All home in one piece (minus an appendix and probably some fat...)
After a hectic 10 days attempting to see 5 cities (Samarkand to Tallin) we all managed to land in London Stansted on time with the respectful EasyJet.
First of all I'd like to point out that my "virulent stomach bug" only lasted about 12hours, I am now perfectly healthy.
The last few days of our journey took us back into civilization. We had toilets you could sit on, actual showers, English menus and the roads got progressively better the whole way. Of course, even as the countries became more civilized, we still had our experiences! In Moscow Mike had a minor run in with the Police. He was held in the station for about 3 hours while we ran about calling the Embassy and trying to find out what was going on. He was set free about 2am when he told us his story, and it seemed that he'd had quite a good time to tell the truth. He'll have to tell you about it some other time...
We moved on to St Petersburg the next evening, which again was not without it's moments. Lucy greeted us at the train station and we all went in search for a hotel. I wanted cake for breakfast. We have found that whenever I want cake, something would happen so I won't get it. We couldn't find the first hotel, because the guide book had mixed up the numbers on the map and we where actually the opposite side of town. We then bumped into two people with back-packs where looking for another hostel, they gave us the address. We went to the address to find a building site. In the end, we found the hostel behind a scaffolding. It also happened to be about a minute walk away from the hermitage! We walked about the city taking in the homogeneous European architecture and the enormous northen sky. The next day we went to the winter palace where we looked for a portrait of my Russian ancestry and the hermitage where I found two pieces of art that I've studied! In fact, we spent the whole day wondering around these grand buildings, and could have done with a week! To finish our trip with style, we went to see a ballet in the evening than had supper at KFC at midnight.
With only an afternoon left of out trip and a whole new city, we didn't want to waste it. We spent most of the afternoon walking around the beautiful and unique old city of Tallin. I bought some shoes in a 50% off sale (you can take the girl out of the city...). Mike found a restaurant that brewed it's own beer so we had a smashing dinner there, had a bit of a night out (money and sleep allowing) and left for home the next day.
It's now amazingly strange coming home and hitting reality. We've all seen and experienced so much. I can safely say that even with all the stomach bugs, the altitude sickness, the border guards, rupturing appendix, Russian police, bad roads and a lot of insects it was 100% worth it and I'd do it all again. That said, although I've spent a month in one of the worlds highest mountain ranges and tea was served with every single meal, there's nothing quite like welsh mountains and a good mug of milk tea.
First of all I'd like to point out that my "virulent stomach bug" only lasted about 12hours, I am now perfectly healthy.
The last few days of our journey took us back into civilization. We had toilets you could sit on, actual showers, English menus and the roads got progressively better the whole way. Of course, even as the countries became more civilized, we still had our experiences! In Moscow Mike had a minor run in with the Police. He was held in the station for about 3 hours while we ran about calling the Embassy and trying to find out what was going on. He was set free about 2am when he told us his story, and it seemed that he'd had quite a good time to tell the truth. He'll have to tell you about it some other time...
We moved on to St Petersburg the next evening, which again was not without it's moments. Lucy greeted us at the train station and we all went in search for a hotel. I wanted cake for breakfast. We have found that whenever I want cake, something would happen so I won't get it. We couldn't find the first hotel, because the guide book had mixed up the numbers on the map and we where actually the opposite side of town. We then bumped into two people with back-packs where looking for another hostel, they gave us the address. We went to the address to find a building site. In the end, we found the hostel behind a scaffolding. It also happened to be about a minute walk away from the hermitage! We walked about the city taking in the homogeneous European architecture and the enormous northen sky. The next day we went to the winter palace where we looked for a portrait of my Russian ancestry and the hermitage where I found two pieces of art that I've studied! In fact, we spent the whole day wondering around these grand buildings, and could have done with a week! To finish our trip with style, we went to see a ballet in the evening than had supper at KFC at midnight.
With only an afternoon left of out trip and a whole new city, we didn't want to waste it. We spent most of the afternoon walking around the beautiful and unique old city of Tallin. I bought some shoes in a 50% off sale (you can take the girl out of the city...). Mike found a restaurant that brewed it's own beer so we had a smashing dinner there, had a bit of a night out (money and sleep allowing) and left for home the next day.
It's now amazingly strange coming home and hitting reality. We've all seen and experienced so much. I can safely say that even with all the stomach bugs, the altitude sickness, the border guards, rupturing appendix, Russian police, bad roads and a lot of insects it was 100% worth it and I'd do it all again. That said, although I've spent a month in one of the worlds highest mountain ranges and tea was served with every single meal, there's nothing quite like welsh mountains and a good mug of milk tea.
posted by Lowri @ 8:32 am
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