Back Again

Day 499
I was up early and quickly packed. After checking out I headed to the metro. I then got off at the wrong spot. Big surprise. Luckily the first person I asked for help spoke English and she told me where I needed to go. In no time I was on the bus to the airport.

After checking in I went thru immigration. After the pain in the ass of registering I really wanted to be given a hard time and to show that I had all my ducks in a row. I don't think that the guy even looked at my registrations. It was really upsetting.

My first flight was on time and I fell asleep before it even took off. When it landed in Copenhagen I went thru security again and then hung out at my next gate. We boarded on time but then sat on the runway for over two hours. By the time I got to London I was already 2.5 hours later than expected. I then about had a heart attack, the immigration line was ridiculously long and slow moving. Luckily after about an hour of waiting the nice American couple in front of me let me use their phone so that I could call Edward, who I had met in Hong Kong, to tell him that I would be late, very late for drinks.

The line was ridiculous. It took two hours. You couldn't go to the toilet, there wasn't any water, and sitting was impossible. Babies were crying and the elderly looked very uncomfortable. This is what Ellis Island must have looked like over 100 years ago. This is what you would expect out of a 3rd world country, not out of the UK. I understand if they want to check people more closely, but then they should have more than 4 people working at a time. It's just unreasonable to expect people to wait for so long. It was down right obscene. Eventually it was my turn and soon I was back in the UK.

As soon as I grabbed my bag I called Edward to tell him when I thought I would get to the bar. I then hopped on the expensive but way faster train (as opposed to the tube). I just didn't want to spend another 1.5 hours getting to my hostel. Plus, the longer the line took the more determined I became to be able to see a friendly face. Once I got off the tube (I had to switch) in Camden I couldn't find my hostel but I found Edward in the bar and he helped me look for it. After a quick change I headed right back out again.

We caught up over a few drinks, but pubs close early here and I didn't arrive until almost 11, I was meant to be there at 8! It was really nice to see Edward again after exchanging emails for the past two months. I was also extremely happy to be back in London.

Nothin'

Day 498
I was up early but couldn't get much done until after 11 when the laundromat opened. I figured that it would just take about an hour and then I could go and see the bread museum. Instead I sat there for an unbelievable 3 hours! Luckily I did get a lot of writing done while I was there.

After my laundry was done I was really hungry and went for lunch. There wasn't really enough time for the museum at this point, it was a bit far away, so I decided to just go shopping. I was just really in shock at how much everything cost. I miss the markets in Asia and India that were so cheap that I could have everything I wanted. Here I was limited to just buying a few things.

When I had finished shopping I had some dinner and then went to the internet cafe. I wanted to get as much blogging done as possible. When this was over I went back to the hostel and got my self as organized as possible before just calling it an early night.

Long Goodbye

Day 497
I was up late and feeling really gross. It wasn't really a hangover, but just exhaustion. I had been really busy in St. Petersburg and hadn't been sleeping well. Plus, I was itching every where from the stupid mossies. After breakfast I got the receptionist to try and book me on a Rasputin tour. Unfortunately they don't have tours in English. I ended up just hanging out at different parks reading.

As my day was boring I thought I would tell you how Rasputin died. He was basically a peasant that came to St. Petersburg as a mystic. Despite his creepy appearance he was very charismatic and every woman wanted him. His massive penis is actually on display in some medical college here. The youngest Romanov and future Czar was a hemophiliac. Somehow Rasputin could hypnotize him, even other the phone, to stop bleeding. As you can imagine this gave him a lot of control over the monarchy. A lot of people were not happy about this and wanted him taken care of.

Rasputin was invited to Yusupov Palace for a party. He was then fed cyanide laced food and alcohol. Much to the dismay of his would be murderers this didn't kill him. He was almost impervious to it as he was a very heavy drinker. To move things along faster someone got a gun and shot him several times. They then left his body alone to get something to transport him in. When they came back he was gone. Rasputin didn't get very far though, he was found just outside. His murders then proceeded to beat the crap out of him. He was then tied up and thrown into the Neva river. A few days later his body was found with his arms in an upward positions and water in his lungs. After all that he had actually drowned.

That was much more interesting than my day. I spent a bit of time online before calling it an early night.

Bigger is Better

Day 496

I was up early and was pretty tired, but the show must go on so I showered and ate before heading out.The Hermitage is one of the largest museums in the world. The Smithsonian in Washington is the biggest even though it is really several different museums it's considered to all be one collection. So maybe the Hermitage this largest under one roof? I was told by a history professor in college that if you took 3 seconds to look at each item in the collection that it would take you 100 years to see it all. There was a sign at the beginning with the number of pieces the museum held. I did the math and it would actually take about 54 days. As you can imagine is one of the big to do's here.

I got in line just after 9 am, the museum opened at 10:30. I had a book to pass the time but it was really cold so it seemed to take forever. Inside of the museum I was only about 10 people back but it took forever. Every ticket seemed to require a lengthy conversation. The man behind me kept pushing me too, as if that would make things move faster! Behind me someone was asking why it was taking so long, I replied that it was rocket science. But really, why so slow? I showed my fake ISIC card and had a free ticket in minutes. I didn't by a photo pass, but decided to just see if anyone stopped me. Once in the doors I picked up a map and sat down with some tea to figure out my plan of attack. There were 400 rooms to see and I would need to highlight as I went to make sure that I didn't miss anything.

I took my first picture at ten minutes to 11, I had 7 hours to get this thing done in. Catherine the Great layed the foundation for the museum when she acquired a very large number of European paintings in 1764. The museum itself opened in 1952. The building is a former palace.

I started with the Egyptian area and then moved into sculptures. Once upstairs I got into the best part, the European art. The place was packed and there were a lot of tours, really annoying tours. Sometimes it was almost impossible to even get through the smallish rooms. I don't know if it was the high quality of the paintings or the sheer number the made the place so overwhelming, maybe it was both. I took well over 200 pictures. All the masters were there, Michelangelo, Renoir, Moet, Rubens, Picasso, Van Gogh, the list goes on on. Even the staircases were lined with delicate marble sculptures. Some rooms were a bit boring with just tableware and vases, I passed quickly through those. Others captivated me for some time. I was disappointed to find that a large number of rooms were closed. I don't know why. Some of the rooms were decorated as they would have been when the palace was used as a home.

Around 2pm I finished the second floor and took a half hour lunch break. The internet here was cheaper than anywhere I had been before so I passed my time checking my email.

After lunch I went to the 3rd floor for the 20th century art. Then came world art, Japanese, SE Asian and Islamic. I had seen most of it recently so it wasn't overly fascinating. Most of the rooms were closed anyway. The second half of the first floor was also closed. It was a bit hard to get to this section and it was empty so I think that most people didn't even bother. Finally some peace. This section was on early man and archeology from the Caucuses.

At this point I had been in the museum for 5 hours. I was footsore and exhausted. I was almost happy that about 80 of the rooms had been closed. It would have taken me another hour and a half to see them and I don't think that I had it in me. The Hermitage was amazing. I can't believe that I got to see it. It was worth the wait and fighting the crowds.

After some dinner I spent some time online organizing my pictures and chatting to friends. Back at the hostel I had a few drinks with the other people hanging around, but I was pretty tired so I called it an early night.

Pissed Off

Day 495

I was up early because I wanted to beat the crowds, but by the time I had eaten and showered it was pouring down rain. I ended up going back to sleep until it stopped. Around ten the rain let up and I headed out to the Peter and Paul fortress. This was the oldest building in St. Petersburg, built in 1703. It was meant to protect the city from Sweden, but never saw any action.

Right in the middle is the SS Peter and Paul cathedral. It was really amazing. Five of the last Romanov's are buried here. What's weird is that they didn't say where the most recently found remains are. I wonder if they are still testing them. There were plaques for the missing children on the walls along with everyone else. The place was packed. When I finally got a shot at Peter the Greats tomb I was pushed aside by a French language guide. I held my ground though. I didn't wait patiently for the last group to move just to wait for this one as well. I wanted that picture along with a minute with my favorite royal.

When I was done with the cathedral I went looking for the other museums included in my ticket. The first one I found was on movie and theater costumes. I don't know why but they had one of Elizabeth Taylor's gowns as well. Next up was the rather boring space museum. It wasn't crowded. I then found a Peter the Great statue with an oddly small head. Next up were some semi interesting history museums on the town and the fortress itself. The last stop was the prison museum. It was very much like every old prison I've been too. Some of the prisoner stories were interesting though.

After a late lunch I hung out at the hostel until dinner time. After dinner I spent a bit of time at the internet cafe before heading back. I had an early day coming up so I wanted to get to sleep early. This was easier said than done. The mossies were really bad and I could feel myself being eaten alive and hear them in my ears. There were a lot of drunk people coming and going all night as well.

Around three am something woke me up. The Canadian guy in my room was about 2 feet to the right of my bed, facing away from me. He then proceeded to pee on the floor and a bit on the empty bed two beds away from me. This also woke up the girl sleeping in the bed across from mine. I said rather loudly that that wasn't the toilet, but he ignored me. When he was done he then tried to lay in the bed he had just peed on, but got frustrated when he couldn't find the sheets (there were none) and went back to his own bed. At this point the English girl and I were really giggling and went downstairs to ask for some towels to throw on top of it.

The next day the Canadian apologized, he seemed really embarrassed and had no memory of it happening. I told him that it wasn't a big deal, but that it would be making it into my blog, he said that that was fair enough and here it is.

Diversity

Day 494

The nice things about going to bed early is that you wake up early. After making myself some eggs (a nice side effect to staying in one place for almost a week, eggs don't travel well) and showering I headed out.

After crossing the Neva River I got to the Kunst Kamera. This museum was started by Peter the Great in 1714 to display his collection of preserved deformed fetuses and body parts. The aforementioned bit was actually only a small part of the museum. Most of the preserved fetuses had been collected by a Dutch doctor for research. The doctor would dress up the ones that he kept in his own collection to make them seem less gruesome. Peter actually paid people to bring him deformed bits of people. It was very, very creepy.

Along with the dead babies Peter had people collect things from all over the world. It's was like seeing someone's holiday souvenirs on display. Most of the stuff came from India and Asia, in fact, I own some of it myself. It wasn't nearly as interesting as the creepy stuff.

After some wandering and getting very lost I found the Blockade Museum. During WWII St. Petersburg had been renamed Leningrad. LG spent 872 days blockaded. There was little food, people ate rats, cats and each other to survive. On Nevsky Street (the main drag) there is a a sign from the war warning people that it was the most deadly part of the street. The museum had a lot of pictures but absolutely no English. Still, it was interesting.

I'd finished the museums I had planned for the day so I went back to the hostel to relax after lunch. I read for a bit and maybe even slept. After dinner I went to the internet cafe. I meant to get some work done, but mostly screwed around. When I got back to the hostel the bar was empty and it seemed that everyone was either out or asleep. I soon went to sleep myself

Left Behind

Day 493

Once in St. Petersburg I had not problems find the metro and getting a ticket. I just couldn't find a map anywhere. Eventually I just asked someone and they told me what line to get on. Once again, thanks LP for being a crappy guidebook. Once out of the metro I found my hostel with no difficulties. After showering I picked up a free pocket guide and headed for some lunch. Over lunch I figured out my plan of attack for the city.

My first stop was the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. This was were Alexander II was assassinated, hence the morbid name. I didn't know who he was, but it turns out that he was the elder brother of the Romanov that was killed in the woods with his family. The mosaics were amazing, but the place was packed. I basically took my pictures and got out.

Next up was the Russian Museum. I didn't pay extra to take photos but just took them anyway, no one said anything to me. My favorite part were the icons, especially St. George killing that pesky dragon. There were also tapestries and sculptures. Some of the rooms were more interesting than the paintings that they held. It was a really nice museum.

When I was done I spent some time at the internet cafe before going to the supermarket to get food for the week. I really wanted to get some sour cream for my pasta, but the last time that I had tried it I ended up with yogurt. This time I just kept asking until someone could tell me. The man who told me then proceeded to tell me about Left Behind. You might not remember this but way back in Ireland I had been given a synopsis of this without knowing and then had to read it out of pure boredom. He then went on about how evil credit cards were and about miracles. He especially talked about the evils of alcohol. Lastly he invited me to come to his Christian group. When he finally left me alone I put another beer in my basket, I felt that I deserved it. That was definitely the most expensive sour cream that I have ever had!

Back at the hostel some Aussies were tying up the whole stove. When it finally looked like they were done I asked "are ya'll done with the stove?" One of them looked blankly at me and then said that he didn't understand but thought I needed the stove. He then slowly, while making extra expressive arm movements told me that he would wash the pot. If I had been non English speaking I would have been really offended by the way he did this. I then pointed out that I was American and it would be just fine for him to speak to me in English.

After dinner I had a few beers and chatted with the other people at the hostel. There were a lot of people here. I was tired though, I had gotten here at 6:30 in the morning and hadn't slept much on the train. I was the first person out that night.

Retake

Day 492

I was up early again and packed up. It turned out that that wasn't needed though, the hostel didn't have anyone coming in to take my bed so they were letting me stay in the room for the day. It was quite nice. After breakfast I headed to the Kremlin.

There wasn't much of a line at the ticket office and the line into the Kremlin was short as well. Despite this the guard wouldn't let me in, he just kept pointing in the distance. He was really quite rude. It turned out that I was meant to go to the Armoury first. There was no line here and in no time I had my free audio guide and was exploring.

The Armory is a massive collection of treasures amassed by the Russian state and church over the last several hundred years. The guide was a bit stupid and it was often hard to tell just what I was meant to be looking at. There was a case of Faberge eggs. Apparently they all came with some kind of prize inside. I guess that's where KinderEgg got the idea from. The most interesting item was the double throne of Peter the Great and his half brother Ivan V. There was a hidden area where their regent, Sofia, could whisper things to them. There were also several beautiful gowns including Catherine the Greats coronation gown.

Getting in the the Kremlin from the back way is easy. It only took a minute. The Kremlin is the headquarters of the Russian Church and the government. Just walking in was breathtaking, but the crowds were terrible. They were so bad that it was almost unenjoyable to be there.

The first cathedral I went into was the Annunciation Cathedral, built 1489, was the royal families private chapel. The icon paintings were amazing. Next up was the Archangel Cathedral built in 1508. Several royals are buried here, including Ivan the Terrible. He wasn't really terrible, just very strict and quite possibly a bit mentally unbalanced. There were several groups in the cathedral making it impossible to get around so I just left. Photos were not allowed anyway.

I then checked out the displays in the Patriarchs Palace, as well as the 12 Apostles Church. I was really tiring of the crowds and even the icons at this point. Well, the crowds more than anything.My next stop was the Church of the Deposition of the Robe. It was quite small but had some nice wooden sculptures in it. The last real stop was the bell tower, this had a small art exhibit in it. The crowd was like a monster at this point.After walking by the Senate Building I exited thru the Kutafya Tower, the main gate. The line looked really horrendous at this point and I was glad to be leaving.

On the way back to the hostel I stopped for lunch. I also saw the Lenin impersonator from the day before drinking a coffee and chatting on his cell phone.

After organizing some pictures I spent the rest of the day hanging out at the hostel. I stepped out briefly for a kabab, but mostly just sat around until midnight.

After carrying all my my crap to the metro I promptly got on it going the wrong way. I figured it out after two stops and fixed the problem. I had quite a wait at the train station and sat down in front of what I thought as the platform info board. After some time it hadn't changed and I realized that it was just a really big schedule. I then moved to the right place to wait for my train.

This was my last and worst ride in Russia. It was freezing cold and when I tried to shut the window no one would help. Later on two of the guys in my section got cold as well and they had to both close the window, that's how difficult it was. Eventually I managed to fall asleep.

Confusion

Day 491

I got myself up early and had the yummy hostel breakfast. I then walked the 15 minutes to the Kremlin. Yesterday when I had walked by the line had been massive. Today there wasn't a line at all. The guard spoke to me in Russian and when I gave him a confused face he told me in English that it was closed but would be open at 11 the next day. I must have still looked confused because he asked me if I spoke English. I was confused though, Lying Planet had said that it would be open. Stupid guidebook.

Irritated I walked back to the hostel to regroup. I watched a movie online and then contemplated going to a monastery. I decided against it in the end. Instead I went to check out the pedestrian only Arbat St. Over lunch I wrote in my journal and then moved onto a German beer place to finish up. I really wanted to get up to date and didn't stop until I was at the day before.

That evening I just sort of hung around the hostel and read. Sometimes I chatted with the other people around, but there wasn't a whole lot of people to talk to. In the end I just called it an early night.

Trifecta

Day 490

I was up shockingly early and didn't have to complete for a shower. I then headed straight to Red Square.

After a short walk I was in line to see Lenin, the last of the on display dead communists. The line took about 20 minutes and after checking my camera I was in. I had him all to myself. It was creepy, but he was definitely a dead person, not like Mao. After visiting Lenin I walked by the burial spots of other communists, including Stalin. I didn't have my camera and I can't read Russian anyway so it didn't know who was who.

After getting my camera back I was really in Red Square, I couldn't believe it. I was in Red Square, I have to write it again to make it real. My first stop was the State History Museum. The building was really interesting and each room was decorated differently. Nothing was in English so after glancing at the objects I moved on.

I then crossed the square to St. Basils Cathedral, built in 1561. If one building defines Russia this is it. It was amazing but crowded so I didn't stay long.

As I headed out I passed a look alike Lenin and Czar Nicholas, you could get your picture taken with both. I also passed Stalin. Peter the Great and Catherine the Great were also there, it was just weird because they lived during different time periods.

My last to do was a train ticket. Luckily there was a girl nearby who spoke English and helped me. I ended up with a very late train out on Friday night.

That evening I went with a Russian girl who was in my room for a beer. She was frustrated with the Czech visa procedure, she was trying to go to school there to live closer to her boyfriend. We chatted for a bit before calling it a night.

The End

Day 489

My train was set to arrive in Moscow at 6:30 am. For unknown reasons everyone was up around 5. I tried to sleep but they were too loud. I ended up just sitting there thinking about how this was the end of the transiberian for me. I couldn't believe that such a huge travel to do had been checked off of my list. Once in Moscow it was only minutes before I found the metro and was on my way to the hostel. When I got off I felt like I had to walk forever, but it was really only 10 minutes. I checked in and jumped right into the shower before having some breakfast.

Once I had eaten I headed out to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. This foreign art museum was one of the best I had been to in ages, plus pictures were allowed. There were Greek statues, pieces from Syria, India and even some mummies. The European collection consisted of icons and statues and bits of cathedrals. There were also copies of Michelangelo's David and the Peita in the Vatican. The array of states was breath taking. I must be back in Europe now because I'm loving the art again.

I was about to head to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior when I saw a Peter the Great statue that I had thought was in the Crimea in the distance. I thought screw the church, I wanna see Peter. After a lot of walking I finally got a good angle for pictures. The statue is a bit funny, Peter is bigger than the boat!

After some lunch I stopped at the State Tretyakou Gallery. Lying Planet had said hat it was all icons, but it was actually Russian art for the past really long time. It was quite good, but no photography allowed so I had to write down the names of the paintings I liked.

When I was done my dogs were really barking. Before going back to the hostel I picked up some food for the next few days.That night I found out that the hostel was brand new and run by an American. For decoration and fun there were stuffed rats and sharks hanging around. It was quite funny when the rats got into the candy bowl. My internal clock is very confused right now. In the last 15 days I've been in 6 different time zones and the long train rides with little to do besides sleep didn't help much. I was out really early that night

On the Train Again

Day 488
My alarm went off early and I packed up the last of my things. There was a Finish couple who had an airport taxi at the same time. There was some confusion but we eventually sorted it out.Once on the train I fell asleep quickly.

The toilets on the train aren't so bad. It's just that they empty out onto the tracks. Due to this the doors are locked just before, during, and just after each station. I had the misfortune of waking up just as we were pulling into a stop really needing to pee. It ended up being one of the longer stops where you can get out and buy stuff from people selling things on the platform. I ended up lying on my bed just counting the minutes. Finally the train started. About 10 minutes later I went to stand by the toilet door. Five minutes later I was still there. I then decided to just ask the provodnista to open the door. I said toilet, which in Russian is pronounced to-a-let. My teeth were really floating at this point. She didn't understand. I pulled out my guide and pointed to it in Russian, still no comprehension. The provodnista then had me follow her to see if the provodnista one wagon over could understand me. They then both started asking to see my ticket. I had reached panic mode. Luckily someone who spoke English walked by and was able to explain to the provodnista what I needed. Finally!

I passed the day sleeping and reading. At one of the stops they were selling stuffed animals that talked. I hate these things, they give me the heeby jeebies . A few years ago an old boyfriend of mine gave me a white bear that begged for hugs and had light up cheeks for Valentines Day. I had to hide it in the closet. For unknown reasons loads of people bought these dumb things and were playing with them for about 30 minutes. I had to hide in my iPod! Eventually it grew dark and I fell asleep for the night.

Continuing the Theme

Day 487

After a late breakfast I headed out with the Irish couple. I was continuing the Romanov theme by heading to Ganina Yama. As the anniversary of the murders is close and it was as Sunday the bus was packed and we had to stand for most of the ride.

After the Romanovs were shot their bodies were dumped in the middle of the forest. All but two of the remains were found in 1976 and the dug up and reburied in 1991. The last two children were found in 2007. Over the decades several people came forward saying that they were the missing Romanov’s. Despite DNA tests some Russians still hold out hope that somehow there is still a Romanov heir out there somewhere. Ganina Yamma is going to be a large monastery complex when completed on the site that bones were found. We only had about 40 minutes and spent most of it looking at Romanov family photos. We had a few moments to pop into one of the buildings before heading back. At the entrance we left our grossly stained borrowed skirts that women must wear.

Once back in Yekaterinburg we had lunch and then went our separate ways. I headed to the hostel to chat with some friends and to work on the blog. I eventually ran to the supermarket to pick up food for my long train ride the next day. Back at the hostel I cooked dinner, including frying cucumbers. I had really thought it was a zucchini when I bought it. Everyone was laughing at me. I tried to sleep early, but was nervous about missing my very early train so I hardly slept.

Getting Old

Day 486

I had originally planned on spending 2 days in Yekaterinburg. I had built in several mistake days and had assumed that every train ride would take an entire day. As you can tell things have gone pretty smoothly leaving me with extra time. I decided to take Yekateringburg slowly. I also wanted to stay put for a few days after moving around so much.

After sleeping in and chatting with Katia over breakfast she went with me to the nearby train ticket office. It was nice to actually know what I was getting for once. Katia also took my passport and immigration card to register me. In Russia tourists must register in any city that they spend more than three days in. Katia is kind enough to register people for free. Most hostels charge from 100 - 900 rubles ($9 - $18) for this. Suddenly passportless I took at very nice walk, the weather was perfect, to the Church of the Blood.

On July 16, 1918 Tsar Nicholas II along with his wife and children were murdered in the basement of a home by the Bolsheviks. The Romanov's weren't buried here, but there is a huge church here now. The onion domes shone and it was really very nice. A statue depicted each of the murdered Romanov's. Oddly, lots of people were taking wedding photo's by the statue.

I covered my head with a borrowed scarf to check out the basement of the church. There was a memorial to each of the Romanov's and some nice icons. It didn't take long to check it all out.

After some lunch at a cafeteria I headed back to the hostel. I was the only one at the hostel and I figured that I would take advantage of having the computer to myself. This idea was dashed when I plugged in my camera and accidentally told it to restart when a window popped up and I just said yes, it was a restart the computer question. As I didn't know the password I couldn't use the internet. Instead I passed the time reading until Katia came back. Then I got down to work.

Once I had made some dinner and read some more I waited again for Katia. She was coming back take everyone out to some clubs. I had planned on a late night but once we got there I was really just falling asleep in my beer so I said that I would walk back. Everyone protested and a couple of Katia's friends drove me back so that I wouldn't have to walk alone.

Back at the hostel I met a nice Irish couple who gave me their left over Moscow metro tickets before falling asleep.

A Fine Day

Day 485
I slept in a bit but was still up before everyone else. Once I had showered and eaten I headed out.

My first stop was the very nice Fine Arts Museum. I'm a bit of a dummie though and circled the place twice before realizing that the entrance was from the basement. The collection was quite nice and began with cast iron statues. liked the part on icons the best. I don't know what it is about the Orthodox artwork, but I really love it. Maybe it's all the cold and vibrant colors. There was also a small section with more contemporary Russian art.

After the museum I wandered along side the river for a bit and then around town. I even found another Lenin statue. A long pedestrian shopping street had a lot of weird statues on it including a man feeding his horse and a cuddling couple.

At this point I headed back to the hostel and met my new English roommates. After dinner we bought beer and played a few drinking games. I couldn't decide if I was too old or if it didn't matter because I was having fun. I was the first person to call it a night though!

A Return

Day 484
The two other people in my room were from Italy and they invited me to go with them to the boarder of Asia and Europe. They were leaving that night and I waited while the packed up their things. Soon we headed out in a cab that Katia had called for us.

The site was sorta like a state line in the US. The city of Yekateringburg (Y-burg from now on), is technically in Asia. This was my first step in Europe in almost 8 months. It is also a rather corny tourist site. On top of the gift shop there was a chicken and a dragon representing Europe and Asia, respectively. I thought the chicken was funny but later found out from Katia that there was some sort of art exhibit around town that had chickens and that the owner just took one. After several funny pictures we headed back into the city.

We were all pretty famished at this point and got some sushi. Russians must love it as there are places for it every where! By the time we were done it had started raining and we decided to just go back to the hostel. It wasn't long before the Italian girls had to leave and we said our goodbyes.

That evening I hung out in the hostel and chatted with the other people staying there, including 3 guys from Dresden, before calling it a night.

Train Time

Day 483
I slept late, what else is there to do on a long train ride? I read for a while before falling asleep again. A few of the people around me tried to chat with me, but no one spoke much English so that didn't last long.

When I went to the restaurant car for a cold drink I tried to find some where to charge my ipod. I found a free plug in a wagon that wasn't mine. After a few minutes the provodnitsa came and yelled at me and said that the plugs were for phones. I would have happily given it up, but there were others around that were free too, no one needed it. I told her that she was really mean several times before heading back to my car where I did find a free and functioning plug and no one yelled at me.

It was 11 pm when my train arrived at Yekaterinburg but still light out. Public transport had stopped so I had arranged with my hostel, Meeting Place, to have a cab. It was there waiting for me and in a few minutes I was at the hostel. Meeting Place was run by Katia in her grandmothers old apartment. She was super friendly and I knew right away that I would really like staying there. Most of the other guests had gone out so after some internet time I fell asleep.

City That Sleeps

Day 482
Vera had left me a key the night before so I didn't have to be up with her. After some breakfast I confronted a huge problem, how to lock the door. I'm not kidding, I don't think that I would be able to leave the apartment at all. Just when I was about to give up I finally had it figured out.

I had forgotten to ask which bus to take downtown so I just got on the first one that came by. Luckily it was going the right way and soon I was in a place that I recognized.

After some wandering I decided against the art museum. I just wasn't in the mood. I decided to try and work on the blog but just screwed around for a few hours. I then headed back to Vera's after a quick supermarket stop. By the time I had showered and packed Vera had returned from work. It's really a pity that we didn't have the time to get to know each other better.

We then chatted until about 9:15 when I had to get the bus as they stop running around 10pm here. My train didn't leave until almost 1 am though so I would have quite a wait at the train station. At the station I read until my train finally arrived. I think I passed out pretty much as soon as I laid on my bed.

Help I Could Do Without

Day 481
My train pulled in to Novosibirsk around 10 am. I was couchsurfing again but couldn't go to Vera's place until 9 pm so I put my bag into storage. I then bought my onward ticket. That took a lot longer than it should have. I couldn't find a good way to explain my question so in the end I just bought what I thought was right. Later on Vera confirmed that I had the right thing. Luckily the woman I bought the ticket from was much nicer than most in her job.

I then went wandering for some food, I was famished. Over breakfast I did some planning for the day. My first stop would be an internet cafe to update and then to some museums.

When I was done online I took several pictures of a massive Lenin statue before heading to a museum. I went the wrong way though and didn't notice until I got back to the train station. I figured that I would try and find the railroad museum. I never managed to find it though. In fact, I think I ended up in a not so nice area so I left.

By the time I was in the museum area there wasn't much time until closing so I just went back to the internet cafe. I meant to update, but messed around instead. I then went back to the train station for the third time of the day. After grabbing my things I tried to find the right bus but it never seemed to arrive. Instead I asked someone and they put me on a different bus. The bus was quite full and I was trying to stand near the door so that my bag wouldn't bump into anyone. I didn't mover fast enough though one of the times that the door opened and a woman started yelling at me and then telling the attendant to do something about me. I asked her if she would prefer to carry my bag, but of course she didn't understand. I was happy when it was my stop.

Another woman on the train decided that she would "help" me. What she did was send me in the wrong directions. All of the apartment blocks look exactly the same and I got really lost. Luckily a guy on a bike offered his help and then found me again to tell me where I needed to go. When I got to Vera's I rang the bell and soon I was in her apartment.

I was so desperate for a shower that I hardly introduced myself before jumping in. I apologized afterwards and Vera said she would have done the same thing. We chatted over dinner but called it a night around 11, she had work in the morning. I was pretty exhausted and fell asleep fast.

Moving On

Day 480
In the morning Anna very kindly made me some breakfast and I did the dishes.

During communist times there often wasn't enough food to be bought. To fix this a lot of people bought small plots of land outside of the city to grow veggies. Anna was heading to her families dutcha to help out and I was headed to the city center to explore.

After hunting for an atm I headed to the Regional Museum. The architect was obsessed with Egypt and it looked more like Luxor than a museum. I also couldn't figure out if I could take pictures or not, eventually I just started taking them and no one said anything.

After getting thru the dead animal section I found some dinosaurs and a boat. There were also displays on log homes and tools that we're used. It was really more interesting than it sounds. There was even a small room of icons. The basement had a large section on some of the indigenous tribes up north.

When I was done I walked for some time before finding the SV Nikolay, the boat that Lenin was transported to exile in in 1897. The man who worked there had some type of speech impediment but desperately wanted to give me a tour. He spoke very limited English but I kept nodding and thanking him. It was the only way I was going to get out of there in a timely manner.

I then wandered down Mira St. looking for a Lenin statue. This was the main drag and they had music playing on the loud speakers. It was kinda weird in a good sort of way.

Next up was an attempt at updating the blog. Both of the internet cafes that I tried where really crap though and I ended up just giving up.

I left the city center early because I wanted to make sure I was on time and stop at what I thought was a large supermarket. I was right about the market, sorta. It was more like a liquor store with some food and cleaning supplies thrown in. After waiting in line for some time it was finally my turn. I was then told that the line was closed and had to wait all over again. By the time it was my turn the woman had gotten off break from the first checkout. It was rather annoying.

After a short walk I was back at Anna's. I showered and packed up. We chatted for a while. Anna was really nice. I really need to do this courchsurfing thing more often.

Around 7 pm I left for my train. As soon as I could get on I put a movie on my ipod and fell asleep.