So, final post before its all a board the trans Siberian railway tomorrow for 14 days of cold weather, train food and thousands of miles of watching the world go by from the window. Moscow is BIG. About half an hour outside of Moscow train station the tower blocks started....and its nothing like coming through Clapham Junction on the way to Waterloo; these tower blocks are massive and there are thousands of them. Its a weird sight, makes you feel very small and must give the inhabitants the feeling that they are part of something big but maybe not very individual - or was that the point?
I am not one for pointless bureaucracy so I knew there would be things about Moscow that would annoy me, and there has been, but the overwhelming feeling is that this is a city and a country in transition, trying to find its way post communism without loosing its culture and identity. Today I saw the dead body of Lenin, there are plans to bury him sometime soon but there are mixed feelings amongst the Russian people so it wont be without a fight I'm sure... it felt like the Russian version of the pyramids, their way of creating a "god" out of their dead leader....actually the whole experience has left a rather bad taste in the mouth. Dragons in Russian culture are a symbol of evil and in Victory Park late last night with the moon and the mist hovering over the top of the WW2 memorial the dragon was enough not just to remind of the horrific nature of war and mans evil but still had the ability to scare anyone who walked close by (there are photos..) Moscow is a living muesem, with every building, square and street name telling a story and its one BIG story!
How to make your own St Basils Cathedral blue peter style...... all you need is a shoe box, 8 toilet rolls, 8 onions and some bright coloured paint.... get your mum to help you cut the 8 toilet rolls into different sizes, glue an onion on the top of each, stick the toilet roll onions towers onto the shoe box in a random order then paint the whole thing with bright colours and swirly patterns.... and there you have it! Alternatively go to Red Square where there is one they made earlier. Crazy place but kinda cool in its own unique way.
Books/Ipod - No time, serious site seeing to be done!!
Tuesday 30 October 2007
Friday 26 October 2007
The "new" europe...
Having totally enjoyed Vilnius, Riga (Latvia) was just not such a pleasant experience, the old town itself is beautiful, cobbled streets and amazing archetecture dating from all periods of Latvia's diverse history...however the place as maybe predictable, was full of english/irish yobs and the whole town seemed to cater for them, with large american fast food restaurants and theme bars in abundance - To be honnest they might as well paint the town orange and change its name to EasyRiga....
Next stop Tallinn (Estonia) where I still am... for a few hours at least. A superb town, possibly one of the least unspoilt medieval towns I have ever been to... and a great bunch of people in the hostel (bunch of ex-pompey Uni students!!) which made for some long and entertaining evenings! In Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn I spent time in the Museums of Occupation which in each case tells the story of their fight for independance from both the Germans and the Russians... It provided a fascinating insight, infact I think I learnt more from the 3 museums than I had in years of school history lessons - for the first time I feel I have an appreciation for what the Iron curtain meant in reality to the people living behind it and a better understanding of the day to day reality of communism - happy to share further thoughts for anyone interested!!
Current reading material: The Celestine Prophecy, James Redfield (thanks shelley!!)
Current ipod tunes: Alison Krauss & Union Station / Killers
Next stop Tallinn (Estonia) where I still am... for a few hours at least. A superb town, possibly one of the least unspoilt medieval towns I have ever been to... and a great bunch of people in the hostel (bunch of ex-pompey Uni students!!) which made for some long and entertaining evenings! In Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn I spent time in the Museums of Occupation which in each case tells the story of their fight for independance from both the Germans and the Russians... It provided a fascinating insight, infact I think I learnt more from the 3 museums than I had in years of school history lessons - for the first time I feel I have an appreciation for what the Iron curtain meant in reality to the people living behind it and a better understanding of the day to day reality of communism - happy to share further thoughts for anyone interested!!
Current reading material: The Celestine Prophecy, James Redfield (thanks shelley!!)
Current ipod tunes: Alison Krauss & Union Station / Killers
Friday 19 October 2007
One week in.
Weirdly (and this was totally unplanned) it is exactly a week to the minute (18:11) since I left London Waterloo..... 7 days, 5 trains, 3 hostels, several (!) beers, 1 new facebook friend and so many Ausies I've lost count already.... and here I am in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Expectations are strange things - For those in the UK, I don't know whether Michael Pailin has reached eastern Europe yet, and if he has maybe your expectations would be different from mine. Having read very little about Polish & Lithuanian history/politics my assumption was of a ex-soviet outpost with large concrete and rusting green buildings, nothing but stew and dumplings to eat and slightly scary looking women..... how wrong can a girl be!! This place is fantastic - bright and vibrant, full of colour and stunning architecture, flavoursome food. incredibly friendly hospitable people and an energetic nightlife.
Challenges - The biggest so far have been 1) trying to find my way out of Warsaw train station which although only has 6 platforms has eight million exits all of which seem to lead you to McDonalds.... 2) trying not to get dragged into political conversations with Americans.....3) Spending at least some time on my own (hostels are friendly places.... and 4) Remembering to take plenty of photos, there is always the delete button!
Thought for the day - Why is it that wherever you go in the world outside the UK people talk to you on trains? It was wedsnesday afternoon and I was a little confused as to why the train had stopped, a bunch of cleaners jumped on and scrubbed the whole thing down whilst an engine was attached to the back of the train, the cleaners jumped off and the car I was in promptly headed off with the new engine in the direction we had just come from.... noticing my suprise Lithuanian Mark suggested he come and sit with me as "its much more fun to have someone to talk with".... fine by me as not only did he help me get off at the right point and change onto the correct train, but also spent the following four hours in conversation ranging from his views of Russia to the global monetary system to sharing a bag of dill flavour crisps (v.good they are too!).... so next time you see a lost soul on a train....well, I leave you to decide!
Current reading material - The Gum Thief, Douglas Coupland.
Current ipod tunes - Bruce Springsteen / Medieval Babes / Killers
Expectations are strange things - For those in the UK, I don't know whether Michael Pailin has reached eastern Europe yet, and if he has maybe your expectations would be different from mine. Having read very little about Polish & Lithuanian history/politics my assumption was of a ex-soviet outpost with large concrete and rusting green buildings, nothing but stew and dumplings to eat and slightly scary looking women..... how wrong can a girl be!! This place is fantastic - bright and vibrant, full of colour and stunning architecture, flavoursome food. incredibly friendly hospitable people and an energetic nightlife.
Challenges - The biggest so far have been 1) trying to find my way out of Warsaw train station which although only has 6 platforms has eight million exits all of which seem to lead you to McDonalds.... 2) trying not to get dragged into political conversations with Americans.....3) Spending at least some time on my own (hostels are friendly places.... and 4) Remembering to take plenty of photos, there is always the delete button!
Thought for the day - Why is it that wherever you go in the world outside the UK people talk to you on trains? It was wedsnesday afternoon and I was a little confused as to why the train had stopped, a bunch of cleaners jumped on and scrubbed the whole thing down whilst an engine was attached to the back of the train, the cleaners jumped off and the car I was in promptly headed off with the new engine in the direction we had just come from.... noticing my suprise Lithuanian Mark suggested he come and sit with me as "its much more fun to have someone to talk with".... fine by me as not only did he help me get off at the right point and change onto the correct train, but also spent the following four hours in conversation ranging from his views of Russia to the global monetary system to sharing a bag of dill flavour crisps (v.good they are too!).... so next time you see a lost soul on a train....well, I leave you to decide!
Current reading material - The Gum Thief, Douglas Coupland.
Current ipod tunes - Bruce Springsteen / Medieval Babes / Killers
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