Day - 19: Sunday, June 14, 2015
Starting Location: St. Persburg, Russia
Interim Location: Moscow, Russia
Ending Location: St. Petersburg, Russia
Our train departed St. Petersburg station at 0640 for the approximately 4-hour ride to Moscow. This was a modern high speed train, maxing out at 230 kmh (143 mph) over a welded track system making for a smooth and comfortable ride.
The scenery leaving St. Petersburg was not so dissimilar than train routes through the industrial cities of America, passing by abandoned manufacturing facilities and run-down neighborhoods. Once out of the city, most of the trip was through the rural countryside, forests and farms and a few small villages. Entry into Moscow was similar to the departure from St. Petersburg.
Moscow's "tourist" police.
Our tour of Moscow would include visits to Red Square, the Kremlin and any numbers of cathedrals, museums and other noteworthy sites.
Rolling "car-wash" through the streets of Moscow; actually they're wetting down the streets to keep the dust down.
More "onions" and the world's largest calibre cannon finished out the sights of Moscow.
We had a nice dinner of beef stroganoff and a shot of vodka at the Moscow Hilton.
After a long day, we were led back to the train station where we boarded our chariot for the return to St. Petersburg and the comfort of our shipboard home.
Interim Location: Moscow, Russia
Ending Location: St. Petersburg, Russia
GOOD MORNING,
IT'S 4 AM,
HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE DAY!
IT'S 4 AM,
HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE DAY!
Being awakened at 4AM and the words "nice day" should not be allowed in the same sentence.
Breakfast arrived at 0445 and by 0515 we were off the ship, through security and on our bus bound for the St. Petersburg train station.
Our guide Svetlana (of course) led us through the St. Petersburg train station, all we needed to know was to follow the #1 "lolly-pop".
Our guide Svetlana (of course) led us through the St. Petersburg train station, all we needed to know was to follow the #1 "lolly-pop".
Train attendants were very neat looking and efficient, the outfits harkened back to airlines of the 60's.
Our train departed St. Petersburg station at 0640 for the approximately 4-hour ride to Moscow. This was a modern high speed train, maxing out at 230 kmh (143 mph) over a welded track system making for a smooth and comfortable ride.
The Countryside
Most of the trip was a blur partly because of the train's speed and some due to our level of consciousness after such an early start to the day.The scenery leaving St. Petersburg was not so dissimilar than train routes through the industrial cities of America, passing by abandoned manufacturing facilities and run-down neighborhoods. Once out of the city, most of the trip was through the rural countryside, forests and farms and a few small villages. Entry into Moscow was similar to the departure from St. Petersburg.
Moscow's "tourist" police.
Our tour of Moscow would include visits to Red Square, the Kremlin and any numbers of cathedrals, museums and other noteworthy sites.
Can anyone translate this Cyrillic?
 |
| Lenin's Tomb |
Sheila standing at Russia's Mile-Point "Zero" reference point in Red Square.
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Russia honors its "Unknowns" at this important monument, a tribute to those fallen soldiers of the wars fought for their principles and way of life. A site at Red Square as solemn and important as the monuments at Arlington, London and other places in the world.
 |
| Tomb of the Unknown Soldier |
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Looks like we had a Vlad Lenin sighting; just checking out some local women.
Sheila ran into Josef Stalin while in Red Square.
Being led into the Moscow subway system, an art "museum" of its own.
Bells of Moscow
Rolling "car-wash" through the streets of Moscow; actually they're wetting down the streets to keep the dust down.
More "onions" and the world's largest calibre cannon finished out the sights of Moscow.
We had a nice dinner of beef stroganoff and a shot of vodka at the Moscow Hilton.
After a long day, we were led back to the train station where we boarded our chariot for the return to St. Petersburg and the comfort of our shipboard home.
Our day was over just after midnight, making for a 20-hour day from the wake-up call to the late night snack awaiting in our cabin when we arrived.
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