Russia Rendevous Part 3 - The Last Stop

Back to Moscow!

Yes, we arrived back to Moscow and checked into the same hostel, much to our surprise and amusement!

We checked into our rooms much earlier than the check-in time, and the receptionist, being a little blur as we had just awoken her from her slumber, brought us to our room which was still occupied. Surprisingly, the room was not locked and when we opened the door, we saw a naked couple sleeping in the far end bed. Yes naked and cuddling. And there was a lady sleeping alone in the bed near the door. So this set us thinking and wondering about the various scenarios that happened the night before. Anyway we were all rather shocked and speechless, but when we walked out, we all started to LAUGH!!

Lenin's mausoleum with St Basil at the back

1st stop of the day - To visit Uncle Lenin's preserved body! 1 point to note, do not bring camera as you will have to deposit them and pay a non-refundable deposit fee! So Angry! Anyway, the atmosphere inside the mausoleum is damn tense and uncomfortable. There were guards EVERYWHERE! And everyone was so stern! The body looks fake as well..Might be the result of the perservatives.

St basil cathedral is just behind and it is another Lego-like church.

This lunch costs us about S$20 each! Exorbitant!!!

After lunch dessert - Ice cream. Yes we went ince-cream crazy in Russia. An ice-cream a DAY!!But I still lost weight..

Our DIY dinner! That's russian meat pancake with vegetable soup and bread. Yes, we LOVE to take pictures of food.

Last day in Moscow - Feeling down as we had to fly back to Singapore soon. Anyway, it was a relaxing day as we had visited the places we planned, so we were just walking around. Went for a walk to Gorky Park, an amusement park which was really amusing to us as it was rather deserted..And did not seem too exciting.

We decided to visit the Dolls museum but could not find it in the end as it had moved from its original location and nobody knew where it moved to. Wasted trip AGAIN. So we decided to go to the convent. Before that, we stopped by a really cool supermarket! THe design is really BEAUTIFUL that you would not believe it is a supermarket!

Made our way to the convent without knowing the exact location. But by a stroke of luck, we met someone who spoke rather good english and guided us to the place. Well, nothing much to say about the place as it is a convent. Keke..Churches overkill in Russia.

The highlight of the day - MOscow Circus! Yes it was the day of the opening match of World Cup between Germany and Costa Rica, but we decided to watch Moscow Circus because we were in Moscow! It should not be missed! The ticket is CHEAP!! We got ours for 100 roubles each (S$6), which is cheaper than watching a movie, and by the advice of the local, we moved down to a much better seat when the show started, which meant that we paid little for the more expensive seats! Haha..The show was great! It had been too long since my last circus visit..Really too long ago. But there were no lions or tigers...Great acrobatic performances. Felt like we were back to when we were kids, sitting in the tent, watching the performances with popcorns in our hands..

And it is adious to Russia on Saturaday 10 June. With heavy hearts, we left for the airport in the early morning. How sad....Another 14 hours of flight back home, this time with a lousy inflight entertainment that we could not control. Slept a little more this time but still not very much. 1 more week of leave back home before I face work again.......

Yes, Russians generally do not look friendly, a little fierce even! Must be the communism ruling. But there are exceptions (rare though) And St Petersburg is a much more friendlier place than Moscow. Practice your Hand Language!You'll need it in Russia

For more pictures, visit my online photo album www.dianshan.shutterfly.com

Till next travel/blog, Dian Shan OUT!!

Russia Rendevous Part 2

2nd Stop - St Petersburg

Overnight train arrived in St Petersburg around 10am the next morning. Tired. Checked into our hostel - All Seasons Hostel, which is tucked in a quiet corner within some rather old estates. The hostel is filled with locals and too smoky (russians smoke ALOT!).

Our friend did not manage to arrive in the morning, so we set off to sight see without her.

Headed off to Peter & Paul Cathedral. Alot of reconstruction was taking place, destroying the beauty of the place. Much better off looking at postcards, which I bought. Great weather that day, with the sun high up and the day cooling. Met a French guy, Frederick, who was on vacation alone. Nice guy, who is interested in coming over to Singapore to work.

Dinner was DIY of russian dumplings and soup. Met Sebastien, our German friend while having dinner. He was and still is on holiday before he starts work in the later half of the year. He is travelling down through the Trans-Siberian Rail. How cool is that! And our friend - Pei'ru finallly arrived at night!

NExt day is another day of Museums! Before that, we went to purchase our overnight train back to Moscow. It was not easy! The russian lady at the counter did not know English, and we had to struggle to let her know what we wanted. Luckily, a Russian behind us knew English and was able to help us. Yes, it was a rather long affair and we finally bought our 3rd class sleeper tickets. Much cheaper than the 2nd class, about S$39.

Move on to the Museums and Churches! Their churches are so Lego-like and colourful!

Visited the Russian Museum, one of the famous Museums and must go places. It is HUGE!! With lots of art paintings and sculptures on display. Sorry to say, I'm not an artistic person and truly could not really appreciate them. Met Sebastien at the Museum, what a coincidence! Ended up touring around with him that day.

1 Thing I must say abt St Petersburg - IT IS COLD!! The 2nd day started fairly cooling, and it just got worse! Freezing man! THe wind is the culprit...

Magnificent fountains in Peterhof!!

3rd day in St Petersburg is the Coldest and the most beautiful! We went to Peterhof! We went there with thick jackets but were still freezing. As the place is near the gulf, the wind was especially strong and it was drizzling that day, which made it worse! It is really AMAZING! The scenery is great, the place is great! Especially the fountains! This is the most beautiful place, and a must visit! TOo bad the day we went, it was raining and COLD, which kind of spoilt the mood a little.

Last day in St petersburg, another museum! The Hermitage! As students, we got in for FREE!! It is really HUGE, with displays of paintings, artifacts, sculptures, etc of different era and countries. Spent half a day there walking around and around. The rest of the day we just spent it by walking along the streets. We tried the Russian breads with fillings, not bad tasting.

Overnight train to Moscow, well, the 3rd class is fair enough. Think we paid too much to get a 2nd class as there is actually not much difference.

Russia Rendevous

1st Stop - Moscow!

31 May 2006, flew off to my long awaited destination of the year - Russia. 1st stop of the tour will be Moscow! So glad that we managed to fly off on the last day of the promotional ticket, saved us at least S$800.

Arrived in Moscow early in the morning..So tired, did not sleep well throughout the flight (busy watching the inflight entertainment). Took the airport train to the city for 120 roubles (~S$8) and it took 45 minutes.

Took the famous metro to our hostel. The metro stations are really BEAUTIFUL!! All marbles decoration...

Checked into Godzillas Hostel (great choice of hostel) and went off to sight see! How exciting! Nice weather that day..Just cooling.

1st stop - Tretyakov Gallery. With our student card on hand, half price off the entrance fee! Oh man, how glad I am to have applied for ISIC card!

Saw rainbow across the Moscow River! Amazing view!

Followed the aroma of chocolate to the Moscow Red October Chocolate Factory! Yes, bought some Russian chocolates (but some people find them weird tasting)

Next stop - Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. yes the churches in Russia all have very long and interesting names. You'll find out more later.

2nd day - The famous, well known Kremlin! Could not get into the Armoury Chamber, much to the disappointment of Mei Mei, as all the tickets were purchased by the bloody, money-sucking travel agencies. Did not get to see the coronation eggs.

Anyway went to visit the inside of Kremlin. All the churches! Very beautifully designed and built. All the long, interesting names...

The Annuciation Church

Must stop by the famous shopping center in Moscow - GUM. Nothing much to buy there as the things are really expensive! But the shopping center is really nice. Bridges across the parallel blocks, and statues and fountains within. Well, if only we have such shopping centers in Singapore...

Got a little bored at night (nothing much to see for the day) so we decided to hunt for cinemas but unfortch, since English is a minority, the only English movie on screen is Da Vinci Code which Mei Mei has watched and at a unsuitable timing. So we passed.

On Saturaday, it's Shopping time! The Izmaylovskaya weekend market! It is just a really HUGE flea market or pasar malam as we call it in Singapore. Clothes, sunglasses, jeans, shirts, shoes, you name it you have it here! Really too huge to walk the entire area! But I did not splurge here..On a tight budget..The design of the market is really cool..looks like Disneyland from afar which colourful cute buildings.

Me wearing the sunglasses I bought! Yes, those are bikinis behind me, did it on purpose.

My only spending here was for a pair of sunglasses for 100 roubles (~S$7). This is when a Russian bloke approached me and started chatting me up. OUt of courtesy, I chatted back a while before hurrying off.

Managed to find an American cinema and watched X-Men: The Last Stand for 250 roubles (~S$16) expensive but we had nothing much to do as we waited for our overnight train at midnight to St Petersburg.

Well, the beds weren't really fantastic. Small and slightly cramp, did not really sleep well on the train. For the money paid, it really wasn't fantastic.