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april 2018 - mei 2024
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  • ReizigerRussia
    1
    Dag 14

    Banya Experience

    19 april 2018, Rusland ⋅ ⛅ -3 °C

    We had a fairly quiet day today - catching up on sleep etc. Eli, Heidi and I went for a walk this morning down to a local banya (hot pool / sauna etc) and cafe we had seen advertised. It was quite cold today - I think we were only getting a max of 3 or 5! But once you had been out for a while you adjusted and it didn’t feel so bad. We were disappointed to find the place locked up and nobody home. Guess they weren’t operating at the moment. Heidi enjoyed crunching in the snow on the way back. I stopped to stock up on our chocolate supplies on the way home. Ive lost track of how many blocks of chocolate we’ve consumed - they are smaller than the usual!

    I think Heidi enjoyed having a more chilled day. I took her out to play in the sandpit and then she was running round inside playing with the few toys they had provided.

    Eli rang the resort we had visited yesterday to see if we could go there this afternoon. We weren’t able to get in until about 5 as it would take a couple of hours to heat up the banya. We put Heidi down for a nap in the meanwhile.

    The banya experience was fun. We had sole access to a small building which had a small eating area, toilet, shower and sauna with hot and cold pools outside. We changed into bathers and went outside to try the hot pool. We were a little disappointed to find it was not very warm - about 30 degrees which was just over lukewarm. We all hopped in eventually. I had been sitting on the bench feeling cold as I didn’t want to bother getting wet if it wasn’t that warm. But it was warmer than sitting out in the cold! Heidi had a great time jumping round in the ‘bath’.Then we made a dash for the hot shower to warm up. The others also went in and out the sauna while Heidi and I played around with the shower. The head came off and Heidi had fun showering everyone with it!

    We did this for a couple of hours and then finished up feeling warm and toasty. The sun was setting so we made a drive down to the lake to get some photos. We arrived at the perfect time and managed to get some nice pics. We ventured onto the ice a little, however it wasn’t as firm here and although we were still on the sand, three of us ended up with a wet foot!

    We drove back to the resort (we’d only gone 5 mins away) to have dinner. We were upstairs and as no one else was dining, we chose the table in a room off to the side with glass windows all around with a view of the lake. The lady tried to get us to sit inside the main area but we insisted we wanted the view. We came to regret our choice as the room was not heated and we slowly became colder and colder, especially having wet feet. We were all sitting there with our coats and beanies on! We felt bad at mucking up another table setting so decided to grin and bear it. The waitress didn’t speak a word of English and responded in Russian to everything we said so we were thankful for Kyria otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to make head or tail of what she said! The resort seemed to cater mainly for Russians as there were no english menus.

    We ate quickly (well I tried to but I’m terribly slow - I just can’t chew as fast as other people!) so we could get back and warm up. It was late when we arrived back so we all made for bed.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • ReizigerRussia
    Dag 15

    Back to Ulan-Ude

    20 april 2018, Rusland ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We had to drive back to Ulan-Ude today in preparation for catching the plane early tomorrow morning to Moscow. So once again we packed our bags and headed off after breakfast. Michael had a work meeting he had to attend via Skype for an hour but this gave us time to get ready.

    We decided to stop for one last jaunt over the lake and pulled up where we had stopped for the first sunset the other night. There were a few fishermen out so we became a little braver and walked out further onto the lake. We were curious about the fishing so went to examine one of the holes that had been made. It was actually a lot smaller than we expected, only about 20cm diameter. We could see the ice was quite deep through the hole so that made us feel more secure! The fishermen had a long sort of corkscrew tool they used to make their holes in the ice. We walked past one older guy and he seemed to have more old school tools. His fishing rod only looked like a short stick with a bit of line attached!

    We made our way back to the car, I managed to get a wet foot due to a puddle iced over on top of the ice which was annoying!

    Kyria was keen to go for a hike through the forest and maybe up one of the mountains but we couldn’t find a track that was suitable, either the road was too muddy or there was no where to park the car so we gave up on the plan. It would have been fun!

    We stopped off at Haim where there was a nice river and bridge to get some photos and poke around. The boys has fun skating on the ice on the river - we were waiting for them to skate right off into the river! 😂

    It was an uneventful trip the rest of the way. I had packed a few activity bags for plane trips and car trips so Heidi was suitably amused.

    Back in Ulan-Ude the traffic was a little heavier than on the way out and it was bumper to bumper at times. Heidi’s little voice piped up ‘come on!’ while we were crawling along! 😂 At one point our lane seemed to end abruptly and there was a little chaos as everyone was pushing to the other side of the tram line, in between oncoming trams - no lights, just free for all!

    We are back at the apartment we initially stayed at. The boys have gone to clean the car and return it and I have put Heidi to bed. I only bought four books to read with her. She doesn’t like two of them so we’re only allowed to read the other two. I am so sick of ‘Where is the green sheep’ and ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ 😩    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • ReizigerRussia
    Dag 16

    Farewell & Thank You Dinner

    21 april 2018, Rusland ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    The boys came back from washing the car, or getting the car washed as the case may be, still with the car as the guy hadn’t turned up to pick up the car. They had waited around for an hour. We had had to pay a $200 bond which we thought perhaps they didn’t want to return to us... 🧐

    Eli had arranged to have dinner with Suren and his family as he had been so helpful in arranging various things for us when we arrived in Ulan-Ude. We were going to go to our Churchill pub but Suren said that gets a bit noisy on a Friday night so we agreed to go to a Russian restaurant he arranged.

    As we still had the car we decided to drive which was a bad decision cos we ended up going to the wrong spot which was a nightmare getting to cos of all the one way roads and Apple maps kept changing the route every 5mins. I think it would have been quicker to walk! We gave up eventually and rang Suren who found us and lead us to the right place. Suren had arranged for the car guy to pick the car up from the restaurant which was handy.

    It was a really nice place with very nice food. We had been looking forward to some more familiar foods from the churchill pub after having only Russian fare at Lake Baikal but were pleasantly surprised by the food on offer. Suren had bought his wife and daughter who was just a bit younger than Heidi. His wife didn’t speak English but Suren translated. It was quite a nice evening. They had some live music at one point played on traditional instruments. Suren’s daughter was loving it and was dancing around. Heidi joined in for a bit towards the end of the evening with Suren’s wife Natalia.

    We said goodbye and thank you afterwards and walked back to the apartment. We had to be up early the next morning to catch our plane so we hit the sack.

    I’ve decided that when we go out for dinner in Mildura we should just walk there and back instead of driving the car as we’re walking that distance now and it doesn’t seem that long!    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • ReizigerRussia
    Dag 16

    Arrival in Moscow

    21 april 2018, Rusland ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

    It was an early start this morning as we had arranged for a taxi to pick us up and take us to the airport at 6am, well, the owner of the apartment had when she opened up the apartment for us yesterday.

    We were all ready and waiting downstairs on time. We waited...and waited....and waited. Seems there was a mistake in what she ordered or the taxi driver didn’t want to get out of bed that early. We walked out onto the main street but it was deserted. It didn’t look like a taxi was just going to appear to hail down either and we’d need a large one to fit us and our luggage. It was quite cold just standing there. Michael went for a walk to a road further up which looked busier.

    Then, luckily, a taxi van came down our street! We hailed it down quickly and explained where we needed to go. He agreed and we piled our luggage and selves in, except Michael was still missing - we drove up the road to find him but couldn’t see him. Then we turned around and he was back where we started. Phew! We were half an hour later getting going but we still arrived with time to spare.

    As usual we were all booked in separate seats except Heidi and I (groan - 6 1/2 hour flight with only me to entertain her). I wondered later if when you check in you have to request to sit together as I noticed there was a family of 3 behind me all together.

    There’s so many security checks - as soon as you walk in the door to the airport you have to put your bags through the scanner and walk through yourself. Then they check your passports when you check in. Up the stairs to the gate and there’s a lady checking passports...again. Pass into another room and passports and tickets are checked, bags scanned and you walk through a scanner and get frisked on the other side. Crazy!

    Michael was the unlucky one with hand luggage this time. He had a backpack with his laptop in it and they picked it up when we were boarding and he had to pay to have it go on as luggage. He was pretty mad as we’ve been on two previous flights and it wasn’t a problem. They also pick it up at boarding time when you can’t rearrange your luggage and have to pay more. We all really dislike this airline! It’s not like their overhead lockers are any smaller than other planes either. 😡

    It was an uneventful though long flight. We hadn’t had time to pack much in the way of snacks and they don’t sell food or drinks on the plane. Heidi had a sandwich at the start but I think she was quite hungry by the end as she kept wanting to know when lunch was coming! Heidi only slept for about an hour and a half so I was kept busy entertaining her the rest of the time.

    We had arranged a taxi to meet us at the other end so that was all straightforward. However the owner of the apartment we were staying at was being difficult. We couldn’t check in until 2 but we could leave our luggage there at 12. When we arrived, we couldn’t figure out which building we were in and Eli kept ringing her to get information. Finally they agreed to come out - how were we supposed to get in otherwise?! Then they couldn’t find us even though Eli gave quite clear instructions as to where we were waiting. It was all quite frustrating. Eventually she found us and we were able to go up and leave our luggage.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • ReizigerRussia
    Dag 16

    Lunchtime

    21 april 2018, Rusland ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    We were all very hungry by this time as we hadn’t had a proper meal since dinnertime yesterday so once we had dumped our luggage we set off to find somewhere for lunch. The others were remembering various spots we had walked around last time we were here. I don’t remember a lot of Moscow for some reason - aside from the main things we did.

    After lunch we walked back to the apartment to check in formally and pay. I stayed downstairs with Heidi who was delighted to find a playground just in the square below our apartment!

    Then we set off for a bit of a walk and a hunt for a bakery. There seemed to be some sort of spring festival or something going on as the main shopping areas had flowers, fairy lights and pretty decorations lining the streets - my favourite is the street with the butterfly fairy lights...so pretty!

    We found a bakery and I was able to get my longed for kakow (hot chocolate). Everywhere we had asked for one in Siberia we had drawn a blank. They seemed amused that we would ask for such a thing - perhaps it is more a child’s drink over here! I think things will be more expensive in Moscow compared to the other places we had visited - that was a small hot choc for nearly $6!!

    Mike and Kyria were going to see the Coppelia Ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre tonight so we didn’t stay out too long. We walked around the block to find the theatre as it wasn’t far from where we were staying.

    Back at the apartment there was a sudden thunder storm and downpour - the first rain we’ve had all trip! We didn’t have an umbrella so the boys went to find one in the supermarket in case it was still raining when Mike and Kyria had to walk to the ballet. Seems like the weather is going to be cold while we’re here. The wind has a real bite to it, makes your eyes stream cos it’s so cold!

    Eli was planning to stay up to watch the soccer with Mike when they came back but we both zonked our fairly early!    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • ReizigerRussia
    1
    Dag 17

    Izmailovo Kremlin

    22 april 2018, Rusland ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    We were again back to waking up early due to going back in time - our poor sleep clocks are all out of whack. But I have to say it’s more preferable travelling back in time than forward.

    We bit off a bit more than we could chew today - I had planned to go to the Izmailovo flea market and mini kremlin that we had visited last time. However we had a sit down breakfast and by the time we had walked to the right metro etc it was already 10am. I then had the wrong station so we went too far. Eli’s phone was the only one with a sim and it was flat so we had to try and swap the sim to one of our phones so we could figure out where we needed to go. We went into a nearby plaza and Kyria bought some safety pins so we could swap sim cards.

    We figured out we needed to go back one stop. So with all that fluffing around we didn’t have a lot of time to spare by the time we got to the market as Eli and I were going to see Coppelia at the theatre at 2pm and we had to be back for that. So we had about and hour and a half.

    It was a lot busier than last time and more stalls were open. We didn’t get much past looking at the stalls - didn’t even make it into the mini kremlin as we ran out of time (it was about a 40 minute trip back to the apartment). We had been there last time but we had been looking forward to seeing it when more stuff was open. Oh well.

    We bought some blackberries on the way out to share for lunch when we arrived back home.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • ReizigerRussia
    2
    Dag 17

    Coppelia Ballet

    22 april 2018, Rusland ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    We stopped at the supermarket on the way back to get some cream to go with our blackberries and toilet paper (apparently this isn’t provided with the ‘serviced apartment’?!).

    After gobbling down some blackberries and cream (though it tasted more like Greek yoghurt to me) Eli and I set off for the ballet, leaving Heidi to the tender mercies of Uncle Mike and Auntie Kyri. Turns out she went straight to bed and slept for nearly the whole time - and they didn’t even get a dirty nappy. Some people get it easy! 😂

    The ballet was really good - probably the best we’ve seen. I liked seeing Swan Lake because it is so traditional and classical but Coppelia was much more lively and even humorous in parts. The music was really nice too.

    We messaged Mike and Kyria when we were done and they met us on the way back to the apartment. We had dinner together and then Eli, Mike and Kyria went to see the Anna Karenina musical and Heidi and I went home. I wasn’t that fussed about seeing it as I figure it would all be in Russian and I wouldn’t understand it anyhow, even knowing the story line. They had only booked this yesterday as Eli had noticed it advertised when we were walking past and was really keen to go.

    Heidi and I pottered around the apartment and now she’s snuggled in bed - she goes out like a light when she’s tired, it’s great!    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • ReizigerRussia
    1111
    Dag 18

    Danilovsky Market

    23 april 2018, Rusland ⋅ 🌬 5 °C

    Today was....a bit of a flop for Eli and I. Heidi was very trying today. She had to be carried everywhere, was not listening and we were having to keep telling her off which was very wearing.

    We were up and going early this morning thanks to Heidi’s wake up call at 5am. It doesn’t help that the sun is well up by this time of the morning 😩

    We caught the metro to Danilovsky Market which is a fresh food produce market with little international food shops as well. We had breakfast at a cafe outside first thinking it would be more lunch food in the market. Heidi accidentally dropped her orange juice, although we had been warming her to keep it on the table, and the glass smashed all over the floor 🤦‍♀️ embarrassing much.

    The market was pretty awesome - there was dried fruit stalls, fresh fruit and veg, fish, bakeries, honey stall, ice cream and international food stores - French crepes, Japanese, Israeli...there was something there for everyone!

    We bought some dried fruit to snack on - a bit healthier than all the chocolate we’d been eating of late! The mangoes were from Australia! We probably spent a good hour or so wandering round here.

    Eli hadn’t had much luck with food so far today - he hadn’t eaten breakfast as they had got his order wrong, then he bought some sort of pastry tart in the market that looked hot but ended up being cold so wasn’t very nice!    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • ReizigerRussia
    511
    Dag 18

    Parque Gorki

    23 april 2018, Rusland ⋅ 🌬 5 °C

    From Danilovsky Market we caught the metro to Parque Gorki as I think it’s correctly called. It was a bit of a walk to the park entrance and the road we were walking down seemed to be a wind tunnel - it was freezing!!

    The park was quite massive with lots of different areas. We first made our way to the pier as we were interested to book a boat cruise along the river. The guy in the hire office was apparently quite rude. When Mike and Eli walked in there he didn’t even acknowledge them until they spoke to him and when they asked about the cruise he gave a monosyllabic answer and returned to playing games on his phone. So they walked out in disgust. The other pier the boats went from was a bit of a walk away so we gave up on the idea.

    Eli was ready to go back to the apartment and Heidi was getting tired so we split up and Eli and I headed back with Heidi while Mike and Kyria stayed.

    We put Heidi down for a sleep and Eli ended up snoozing with her too! When she woke up we took her down to the playground for a bit. They were painting it so she was only able to play in the sandpit but she was fine with that.

    Mike and Kyria returned having had a nice jaunt around the place - at least they’d had a good day so far.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • ReizigerRussia
    211
    Dag 18

    Red Square

    23 april 2018, Rusland ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

    We mooched around in the apartment for a bit and then decided to head out and reacquaint ourselves with The Red Square. The wind seemed to have died down a bit which made walking more pleasant.

    There was lots of activity in the Red Square from both tourists and also workmen. They were setting up seats and looked like they were cleaning the Kremlin walls and tidying up the place. Lenin’s mausoleum was ensconced bu scaffolding and stuff! At first we thought it was for the world cup but we found out later it was preparation for Victory Day parade and celebrations which is when they parade their military and weapons through the street. We just wandered around and enjoyed the atmosphere - went for a wander over the bridge and then crossed the road to check out some filming that was going on. A lady who seemed to be with the film group said it was a Mexican TV series.

    We decided it was time to look for dinner so we roamed the streets for an appropriate eating place. The few on the Red Square has exorbitant prices so we decided to walk down the mall there instead. Again they had pretty fairy lights and butterflies - this is another mall, not the one I have referred to before.

    We eventually settled on a restaurant which specialised in steaks. It was only after we’d ordered drinks though that the menu was explained more clearly - most cuts of meat had a minimum weight to be ordered. It was about $20 for 100g of the cheapest cut and you had to order a minimum of 400 - 800g. This seemed a very strange way to run a menu and quite expensive! So we just had drinks here and ended up going to a cafe we’d previously had breakfast at and ordering something light as it was getting late and Heidi was tired.

    Eli walked home with Heidi and I walked for a bit with Mike and Kyria enjoying the night lights before heading home with a nice hot cup of cocoa.

    We looked outside our apartment windows before we went to bed and they had blocked off the main road and soldiers were lining the road - spaced out, they seemed to be doing measurements and stuff. I guess in preparation for their victory day.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
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