Thursday August 20 -

Thursday was another beautifully warm day with sunny, blue, cloudless skies. We chilled in Banff in the morning; walked around the town; did some shopping; and took some photos. It was a typical holiday town, but in a beautiful setting, and really quite pleasant.

Our target today was Kamloops which we reckoned would be around a 6 hour drive. The scenery was absolutely spectacular; especially the drive through Kicking Horse Canyon. Tall rugged mountains all around us as we drove along the valley floor. We stopped at some of the sights along the way including the Spiral Tunnels. These tunnels were built for the trains that chugged up and sped down the steep incline of Kicking Horse Pass. Because of the steepness, numerous accidents occurred, so in 1909 the tunnels were built to improve the safety of train travel. Each tunnel makes a spiralling turn and trains actually cross over themselves. So, you might see an engine emergy from the upper tunnel while 15m below it, carriages are still entering the lower tunnel. Once we hit Revelstoke, the land flattened out, although here in Kamloops, we are still surrounded by beautiful mountains. Sunset brought a beautiful red sun reflected in the river water making it bright scarlet too. No doubt about it, the scenery is spectacular. We also saw a little black bear cross the highway in front of us, and we saw some mountain goats up the side of one of the rock faces as we passed on the road below.

Tonight we are staying in Kamloops and tomorrow we will hit Vancouver. Alanna is excited, and happy to be back in BC. Cass unfortunately, has caught Alanna's cold and is feeling really rotten!

Wednesday August 19

We were up early and on the road by 8:30 am. It was a beautiful, sunny day with blue cloudless skies, and warm temperatures. When we left Hinton, the Rockies rose up in front of us like a solid wall of granite. We passed a group of mountain sheep and took tons of pictures. By the time we reached Jasper, we were surrounded by high, grey mountains, richly vegetated with fir trees three quarters of the way up. We took a quick walk around Jasper and enjoyed its relaxed atmosphere and beautiful location. The drive down Highway 93 to Lake Louise was truly stunning and quite compares with other mountain ranges in the world. I think it is the vastness of the Rockies that consumes you. The mountains are all around, and the snow peaks peep up above the grey granite rock and make you shiver. The lakes are a beautiful aquamarine colour, but freezing cold, and I doubt you would last too long in them. In fact, they say it would only be minutes before you died of hypothermia if you fell into some of the rapids and waterfalls. We stopped at the Athabasca Falls and saw the 23-metre waterfall powering over the rocks and into the swirling river below. It is said to have the most powerful flow anywhere in the mountain parks. We drove down the Icefields Parkway and saw the Columbia Icefields; I must admit to being a little disappointed, but then you can only see 3 of the 7 icefields from the road. They looked grey and dirty and crawling with caterpillar-like sight-seeing vehicles. We stopped at lookouts for the high peaks and the glaciers, and amazed at the intense aqua colour of Peyto Lake and Bow Lake. Passing through all the splendour makes you realize just how insignificant humans are in the natural world, and yet at the same time, we can do so much harm. We stopped at Lake Louise and took too many pictures; then drove on to Banff where we arrived around 7:30 pm. Its a fun town, established, commercialized, but nonetheless alive. Our hostel is about a 5 minute walk from all the shops and restaurants which is perfect and we had a great dinner before walking back over the bridge for the night. When we arrived, before we even got our stuff out of the car, we saw a deer grazing along the edge of the river about 10 feet from the car. Later, the same deer had bedded down for the night under a tree in the garden of the hostel. How neat is that!

Monday August 17 and Tuesday August 18 – 4 Canadian Provinces

On Monday morning we rolled out of Kenora and on to Highway 17. It was raining. We passed roadworks, rural communities, and the border into Manitoba. The area around Winnipeg was a rich agricultural area but as a we drove north on 16, the Yellowhead Highway, we passed huge fields of barley, canola, and rye and rolled on through Manitoba’s bright green, golden yellow, and wheaten fields. We crossed the border into Saskatchewan and stopped for lunch in a tiny fast-food restaurant in Gladstone, the town of the “Happy Rock”! Get it…? Prairie wit, I guess!! We walked in to the restaurant and were greeted by a couple of old codgers one of whom had a broken arm which didn’t look as if it had been properly set, and who was eating a cup of ice-cream. They had some appreciative local comments which they addressed to the girls, without too much reaction. I don’t think they, the girls, totally understood the local jargon! We passed through Neepawa where Margaret Laurence was born. It was a neat little town with a beautiful four lane avenue lined with overhanging trees on both sides. We saw silver-grey silos, white grain elevators, and plump seagulls feeding on the dark brown ploughed fields. There was a lot of flooding in the fields which made the tiny ducks happy as they floated in the water picking up flies and other bugs and edibles as they went. The road ran parallel to the trainless-railway for miles but eventually in the evening we saw three freight trains moving sleepily along the tracks with a large number of carriages which would eventually be filled with the grain and other produce from the area. We eventually arrived at Saskatoon, found a motel, had a very late dinner, and crawled into bed. We were tired. We had driven about 1000 kilometers over the course of the day.
Tuesday started out raining and 15C. The long straight roads wound across the Saskatchewan prairies; pieces of blown truck tyres littered the highway. The odd straw bale found its way into the median in between the two parts of the divided highway. Yellow flowers lined both sides of the dual carriageway and separated the road from the fields of bright yellow canola which stretched into the horizon. Along the highway were lily filed watering ponds, and the land was undulating, and lush with trees acting as wind and snow breaks in the vast fields. We entered into Alberta, and stopped to take pictures at the “Welcome to Alberta” sign. Not much changed in the scenery until we passed through Edmonton, and reached a small town called Edson about 207 kms west of Edmonton. Then the landscape became more undulating and filled with fir trees. The Rockies tantalized us. They appeared in the distance at a high point on the highway, then disappeared. They appeared again as we passed the highest point on the highway, and disappeared, and then finally as we neared Hinton, they appeared and remained an omnipresence on the highway. You know you are approaching something that will consume you when you see them. We stopped for the night in Hinton located in the foothills of the Rockies. The town has about 10,000 inhabitants, a pulp mill, and tons of hotels. It is about 45 minutes from Jasper and we are looking forward to being right in the Rockies tomorrow.

The journey is long and tiring. The girls read magazines, listen to their i-Pods, play games on their cell phones, do crosswords, and word searches, sleep, and watch videos on the laptops. We all take it in turns to drive. But although we are appreciative of the scenery and the journey there is not much that is exciting and there is not much time for "fun". So far!

Sunday August 16 - Wawa to Kenora

The intellectual level in the car dropped dramatically this morning as we re-invented our childhood’s perspective of life. First, we stopped at the Wawa Goose on our way out of town to take pictures. This was constructed in 1960 to celebrate the opening of the Lake Superior Section of the Trans-Canada Highway. Until then the main access to Wawa was from steam boat on Lake Superior until 1941, or by railway after 1921. Next came the statue of “Winnie” in White River. This is a lovely story about the background to Winnie the Pooh. Apparently on August 24, 1914, Captain Harry Colebourn, a Canadian Army Veterinarian, purchased a black bear cub for $20 in White River, Ontario. The bear was named “Winnie” after Colebourn’s hometown Winnipeg, Manitoba. Winnie journeyed overseas and was left at the London Zoo for safekeeping when the troops went to France for active duty. Becoming the Zoo’s feature attraction Winnie captivated many, especially young Christopher Robin, son of the author A.A. Milne. Inspired by the bear and his son’s enthrallment, A.A. Milne began the stories of Winnie the Pooh. Although, Winnie went to that “great Hunny Pot in the Sky” in May 1934 at the age of 20, Milne’s books kept the Canadian bear alive through several generations. In 1988, a local resident discovered that Winnie the Pooh is originally from White River, and White River proudly proclaims its status as the birthplace of Winnie the Pooh by celebrating with Winnie’s Hometown Festival held the third weekend in August every year.
Beside the Winnie statue was a playground and our two “wannabe young again” 28/30 year olds had fun playing on the shute and having their pictures taken. Talking to dogs has also featured high in the trip. Already Cassandra and Alanna have made friends with a 9 month old Rotweiller and her handsome father, a Husky/Sheppard puppy and her four legged Husky friend, and a long haired golden retriever and Pyranese Mountain Dog who just about lept out of the back of the Toyota SUV they were travelling in to greet the girls.
We had lunch in Nipigon and back on the road again. We travelled along the shores of Superior and had some lovely views which were unfortunately marred by the haze hanging heavily over the water. The rain came just as we headed into Thunder Bay. Our spirits sobered when we visited the Terry Fox Memorial and we thought of the arduous journey young Terry undertook and the money his memory has amassed for the fight against cancer.
25 km outside Thunder Bay, we went into the Kakebeka Provincial Park to look at the Kakebeka Falls. The Falls are spectacular with the extra tons of water cascading over them from all the recent rainfalls.From there we had a fairly intense drive through some pretty, forested scenery, a heavy rainstorm, and moose/deer/bear infested country into Kenora where we are staying our second night.

Saturday August 15 - Off to Vancouver

I slept in on Saturday morning – the day we left for our trip to drive Alanna 4500 km to school in Vancouver. It could have been the late night previously, or that I didn’t sleep well, or simply that if I didn’t wake up, I didn’t have to start the journey. It’s not as if she is a kid; she is 28; it’s not as if she hasn’t lived away from home before, but somehow, Vancouver seems such a long way away.
The day was sunny and bright, and we locked up the house and were on our way. Ray and I had made the trip about 36 years ago and we wondered how much we would remember. Alanna has never made the trip.
The first part of the journey by-passing Parry Sound, Sudbury and Espanola was fairly typical Ontario countryside: rocky, lush vegetation, and not particularly memorable. From Spanish we travelled along the N orth Channel of Georgian Bay. It was undulating, craggy shorelines with beautiful views from the Highway 17 over the lake. We drove through lake-side towns of Blind River, Thessalon, and on to Sault Ste. Marie.
The film “One Week” will give you a much better description of the Toronto/Vancouver route. Our journey is completed with time restrictions and without much time to investigate points of interest along the way. But we did, and will, see some of the sights.
The beauty in the trip started at Sault Ste. Marie where Lake Huron and Lake Superior meet. We made the journey from the Soo to Wawa at sunset and loved the beautiful Canadian settings with views over the lake and fir trees peeping up in the foreground around the blazing orange ball of the sun. Driving at dusk kept us alert for moose, deer, and bears on the road!We spent the night in the Sportsman Motel with dinner first at the Viking. The Viking offered an eclectic mix of tourists and loud, colourful, boisterous locals, and a varied menu at just off Toronto prices.

Wednesday July 29 – Homecoming

Neither of us slept very well; we were both excited at the prospect of being with Alanna today. Ray, I think more so than me, is also looking forward to getting back home to familiar surroundings and Canada. Don’t get me wrong, I too am looking forward to coming home; more so to get back into doing something more “meaningful" than the stress-free travel environment. I am searching for a way to put my knowledge and experiences to good use.

When you travel the world, and see different cultures and ways of life, it helps you to understand “existence” on a broader basis. The world over, life is about survival. As humans we all need the same things to be fundamentally satisfied. That is all the majority want: food, shelter, and community. Why then do we refuse to respect that in each other and enter into war, violent disputes, and political mayhem? It doesn’t matter how much land you have, if it’s not arable you won’t get food, or if there are no resources, you won’t have resources. To strive for the bigger picture of a “supportive and co-dependent” existence might be an answer to finding a peaceful world solution. I don't mean by this that the only answer is "democracy". It may well not be, or it may be that each country needs its own unique form of government. We might also be forced into that scenario if bugs and diseases such as H1N1 become the pandemic that many predict it will. Cool and intelligent minds, co-operation among governments, and creative science for cures and preventatives are what will get us through such an event should it come to that. I don’t know the answer to a better world order, but I know I will support those who have a viable suggestion versus those who manipulate populations through power and superiority.

So, I know you will want to know (1) did we have a good trip; (2) what were the highlights and the lowlights; (3) what it did for us; and (4) where are we going next! Give me a few days to contemplate all of that, and I’ll post a “Post-Trip Summary”.

We were up around 7 am this morning to catch the Hoppa bus back to Terminal 5 at Heathrow. We had breakfast in “Giraffe" at the airport; then I went duty-free shopping. The London airports are so exciting to shop in, and it’s one of the few times I’ve had on the trip to “shop”. So, Ray sat and waited, and I took off with my credit card!!

Security checks at the airport take forever, and I wonder how effective they are against “terrorists” as opposed to catching the forgetful tourist who has packed his pen knife or nail clippers in his/her checked luggage.

Our flight on a British Airways Boeing 747 left about 45 minutes late. Once again it was quite smooth with the exception of one part as we neared Canada which got a little bumpy from the turbulence. The skies were bright blue, and we floated on our bed of white clouds for about 7 hours. We were so excited when we landed at Toronto that my stomach was churning with impatience at the thought of seeing Alanna again. We are not sure what was happening at the airport, but as soon as we stepped off the plane a customs officer was checking everyone’s passport, so you can imagine the back up of passengers de-loading. As with everyone else, he took my passport, read the information, stared at me directly in the eyes, and then handed the passport back and allowed me to go forward. When we got to the customs hall, there was a team of four customs officers searching the crowd. One had a dog and he together with the dog walked very briskly and purposely up and down the rows of the passengers waiting to go through the customs desks into the baggage pick-up area. The dog sat down three or four times in front of one guy who was probably off the Caribbean Air flight that had landed just before ours. Poor guy must have been sweating, but obviously he was not the one whom the team was looking for.
While waiting for our baggage, we saw the team questioning passengers randomly in the baggage hall. Never saw them take anyone away, so haven’t a clue what it was all about.

Finally we exited into the Arrivals area, and there was our lovely daughter, full of smiles and as happy to see us as we were to see her. We are soooo lucky to have such a beautiful and kind daughter! Then, as we were all hugging each other intensely, our good friend Randall Osczevski appeared with a huge grin on his face. It was the most wonderful surprise and means an awful lot to us that he would leave his office and come over to the airport to welcome us home.

And, that is it! We went home with Alanna, ate dinner, chatted and chatted, drank too much wine and finally after being up for about 25 hours, we collapsed into bed for our first night’s sleep at home since March 11.

Tuesday July 28 – Farewell St. Petersburg

The worst thing about travelling is the “waiting”. We got to the airport in lots of time for our flight (even had time to check the Internet in the morning before we left the hotel). We hung around the airport waiting to go through security, customs, etc. and check in for the flight. We have had lots of time for reflection and discussion on the various events we have experienced over the past 4 ½ months.

St. Petersburg was a treat to visit. Where Moscow was energized, colourful, and “in your face”, St. Petersburg is serene, grey, and reserved. It has a beautiful city centre, friendly people, and a rich and colourful history. That said, the Navy Day celebrations were a “joyous affair”, and one shouldn’t be lulled into thinking that St. Petersburg is a pristine city. As mentioned before, you can walk around drinking beer, many people do, so there are often empty beer bottles lining the canals and river embankments, and you can certainly meet your fair share of those who have imbibed a little too heavily! However, this is all cleaned up very quickly and the city is generally quite clean.

Our three-hour flight from St. Petersburg to London on a BA A331 was smooth and comfortable, left and arrived on time, and posed no problems to our now “used-to-overcoming-challenges” attitude. Several times we looked out of the window and over the white layer of clouds we were flying over to see another plane literally “whiz” past us in the opposite direction at a combined speed of about 1000 to 1200 miles per hour. Of course, although they seemed awfully close, I am sure there was plenty of room between us!! Once at Heathrow we took the Heathrow Hoppa to our AAA-graded 3-star hotel where we arrived around 7 pm. The hotel was very active with lots of business groups, and we enjoyed dinner in the dining room with a much appreciated glass of wine before retiring to bed and enjoying two shots of CSI: CSI Miami, and CSI New York which were luxury entertainment to our English-TV starved minds, before turning out the light.

Monday July 27 – The End of the Our Journey: Last Day in St Petersburg

Our travel is drawing to a close, but we managed to fit in one last historic site: The Fortress of Peter and Paul on the north banks of the Neva River. The fortress was built in 1703/04 during the Great Northern War against Sweden, but apparently it was never used for its intended purpose as the war was won before it became active. The main purpose of the fort ended up being a prison, mainly political prisoners, and it was eerie to walk through the corridors, cell by cell, and read the stories of the people who had been imprisoned there. It all sounded very “comfortable”, but I have no doubt the heavy block walls have many different stories to tell as men and women lived out their last moments before passing through the Neva Gate on the way to their execution. Many of the stories we read were about the People’s Will, a group of terrorists who murdered Alexander II in 1881. Other stories included those of Leon Trotsky and Maxim Gorky from the 1905 revolution and stories of the Bolsheviks right up to 1921 when the last prisoners were held there. The other big attraction in the Fort is the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul built in 1712 to 1733 and designed by Trezzini and later embellished by Rastrelli, both of whom have been a huge part of the architecture in St. Petersburg. The church both inside and outside is stunning with lots of gold gild in the true Baroque style. We listened again to some Russian choral singing in the Grand Ducal Crypt which was so mournful it tore my heartstrings. Two of the guys in this group had appeared in the group at St. Catherine’s Palace yesterday, and one of those two had appeared in the Russian Song and Dance Show we went to.
There are several other interesting parts to the Fort such as a museum and the mint, but to be quite honest with you I am absolutely overloaded with information. It’s time to go home!! Ray found me sitting on the steps outside the door of the museum staring into space and waiting for him. Usually, it is the other way around and he is dragging me out!

We wandered back to the hotel in the warm gently falling rain, along the University Embankment, past statutes, bridges, and finely architectured buildings that are famous the world over. It was a fitting “good bye” to a majestic city.

In the evening, we had dinner in a small Russian restaurant, bought a couple of bottles of vodka to bring back to Canada with us on the way back to the hotel, packed up our stuff and collapsed in bed around midnight dreaming of returning home and seeing our daughter and our friends.

Sunday July 26 – Pushkin

We walked out of our hotel this morning to be verbally abused by a mad woman with a beautiful cocker spaniel. She had a wooden stick in her hands so we were a little careful of her! Tatiana, our St. Petersburg guide appeared, and steered us back into our hotel. After a few minutes, Arpana, Ray and I together with Tatiana, carefully stepped outside again, and seeing the way clear and the van parked by the side of the road, headed directly into it. Don’t know what was up, just a random wacko!! Tatiana though seemed quite upset by it. I guess she understood what the woman was saying; we could only guess!

We travelled about an hour (24 km) to the town of Pushkin on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, population about 100,000. It wasn’t an interesting drive though, as St. Petersburg is built on a swamp, which accounts for the mosquitoes we have been battling in our bedroom because I left the windows open one night. The attraction in Pushkin is the summer palace of the royal family “Catherine Palace”. It was originally built in Baroque style around 1752 by Catherine the Great. However, it was substantially destroyed by the Germans in WWII, and then by the Soviet government who destroyed the internal structure. In 1979 the Soviet government started restoring the Palace and this continued for 25 years. Today, the palace is stunning. The outside is painted blue and gold and surrounded by gilded black-iron gates. The first few rooms are heavily decorated in what was gold-gild and what is now gold paint. Then, because Catherine didn’t like all the baroque gold, the next few rooms are pained in classic blue and green, with white moldings ornately carved. Access to the palace is closely controlled. You have a “time slot” and move through with hundreds of other visitors in controlled groups. It’s certainly not the most pleasant experience, but I guess if you want to see historic sites of this caliber, this seems to have become an accepted method of controlling the crowds (remember our visit to the Potala Palace in Tibet?)

After our “controlled” viewing inside the palace, we walked through the beautiful Catherine Park with its English and French gardens, large pond where the reflections of the buildings glistened in the sunlight, and other out buildings. When we left the town of Pushkin, our driver had an unfortunate accident and managed to wrap the back end of the Mercedes van around a lamp-post and shatter the large window at the rear left side of the van. His van had been squeezed in by a car in front leaving him no room to maneuver, however, he kind of didn’t help himself because when the first grating sound came, he just kept reversing harder into the pole as opposed to stopping and checking out the circumstances. Anyway, we finally got out of the tight spot but the back-end was quite damaged. As we turned out of the parking spot, we were almost hit broadside by a vehicle travelling about 100 km down the road! I am sure our driver was “harassed” at the whole scrunching deal, but after jamming on the brakes to avoid being hit by the flying car, I am sure he was even more harassed. We hadn’t driven very far when someone said: “Oh, is there an accident?” I turned to look out the window and saw an elderly grey-haired woman lying prostrate on the road on her back and a highly distraught younger women standing by her car about 6 feet away from her on the telephone, but our van squeezed past and we were gone. It was a “traumatic” moment that left an indelible image in my mind. I don’t usually look when there is an accident; I don’t like to see injuries. Tatiana turned to us and said: “That’s been three things today: the verbal abuse by the mad woman, the van incident, and now the accident with the old lady.” I am glad to say, the rest of the day was good!!

When we got back to St. Petersburg, we had a great walk across the city by the canal from the Church of Resurrection to the Church of St. Nicholas which unfortunately is closed for renovation. We went into the Mariinsky Theatre which is the second most important theatre for ballet and discovered there were no seats available for Monday’s performance of “Giselle”. We were a little disappointed until we discovered the price which was about $150 to $165. By the time we arrived back to the hotel it was 7:00 pm.

Today was also “Navy Day: so there was lots of activity along the embankments of the Neva River. A lot of drinking too!! It amazes us that Russians don’t consider beer to be alcohol! This despite the fact I have noticed that their beers are quite potent and range between 4.7 per cent alcohol to 5.7 per cent alcohol. You can walk around the streets with a beer in your hand – not that we have done that – but all along the embankments are tons of empty beer bottles. Someone comes along and collects them all but to us, it’s a really weird concept.

We met Arpana, around 8 pm and went to dinner in the same Russian restaurant we went to two nights ago. Then it was back to the hotel and a very much needed bed around midnight.

Saturday July 25 – Russian Art

It was raining when we set out this morning for The State Museum of Russian Art or more colloquially, The Russian Museum. This is one of the most important museums in Russia. We walked in the drizzle for about an hour along the University Embankment of the Neva River, across the Dvortsovy Bridge and along Nevsky Prospekt to the museum. It is housed in the majestic neoclassical Mikhailovsky Palace which was built 1819-1825. I am not at all familiar with the Russian artists but we really enjoyed following the Russian art from the early 500/600s right up to the current day. We took an audio guide so learned a little about concepts, philosophies, and changes throughout the ages. The late 1700s early 1800s involved a lot of portraiture and it was great to see portraits of all the people our guides have been talking about and the artists themselves. I also fell in love with Serov and his beautiful ladies. After being in the Museum for four to five hours, we took a lovely walk through the peaceful and beautiful gardens then back out on to the busy Nevsky Prospekt which is the main street in the city centre, and about an hour’s walk back to the hotel. We walked back over the Blagoveschenskly most and up the pedestrian street on the 5th Line in Vasilyevskiy. We were looking for an Internet which we haven’t found yet and were happy to find one not too far from the hotel. We grabbed a quick dinner on the way and collapsed into our hotel room around 9 pm. We relaxed lying on the bed, watching Russian TV or the BBC News, and writing my journal while giving our feet a well earned rest.

Friday July 24 – Boat Tour on the Canals and Rivers of St. Petersburg

Our “trans-Siberian tour” officially ended at breakfast this morning and we said goodbye to our tour leader Chris. Jon, Ray and I headed out around 11:00 am for the Anichkov most (bridge) where we hoped to find a boat tour in the rivers and canals in the city centre with an English guide. Walking anywhere in the city centre is like walking through an art gallery and museum combined. Progress is slow. On top of that, Navy Day is on Sunday, and there are about six ships and one submarine in the Neva River. The ships have to slink in at night as that is when the draw bridges are open, so each morning has exposed one or two new ships in the river. This morning, the crew was lined up on deck of the ships on the opposite side of the River, and suddenly a huge “boom” resonated out over the whole area. In fact, I think there were 9 or 10 canon’s fired. It took us about 1 ½ hrs to walk to our destination, but we saw, and photographed so much! We found the boat tour, had about 25 minutes to wait and then boarded. The trip was about an hour. The weather was perfect; hot – 18C – sunny and bright blue skies. It was fun to see the city from the water – a different perspective – we travelled on the Fontanka River, the Moyka River, the Winter Canal and the Neva River and saw many of the historical buildings we are slowly becoming familiar with.

After our boat tour, we stopped in a bakery and had some delicious, but decadent, cakes and coffee/coke/fanta. Jon left us at this point to do some last minute shopping.

Ray and I took a slow walk back to the hotel. We had intended to go to The State Museum of Russian Art but when we got there at 4 pm we decided it was so huge we wouldn’t really have time to do much. Instead we went into Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. It is an amazing ornate church both inside and outside. Tons of tourists though!! We also passed and went into the Kazan Cathedral. This was a complete contrast to the previous church. Where the Church of the Saviour was brightly coloured and Old Russian style, the Kazan is graceful, elegant and absolutely stunning. The altar was beautiful and we had the wonderful opportunity to be present at a wedding. There was a small choir way up in the balcony and their singing was so lovely it brought tears to our eyes. So once again, we ended up hurrying back to the hotel to meet Jon and Arpana, a new friend we have met in the hotel who is just starting a Sundowner’s trip on the 28th, for dinner.

We went to another little inexpensive Russian restaurant on Bolshoi Prospekt just around the corner from the hotel. The owner was there and embraced us with complimentary vodka, so it was a merry affair and a good send off for Jon who leaves tomorrow at 6:30 am and welcome for Arpana. After dinner it was back to the hotel and bed, in the half-light of the night.

Thursday July 23 – The Hermitage

Today we visited the famous, State Hermitage Museum with its fine architecture, gilded halls, and decorative wooden floors. It’s attached to, and includes, the Winter Palace, home of the Tsars. The Hermitage was developed around 1764/1773 as the result of Catherine the Great’s love of art. She collected some of the world’s finest. Today, the museum owns around 3 million pieces of art, some of which are displayed over three floors in the Winter Place, The Old Hermitage and the Small Hermitage. All of the art collected in the museum was confiscated along with numerous private collections by the Soviet government after the 1917 revolution. Also interesting, and a bit of juxtaposition is the story behind the “Hidden Treasure exhibition. This is a beautiful collection of paintings by the great masters that the Russian soldiers rescued from the Germans during WWII. It was kept in storage for over 50 years before it was opened and put on display in 1995. It was discovered at that time that this was artwork “stolen” by the German government from private collections in Germany, many of them owned by Jewish families. Our guide indicated that the German government had tried to get the artwork back, but that no claims had ever been made by any of the families. The Russians have kept the art. As we spent the day wandering through the various 400 exhibit halls and gilded salons we saw paintings, sculptures, and historical artifacts from Russia, Europe and Asia including artists such as Leonardo da Vince, Michelangelo, Raphael, Carravagio, Picasso, Van Dyk, Rubens, Rembrandt, Monet, Matisse, Gauguin, Degas, Sisley, Renoir, Van Gogh and tons of others. But of everything we saw, one of the true delights and my absolute favourite was “The Peacock Clock”. This is a clock that was probably made by an Englishman named James Cox pre 1781. It consists of a gilded peacock on a branch, a rooster, an owl in a cage, a mushroom with a tiny dragon fly sitting on it and several other smaller animals such as squirrels. The mechanism is contained in the mushroom, and the movement process is started with the dragon fly. It activates once a week and then the peacock raises its head, spreads its tail, turns around, turns back, and closes its tail; the rooster crows 3 or 4 times; and the owl moves its head, blinks its eyes and moves its paws. It is absolutely delightful. The whole building with its elaborate central staircase is an amazing and splendid architectural and interior design feat. It is so elegant it is easy to imagine what life must have been like in the times when it was in use. You also realize the incredible wealth that must have existed amongst the elete in Russia and I think you can understand why the Bolsheviks revolted against the tsars. We just about made it to closing time at 6 pm and then walked back to our hotel past elegant buildings, over ornate bridges, and through small, lush green parks. I wanted to stop so many times to take pictures of everything I saw but we had to hurry as we were meeting Chris and Jon for our final dinner together.

We arrived back in time to change quickly before setting off in the opposite direction across another bridge into Petrograd Island and a small typically Russian restaurant. We had a good evening, then back to the hotel and bed around midnight.

Wednesday July 22 – Arriving in St. Petersburg

Our night on the rails passed smoothly but with a lot of snoring emanating from our railway carriage. It seems even young people snore, although I think years add to volume and consistency! We rolled into St. Petersburg dead on time at 9 am and met our St. Petersburg guide Tatiana for transfer to our hotel “The Shelfort”. It is a unique boutique style of hotel on Vasilievsky Island, a central location for the city centre and has a distinctive “old European” feel about it. The rooms are simple, but tasteful and comfortable.

After a quick shower and a cup of coffee, we set off in our luxury Mercedes van to see the city. It takes time at first to assimilate yourself into St. Petersburg. The city centre is an amazing museum of architecture, art, and religious treasures that continue to intrigue from street to street, square to square, and building to building. I’m sure you’ll remember that St. Petersburg is built on a series of islands. There used to be 119 islands but many of these are reclaimed and now there are only about 41, so you are constantly crossing Venice-style bridges over canals and rivers. It feels like a mix of the banks of the River Seine and the River Thames but with its own quietly demure attitude. The bridges of the Neva River are all drawbridges and are raised at night to let big ships through. You need to make sure you don’t get stuck on the wrong side at closing time as they don't open till about 5 am in the morning!! We travelled all around the various sections of the city centre including Palace Square and the Hermitage, Admiralteisky and Vasilievsky Island, Upper Nevsky Prospekt, Vladimir Skaya and Liteiny Smolny, Petrograd and the Field of Mars. The many palaces are beautifully built and some are redone so that they are quite stunning. Gold colour onion domes on top of churches abound, and the art work around the city covers everything from a beautiful bronze horseman with only 2 contact points to ornate lamp-posts, and lighthouses. It is a beautiful city centre. There are tons of tourists, many Russian, and some parts are really cheesy. I guess that’s the price you pay today to see popular areas. Fortunately, it’s all in such a wide area that even off the beaten path visual treats abound. After the tour we went for lunch in a “blini” café on 5th Line which is a pedestrian mall two blocks west of our hotel. After lunch, Ray and I went for a short walk and explored the food market area. Then we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a couple of hours while we planned our next six days.

In the evening we went to Nikolayevsky Palace to see a folk show of typical Russian song and dance “Feel Yourself Russian” (www.folkshow.ru/en.htm). It was fun and exciting to see the dancing but the singing was nowhere near the quality that we experienced in Moscow. Then we went to dinner at a well known “ex-pat” restaurant called “The Idiot” which was very close to the famous St. Isaac’s Cathedral. It was really cosy, had delicious food, and the additional attraction was that Dostoyevsky used to go there! Then it was back to the hotel and bed around midnight.

As St. Petersburg is situated at about 59 degrees north latitude, it never really gets dark in July and therefore there is always an ethereal glow in the sky. To put it into perspective it's in the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska.

Tuesday July 21 – Moscow’s Metro

We had a free day today so we took our time in the morning and checked out by noon with our baggage and left it in lock-up in the hotel.

First on our agenda was a tour of the metro stations. Muscovites scurry pass beautiful artwork, sculptures, and chandeliers each day without the time to appreciate the immense “museum” their city has. We took a look at several stations. My favourite is the Ploshchad Revolyutsii where beautiful sculptures of people in action appear at the side of every archway onto the platform. We were really moved when we watched the locals stroke the nose of a brass dog statue, some lingering with emotion, as they walked past it to the train. Other items were stroked too such as the barrel of a gun of the soldiers. You could tell which ones by the shininess of the metal. I think this is done to bring good luck but nonetheless it was touching to see men, women, the old and the young patting the dog. And yes…of course we did too!! Another station, Novoslobodskaya, had beautiful stain glass panels and others had paintings, carvings, and beautiful chandeliers.

We continued on the metro to Park Pobedy and came out at the Triumphal Arch. We walked back up through Victory Park, took a quick moment in the beautiful Church of St. George, and reached the Great Patriotic War Museum. This was a huge, elaborate building built to commemorate the 1941-45 war in which Russia lost 27 million people, more than the rest of the allied countries combined. The displays were moving, tender, and artistic. The Hall of Memory and Sorrow was particularly moving. This was a darkened room with a highlighted statue of a woman holding a dying man. It represents all mothers, daughters, wives, etc. who suffered the loss of a man in the war. Hanging from the ceiling are 2.6 million crystals suspended from fine wire chains to represent 26 million tear drops. Are you crying yet? I was. Then there were the huge battle dioramas that take you right into the midst of the battle fields in the battles of Moscow, Leningrad, and other major cities. They are beautifully done and very effective. The second floor contained all sorts of war memorabilia and the third floorwas an art gallery of Russian war paintings. All very beautiful and tastefully displayed. Other interesting exhibits included one on the holocaust and also one on Hitler’s vengeance against the gypsies which wiped out many communities entirely.

On our way back to the metro, we sat in the sun in Victory Park drinking a coke and reflecting on the dreadful sadnesses caused by wars.

We got back to the hotel, checked e-mail, called Alanna, had dinner, and headed to the station to board our train to Moscow. Amazingly, we saw one of the men from the Intrepid trip that we met in the ger camp on the platform. He is also on the train!

Monday July 20 – The Kremlin, St. Basil’s, and Russian Singing

I grew up in the age of communism and The Cold War. The Kremlin was always a destination held in awe. Somewhere unreachable, somewhere which didn’t quite fit into the “rest of the world”; and somewhere rather ominous. But in my young world, “Russia” was a country of great poets, music, and art. The Moscow that we have seen still has the juxtaposition of two separate worlds, but none of the “ominous”.

We took the metro from Partizanskaya to Ploshchad Revolyutsii on Line 3, and walked through Alexander Gardens to the entrance to the Kremlin. We had to check our back pack, but cameras were OK. Not really much security given the x-ray machines and air-puff detectors in other tourist sites around the world. The Kremlin is where Putin’s residence is. It was originally constructed in the 1100s as a walled fortress. It is a conglomeration of palaces, churches, and other buildings. As Russia grew, by the 15th Century the Kremlin represented the “power” of Moscow. Tsars were crowned and buried there. In the Soviet era, became the centre of politics. Today, you cannot cross the “white line” in the middle of the road because the “other side” belongs to the government, and you are only allowed to visit the “tourist” area. Still a total mystery. But it is an amazingly impressive area. We visited the area of the churches; saw the Annunciation Cathedral which was the private chapel of the Royal Family. It’s splendid, very different from our protestant churches. We were surrounded by, but didn’t go into, the Assumption Cathedral, the oldest and most important church in the Kremlin; the Cathedral of the Archangel, dedicated to the war-mongering Archangel Michael, this church became the final resting place for the rulers of medieval Russia; Church of the Deposition of the Robe; Ivan the Great Bell Tower, which is the Kremlin’s tallest building; Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles of the Patriarch’s Palace; and the Church of the Nativity with its distinctive gold coloured cupolas with the cross on top of each one. All the cathedrals are built in a different style depending on who had them built. The hardest part is trying to figure it all out. Our guide gives us so much information, and then when it is all over, you can’t remember all the details, and being a detail sort of a person, I really get frustrated by this!!

After the churches we went into the Armoury Palace. We were “allotted” a time from noon to 1:30 pm. It was really interesting seeing the exhibits of Russian dress for the Tsars, Empresses, religious leaders, etc; the armour for the soldiers and horses; and various gifts to Russia; beautiful carriages and sledges; and of course the beautiful Faberge eggs created for the tsarist family in the 19th C by the jeweller Carl Faberge. I think you either need to spend an enormous amount of time studying Russian history, or spend more than 3 days in Moscow to get a full understanding. But all I can really say is that it is all fascinating, beautiful, and so interesting; but we haven’t even scratched the surface of the intrigue.

After our tour ended, we met Chris and went into Red Square and had lunch in the GUM. This is truly a “high end” shopping mall. Splendid in its layout, three stories and three separate aisles joined by intricate bridges and containing all the well known labels. You know when de Beers has a store there, its “up-scale”!

My favourite site in Moscow has been St. Basil’s Cathedral which was commissioned in 1558/60 by Ivan the Terrible to commemorate his conquest of the Tatar city of Kazan in 1552. It consists of 9 separate churches in one building each topped with a colourful onion dome and is based on the concept of Jerusalem. It is an absolute treat. It is rich in paintings, architecture, and icons. You wind your way through narrow passage ways from one chapel to the next in total awe of the beauty.

We met up with Chris and Jon and walked for about 20 minutes to Arbat Street. This is an attractive cobbled pedestrian street with gift shops, restaurants, and street artist such as musicians, and artists.

We continued our Moscow Tour with an evening concert in the Geological Museum. This was put on by Zlatoust (www.zlatvocal.com), a group of highly gifted men and women that moved me to tears with their soulful church music and rousing Russian folk songs. How I would love to see this group perform in Toronto. They are so professional and talented!

Then it was back on the metro to the hotel where we arrived shortly after 9. Ray and I went for dinner in one of the “tents” outside the hotel. While we were there, the skies opened, and there was a tremendous thunderstorm storm with heavy rain and wind. But inside the tent, all were dry. One group had a guitar player and he entertained us with Russian folk songs. Then it was time for bed. Another long day, tiring, but thrilling.

Sunday July 19 – Moscow – City Tour

It didn’t seem as if we had had nearly enough sleep when it was time to get up. We headed to breakfast in the enormous dining room and were amazed at the huge selection of food. There was everything available. A far cry from China. There was: fruit; hot and cold cereals; cheese and pickles; cold meat and hot dishes; salads; potatoes; rice; eggs; bread; cakes; and deserts. I said to Ray that they must have been catering for a typical breakfast for every country in the world!! And, there was a pianist playing soft classical music to wake everyone up.

Jon, Ray and I met our Russian guide at 10 am and set off on our tour of the city. It was exciting; the beauty of the city was not what either of us had expected, as we were certain that St. Petersburg would be the prize, but it is spectacular and Moscow has become a real favourite. There are about 12 million people in Moscow; it has a huge population of billionaires; it has been the most expensive city for foreign employees in the world for 3 years and has only just been surpassed by Tokyo and Osaka this year; and its subway is the busiest in the world with 9 million users a day.

We saw so many beautiful sights, but unfortunately the Red Square area was closed because of the Formula One race in the afternoon so we didn’t get into any of the sights in that area. By the way, did I mention that the Russians like to drive fast…very fast? We have also seen more varieties of luxury cars (Ferrari, Maseratti, Lamborghini, Rolls, Aston Martin, etc.) here than I’ve seen in a day in Toronto! The roads fortunately are wide and in great condition. Drivers obey the rules, unlike India; there is no frenetic honking of horns!

The centre area is magnificent. The architecture is unique and colourful, there are many beautiful gardens, and the city is rich with statues and other artwork. We saw some beautiful churches, for example Church of St. George, Church of Christ the Saviour and my favorite, the Church of the Trinity which stands on the top of Swallow Hill. Painted with white trim it has five green cupolas and is decorated with beautiful paintings. Some of my favourite sites that we saw were: Gorky Park (did you see the movie or read the book? I gave up on the audio book, it was just a little too strange!)alive with roller coasters and Ferris wheels and people and kids all enjoying the hot summer weather; Peter the Great statute in the Moscow River which is riddled with controversy about its existence; the Park of the Sculptures; Gallery Street; The New Maiden Convent and the huge pond in front of the convent which inspired Tchaikovsky to write “Swan Lake”, and the park across from the convent where the bronze ducks which were donated by Barbara Bush to the children of Moscow from the children of the US are on display; and finally Victory Park with the huge obelisk of St. George and the Dragon (that was my high school in Edinburgh’s logo), and at the far end by the Triumphal Arch, the volley ball competitions.
When we got back from our tour, we met Chris and went into the Izmailovsky Market, an eclectic market for antiques, paintings, carpets; and souvenirs. The buildings around the market are unique but empty and we can’t help but think either tourism is really down or the venture has not yet come into its own. After this we had a quick moment on the Internet to check e-mail, time to change and freshen up, then dinner in one of the outdoor cafes around the hotel. By the time we crawled into bed, we were exhausted but what a wonderful and exciting day we had; we learned so much about Russian history, and saw so many beautiful sites.

Saturday July 18 – On the Rails – Day 3

This is our final day on the train and we arrive in Moscow just before 5 pm. I am excited! When I started out my life during the “Cold War”, I never imagined I would end up in Moscow – but it always held an immense attraction. So much has happened during my lifetime. I would never have suspected the breakup of the Soviet Union, and yet, now I have learned, nothing is permanent. Things change, personalities change, and ways of life change. Things never stand still.

It has been an amazing experience so far, seeing this vast country through its changing moods. The beauty of rail travel is that it is reality. You feel the distance; feel the ground you are covering bump by bump. It not like being in a plane where 5 hours later you are on a different continent, thrown into a new culture, and way of life. Train travel takes you into it layer by layer, like making your way through a dark jungle and coming out into a sun lit place on the other side.

So now I’m using Moscow time and it is 9:37 am and we are pulling into Nizhnynovgarod on the Volga River, one of the largest cities we have come to so far. Nothing much on the platform, get out and stretch our legs. Ate breakfast back on the train, porridge with pieces of strawberry. Later we go to the dining car – for an egg and potato and a coffee. Met Gareth Browne who knew the first King of Redonda - our neighbour's father is the current "King of Redonda". Redonda is a small uninhabited island near Antigua. There is quite a story here which I shall elaborate on in a separate email when I get the whole story from Bob on Sunday, August 2 - it's his 79th birthday. Small world! Wandered back to the carriage, and then another 20 minute stop at Vladimir, walk on the platform see Soviet era engine, and back on to the train. Sit and listen to an audio book. Lots of Russians walk on the woodland paths, or swim in their bikinis and bathing suits in the ponds along the side of the railway. The countryside becomes city, and five minutes after the scheduled time we arrive in Moscow.

We pack up our stuff, and sadly leave the train. We are surprised how hot it is. We make our way out of the station. Our Moscow Russian guide, Zoya, has not arrived. There has been a mix up in times. About 45/50 minutes later she arrives. We drive to our hotel “Alfa” which is in the hotel complex on the 1980 Olympic grounds near the Izmailovsky Market. This is a huge hotel, but it's really very nice. There is a concierge on each floor and you check in and out with her. She has all kinds of “stuff” available for sale that you might need, like shampoo, toothpaste, etc.. Quite a neat idea!! But one thing, it doesn’t have is the flasks of hot water that we have become accustomed to throughout the rest of our journey for tea, coffee, noodles, soup, etc.

We had a very quick shower and met back downstairs in an hour and set off with Chris our guide and Jon on the metro to Red Square. The metro is deep, and not quite as quiet and new as in Beijing. But the artwork in the stations is outstanding. According to Fodor’s, the first line opened in 1935 and the earliest stations were built as public palaces. We arrived in Red Square in daylight, and our breath was taken away from us as we entered through the arches by the History Museum at the Resurrection Gate and straight in front of us was the colourful structure of St. Basil’s Cathedral or The Church of the Intercession with its eight colourful onion domes; on our right stretching almost the whole length of the square is the wall of the Kremlin and Lenin’s Mausoleum; on our left the GUM or State Department store built in 1889-1893, a stunning building, all surrounding a cobble stone square where many of us will recall seeing the many military parades of the communist era. It was all an incredible sight and we walked around stunned by the beauty and the significance of the sights before us. In the square, we met two groups of people we had met on the train and in the ger camp, the Intrepid group and the Vodka Train group.

We ate dinner on a side street just off the square and opposite the GUM. By the time we had finished, the buildings in Red Square, including the GUM were lit up with thousands of lights and once again we were drawn back to the square to walk around it and gape at the lights and take more pictures. It was like a fairyland, which, given some of the history of events in the square, seemed like a bit of a juxtaposition.

Eventually, we dragged ourselves away, took a walk through Alexander Gardens in front of the Kremlin, and caught the metro back to the hotel, getting to bed just after midnight.

Friday July 17 – On the Rails – Day 2

Another peaceful night on the rail and depending on what “clock” you are on either a late, or an early morning. We passed through stations such as Barabinsk, Omsk where Dostoevsky was exiled to in 1849, Nazyvaerskaya, Ishim, Tobolsk, and Tyumen. The scenery is not the most exciting; semi-taiga, farmland, and marsh.

We wandered the platform for 15/20 minutes at Tyumen, but there was nothing really eye-catching or exciting, except perhaps the odd drunk from the train. During the day we talked, ate lunch and several snacks, snoozed, and generally allowed ourselves the luxury of staring blankly out of the train window. It rained on and off, but the platform stops were generally warm, mid 20s I’d say.

The passengers on the train change as we go along, but we haven’t spoken to too many, due to language mainly and the fact that all the Russians around us have their doors closed. What are they doing inside….or maybe, they are just avoiding tourists like us!!

Around 16:47 or 14:47, not sure what time, we stopped at Yekaterinburg for 20 minutes. The station was quite beautiful, but a train drew in just as we arrived and I wasn’t able to get a proper picture. There were some food vendors on the platform, and I bought a large plastic glassful of fresh cherries and apricots. Delicious! Otherwise, it’s just a big modern city.

The train rolled slowly on through the mixed countryside with its non-descript scenery, small communities with wooden homes, and larger towns with grey soviet-style buildings. We had a couple of beers then the four of us went down to the dining car for dinner. It says it closes at 2300 hours, but since there is 7 hours difference from beginning to end of this journey, it’s not always possible to know the “local time of the moment". Anyway, we decided to go for Moscow time so that next day wouldn’t be too much of a shock when we arrived in Moscow and put our clocks back.

Dinner was very tasty, chicken with tomato, cheese and some string-fried potatoes. The Russians love potatoes! The servings were small, which was perfect for me, but not really enough for the guys. After dinner we drank some vodka, sat and chatted with our group and the English speaking neighbours waiting for it to be dark enough to go to sleep …whatever time that was. Just before bed, we had one more stop at a rather dull station for about 20 minutes, so it was simply a leg stretch before curling up in bed and sleep.

Thursday July 16 – On the Rails

We weren’t awake and up early but with the change of the clock, by an hour, it didn’t seem too bad!! We had our yoghourt, banana, and coffee/tea which we had bought in the supermarket yesterday and then visited the toilet for a quick wash, brush of the teeth, and freshen up. Must say, the washrooms have been kept exceptionally clean, and if they are not, you simply tell the provodnista and she attends to it….or has it attended to! I did mention that all trains have lots of boiling hot water available for drinks, noodles, etc. didn’t I? I slept in my pajamas because I hate sleeping in my clothes if I don’t have to. It just delineates the day and night better. Such a creature of habit and I hate compromising my comforts.

The landscape is totally changed. The vast, empty, areas of countryside are now heavily treed with birch, pine, and other trees I can’t identify. There are beautiful, peaceful meadows, covered with white, yellow, and purple wild flowers. We crossed the 1km long bridge over the River Yenisey.

At 9:16 am we stopped at Krasnoyarsk for half an hour and Ray and I got off the train. The station building was huge and painted white with a rusty, sandy colour on the bottom. The platform was lined with vendors with big plastic bags filled with fruit, bread, smoked fish, and all sorts of other foods. Two little kiosks sold “carbonated” water, juice, and beer. The platform was bustling with passengers buying food, taking photos, and stretching their legs. We even saw a couple “running” laps up and down the platform. Now that is too anal!! Then a few moments before the train leaves, the provodnistas give the nod, and everyone scurries back on board.

I had a nice chat with the English couple next door then a lady came around cleaning the carriage. She removed the runner over the carpet in the corridor, hoovered in the corridor and in the cabins, then came around and dusted all around the windows in the corridor and in the compartments. I could also smell bleach and she had washed the toilet out leaving everything spotlessly clean. The next hour I spent writing up my diary.

Shortly after 12:30, we decided to have lunch. We had bought some cheese and pumpernickel bread. It was really good and filled us up for quite a while. I had a 3:in:one coffee then settled down to read about Moscow and start an audio book – “Gorky Park” by Martin Cruz-Smith. I thought this would prepare me for any eventuality in Moscow!!

Around 5:30 p.m. we arrived at Mariinsk and a 20 minute stop. Once again we got on the platform and bought some meat and potato pies, some cucumbers and tomatoes, and some strawberries for dinner. Oh, and I bought 2 hot caramel pastries. They were each about 6 inches long and consisted of a chewy pastry filled with hot caramel and rolled up. They were scrumptious. When the English guy in the compartment next door saw them, he went to find the vendor, but didn’t have enough time to buy one. I gallantly gave him my second one but the truth was, I knew one would be quite sufficient for me!! He thought they were amazing too!! Why are some of the good things in life so bad for you!!

Once back on the train, Ray went for a beer with the couple next door, and I sat and listened to Gorky Park. In case you don’t know, this is a murder mystery set in Moscow. Round 7 pm we had “dinner” out of our platform purchases.

The train continues steadily on its journey. You ask: “How can you sit for so long in the train doing nothing?” It’s easy. You know how rocking a baby is soothing? That’s what being in the train is like. The gentle rocking motion as it moves along the tracks lulls you into a comatose state. You daydream as you stare out of the window watching the country go by. Maybe you dream about getting back home, maybe it’s about what do with your life next; maybe it’s about everything you’ve seen and done; and maybe it’s about all of that and more. There is no anxiety, no worry, and no stress. You can’t go anywhere, you can’t do anything, and there are no time expectations. Life is lived in the moment, not the future or the past. You roll along hypnotized by the motion; taking each thought calmly, dealing with it, and either discarding it or tucking it into its box for future attention. I think that is what the journey is about. Examining all the things that are around you in a peaceful and relaxed manner; the scenery, the history, and the politics, the people, your thoughts, and yourself. To a degree, that’s what travel is about too. It’s about learning more of yourself and the world around you to put you in a better position to earn your “merit” as the Buddhists would say. It’s a “Cora”, a pilgrimage.

Anyway, so here are my latest thoughts on the differences between the old and the young: (1) the old like to party as much as the young, but can’t do it as long; (2) the old generally move a little slower than the young; and (3) the old talk about the things they have done, while the young talk about doing them.

After dinner we sat and chatted, got our beds ready and Ray went to bed to listen to a story on his I-pod. Around 10:30 p.m. we stopped at Novosibirsk for 15 or 20 minutes. At this point we were running about 40 minutes late. The station is supposed to have a fabulous interior, but we didn’t dare take the time to go over, because of being late, we were not sure if the stop would be shortened. The Intrepid group was out on the platform playing football, while new people joined us and others left.

After that stop, I climbed into bed to listen to “Cover Up” by John Franco on my I-pod.

Wednesday July 15 - Back to Irkutsk and Train to Moscow

We left Listvyanka after breakfast for a quick 70 km drive over the roller coaster highway to Irkutsk. It’s the administrative centre and one of the largest cities in Siberia with a population of around 500,900. It was founded in 1651 as a Cossack garrison to control the indegenouis Buryat peoples. We had a lovely drive around Irkutsk and noted many very fine and interesting looking buildings and also loved the smaller streets and wooden homes of the older part of the city. We could have done with more time in Irkutsk on our own to investigate, even just half a day, and less time in Listvyanka. I think we have decided we are definitely not "tour" people; it's a little too restricting because they think you have to be entertained all the time!! We much prefer to wander on our own taking our own time do do things and going where we find intresting . The "overland" trips are better at this. However, having said that, it makes it so much easier if you have someone who speaks the language with you. Nonetheless, its far more exciting figuring things out for yourself.

We spent a few moments on the banks of the Angara River and saw the statue of Alexander III one of the Tsars responsible for establishing public education and promoting the building of the Trans Siberian railway. The Angara runs through Irkutsk from Lake Baikal to the Arctic Ocean. It’s quite wide in Irkutsk and we were able to look over it to the railway station on the other side. We went into the Irkutsk Regional Museum located in a delightful building which had been rebuilt after the massive fire which destroyed three-quarters of the city of Irkutsk in 1879. We had a quick walk through the bottom floor which supplemented the information we gained at the Open Air Museum of Wooden Architecture the previous day and gave us insights into some of the indigenous peoples who still inhabit Siberia. Leaving there we drove to a hotel, passing the two Dutch boys we had met in the chalet in Listvyanka standing at the side of one of the city streets and exchanged big waves and smiles as we whizzed by. Small world. I hope they are travelling safe!! We went into a pizzeria and had a quick slice of pizza for lunch before heading off to the railway station. The station is a truly outstanding wooden building, recently renovated, and painted yellow with green and white trim. I went off with Olga to look for a notepad as I didn’t want to run out of paper on the train and ruin the opportunity to capture our inner thoughts and feelings. We found the perfect pad with vivid green leaves and a bright red flower on the cover and graph paper inside instead of lines, which I love, for 20 rubles. Ray and I then had a little wander around the busy station, taking some pictures, buying some water, etc. before loading on the train at 3:50 pm for a 4:20 pm departure. True to Russian precision, Train 9, The Baikal, started to move out of the station at exactly 4:20 pm.

There is 5 hours difference between here and Moscow, and so we travel through various time zones. We changed our clocks the first time when we entered Russia from Mongolia and will do so several more times as we travel through. The train time though is always posted based on Moscow time, so it’s all very confusing to know exactly what the correct time is, and which time everyone is referring to!!

The total train journey from Irkutsk to Moscow is about 5,185 km and about 100 hours of train time. The first part crosses fairly uninteresting scenery, flat, lush, grasslands and small Siberian communities with typical wooden houses. The train stops regularly, maybe every hour or half hour, and usually for two minutes with every so often a longer stop of 20/30 minutes. Our fellow travelers are Russian with one or two English speaking tourists in the compartment next door who are currently teaching at an international school in Bangkok. Its times like these that I would love to have an opportunity to live another life, at least one other, because there are so many interesting options for living it. It’s easy to become tied to the 9 – 5 option, working in your local area, struggling to make enough money to have a house, a car, educate your kids, buy nice clothes, etc. Then you meet so many people doing things differently, contributing to society in meaningful ways that you either never thought of, or never had the courage to pursue. I have learned though, that even at our age, there are still many opportunities available. You just have to seek them out.

Around 8 pm, Jon, Ray, and I went along the train, stepping tentatively over the metal floor panel joining the carriages. It’s fun staggering down the corridors to the sway of the train, passing all types and nationalities of people tucked away in their compartments, or standing out in the corridors chatting, or gazing laconically at the countryside rolling by, or smoking between carriages. Crossing between the carriages usually results in an extra violent stagger of both the body and the heart as you catch a quick glimpse of the rails speeding past underneath you. The dining car wasn’t too busy, and had a mix of English and Russian speaking characters. The ladies there didn’t speak English. The menu was partly translated, but still a little hard to figure out. Then when we chose something, a few minutes later we were told it was “not possible”. Ray ordered a cheese sandwich and when it came it was a half a piece of rye bread about 1” x 3” with a thin slice of cheese – hardly enough to sustain him! I first ordered some chicken which after a 10 minute wait turned out to be “not possible”. Next I ordered some solyanka soup with bread and got the same size of bread without the cheese. The soup was steaming hot and delicious; smoked ham, sausage, potatoes, onion, an olive and a slice of lemon. Jon had the hardest time. The first dish he ordered was unavailable. He waited then for a potato pie, which never came and on follow up the pie was “not available”. So, to be safe he ordered solyanka soup – which never came. So we asked where it was and eventually it came! I think we were in the dining room about 2 hours!

Around 11:15 pm, the last vestiges of daylight were dying, and we made up our train-bed and settled down to sleep.

Today I finished reading “The Stone Monkey” by Jeffery Deaver, the author of “The Bone Collector”. It was a quick, easy, and fun read; thrilling plot, good character development and full of interesting explanations about Chinese cultures.

Tuesday July 14 - Listvyanka, Lake Baikal

What bliss! We had a lovely long lie this morning with breakfast at 9:30 pm. It was good one too!! Egg, sauseage, delicious tomatoes, cheese, rye bread, fresly squeezed apriocot/prune juice, coffee and a delicious little cinnamon cake!

After breakfast we went for a casual walk around town; down the main paved road around the lake, past the harbour and the tour boats, up towards the hills on a dirt road past tons of pretty little wooden homes with colourful and ornate window frames and shutters of different shades of blue, green, pink - and white, ornate roof styles. Then we arrived at the unique art gallery of Vladimir Plamenevsky (www.museum.ru/M2568). It is a quaint, and charming, wooden building showing the eclectic, and in some cases startling, works of about 50 Siberian artists. We walked back over the little stream rolling down to the lake, and on to some paths that took us to the Sryato-Nikolskaya Church. Very different from our churches, but small and sinmple and charming. I had to don a skirt and headscarf to go in, so I felt a little silly, but was totally moved by one young man in there praying who was sobbing so hard that his sadness filled the church. I felt my own eyes fill with tears, and was so consumed with his emotion I had to leave the church. No idea who he was, but I imagined that maybe he had lived there and either his parents/or wife's death, or some other life sadness was totally over-whelming him. We walked back to the main road and into a small cafe for coffee/tea and apple strudel. Ray and I went on and into the Mayak Hotel to use the deadly slow Internet to check our e-mail for an hour. We slowing walked back to the small fish market. We were passed by a guy and a young girl gallopping their horses carelessly down the paved main street, among many cars and Russian holiday makers. Seemed a little irresponsible to us!! In the market we had some barbecued skewers of chicken wings and pork with sour dough bread. Then we slowly walked back to the guest house and sat on the deck overlook the lake reading our books for a quiet afternoon. In the meantime, Chris, our tour leader took off to do some business in Irkutsk. We will meet him tomorrow in the train station.

At 7:30 pm we met Jon and walked down the narrow road leading from our guest house to the main road around the lake, turned right past a new aquarium with a seal show, and on to the harbour and a small cafe for dinner. It was really quiet, not much action at all, but the food was OK.

When we finished in the restaurant we strolled back to the guest house. Part of the way along the lake, a young girl (maybee 27/30) came up to us enthusiastically and asked if were tourists. At first, I thought this was a "pick-up" for Jon, but as she asked us to join her father in one of the wooden booths on the beach, I figured she was either completely innocent, or they were going to try and rob us!! Anyway, we walked down on to the pebbly beach and joined her father and 3 other young, rather strong looking men, one of whom looked really shifty! We declined a beer and some grilled fish and said we could only stay 5 minutes as we were meeting someone. I think it was all quite innocent and that she really only wanted to make contact with us and practice her English. It turned out that her boyfriend was a biathlete in cross country ski-ing and shooting. I think they had some sort of interior design business somewhere around. Anyway, they wanted to take us around etc. but of course we had no free time. We said our goodbyes, and went on our way to the chalet; sat outside for a short while with a tea/coffee and then went off to bed. It was still daylight at 10 pm and only just getting dark around 10:30/11:00 pm.

Monday July 13 - Irkutsk

We were awakened by the Provodnista this morning around 6:30 am and made ourslves ready for Irkutsk. There was a beautiful stretch of rail along the side of Lake Baikal and then we were in town. Our Russian guide, Olga, met us at the station, and we went for a pancake (blinis) breakfast just at the main square in town; then to "register" our passports with the officials; and finally to change some money before heading south out of the town to the lake.

After about an hour's drive we stopped at The Taltsy Museum of Wooden Architectue, a unique collection of wooden buildings that were rescued from the Lake Baikal area prior to a dam in the area being constructed for hydroelectric purposes. We got a quick but effective introduction into the settlement of the area by the Kossachs from southwest Russia and their traditional lives in Siberia.

Leaving the museum around 3 pm we drove into the village of Listvyanka on the shores of Lake Baikal. The town has a population of about 2500 and is Siberia's "nouveau-riche" play ground. We had a quick lunch then checked into the Listvyanka Chalet where we were staying. This is a neat log home built on the hill side with fabulous lake views. After settling in and a quick shower, we left to visit the Limnological Museum which gave us all the statistics re Lake Baikal which contains about 20% of the world's water supply and which puts Lake Superior in the shade. We also saw the seals that inhabit the lake and a display of the lake's fish. Very interesting, and a "must see if you are in the area.

We chose to be dropped off the van on the main street with our Russian guide; she went for a one minute 10 second swim in the frigid 12C waters of the lake, while we dipped our feet in for the same time. Freezing, freezing, absolutely freezing!! Then Ray and I walkd around the fish market; walked along the pebble beach; and then walked back to the guest house.

It seemed to us that this was definitely not a holiday ground for the rich; but its OK. The lake is charming, but I can't quite put my finger on the atmosphere. We met a couple of Dutch guys staying at the same guest house - one of them was stung by a bee and his arm was swelling up quite badly, so the Gillis medical team was consulted for advice - or chose to offer it!!. They can't wait to get out of Russia!! We gather they have seen both the "good" and the "bad" sides of Russia. So, at this point, the jury is still out! Scenery wise, it's vrey like Canada; the road we are on is somewhat like the higglety pigglety houses around some of the lakes in Qubec; the hills around us bordring the lake could b the Muskoka's; and the Lake stretches for miles like oun of the Great Lakes.

We had dinner in the guest house (not much else around); food was excellent - Ray had the local "omur" fish; chatted with Chris and Jon and ourselves; and went to bed.