You cannot compare Saint Petersburg to Moscow – at least I could not.  They are completely different types of cities.  The thing I thought was most interesting about Moscow was the remnants of Soviet past – it was not uncommon to see an old Soviet-style building next to a brand new facility or classic style architecture.  This is not common in SPB.  In case you are wondering if Red Square is really that impressive, yes it most definitely is!  It is one of the coolest government squares that I have ever been to and it is breathtaking.  I’m afraid we did not get to see Lenin – as we were standing in line during the 3 hours you can actually get into the memorial, Sean realized I had left my teddy bear in the hotel room (and we had checked out), so we raced back to the hotel to try and find him.  Teddy bear I’ve owned since I was four years old is much more important than Lenin’s body in my book!

Anyhow, I definitely want to pencil in more time in Moscow during my hopeful next visit to Russia because it is definitely a stellar city and I know we did not even touch the perimeters of its offerings.  One final story, we boarded the train for Kiev around midnight and landed in Kupe (second class accommodations) with an older couple – probably in their 50′s.  The poor couple looked at us like, “oh no, we got stuck with English-speaking foreigners!”  So, I tried to speak with them in Russian a little bit and got drilled with question after question about where we were from and what life was like in the U.S.  Needless to say, we made two new friends and I didn’t get to sleep until about 2:30 a.m.  Note to the anti-social: train travel in Russia is not for you (unless you buy yourself a ticket in first class isolation).  Additionally, for those of you who are curious, the train from Moscow to Kiev does not pass through Belarus (no transit visa needed).  However, the train from Kiev to Petersburg does, so plan accordingly if you find yourselves traveling these routes!

enter the Metro.

Izmailovo Market.

enter Red Square while snowing.

Izmailovo Market.

outside Red Square (during New Year).

Matrioshka - Izmailovo Market.

Red Square.

Red Square.

me in front of Saint Basil's.

Red Square during daytime.

a pensive Lenin in Izmailovo Market.

Red Square.

the little boy sliding down the hill outside the Kremlin - who needs a sled?

Christ the Saviour Cathedral.

Snow men in Gorky Park.

looking at Red Square.

Izmailovo Market.

Red Square in the afternoon.

Saint Basil's Cathedral.

Red Square.

Red Square in the evening.

Christ the Saviour Cathedral.

Izmailovo Market.

Izmailovo Market.

outside Red Square.

Saint Basil's.

Snowman in Gorky Park.

Anyhow, following our discovery, we exited the train at the first stop – it was in the middle of nowhere.  I finally worked up the courage to approach one of the ladies at the ticket office and I tried to explain everything to her in my broken Russian.  The women behind the ticket counter seemed quite tickled by our debacle and explained to me that I would need to try and exchange the tickets back in Russia and then she asked me if I had money to buy new tickets?  Sean and I did not have enough and so we went searching for a place to change my Rubles or withdraw Ukrainian Hryvnia, but we were in the middle of nowhere.  I finally stumbled upon a place with a sign that said “Обмен валют” (Money Exchange).  I walked in and asked the women if I could change rubles – she said yes and then sent me into this room full of angry women yelling at people wanting to change money.  When I gave them my passport (apparently they document everything), the women couldn’t read it and got really mad.  Meanwhile, the young woman next to her was yelling at the old woman changing money next to me.  I finally got my Hryvnia and we went back to the train station.  I walked up to the counter and told the woman I now had money and could I please buy tickets to Moscow for that day….. sorry, only one ticket left.  Sean and I had previously discussed the situation and were anxious to get home, so we declined tickets for the following day (which would have been today) and went to hunt for a taxi driver.  Here’s where the story gets real funny.

So I walked out to the parking lot, approached the first taxi driver and ask him how much it would cost to go to the airport.  Which airport, he asks?  I don’t know the name of it, I tell him – just the one in Kiev.  He looks at his taxi driver friends and chuckles and tells me how far it is and how much it will cost.  I turned to Sean and translated everything for him and then we agreed to his price.  Meanwhile, I’m feeling like I got ripped off but I don’t care because I did not expect a 120 kilometer ride to be super cheap.  We got into the car and headed off with our taxi driver and by this time, I could barely speak anymore – my brain had reached its point of exhaustion.  But, our taxi driver wanted to talk to us and continued to make conversation with us – mostly in Russian and with a little bit of English thrown in here and there.  Two hours later, after having made a few wrong turns, we arrived at the airport in Kiev ready to search for flights.  We said goodbye to our driver, who told us we were very good people – he thought it was quite funny that a former enemy country’s citizens could now come to the Ukraine and Russia and communicate in broken language with the taxi drivers….. Slava, our taxi driver, I believe said he was a retired pilot from the Soviet era….. he doesn’t receive a large enough pension, so he needs to be a taxi driver to supplement his income.  I have had another “taxi” driver in Russia who had a similar story.

Moving onward, as soon as we were in the airport we dropped our luggage and went searching for plane tickets, both on the internet and at the travel agencies.  No flights for that day (yesterday), but we could leave the following morning (today).  One flight had an early option, the other was mid-morning.  Not wanting to stay in the airport all day/night, I went searching for the information booth to inquire about hotels and prices.  The woman told me how much the airport hotel would cost and we decided to purchase the mid-morning tickets and get some rest.  After purchasing the tickets, I went back to the information desk and told the new woman there that I had spoken to the previous clerk and that I wanted to reserve a room for me and my husband.  Again, I must remind you that I was speaking with her in Russian because it seemed easier for us both to communicate that way.  Somewhere in the midst of our conversation she told me that it would cost a little bit more for two people in a private accommodation and then she made a quick phone call – this little old man appeared from out of nowhere and she said, you can go with him and pay him for transportation to a “Частный Дом,” which I have since learned means “private house” (similar to a rental or in-law apartment/guest house).  We got into the man’s car and, I confess, I still thought I had booked a private room at a hotel….. my brain was tired of the translation and I only realized later that she mentioned the old man would take us to our “хозяйка,” which I know means landlady in Russian.  After about 15 minutes of driving through Soviet block-style apartment housing, we arrived in a small dacha community amidst the Soviet buildings and were escorted to a small private dacha apartment to meet our landlady.  Meanwhile, the taxi driver assured us that he would arrive early in the morning to take us to the airport and that I could pay him then.  I spoke for a few minutes with our хозяйка and apologized to her for speaking terrible Russian, but thanked her and said maybe we could just have some rest.  She left and Sean looked white as a ghost – he was tired and hungry and just wanted to be at a hotel with a hotel restaurant in view.  So, we put on our coats and headed to town to find a restaurant.

To conclude the tale, our little ”Частный Дом” was great and we awoke quite early this morning to the tune of the rooster next door   Our driver came to pick us up on time and I paid everybody, thanked them all and said goodbye.  It all worked out very well – plus it was an interesting experience, speaking very little Russian myself and trying to communicate with people who do not speak my language but keep talking to me as if I completely understood their language.  Honestly, I wouldn’t have changed a thing – it was an experience that I could only have had here and which Sean and I just chuckled about when all was said and done.  Plus, it appears that I gave all of the Ukrainians a good laugh as well   My favorite part was in the end when we were on the way to the airport and our taxi driver asked us if we were from the Baltic states….. At that point, I should have just said yes

Here are a few photos of the interior and back yard of our private home rental.  Hope you enjoyed our not-so-touristy tourism tale

this kitchen.

The New Years tree in the hallway (yes, I mean New Years tree).

where we slept.

the greenhouse in the yard - I bet the yard is beautiful in spring and summer.

And one last photo, only found in the Ukraine (to my knowledge) – McFoxy’s!

A McDonald's rival right next to the McDonald's at the train station in Kiev. Ever since the Anthony Bourdain episode in Kiev, I've wanted to see this.

Sean in his top-bunk.

Going to Murmansk – Hero City – was a very last minute decision for myself and my husband.  We had already planned to make a long excursion to Kiev and Moscow via train during the three weeks Sean is here, and we didn’t know if we would be able to handle two more days on the Russian rail – only this time, heading to the Arctic Circle.  But, we decided that since we are only young once and may never have the opportunity to “just do” something like this again.  Sean booked the apartment and I bought the tickets – it was a done deal.  The day after Christmas, we boarded an 11 a.m. train and began our rail excursion into an area of the world that seemed foreboding and intimidating.

The train to Murmansk is very slow – 27 hours and without a cafe on board.  For those of you who have ever traveled Platz-car (third class) on the Russian rail system, you know how difficult it can be when occupying two top bunks.  Needless to say, we really missed the cafe – where you can actually sit up and not be confined to a narrow space for 27 hours.  I wanted to divide my Murmansk posts into two or three parts because I took so many photos.  This first set of photos is dedicated to our train travel and arrival in Murmansk.

Let me please say a few words about Vanya – he was Sean’s lower bunk mate and new friend.  He and his mother were on their way to Murmansk to visit his father, who he will be staying with for the next three months.  His mother lives and works in St. Petersburg.  Vanya immediately took to Sean when he agreed to play LEGO’s with him.  From that point on, whenever Vanya was awake, he was asking Sean to play.  He asked me to take his photo at one point – you will find that photo below along with the one I took while he was sleeping.

We also met a young man of 25 years who had been on the train for 2 days already and was on his final day of train travel to Murmansk where his wife and young son live.  He works in Sochi and his wife and one year old son are in Murmansk – he will be staying with them for one month during the New Year and he was very anxious to see them.

I could go on and on about the train travel and all of the wonderful experiences of riding third class with the Russians, but I will leave it to your imagination and just allow you to look through the photos that transpired along the rail – our first trip to the Arctic.  As for Murmansk, you will be able to see a brief glimpse of it and where we stayed, but a full account will definitely need to wait for my next post detailing this industrial wonderland.  Happy New Year – or as they say in Russia, С Новым Годом!

Scenes from the window.

Trying to fall asleep.....

Sean's lower bunk mate - a.k.a. "Vanya"

Vanya and Sean playing LEGO's during the night.

Scenery in the "early morning hours" (a.k.a. "Noon" this far north)

Scenery from the train windows.

the common remnants of "Soviet" architecture - you see a lot of apartment buildings like this when riding on the train.

Sean.

Vanya.

Sean, Vanya and Vanya's Mother.

Are we there yet?

Gazpromtrans! First one I had seen from the train windows.

we're getting closer......

and closer.....

almost there.....

but first, more industrial imagery.....

at the train station, FINALLY!

the mad rush to get home before darkness hits.

we rented an apartment in this building.

it happened to be that we stayed at an address which matches my birthday - 25 Октябрьская Улица.

this was our courtyard - even had a playground!

Sean and I really liked the green car parked in the courtyard.

11:15 a.m. in Murmansk..... the view from our apartment window.

Unfortunately, we only planned for one day in Riga and both feel that it is worthy of a few days of exploration, but I hope to at least show you how lovely the Old Town area is.  My favorite experience from Riga was listening to Latvian Karaoke at a secluded little beer garden we found.  It was really entertaining to see what the locals do and experience entire families singing their favorite Latvian songs together during a family dinner party.  One piece of advice – bring ear plugs to Riga with you if you like to get a good night’s rest.  It seems as though the locals like to stay up all night until the early morning hours (even on weeknights), and can be a bit loud on the streets.  But I really enjoyed Riga and hope to go back again in the future!

The final photos are from my first visit to Vilnius – you will notice I have very few photos and they are from the more random things I saw there.  We experienced torrential rains for most of our visit to Vilnius, but I loved the city and that is why I decided I had to go back before the end of the summer months.  As you can see from my previous post “Exploring Lithuania,” I experienced much nicer weather the second time around.  The final images are from the train ride home and will allow you see a bit of Lithuania, Latvia and Russia from the train windows and outside of the city centers.  My next stop when I return to Russia from the U.S. in a couple of weeks will be to travel to some villages and get out of the city center.  Stay tuned and I hope you enjoyed this small glimpse of the Baltic States!

Narrow alley in Tallinn, Estonia.

Antique shop window, Tallinn, Estonia.

Wall art in Tallinn, Estonia.

Central square in Old Town, Tallinn.

The Art Car, Tallinn, Estonia.

The church in the central square at night, Tallinn, Estonia.

More wall art in Tallinn, Estonia.

Looking out over the Old Town of Tallinn.

Toy shop window in Tallinn.

The old abandoned youth center we found. It has become a local hangout for many.

Bird graffiti at the abandoned youth center in Tallinn.

Walking down the steep hill at night, Tallinn.

The abandoned youth center looking out over the Baltic Sea, Tallinn.

Old Town of Tallinn at night time.

A wide view of the narrow alley way, Tallinn.

Center of Old Town Riga, Latvia.

Old Church in Riga.

Evening shower, Riga.

The excellent little Italian Restaurant we ate at in Riga.

Table decorations at a Latvian Restaurant, Riga.

Old Architecture in Riga.

Experiencing Latvian Karaoke at an outdoor beer garden, Riga.

Old Town, Riga.

Shop window, Riga.

Streets of Old Town, Riga.

Old Architecture in Riga.

Riga, Latvia.

Frank Zappa, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Central Old Town, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Window shopping in Vilnius.

Love locks in Vilnius - on the bridge to Užupio Respublika.

More windown shopping in Vilnius.

More window shopping in Vilnius.

Bridge crossing to Užupio Respublika, Vilnius.

Remnants of a wedding celebration, Vilnius.

Užupio Respublika, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Wall art in Užupio Respublika, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Lithuanian countryside as seen from the train windowns.

Lithuanian countryside as seen from the train.

Train stop in Lithuania.

Passing by old abandoned trains (taking while riding on the train).

A more "Soviet" scene in the Latvian countryside (taken while riding on the train).

Soviet complexes in Latvia.

A small village in Russia (as seen from the train).

Russian countryside as seen from the train.