Other trips


Other trips can be accessed by clicking the following links:

2014
Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Israel, Jordan and Copenhagen

2015
Hawaii, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Nepal, India and England

2016
Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Ethiopia, Kenya, S. Africa, Zimbabwe, UAE and Denmark

2017
Panama, Colombia, Ecuador (inc. Galapagos), Peru, Bolivia, Chile (inc. Easter Island), Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Mexico.

2018
France (Paris and Lourdes), Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Spain, Andorra, Morocco (Tangier), Portugal and the Netherlands (Amsterdam).

2019
New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Great Britain, Antarctica, Patagonia and Paraguay.


Saturday, August 31, 2013

Irkutsk in Siberia for 4 days

Don't know about you but both Steven and I had some preconceived notions as to what Siberia might be like and we've both been quickly disabused of them based certainly on what we've seen so far here in Irkutsk.  We've spent the last four days here and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute both here and also our one day in Listvyanka, an hour's somewhat harrowing drive by private minibus, aka minivan, on Lake Baikal.
  • More random info for you, some of it courtesy of my dear kindergarten friend, Lina:  Irkutsk has pop. of 1/2 million; it's known for its wooden homes and their generally very intricate and ornate lace trim; it has about 10 sister cities around the world; city of yet more absolutely beautiful churches which I bet you we've seen pretty all of them too!
  • I'd brought a red "cowboy style" bandana with me to wear in the churches and temples coming up in SE Asia but I switched that out for one of the many scarves available for women to borrow yesterday at the Church of the Transfiguration; my bandana was too small, I found, and I asked, i.e. gestured really, if I could buy one of the loaner scarves.  The attendant at the booth selling all matter of icons and souvenirs, as is typical of all churches we've been in, very kindly gestured that I could take it w/o paying; I, of course, left a heftier donation that I would have otherwise.
  • Talking about wearing real scarves: it was more than a tad unnerving and spooky wearing one every time I entered church as it brought back memories from 32 years ago when I had to wear them after losing my hair to chemo.
  • Another town and, for us, another great market: the Central Market here is mostly food but also a lot of household products including very small plastic and metal screw on lids by the bucketful; can only think that they're used once a can is opened to keep the contents as fresh as possible; the market has a huge number of both indoor and outdoor stalls and we were there everyday buying our customary raisins, dates (by the kilo), tomatoes, green pepper, bread, etc.
  • Never seen so many ice cream carts as we have all over Russia, and, yes, we have certainly had our fair share of them too; I, of course, always "had" to be the guinea pig eating one of the ice cream bars or mostly frozen ice cream cones since Steven is so allergic to all nuts; he's then take a small bite to see if he could eat it OK before buying one for himself.   Took a picture of a woman selling them and she was tickled pink when I showed her her picture.
  • BTW, Steven said y'day his favorite country so far has been here in Russia which about blew me away given how reluctant he was initially to come here.  I agree with him too based on the country's breadth and depth, the beauty of the churches and the cities, and especially the people we've met.
  • As always, we've walked huge distances here in I. b/c our hostel is across the Angara River from the center of town but we have loved this hostel too - lots of great young people from all over, esp. Germany and Holland; none of them have kindly made us feel like the old people we are; we actually met a man our age at the hostel so that made us feel we're not quite that crazy doing this trip the way we are.
  • I. is hardly the provincial sleepy little Siberian town we thought: full of the most chic stores, Cartier and others of that ilk, found anywhere in the world yet you also see in a few places water taps with people lining up with huge bottles to fill; that's the biggest disparity we've seen so far this trip.
  • Hardly any beeping of horns here and only seen ONE truck anywhere in Russia with an open bed, like a Dodge Ram, etc - and that was y'day in I.

    On one hour boat ride from Listvyanka.

    Took the funicular up the hill to the rock.

    On top of Chersky Rock overlooking Lake Baikal; we walked down from there, I'll have you know!

    With Jack whom we met on the Moscow walking tour 10 days ago and then met again on promenade to Chersky Rock about 4 miles out of Listvyanka; he biked 4000 kms from England(with no flats yet!) all the way just a  bit west of I.; then is on the road now biking to Ulan Batar.

    In our I. hostel room


    The ice cream lady before she saw the photo!

    Another R. city  and another sculpture of Alexander 11!

    One of the very modern shopping malls



    Annie and one of the borrowed bandanas


    Wooden homes in Irkutsk


    Ch. of the Transfiguration

    Lace House

Friday, August 30, 2013

Tomorrow Night - The True Test

This post is written by Annie's sidekick! 

Our sleeping arrangements in Ulan Ude is a 6 bed mixed sex dorm. Four nights.
Enough said.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

One more day in Moscow, 4 nights on train to Irkutsk and 2 days here: 8/24-29

Steven asked me to start with the following: "I am starting this blog with a quote from Steven."  

        I am ONE with my fanny pack!!!

(This b/c he was NOT a happy camper with the prospect for months before the trip taking the fanny pack; he has since obviously changed his mind!  Suellen, share this with Ron please!

Sorry folks for not writing for so long if you've been waiting to hear from me/us.  Since writing last, we've been incommunicado b/c no wifi since leaving Moscow late on 8/24 and arriving here in Irkutsk, Siberia y'day morning, 8/28.  So many thoughts running through my mind about what to include on tonight's post as I sit in our private room in Trans Sib Hostel.  Luckily, for me, I've been keeping just a few notes so I would remember things you may want to read and hear about.
  • Last day in Moscow: returned by metro to the huge Izmaylovo Market on the outskirts of town for second day in a row b/c we thought it'd be much busier on Saturday than it was the day before.  It was, so we were happy as clams walking around mostly in the pouring rain and trying to get shelter where we could; military medals and pins by the bushel; icons galore - new or old, we know not; paintings; jewelry, second hand junk, big Russian fur hats and of course stand after stand of souvenirs. I think I don't EVER want to see another matrushka doll set in my life after seeing still more at this market!
  • After drying off and getting a much needed cup of tea back at the hostel, we trudged out again by metro to go to the Novodeichy Convent/Cemetery and Gardens thinking it was open til 7; got there too late to go inside but we loved walking around the huge "complex" for lack of a better word, even in, or perhaps b/c, of the rain.  Saw B. Bush's gift to Moscow there: a sculpture based on the book "Make Way for Ducklings."
  • On the way back to hostel to get another grilled cheese sandwich (that and various type of omelets are our nightly staples!), stopped at a mini grocery store to get provisions for our train trip; wanted more of the delicious Russian dates and raisins which have been great to snack on while out for the day; no way we could attempt to say those words in Russian so I had my empty package of dates to show several clerks in the store to see if they sold them, all to no avail; the last one accused me, in Russian, of getting the package off the shelf and eating them in the store, i.e. shoplifting - no mistaking HIS accusations; luckily, 2 shoppers came to my defense, again in Russian, telling him I was showing it to everyone to see if it were available and that I had not stolen them; was I glad to leave that store!
  • Random recollections about Moscow: there are attendants in miniscule glass cubicles at the bottom of 90% of the escalators keeping track of everyone going up and down via 4 video screens; a tad creepy; we have gotten used to our every movement being on video, not just here in Russia but all over Iceland and EVERY country we've been to so far; we did not expect that before coming to Russia.
  • No litter, graffiti, no "bills" advertising upcoming events tacked up anywhere in Moscow.
  • Russian women in SPB and Moscow dress beautifully, in very stylish outfits right down to their very high heels, certainly way way more so than any US city we've been to; they wouldn't be out of place in Paris; that was very surprising to us.
  • Shoe stores seemingly on every corner: Imelda Marcos would have been proud!
  • No tokens used in Moscow's metro: you have to buy either a pass for multiple use or a card, the size of a driver's license, which is used once and then discarded; being such big recyclers ourselves that appalling waste of paper was tough to see.
  • NOW onto Trans Siberian train: first people we saw at the Moscow station were Dale and Debbie whom we had met on the M. walking tour a few days previously!  They were in our same carriage all the way to Irkutsk (I. from now on) travelling with their friend, Elaine; they're all from Clearwater area of Florida and had made their train reservations also with Real Russia UK; it made the long journey to I., where they also got off, so much more pleasant for both of us being able to chat with them along the way; we're pretty sure we'll see them on the Ulan Ude train to Beijing too as we think we're on the same carriage again!
  • First night out, there were three others in the 4 berth compartment with us: Valentina traveling with her 2 yr. old g'son, Mattvee who was a sweetie pie after he had put down his telephone that made ungodly noises til 1 am; and Ilya, a 30 yr. old architect, whom we grew very fond of and who spoke English well; he was returning to Perm for his g'mother's 90th b'day; his father is a jazz musician who now also plays country music and has played in Chicago; Ilya's favorite singer is Marvin Gaye if you please! 
  • Met 2 Dutch ob/gyn nurses, Wilhelmina and Lydva, in our only foray to the dining car; the latter had us in stitches regaling us with some of her adventures traveling around the world!
  • Had the compartment for a night to ourselves, then met Anna, who's on her way to Shenyang, not too far from Beijing, to teach Russian to Chinese university students for a year; she spoke very limited English but we were still able to communicate OK; she was just a sweetheart.
  • The days went by surprisingly quickly with lots of time spent gazing out the windows, chatting with our new friends, reading books on the kindle drinking bottomless cups of tea courtesy of the samovar in each carriage, snacking way too much and getting somewhat discombobulated by the 5 hour time change from Moscow to I; there were about 2 stops a day so enough time to scamper off the train and see what more food we could buy on the platforms from the local citizens selling their wares: everything from massive stuffed animals to fruits, pastries of every size, shape and description, a huge variety of homemade "delicacies" etc.
  • Life on the train is governed by the "provodnitsa" aka the carriage attendant; sometimes you may get one who is very cheerful and seems happy doing her job; ours, as you may have guessed, was decidedly NOT of that ilk and made people's lives on our carriage as unpleasant as she could by never putting soap in the soap dispenser in the pretty grotty bathroom, locking it up indiscriminately, and not just 30 minutes before and after any train stop, etc; we whiled a lot of time outside of our compartment looking to see if the red light was on indicating the bathroom light was occupied.  But having said that, we had a fun time and I, for one, would do it again in a heartbeat because of the people we met and being able to see a whole new world for us.
  • After 4 nights though on the train, we felt quite dizzy being on terra firma again for more than just a few minutes at a time.
  • Have loved our 2 days in I. and nearby Listvyanka on Lake Baikal so far - yet more beautiful churches and amazing wooden homes the city is so well known for - more next time about that as I need my beauty sleep. 
  • Now, about 9:30 am on the 30th as I wasn't able to load pictures last night as planned so here goes again: 
    Izmaylovo Market, Moscow



    Above:  All market shots again

    Everyone, including me, touched the dog's nose for good luck

    Our very fancy grocery store near iVan Hostel, Moscow!

    Novodeichy Convent,


    More shots of Convent

    Sculpture of  "Make Way for Ducklings"


    At Yaroslavsky Stn in Moscow ready to board another midnight train
    Mattvee
    Ilya, Mattvee and Valentina

    Steven and Ilya on Ist day
    Same view of birch trees km after km - made me think of my home address in Ottawa:  22 Birch Ave.

    Our trusty samovar full of boiling water all the time just 5 steps from our Compartment One; also note the bag of omnipresent laundry on the floor; in order to get our tickets for all future legs of the trip back from the provodnitsa before leaving the train, we needed to strip the bunks and have her count them and the towels.

    Our very funny server in the dining car; EVERY Russian woman poses very elaborately for photos as if they're on a model shoot - never seen anything like it before.

    Some of the menu options on board

    Wilhelmina and Lydva from Holland

    Anna, our wonderful travel companion for 2 days en route to teach Russian to Chinese university students in Shenyang for a year.

    Sights from the train

    Food options at train stops

    Debbie, Elaine and Dale from left to right: we met Debbie and Dale on the Moscow walking tour, not knowing we'd all be just 2 compartments from each other on train to Irkutsk, and also on next few legs too.  Lucky us.

    i.e. Moscow to Beijing train!

    Always looking for the red light to go off indicating " tyalet" is available!

    .
    Another very common sight from the train;  a huge number of the homes just like this had satellite dishes

    A happy camper on day 3!

Friday, August 23, 2013

Moscow: Another day, another free tour!

Just wanted to send off a quick post to you as this will be the last one for several days as we head off late tonight for our next leg on the Trans Siberian train, this one to Irkutsk in Siberia.  We'll get there on the 28th but it's really only 3 full days on the train as we leave about midnight on the 24th (today for us already here in Moscow) and get to Irkutsk at breakfast time on the 28th.  Taking these midnight departures has been a good decision for us b/c it's meant we've had an extra full day to spend in each city before going to bed on the train.

  • As the blog post suggests, we did another "free" tour y'day; this was by bus though compared to all the others which were walking ones.  Interesting to see some of the same sights but from a different perspective, as in a new guide, not just from the bus window, I mean!
  • Met the tour bus and our guide, Paulina, at Revolution Sq. which was only a few minutes' walk from the hostel, for the 2 1/2 hour; Rev. Sq. is directly across the street from the Bolshoi Theater; we couldn't attend any performances as they were touring somewhere unfortunately.
  • Moscow was known as the White City b/c so much of it was built using white limestone; it's also the largest city in Europe.
  • Paulina mentioned that the Kremlin walls had been all white too from the limestone but were painted over in the lovely (to me at least) dark red hue at the beginning of the 20th century  b/c red equated communism.
  • Just above the main gate, there's a beautiful icon that was only discovered in 2010; people knew of its existence for many decades and looked all over Russia and in many other countries for it only to discover it literally under their noses as it had been painted over.
  • On the tower above the gate, there is now a large red star, again equating communism, which moves in the wind although we didn't see that on our couple of trips there; prior to the star, there had been a 2 headed eagle in its place which had represented the emperors of the past.
  • Couldn't actually see much of Red Sq. itself as they're in the process of building a massive outdoor stage with stadium seating for a week long concert and military tattoo beginning in 10 days; when we were there a few days ago, we saw an adjacent horseback riding ring with many young riders and stunt riders - the music blaring over the speakers was Nights in White Satin!  I could have stayed and watched them for hours but Steven was ready to continue exploring.
  • Back to y'day's tour again: stopped at one of the pedestrian bridges to see many trees covered with padlocks, each lock painted or inscribed with the couple's names and their wedding date;  Steven and I had seen them before on our own marathon walking tour but didn't know the significance until Paulina told us.  On Saturdays, she said, it's like a Bridal Parade there with all the brides and grooms stopping to add their locks to the trees.
  • The tour definitely saved the best for last so we could view Cathedral of Christ the Saviour;  I am at a loss for words (I know, that's new for me, you must be thinking!!) trying to describe how incredibly gorgeous it is especially on the inside; we've seen our share of beautiful churches on this trip and before now too but this one was right up there with all the others in our opinion.
  • A few interesting facts about the history of the church; the massive church we saw was ONLY built over the course of THREE years about 15 years ago - I still cannot believe that. 
  • On that same site before, there had been another Cath. of Christ the Sav. but it was demolished down to the equally massive AND impressive basement in the '30's b/c of the official state policy of atheism; plans were drawn up to build a 100 floor skyscraper (which we saw) but they were scrapped when they lacked the funding.
  •  Eventually the site was used to build the world's largest outdoor swimming pool; Steven swam in the heated pool when he was here 40 some years ago!
  • We knew in advance we needed to have our knees covered and not to wear any sleeveless tops too; obviously a number of other people on the tour had not read that info as they wore shorts. to their dismay.
  • No photos could be taken in the Cathedral so I can't whet your appetite with how stunningly beautiful the icons, murals, mosaics and everything else is there.  I would still swear that it was built centuries ago b/c of the overwhelming detail everywhere we glanced.  Having just 15 minutes to try and appreciate its magnificence was just too short, but tis the nature of a tour, right!
  • I had read a lot before coming about the beautiful, amazing, overwhelming etc, etc Moscow metro stations who were built as a tribute to "Communist Paradise" according to Paulina and known for their underground art. 
  • After the tour, Steven and I bought 2 tickets, for only 30 rubles or $1 each, to spend a couple of hours seeing the most famous stations.  According to the blurb from a page of one of the tour books I had photocopied and brought with us, many of the stations "feature bas reliefs, stucco, mosaics, and chandeliers. Diversity is not their strongest point - generally it's history, war, the happy life of the Soviet people, or all of the above."  That may be but still they are truly a sight to behold.  Thinking of the dirt, grime, stench and graffiti of the NYC metro stations as we stopped to gaze at these did not make me proud right then of being an American.
  • Steven's up so I'll post some pictures and say adieu til the next post.  Stay well and happy.  Love, Annie B.
  • In front of the Boshoi

    Riding to "Nights in White Satin"


    Discovered icon on The Kremlin's main gate

    Just above the icon

    Where's our padlock?!

    The tour bus, ya think!

    Paulina, our tour guide, holding The Flower so we could always find her in a crowd!  We'd seen a gazillion of tours and their guides before this all over SPB and Moscow with each of the guides holding up one of these flower thingies, made out of felt (?).  I don't think either of us ever in our wildest dreams or nightmares could have imagined ourselves following a guide with one of these  flowers!

    Cathedral of Christ the Saviour


    Lots of metro station photos!