 Moscow
Metro. I had to play with the images because it was just too dark for the
camera. |
 Moscow
Metro mosaic. |
 Tom
in the overnight train to St. Petersburg from Moscow. First Class
cabin don'cha know!!! |
 Tom
in front of the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg. |
 Shared
the cabin with colleague Phil. The first class cabin was quite nice.
It adjoined the dining car so I was happy! Had my best Soljanka
(tomato/beef/veggie soup) on the train. |
 Tom
in front of the Egyptian bridge in St. Petersburg. The city if full of
canals with these beautiful themed bridges all over the place. |
 People
spontaneously get dancing to the OOMPAH band. Quite the site to
see. I wish I had known how to polka. |
 WWII
museum. |
 OOMPAH
band performing on the steps of the museum. |
 Concentration
camp uniform in the museum. |
 One
scene from Tom and Chris' boat
trip from hell. Tom and Chris went on a river cruise on the Moscow River.
It started out OK... the 20 minute walk to the station started out a clear
sunny day. But then it got darker and darker......and started to sprinkle. |
 Graduation
day ceremonies near the WWII museum. Note the thingies on the girls'
heads. These ribbons are de rigueur for young girls in school. The bigger
the bows, the better. |
 Tom
and Chris, the ever stalwart travellers, decided to brave the boat tour -
taking a seat on the outer and quieter deck of the boat. But when we
left, it got COLD and WINDY.... so what do we do? Go inside you say? NOOO,
we get a couple of bottles of very good Russian brandy and have a
great time!!!!!! |
 Garbushka.
The center of all things pirated. CDs, Software, the works. It is about 3
times the size of Best Buy with dozens of different sellers peddling their
pirated wares. This is also a great electronics outlet. The latest
stuff but at prices comparable to the US and Europe. No gadget bargains
here. |
 Interior
scene from Tom and Chris' boat trip from hell. When it got too cold and
rainy, we went into the heated interior to be greeted by smoke, children
running around drinking beer (yes, kids about 10 and 11) and the blast of
staticy ooompah disco music coming from a speaker directly in back of our
table. It was just one of those moments where you just have to
laugh or to cry... we decided to laugh with the help of our friend Brandy. |
 Eating
fresh grilled Schashlik in the Garbushka courtyard with our guides. |
 More
final ceremonies. |
 Tom
in a park in St. Petersburg. |
 More
final ceremonies. |
 Tom
at the Opera in St. Petersburg. The opera, The Queen of Spades, was based
on a Pushkin Story. It was 4 hours! Quite good, though. I was
shocked at how casual Russians dressed for the theatre. It was a
weeknight, though. However, I was perfectly fine in what I was wearing.
Only old men and the occasional middle aged fellow wore ties. |
