Well back on-line!! It has been a hectic 10 days or so, have travelled from Dubai to Moscow to St Petersburg to Vilnius in Lithuania and now in Warsaw, Poland.
But let us start by leaving Dubai. Dubai airport is sooo crowded, but very efficient if you are leaving, huge number of counters and we were thru in a flash. Funny place dubai, a two cups of tea and a muffin at the airport cost as much as the taxi ride to the airport!
OK, arrive in Moscow, different story, first no one tells you you have to fill out an immigration card, you just bumble along and do what everyone else is doing (why not hand them out on the plane?). The line is long and slow, our line has an altercation and the immigration officer goes in a sulk and we ALL have to suffer.
Finally arrive at the Hotel (after begging a ride with the tour company who are supposed to be looking after us!) Nice hotel, lousy food, very helpful.
First night dinner (not at Hotel) is included and this is where all the fun starts, for the next week 40% of us have the runs.
Moscow is a great place, lots of character and interesting architecture, load of very interesting churches, but the Russians! they never smile and anyone over 40 tends to totally ignore you if you ask for help in the street. Must be something to do with the weather! In fact it is quite warm.
We do several tours and make friends with the other people on the tour - mostly UK, one Canadian and a group of Aussies from Perth of all places (we hang out with the poms!).
First night in Moscow and we find ourselves in Red Square at midnight, quite safe (I suppose?) We actually find ourselves back here quite often, seems to be a bit of a magnet!.
Ok, seeing this is the Readers Digest version we are now off to St Petersburg by night train. The train leaves at 11.30pm and will arrive in St Petersburg at 8am so we decide to go to bed as soon as the train pulls out. A short time later the tour director knocks on the door with the conductor in tow and asks if we want any drinks, vodka, whiskey, brandy? and is very surprised we are in bed!! dont Russians sleep?. Very nice pancakes for breakfast though, although nothig stays in the system for more than 3seconds at the moment.
In St Petersburg and it is freezing and wet, the Ibis hotel is very nice and well located. The Russians here are no happier. We visit the Hermitage (of course) fantastic, you could spend days in there.
The Summer Palace at Peterhof is magnificent, and we also did a river cruise, did not realise St Petersburg had so many canals interconnecting thru the city.
Free days are spent wandering around the city and using the public transport system, a bit of shopping.
Of the two cities I prefer Moscow (surpringly) it is very uniquely Russian, St Petersburg has the Hermitage etc but the city itself does not have a character of its own, like Moscow.
Now off to Warsaw by another night train to Vilnius and then a flight from Vilnius to Warsaw.
Nice train, very comfy! provided with a hot Dinner (a chicken dumpling with prunes inside-my stomach has improved by now) but still avoid the prunes!!
Arrive Vilnius and everything seems back to normal, people smile, they help wow!
We find our way to the airport using the public transport system, and then you should see the plane (LOT Airways) it has propellers!! something salvaged from somewhere, the only plane I have been in where Business class is at the back! the reason being the noise from the propellers at the front! luckily it was only a one hour flight.
We are now in Warsaw and this is a very nice city, the food is good, the have cafes and coffee everywhere, the people are nice.
The city itself is pretty ordinary, but the it was totally destroyed during the war and was rebuilt in that post war style, but it has a character of its own. Did a city tour and visited the Palace on the Water in Lazienski Park (a 76ha Royal Park in the centre of the city) Visited the Jewish Ghetto and variou monuments and sites dedicated to that era in history, can be very moving. Then to the Old Town, the part of warsaw that was reconstructed as it was in the 1700's.
Revisited the Old Town today, by ourselves this time and wandered about and in and out of a couple of magnificent churches, had an ice crean in the main square (it is warm today) and then got seperated, when i didny get off the bus quickly enough and Rose was left looking after the bus as it took off with me still on board! and it was a hell of a long way to the next bus stop and then to find my way back on foot, however these are the things you laugh at later!!
Tomorrow we are off to the birthplace of Frederick Chopin, which is about an hour out of Warsaw - should be good, a drive in the county,
