a day trip out to a place called Trakai, 45 minutes by bus. The main attraction there is the castle, Eastern Europe’s only castle on an island. It is a very pretty and peaceful place, and we enjoyed a few beverages at a cute little café overlooking the water. That night in Vilnius we cooked our own meal of dumplings, sausages and salad, and had a great night hanging out in the hostel kitchen chatting to our some of our fellow guests. The last day we spent exploring some more. Our first stop was the Uzupis Republic, a tongue-in-cheek breakaway state with its own president, flag and constitution. We then climbed the Hill of the Three Crosses for some fantastic views across the city, before sitting down to a delicious lunch of zeppelins (potato dumplings with a meat filling), cottage dumplings, and a dish the menu called Masters’ Chicken (Dave was happy to get a photo with that!)
At the moment we are in Warsaw, Poland, having arrived here at 10 to 6 this morning on an overnight bus which blasted us with unwanted air con all night. We dumped our bags at our hostel, and set off down the Royal Way to explore the Old Town, which was levelled during WWII by the Germans after the Warsaw Uprising and has been reconstructed. I swear, every school in Poland must be having an excursion today – there are large groups of children of varying ages EVERYWHERE. After, we took a walk over to the Jewish suburbs, where we visited the moving Pawiak Prison Museum, containing exhibits and photos of Polish Jews and their war experience under the Nazis, before a yummy lunch of Polish pirogi. Tomorrow we will jump on a train for the 3 hour journey to Krakow.
Pics to follow.

Russia: Photos

Here they are.

The Bronze Horseman - St Petersburg

At the Mariinsky Theatre - St Petersburg

The Winter Palace - St Petersburg

Church on Spilled Blood - St Petersburg

Cathedral Square, Kremlin - Moscow

View from our hostel - Moscow

In Red Square with St Basil's in background - Moscow

Ballet and Borsch

So we have just come off two busy days in beautiful St Petersburg. After arriving at 7am on the overnight train, we headed down Nevsky Prospekt (making a quick pit stop at Maccas for some breakfast) and dropped off our bags at the hostel. Our first stop for the day was the marvellous Winter Palace. Wow, what a sight. We made our way through the courtyard to the entrance to the Hermitage museum, where we spent a good two and a half hours.
Next up was the Church on Spilled Blood, the interior of which is amazing - covered in colourful mosaics. After stopping at a Russian bistro for a lunch of borsch and fried potatoes with garlic (yum), we made our way back to the hostel to freshen up before heading out again.
Suitably attired, we headed over to the Mariinsky Theatre to pick up our tickets for the classical ballet, Raymonda. After a pre show snack and drink, we took our (extremly good) seats. Wow!! The ballet was fantastic, and the costumes colourful. Afterwards we stopped off for coffee and cake before turning in.
The next day, after partaking of our hostels' free weekend breakfast of pancakes and Russian jam, we took off for the HI International Hostel, the meeting spot for Peter's Walking Tours. For the next 5 hours we traversed the city on foot, stopping for a couple of coffee breaks and a chat with our guide and fellow walkers. It was possibly the best walking tour I have ever done. We were shown parts of the city we never would have seen, we found out more about the history of St Petersburg, specific buildings and the well known residents that inhabited them, and we passed some seriously weird sights (the Museum of Radiation Hygiene anyone?) Afterwards, we made our way back to the hostel via the Bronze Horseman statue and St Isaac's Cathedral, stopping at the souvenir markets next to the Church on Spilled Blood, where some serious haggling was undertaken (that was Dave's responsibility.) We then made our way to the train station for our overnight train to Lithuania.
We are currently in Vilnius, getting ready to head out for some cheap beers and Lithuanian food. We have spent today exploring the pretty Old Town, and have visited the Museum of Genocide Victims, housed in the old KGB headquarters. The exhibits cover the Lithuanian experience under Soviet rule and the resistance movement, and on the lower level is a chilling KGB prison.
Until next time.

Blinis and Babushkas

Hello from Moscow!! It is our second night here, in a fab hostel with fantastic staff in the Arbat district, right in the midst of things. We are currently sitting down to a makeshift supper of dumplings, soup, breadrolls, and vodka, intending later to head out and see Red Square all lit up (it won't get dark until about 9pm). Here's a rundown of what we've been up to.
We arrived here Tuesday morning via an overnight train from Riga in Latvia (where we filled ourselves up with perogi!) Navigating the surprisingly simple metro system to the hostel (surprisingly because it was all in Cyrillic - thanks Bec, your map saved us!) - we checked in and promptly headed off to Red Square, a mere 5 minute walk. Entering Red Square was pretty awesome - that first sight of St Basil's Cathedral is definately a big wow moment. We also saw the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where the eternal flame burns. We then paid a brief visit to the GUM department store, before heading back via the (still being renovated) Bolshoi Theatre and Arbat ul, where we had our first blinis. Later, we settled in to a dinner of pasta and (of course) vodka!
Our first order of business this morning was a visit to Lenin in his mausoleum. We joined the small queue and proceeded through the metal detectors into the tomb, observed by unsmiling Russian guards. It is dark and eerily silent, as you round the corners to where Lenin lays, perfectly embalmed, in his tomb. It seriously looks as if he is merely asleep, even though he died in 1924. It's kind of creepy.
Next stop was the Kremlin. We bought a ticket to the Kremlin itself and also the Armoury. The Armory was our first stop, and oh my god...the treasures within are indescribable. The collection is spread out over 9 rooms. The first contains various artifacts of gold and silver, from various centuries of Russian history. The second contains the treasures of the tsars, including the jewelled Easter eggs the tsar and tsarina traditionally exchanged as gifts at Easter. The third and fourth rooms contained armour and weaponry, the fifth gifts presented to the tsars by various countries ambassadors, and the sixth some coronation dresses of the empresses and various items of Russian dress in different periods. The last couple of rooms contain some royal thrones and crowns, and the final - almost the best of all - is lined by royal carriages and sledges. The most gorgeous include a Viennese and a German carriage, presented as gifts to the popular Empress Elisabeth.
Next up was the Kremlin itself. We crossed through the Trinity Gate Tower, and immediately came across the marble and concrete State Kremlin Palace and the Poteshny Palace, which housed the first Russian theatre. Then we entered Cathedral Square and were again left speechless by the golden domes of the Assumption Cathedral, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe, and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. Exiting the square, we marvelled at the Tsar Cannon and Bell (with a great big chunk out of it), before taking a pleasant stroll in the Secret Garden.
Tomorrow our plans include Gorky Park and the adjoining Sculpture Park (a collection of Soviet statues joined by some contemporary works), followed by a visit to the Danilovsky Monastery, after which we are on an overnight train to St Petersburg.
Photos to follow a bit later on.

Row Your Boat

Greetings from Stockwell! Yes, that's right, we have moved AGAIN, making it official that I have moved more times over the past year and a half in London than in my entire life previously. We have felt a little like nomads over the past two and a bit months, migrating from Earl's Court to Islington, down the Northern Line to Clapham and now to neighbouring Stockwell. It does seems particularly apt that, having started our time in London way back in 2007 under the same roof as J and Bec, we will finish it the same way. I'm all about the symbolism.
So I finish work in just under a week, after which I get to have a week relaxing and doing some sightseeing (yes there are still things to see) before we head off to Russia. We are also both keenly anticipating Dave’s final EVER shift at the pub – I can just about promise you that he will have never felt so free and relaxed as at 4pm on the 18th. Everything is slowly coming together re the trip, although there are still a few things to organise.
There have been a few things of note since our last update. One Wednesday night late March we found ourselves with free tickets to Ben Lee at the Indigo O2, so the 4 of us went out to the gig. I have had a few social things on at work, the last of which will be my leaving drinks on Thursday night, and of course we spent Tuesday 17th March at an Irish pub in honour of St Patricks Day (no trips to Dublin this year).
Last Sunday, the 4 of us took ourselves off to Cambridge, a delightful university town about 1 hour by train from London. After scoffing scones at the markets, we visited a few of the colleges, had wicked fun and heaps of laughs going for a punt on the river Backs, and watched the Cambridge/Oxford boat race at the hilariously named (for some people) Baron of Beef. Some photos below.
That’s about it for now from London, I dare say our next post will come to you live from Russia!!

Punting on the river Backs

Trinity College

King's College