Contrasts of Scandinavia and Russia

Day Nine – 31 May 2010

I woke ten minutes before my alarm clock this morning. Since the train isn’t until 1 pm, I wasn’t wasting any time and went with a couple others and walked down Nevsky Prospect.

We walked almost the entire length of it and got some great pictures of the Stallions on the bridge (one at each corner in different stages of taming), Catherine the Great, the Kazam Cathedral and the oldest shopping mall in St. Petersburg.

The canals were beautiful. We got back at 11:15 and were ready to go soon after for our transfer to the rail station.

That involved walking across the street.

Trafalgar arranged for a porter to take our bags and he showed up with a push cart and we watched in amazement as he managed to get all our bags on it. Our Trafalgar rep walked us across the street, gave us our tickets and showed us to our train car.

What a difference from the other trains!!

It’s like getting an upgrade from economy to business class. Wide seats all facing one direction and lots of leg room. I’m very impressed.

And we get a beverage service like on a plane.

Faaaaancy!!

And we had a cute kid behind us.

The 4 ½ hours passed quickly. I don’t know what it is about train travel, but the time goes by so effortlessly. Probably because it’s so easy to move around, go to the washroom, chat or go to the railway car. I hear that originally we were supposed to take the 10 hour overnight train but that it was changed. Not sure why, but they should use this train in the future. It gave us several more hours in St. Petersburg and got us into Moscow in time for dinner.

We arrived at 5:35 (ten minutes early) and the Trafalgar rep found us on the platform. She got a porter to take our bags and we piled into a mini-bus for our 40 minute drive through the heavy Moscow traffic.

The first thing I notice is the snow….or what looked like snow. It’s pollen! We’re not sure what it is (our guide’s English is limited) but it does come from a tree. It looks like dandelion pollen but smaller and flies around like snow.

I can already feel my anti-histamine being overwhelmed.

(I now know it’s poplar pollen)

We passed by the Radisson Hotel and stopped at the Crown Plaza World Trade Centre.

The hotel is like the Hilton in Prague with a huge interior atrium and the rooms surrounding the atrium so that everyone gets a view.

Not everyone got an outside balcony. I did.

So that I can sit outside and look at the hotel we’re NOT staying in.

Yeah. That’s the Radisson.

The room is a single with safe, iron and board, hair dryer, a heated towel bar, TV and only news in English. You need your key card to get on the elevator at all levels, so if you forget it in your room, you’re screwed. The hotel has two ATMs and a bank as well as a gift shop and several restaurants. Internet seems to be cheaper than St. Petersburg but I haven’t been able to get to the Business Centre to buy my hour.

I did notice this entry in the hotel binder just before the entry on Wifi.

I went down at 7:30 and sat with the group that we will be spending the next two days with. They told us that their seating has been arranged just for us. Since their bus isn’t full, couples taking up two rows have been reunited.

Whether they want to be or not. 🙂

For supper, we had salad, a breaded pork cutlet and a sweet coffee square for dessert. Apparently they served instant coffee after the meal and I guess that’s not a good thing.

After dinner, a few of us went out for a walk. The pollution is not overwhelming but for someone like me who lives in very clean air, it was noticeable.

Not to mention the snowflake pollen we were snorting as we walked.

We walked along the canal to stare at the hotel that we’re NOT staying in. (Not that I’m complaining. I can get a better pic of that magnificent building from my room in the Crown Plaza). We also passed a big white building that looked official and took pictures then wondered if it was too official to take pictures of. We shuffled off quickly, looking around for men in black.

Turns out it is the Russian White House where Yeltsin put down the uprising in 1991. Nearby, we walked under the bridge where the tanks sat. The building had been shelled but even through my telephoto lens, I couldn’t see where the damage had been.