Russia Dec07
From TheGredil
Contents |
Moscow
Departure
We were up early on Boxing Day and at the airport by around 8.30am. Once we finally got checked in, we headed up the lounge to grab some breaky and relax before our next adventure begun. The flight was uneventful and we got through Russian Customs and Immigration with no problems at all. Once we walked out the gate we were approached by numerous taxi drivers offering us a ride to our hotel. On advice from various websites and the signs all over the airport we ignored them all and headed to the taxi desk. It was a very long drive into Moscow (about 1.5 hours) and the roads were a little scary, cars were going everywhere and no one had any regard for what a lane was. If traffic gets heavy in Moscow, Russians simply create a new lane, we saw many cars rattling down the side of the road, through the dirt. We finally got to our hotel (Budapest Hotel) and checked in. It was a really beautiful hotel and we were very happy with our choice. By this time it was late so we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to bed.
Hot Chocolate at Red Square
We were up early yet again and after a very quick breakfast headed out to explore Moscow. Our first stop was the Kremlin which was closed so we had a look at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and headed to Red Square. By this time we were getting a little cold so decided to head inside the GUM shopping centre by Red Square for a warm drink. Leisa ordered a hot chocolate and was a little shocked when she got a cup of, quite literally, hot chocolate, no milk, just liquid chocolate. From there we wandered around the shopping centre a bit more then grabbed some lunch. Apart from the unique take on hot chocolate this could have been any Western shopping centre with all the sparkle and familiar brands of a London or New York shopping strip.
After our shopping fix we headed to the some other areas of Moscow and saw the Lubyanka Building (home of the GRU, formerly the KGB), Monument to the Heroes of Plevna, and we even stumbled across the Australian Embassy (as subtle as it is) along our travel. That night we had a very nice meal at an Uzbek Restaurant near our hotel. The food was fantastic although the Russian love of singing and dancing during a meal took some getting used to.
See where we went in Google Earth
The next day we only had half a day left we decided to spend it exploring the Kremlin which was closed the day before. We bought our tickets and went through the gates. There seemed to be hoards of people all heading in the same direction so we followed as we figured something was on. It turns out that Putin was there meeting a large group of children, we didn't get to see him though. We did have a good walk around the Kremlin and took in the sights including a 890mm cannon, a huge bell that broke before it was ever hung and the famous Arsenal (with lots of captured French cannons) and Cathedrals.
See where we went in Google Earth
Express to the Airport, Russia Style
We were due at the airport to check in for our flight to St Petersburg at 5.30pm so we booked a taxi for 3.30pm as we were told it can take two hours to get there if traffic is bad. Firstly the taxi was 45 mins late picking us up and traffic was quite bad. Eventually a "taxi" arrived that looked alarmingly like a normal car (I'm pretty sure it was a mate of the hotel concierge) preumably with instructions to get us to the airport quickly. After much ducking and weaving, running red lights, almost hitting a concrete pillar and some of the scariest driving I have experienced we arrived at the airport at about 5.45pm which would not have been a problem had the "taxi" driver taken us to the right airport. We were going through the gates, suitcases in arms when a lady asked where we were flying to. We said St Petersburg and she had a very confused look on her face and asked to see our tickets. She looked at them and told us we were at the wrong terminal and that the terminal we wanted was a 20 min drive away. We sprinted outside and tried to find a taxi. One driver wanted to charge us 3000 rubles (about $150) for the trip so we told him where to go and found a proper taxi (there are lots of dodgy taxis in Russia) who charged us 500 rubles (about $25). We got to the right terminal at about 6.30pm and by the time our bags were dropped off we only had 5 mins until we boarded. We eventually made it on to the plane for our short flight. It was quite bumpy but otherwise uneventful. We had heard terrible things about Aeroflot but found it to be a very nice flight. It was an extremely new aircraft and despite the short duration they provided some food and all the trimmings of a regular flight. In fact, the service, facilities and comfort of this flight far exceeded that of our British Airways flight home.
We arrived in Saint Petersburg 1.5 hours later and once we had our luggage (which took forever) we booked a taxi and were on our way. The taxi driver was only slightly better than the one we had in Moscow but I think that is just because there was less traffic so the weaving around other cars and cutting them off didn't seem quite as dangerous (my heart rate was still elevated though!)
See where we went in Google Earth
St Petersburg
Glittering Lights
St Petersburg is a pretty city, all the buildings look very well maintained and it is kept really clean. As with Moscow, there seemed to be a lot of grime, with all the cars looking very dirty. As our hotel was quite near the Admiralty that was our first stop. It used to be the Russian Navy headquarters and with some family history there we were keen to have a look. Unfortunately it was all closed up so we could only admire it from the outside. From there we headed across the road to Palace Square. The Winter Palace is simply enormous and includes The Hermitage (supposedly one of the worlds great art museums) which we spent a few hours wandering around. From there we walked up Nevsky Prospekt, the main road in St Petersburg. It seems that the Russians love neon and fairy lights, they are everywhere. I guess with only 5 hours sunlight a day during winter, they need something to make it a bit brighter!
See where we went in Google Earth
Ice Headaches
Our second day started with a quick breakfast in the hotel followed by a rather chilly walk to St Peter and Paul Cathedral. Unfortunately is was undergoing some major maintenance so was nothing special to look at. As we wandered around the Island though we did stumble across the local "beach" complete with parent, child (albeit in a one piece ski suit), bucket, spade and sand castle. We couldn't believe our eyes. It was a similar scene to Oz but much smaller and with crushed ice lapping at the shore instead of waves. As funny as it was watching children play on the beach in ski gear we had to get out of there as the ice wind coming of the river was too much. Check it out in the photos. From there we crossed back over the river to Mars Field which is a rather large park with a memorial to the Unknown Soldier in the middle. It is quite impressive to have an eternal flame in those conditions! After a quick look at the Church of Spilled Blood we grabbed some lunch at the Russian Club before heading off to the Russian Museum.
See where we went in Google Earth
Family Ties
For our final day in Russia we headed out to the Smolny Institute which is where Leisa's Great Grandmother went to school. It was a very grand building surrounded by well maintained gardens. It had taken much longer than expected to get there and as we were due to check out of our hotel and head to the airport we were only able to have a quick look and didn't have time to do a tour. At this point it started to snow for the first time in our five days in Russia. It was so pretty but it still didn't really seem to settle on the ground much. Covered in snow we made our way back to the train station and then back to our hotel where we checked out and caught a taxi back to the airport.
Russia was definitely our most challenging trip to date but it was still very enjoyable. There was quite a big language barrier (we had tried to learn some Russian before we went but it really was inadequate) but we managed to get by. There is a definite contrast in the cities so it was good to see both.
