Moscow

Well this was an experience, not a very nice one, but a worthwhile one. It started out pouring with rain, my Russian travel agent messing up my bookings and my ticket out of the country. So I ended up, bad flu and all, looking for a hotel to stay in, but nobody had any rooms (more like i didn't really look the part!) Eventually found a hotel in some Smallville Russia, half an hour on the tube outside of Moscow, where nobody had ever seen a foriegner before especially not a brown one, and were all keeping their distance, unwilling to help, give directions or anything. Also eventually managed to get hold of my ticket for the trans-siberian train, thank god, didn't want to be stuck in Russia that's for sure. Not a single person, even in Moscow itself, spoke a word of English and neither did they appreciate my broken Russian. Anyway apart from that the sun did eventually come out for a couple of days and I walked around the city, went to see the Kremlin and the various catherdrals, the architecture is certainly stunning. Not much else to do here though.

I guess the complete absence of customer care, or helpful attitude stems from the communist era, when there was no need to entice customers. And you may think the people in London and especially on the underground are miserable, well you haven't seen miserable until you use the Moscow metro, it's far worse!

Anyway this wonderfull experience has brought out the poet in me so here goes:

City of Angels

Was I prepared for the sights to see?
Which for so many years had been kept hidden from me,
How different could it be from other places I had been,
Only the architectures different from that which I'd seen.

As I walked silently then through bright Moscow city
Head held high, felling comfortable and pretty,
Arms held open embracing the place,
Expecting in return a welcome embrace.

But as i walked silently , I noticed the eyes,
Starring at me in quiet disguise,
Then walking away in silent disgust
Was I the stranger whom they should distrust?

In my reflection a dark shaddow was I,
And all around were angels in white floating by.
This aspect of me I had never seen before,
Now rudely awakened to abhore or adore.

And as a dark shadow, I walked through the night
And I chose to adore with passion and might,
For I too have many riches and treasures to share,
But only with those who walk into my lair.

St Petersburg

Well between Warsaw and St Petersburg personal hygiene has gone out of the window... I ended up not having brushed my teeth for 3 days, no shower and wearing the same clothes for 5 days running. I guess i can officially call myself a traveller now. And growing hairy legs is all part of the keeping warm process.

Anyway when I arrived in St Petersburg I must have looked like a stunned rabbit! Everything was written in Russian, nobody spoke English, I needed to get Russian currency and a taxi to my Hostel, where i thought I had reserved a bed.

Luckily I had been learning some Russian so after wondering around for a bit, I managed to get an army officer to direct me, using my Russian for Taxi and Roubles. Then i got conned by the taxi driver who charged me 15 pounds to go 1 mile!

Lesson No 1. Always ask how much the journey will cost before entering taxi!

I got to the Hostel and found that it was still being constructed and that they were not expecting me at all. After some negotiation I managed to get them to let me stay in this brand new part of the building which had just been completed, although I had to walk through the building site everytime to get to my room and the bathroom and kitchen were shared by the builders.

Spent the next 3 days sightseeing in the pouring rain and have now got a soar throat and cold. It rains here 300 days a year!

All the museums and cathedrals were absolutely stunning, puts the Royal Pavilion to shame!

Well I managed to send a parcel back home today although it took over 2 hours to send it. I'll certainly be appreciating Royal Mail now.

Well I'm off to Moscow tonight, hopefully I'll get the right train station (there are 5 in St Petersburg!) and the train leaves at 11.15pm. It's a good job the nights don't get dark here, I'll be walking down there on my own with my rucksack. So another night of no sleep, another adventure!!

Poland

Well very good fun was had. Arrived in Berlin on 7th June. Had to change trains 3 times to get to this little town in Poland called Gorzow Wlkp, which is between Berlin and Poznan. Spent a few days with a friend, Tomasz, who was an excellent host. Had a barbeque at his parents house and all his and his brothers friends were there...lots of very friendly Polish, Vodka and singing traditional polish songs to his dad playing guitar. A very merry time was had by all. Spent a few days in Gorzow, walked miles and miles through the forests, spoting snakes, lizards, deer, frogs and ending up at the German WW2 bunkers. Eating lots of traditional Polish food....mushrooms and cabbage with beetroot soup!!! mmmmm

Spent the next few days in the south of Poland on the Czech border, in the mountains. Went hiking in the beautiful forests, the rock structures were amazing. We walked through a huge labyrinth of rocks at the top. We also saw a chapel made of human skulls....really spooky and a black squirrel which is quite rare! Lots of thunder storms, not too nice when you get soaked and your're camping.

Left the mountains on the overnight train for Warsaw. Spent one day here, just walking around town. The old part of the city is particularly impressive. More traditional Polish food, boiled potatoes and fried eggs for dinner, then camping again in the centre of Warsaw! This time we actually had hot showers though.

Its quite amazing how few people I have met on my way that can speak English, haven't even met any tourists! And Polish is a really difficult language to learn with all its sch's and sh's and shh's and cz's and ch's etc. One day maybe, I'd love to come back here and be an English teacher though, it's such a friendly country, although very poor and a lot of the systems and ways of doing things are a bit back to front. The communist jokes I heard were really funny though and put a lot of things into perspective.

Thanks Tomasz for a wonderful time, would have been lost without you.

I left Warsaw and Tomasz early the next morning for a 30 hour train jouney to St Petersburg. Slept and read books most of the way. As soon as we got to Belarus, the train had to be taken into the siding to have its wheels changed. That was an interesting experience.

Tinas first web experience

Very very scary!!!! Now although i'm an Aquarian and supposed to be into the latest technology and gadgets, I still can't use a TV remote control.....so bring back those lovely TV's with the 4 big buttons on the bottom of the screen, so you know excactly what you are watching and have the added benefit of getting excercise every time you change channels!!

Anyway I think I am improving, have just managed to edit this web page, but that's probably due to Manish setting it up and making it so easy for me to use. Thanks Manish.

Well now I can see my travels being full of fun filled days in the internet cafes, actually I'm getting to quite enjoy using computers....never thought I'd hear myself say that. Anyway tara for now.