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

Anyone for Cream Tea?

We celebrated the official beginning of spring this month with a day trip out to the Cotswolds, a very picturesque part of the English countryside, using the same tour company we went with to Stonehenge and Bath. Our bus stopped off at three Cotswold villages: Stow-on-the-Wold, Burton-on-the-Water (the so-called Venice of the Cotswolds) and Burford. A very pleasant and relaxing day, as there is not a whole heap to do in these little villages so we just wandered, looking at the scenery and visiting a few tea shops and country pubs.
Last Saturday we took ourselves down to She Bu Walkabout for two very important causes: a fundraiser for the victims of the Victorian bushfires and the birthday of one Rebecca Berrigan :). A very good night was had by all involved.
Not a lot more to report; we are both getting itchy feet waiting to finish up at work (4 weeks for me, 5 for Dave) and go off travelling. After our 5 week trip, we are planning a night or two in York up in the north of England, followed by a cheap flight to somewhere in Europe (possibly Italy) with friends for a final weekend before we are back to life down under.
Will update again before we go away.

Burford

Burton-on-the-Water

Burton-on-the-Water

Stow-on-the-Wold

Stow-on-the-Wold

Birthdays and beers!

We have had a great birthday weekend here in London Town. We booked for the Tower of London on the Friday and got there (fairly) early at 10.30am to avoid the worst of the school holiday crowds. After spending a good couple of hours enjoying one of London’s biggest tourist attractions, we headed down to Portobello Markets for some browsing and some lunch. That night we made for Angel to meet up with J, Bec, Nathan and Ryan at the Camden Head for some celebratory drinks, continuing on at the local Walkie until we had to run to catch the last tube home.
Saturday we decided to pay a visit to London's big new Westfields. We picked up some great bargains, although were a little disappointed that a certain Portuguese chicken place was not among the numerous food options! (The Boost juice really hit the spot though!) Sunday we hit O'Neills for some lunch, before embarking on a (unsuccessful) mission to Brick Lane in search of some of those cheapo DVD's.
In other news, unfortunately living at the pub at Angel just didn’t stick, so we are now down here at Clapham South in a share house, living with 3 others. A little hard to get used to at first, but it’s working out OK and Clapham is a lovely area. We are here until we go away, so for about the next 7 weeks.
Will update again after our trip out to the Cotswolds on Sunday (fingers crossed for a nice day!) We have also entered the ballot for a 20/20 county cricket match at Lords (seeing we won’t make it to the Ashes after all) to be played the day after we return from Norway, and we should find out shortly if we have been successful.
Hope everyone is well.

Some random on the dance floor

Weber siblings

Portobello markets

At the Tower of London

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Well, as you may have been reading about in the news, London has been hit by its biggest snowfall in 19 years, making for some great fun as we were able to make snowmen, have snowball fights and generally have a blast! The Monday snow dump capped off an eventful weekend in London Town, so here is an update on what’s been happening.
We had tickets to a Premier League game on Saturday at Fulham’s home ground, Craven Cottage. After a quick pint en route at the Slug and another outside the stands (not allowed to drink while watching the English football – seems quite unnatural really) we took our seats behind the goal. Fulham ended up winning an entertaining game 3-1 (although we left before the final whistle to avoid the crowds – I would guess about 24,000). On the way home we stopped for some dinner and a…ahem… few drinks at the Slug (great Aussie bar that it’s hard to believe we haven’t been to before this). Then, seeing as it was our final night down at Earl’s Court, we decided to say farewell to SW5 with a drink at our local O’Neills, a semi regular haunt in our time in south west London.
Sunday was our official moving day, although Dave had been moving our stuff gradually over the past couple of weeks, so most of it was already done. Sunday morning was spent cleaning the flat, before our landlord’s representative had a brief inspection and saw us on our way. Sunday night, to our delight, it began to snow…
The next morning we woke to a world of white. With the news that all buses were suspended, I grumpily hopped on the tube the two stops to work. After lasting out the morning and looking longingly out at the snow, at midday we were told we could leave!! As half our office couldn’t make it in it seemed pretty pointless being there anyway. I arrived home and went out to lunch, after which Dave and I helped make a snowman!! (Some pelting of Dave with snowballs also occurred at this point.) The snow eased up by evening (but the pub still shut early!) and it is not snowing now, although more is forecast for later in the week so we’ll see what happens. Some pics below.
Before I wrap, a brief update on our plans for the remainder of our time abroad. I finish up at work on April 10th, and on April 20th, accompanied by Giedre, we fly to Riga, travelling by train from there on to Moscow!! We will spend 6 days in Mother Russia before looping around some of the rest of Eastern Europe, stopping in Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic (we have a reservation at Gordon Ramsey in Prague!!), Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Hercegovina, before heading up to Norway to see Bergen and the fjords. On our return we will spend a leisurely week in London with my parents. Our flight to Australia departs Heathrow on 8th June, touching down in Sydney on the 10th, bringing to a close the past 20 months.
So that’s it for now. We are planning our birthday weekend (long weekend – mine falls on a Friday this year and we are both taking the day off!) We will be staying around London, sightseeing and catching up with people, including my little brother, who is making the big move to London this month!
Hope everyone is well xo