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To Finland and Beyond

September - December 2016
A 95-day adventure by CJs Excellent Adventure Read more
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  • CJs Excellent AdventureTo Finland and Beyond
    Day 12

    More lakes in Lakeland

    September 24, 2016 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    After a night of self destructing and consuming McDonald's for the first time in years and waking up hating myself, it was time to leave Jvyaskala and drive east towards the Russian border to another small Finnish town - Savonlinna.

    As Jamie pointed out yesterday, my new Finnish culinary faves - Egg Butter (essentially boiled eggs mashed up and combined in butter) and unlimited breakfast Frozen Yoghurt were consumed amongst a room full of heavily bearded and tattooed Finnish metal fans to power the 207km journey. Luckily, I decided against wearing my Justin Bieber tour shirt this morning and opted for my heavy black eye liner instead. We quickly departed with Teemu before he was converted to listening to Iron Maiden and started wearing Anthrax t-shirts and before we knew it we were zig zagging through countless lakes, pine trees and countless speed cameras, which seem to be located approximately 100m away from one another. Teemu remained quiet in the cheap seats while Jamie and I discussed global news and the quality of Finnish coffee at truckstops. My take was that the coffee out of the thermos was actually quite good, all things considering. Jamie thinks I've just forgotten what good coffee tastes like.

    Speaking of truckstops, the lowest octane petrol here is 95 and averages €1.35 (compared to UK prices at £1.10) and the average speed limit on the open road is about 100 km/hr which causes my inner Lewis Hamilton to scream with boredom.

    Another interesting Finnish fact is that summer lasts for approximately 2.5 months from Mid June to August, where they appear to charge extortionate fees for everything including parking in central areas. As we are now in the Finnish Winter, all towns seem to close down while the Finnish go hibernate in their naked saunas for the remaining 9.5 months of the year and parking is free or greatly reduced in price. Just as well - we will need to save our hard earned pennies for our extortionate dinner with salad leaves made of gold.

    We arrived in Savonlinna at about 1.30pm, which funnily enough is another beautiful little lakeside town. The hotel was completely void of human life and resembled a Stephen King horror setting. We quickly dumped our bags and walked the lakeside waterfront to check out "Olavinlinna Castle" where they offer English tours on the hour. Building of this castle started in 1475 when most of the modern day Finland belonged to the Kingdom of Sweden. Like most castles in Europe, it was used for defensive purposes against the Russians and the Swedish but like any good castle it also served as a prison for those Scandinavian Baddies.

    The afternoon was spent relaxing in the hotel drinking cider and beer named Karhu until dinner which consisted of the cheapest salad and pizza we could find and it still nearly cost us €50 for dinner with a wine each. I am really starting to think that my McNuggets are nutrient dense and should be consumed as an everyday food instead of rarely. I might get fat but at least i'll be fat and richer.

    No day in a new country can be complete without learning new words. Kiitos is Finnish for Thank You while Moi Moi is Bye bye. I think that is the cutest way of saying Bye Bye I have ever heard. Also, "Teemu" is a top Finnish Boy's name.

    Mojito Update: Still no Mojitos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Ankle Update: Swelling pretty much gone, still bad bruising, walking down hills/stairs is hard
    Phone Update: Still in Poland apparently...

    Moi Moi!    Read more

  • CJs Excellent AdventureTo Finland and Beyond
    Day 13

    Hello Helsinki

    September 25, 2016 in Finland ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Day 3 of our Finnish Adventure and we woke up to a pretty chilly room after the central heating became too much and we left the door open all night to cool us down. We are so hard.

    Our day started off by a early morning run around Savonlinna in temperatures in the mid-high single digits. My ankle fortunately appears to be ok if I run on flat straight lines, but anything involving uneven ground is a nightmare. After breakfast (EGG BUTTER!), we drove to the Punkaharju Ridge approximately 30km east of Savonlinna. The ridge itself is a narrow causeway seperating two big lakes and was a defensive line against the Russians.

    After our quick tourist stop, and realising we had 4 hours to get the car back to the rental car company before we were to be charged for an extra day and we had 3.45 hours of travel time to get there, we commenced our journey back to civilisation with haste - or so we thought.

    What transpired was the most frustrating drive of my life. First of all, we need to talk about the Finnish obsession with Speed Cameras. As mentioned in yesterdays post, speed cameras seem to dot the road every 500m or so. After a quick google check, Jamie was able to confirm that like NZ, the majority of speed camera housing units were empty and could be differentiated by those that had a silver lens (camera) vs those that had a yellow lens (no camera). Not wanting to take risks, Jamie was on speed camera spotting duty as keeping to the speed limit in a car with no cruise control is impossibly hard when the speeds change as often as there are speed cameras, dropping to 80km/hr in areas of the highway where there are turnoffs, 60km/hr where there are petrol stations, 50km/hr zones just for the hell of it and the odd zone (about 5%) of actual driving at 100km/hr on roads straighter than a ruler. I tried to take my cues from the locals on how strict the speed limits were but this became incredibly confusing. Based on a days worth of data, I can ascertain that the Finnish like to stick to one speed - under the speed limit of the 100km/hr open road limit but well over the speed indicated in smaller towns, averaging a speed of around 80km/hr everywhere. Based on the amount the speed limit changes, this appears to be a tactical solution, however was massively confusing when I passed a car going 80km/hr in the open road limit area, only to slow down upon reaching a town, and then was passed again by the same car in a 60km/hr zone going 80km/hr *slaps forehead*.

    During our drive, we came within 500m of the Russian Border, so gave it a wave and said we will be back again in a few days.

    Halfway through our journey, the roads widened, and the lane size, whilst still only one lane, could have easily fit two cars. It took me awhile to figure out why, with all this extra space, cars remained on the far right of the lane. It became clear once I saw a car passing another in the face of oncoming traffic (see photo below). I decided on the "do as the locals do" approach to driving and it scared the sh*t out of me doing something that I was educated never to do from a young age - pass in close proximity to oncoming traffic. A big wine was in order after this drive.

    We got to the airport with 10 minutes to spare, and took the train into Helsinki. Teemu had the best view and contemplated his adventures in Central Finland realising his time in his homeland was fast coming to an end. He will leave with his adoptive parents for a new life in a warmer climate. He is scared, wondering if he will be able to master the Haka and blend in with the locals, whilst maintaining his Finnish roots. Get ready for Egg Butter New Zealand!

    We dropped our bags and Teemu off at the hotel (he needed to be alone) and made our way into a big square adjacent to the Train Station which was housing an International Food Market complete with a British Stand selling British Cheese for €9 euros per 100g. I've decided I'll come back next year, undercut those British Twats by half and still make a handsome profit.

    After filling up on olive oil and bread samples, we made our way back to the hotel, stopping off at the Helsinki Botantical Gardens. Jamie was obsessed with anything that appeared semi-edible while I went on a photographic expedition. It bled beauty and was a lovely walk in the sunshine.

    A pre-dinner snack of cheese and crackers proceeded a lovely dinner at a Nepalese Restaurant (so Finnish) across the street from our hotel. On the way back to our room, we checked out the hotel gym, which I can report is utter crap.    Read more

  • CJs Excellent AdventureTo Finland and Beyond
    Day 14

    Helsinki - the First Full Day

    September 26, 2016 in Finland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    This morning started late by our standards, and we didn't get out of the hotel until about 1100, after a run around Central Helsinki. Teemu was lazy, and decided to stay in the room, staring out the window, in a clueless daze.

    We on the other hand, went on a walking tour of downtown Helsinki. The first stop, was the western coast of the downtown peninsula. There was a large sculpture, mobbed by bus-loads of tourists. We have no idea what it was supposed to be, and you won't find a photo of it below.

    What you will find, is a photo of the little cafe that we stopped at along the waterfront for a coffee. This cafe was one of the few cafes/restaurants along the waterfront of Helsinki, and Finland in general, that was still open, despite the fact that it is not currently the height of summer. Also, though Finland is a coffee drinking country, it doesn't necessarily partake of the same sort of coffee culture we are used to, from the Antipodes. In many places, your choice of coffee, is take it or leave it. There are no baristas, just filter coffee, which is tasty, but not as good as a proper, barista made coffee.

    The next stop on our walking tour was the waterfront near the Hielalahden tori market. It was a Monday, and the market, which did look to have a lot of tasty looking street food stalls (~10EUR for a meal), was pretty dead. The only excitement, if you want to call it that, was a man getting hauled off by the police and loaded into the back of a police wagon. It was very quiet and orderly. As civilised an arrest as I can imagine.

    Further round the waterfront, we happened on the docks, and a forest of cranes. It was good to see that docks, and the cranes, were still in use, building and repairing ships. Carrying on around the waterfront we passed Finnish body builders swimming in the sea, many marinas, and many kiosks offering 4EUR per scoop of ice-cream. Safe to say that Finland is not the most easily affordable travel destination, but we knew that before we arrived.

    After the journey around the waterfront, it was time to get up above the city. This was achieved through a trip to Ateljee Bar. It is at the top of a 14 storey tower in the middle of downtown Helsinki. It isn't the tallest tower in the world, but Helsinki is a particularly tall city, so the bar has a commanding 360 degree view of the city. It is rather beautiful, and can be yours for the purchase of anything from the bar. We had cocktails and more importantly Courtney had her first Mojito of the trip and rated it 3.5 out of 5 stars. An espresso will set you back 5EUR, a beer 10EUR, and a cocktail 12EUR - give or take.

    Then it was time for an early dinner at Harald's. For the uninitiated, this a Viking themed chain-restaurant, complete with waiters/waitressed dressed as Vikings, and a menagerie of dead reindeers hanging from the walls. You can even get yourself a plastic viking helmet to wear as you enjoy your meal. If the thought of eating at a themed restaurant has you running, screaming to the hills, think again. Once you move passed the themed nature of the restaurant, the food was absolutely delicious. The restaurants are built for large groups, and the atmosphere would be awesome on a crowded Friday or Saturday night, but unfortunately, Mondays are not a busy night, and the place was a pretty cavernous venue to host six parties totalling about 20 people. The place could probably seat closer to 300.

    And that was the day. We repaired to the hotel room, to have a night-cap. Me, half a litre of stale beer left over from my 1L can yesterday; Courtney, half a can of stale cider left over from yesterday.

    Goodnight folks.    Read more

  • CJs Excellent AdventureTo Finland and Beyond
    Day 15

    Teemu Time

    September 27, 2016 in Finland ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    Hei ystäväni, nimeni on Teemu - Hello my friends, my name is Teemu. I am Finnish and a teddy bear and I am now travelling the world before I settle in a place called New Zealand. Courtney tells me they have a lot of honey there and Jamie says I can have as much as I want. YAY.

    Anyway, I have stolen the tablet while they sleep because I have a few wrongs to write (ha see what I did there).

    You will have seen by reading this blog that they keep referring to me as "lazy Teemu", "quiet Teemu" and "sad Teemu", I can assure you that I am none of these things except for maybe being a little Lazy because they like to carry me around like a little baby and I am not going to complain about that. I mean who would? My bear friends say this is pretty normal with the little humans but I guess my big humans don't want to grow up yet.

    So this morning I woke up to find myself being strangled by Courtney. She likes me to sleep with her even though Jamie always tries to steal me and they fight over me until Courtney eventually wins. I haven't been with them long but about 50% of the time I wake up on the floor after I've been thrown off the bed during the night and for the remaining 50% I am pushed under the covers. Again my bear friends tell me this is normal so I guess I will get used to it.

    Courtney and Jamie went to breakfast and brought me back some honey, that was nice. They then said I was allowed to go out with them today so I could say goodbye to my country. Man I was so excited or I was until Jamie told me he was putting me in his backpack but not to worry because it's just like hibernation. I don't think he likes being seen with me and that makes me a little sad. So, after a few tears, I spent a good hour or so in the darkness hearing muffled voices talking about how beautiful my country was.

    When i finally emerged from the darkness, I was confronted with a weird building.It had walls which looked like places I used to go to sleep in, Courtney tells me these are called rocks. Jamie said that she should know because she is something called a Geologist. Then she started talking about all the lines in the walls called veins and faults, and then I zoned out, Jamie whispered and told me that he zoned out too. Courtney just kept blabbering on and on about the rocks. Anyway, it turns out this crazy building was called Temp.aukio Kirkko - which was a church that lots of people seemed to love. There is a photo of me below taking it all in before I was plunged back into the darkness of Jamie's bag. At least I didn't have to walk I suppose.

    After a bit more time in the bag, we arrived at another church place. Courtney said it was called the Russian Orthodox Church and we had to be silent to be respectful. I think Courtney forgets that I am teddy bear and I can't talk. It was pretty nice and colourful but sadly there was no honey to be found and I was getting Hungry.

    We then walked down to the waterfront and I got to admire the view for the last time and Courtney said I could ride the turtles. I named my turtle Roger and it was the best part of my day. I got a few photos to remember it by.

    Our next stop was the movies to see Bridget Jones Baby after Jamie promised he would take Courtney on her birthday. Jamie said it was going to be horrible and I was a bit alarmed but then I saw Jamie laugh and I relaxed a bit because it wasn't as awful as Jamie made it out to be. Courtney found it funny and then Jamie pretended afterwards that he didn't like it, but I know the truth, because I saw him laugh - more than once. Courtney whispered to me that Jamie is a liar.

    We then went back to the hotel and Courtney and Jamie sat me down and told me that we were leaving tomorrow to go to a place called Russia. That sounds a bit scary, but I am assured that they have other teddy bears and more importantly honey. Courtney offered me some wine to calm my nerves, but i declined. Now wasn't the time to tell her that I am at AA. Courtney said that she would have my share and proceeded to drink most of the bottle. Jamie told her "Hey. I wanted some of that!" Courtney, just looked at him and responded, "My precious."

    I am a bit sad to leave my home, it is very beautiful here. I hope I can come back one day.    Read more

  • CJs Excellent AdventureTo Finland and Beyond
    Day 16

    Rubles in Russia

    September 28, 2016 in Russia ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    It was an early start this morning, as we headed to Helsinki's central train station, to get the 0620 train to St Petersberg. And just like that, two hours after leaving Helsinki, we we had left the EU, and arrived in Russia. Our first stop in Russia, was Wyborg, where we picked up a small army of Russian customs, immigration, and police, for the hour or so train in to St Petersberg.

    The Russia staff that boarded did their best to maintain the stereotype of the archetypal Russian government representative. They were curt, they were officious, and apart from demanding Courtney looked at them, they processed us with no issue. Other people on the train though were not so lucky.

    After passing through the gaze of Sauron's eye, that is Russian border control, we arrived in St Petersberg. The train station used for travel to and from Finland, can best be described as older, and underdeveloped, but this is understandable to some extent, given that it is not the main train station for the city.

    It was then time for a trek, via the St Petersberg Metro system, to our hotel. After a lot of time faffing around to get cash out of an ATM, and train tickets out of a machine, it was time to make our way down into the subway. Having sampled the wares of many cities around the world now, when it comes to underground public transportation, we can safely say that the St Petersberg Metro, is spacious, well lit, and very well decorated. A very stark contrast to the Tube in London, and certainly a win for communism over capitalism. We are realiably informed that the Moscow Metro systems is even nicer, but we can safely say that St Petersberg is many orders of magnitude better than the Tube. Teemu got a little bit frightened when we got on the escalator to the street exit and realised we were about 300m underground (maybe a slight exaggeration).

    After dumping our bags at the hotel, it was then time for a walk through the streets. On the way we wandered passed, just a few of the magnificent buildings in the city. Every corner you turn down at in the central city, seems to reveal yet another beautiful and magnificent building. The photos attached show but a few of the things that we saw, like the green-ish WInter Palace, which now houses the State Hermitage Museum, which we viewed from Palace Square. It turns out though that Wednesday is like Sunday in Russia though, with a number of key attractions shut down for the day.

    We also made a stop at the Yusupov Palace. Why is the famous I hear you ask? Well - this the palace where Rasputin was poisoned, then shot, then escaped from, then was recaptured, and shot again, and then hauled away from to be dumped into the flowing waters around St Petersberg. Incidentally, Rasputin was dumped into the water just along from our hotel. So much history within walking distance, and this all happened before the Bolshevik Revolution, which added quite a few more stories to the streets of St Petersberg. The interior photos attached are from the Yusupov Palace.

    We also had a good look at many, many cathedrals. St Petersberg, it would appear, is a very religious city. There are wonderful cathedrals everywhere, and they are used by the general populace, even during the middle of the day on a typical Wednesday. Many people would just pop in to say hello to their god, which felt quite weird to the atheist heathens just as ourselves. The big blue photo of the church, and its onion-shaped domes is the Nicholas-Epiphany Naval Cathedral.

    At the end of the day, we headed out to a local bar, where a band was setting up for a evening gig. Their style could be described as rock, in the same vein as Joe Cocker, or perhaps Bruce Springsteen, but Russian. We only really got to see the sound-check, and first few warm-up songs, before heading on to get some dinner. The mojitos, were very good though. Courtney enjoyed them so much, she had a couple. Price check: 400 rubles for one Mojito which roughly equates to £5 or about $9NZD.

    And with the consumption of dinner, the day was over. Both being tired, after an early start, it was time to repair to bed.

    Distance travelled from Helsinki: 390km
    Total distance travelled so far: 1,750km
    Distance to Auckland, NZ: 16,411km
    Phone update: Courtney's phone has arrived in the UK!    Read more

  • CJs Excellent AdventureTo Finland and Beyond
    Day 17

    Strutting around St Petersburg

    September 29, 2016 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Day 2 in Russia and OMG I love this place.

    After a brief introduction to the Russian Way of life yesterday, today was a day to get fully immersed.

    The first item of business was a visit to the hotel gym, and man do the Russians know how to work out. I was in awe of the new machines I have never seen especially machines made especially to test your flexibility. I can now confirm that one leg is more flexible than the other and I can now not feel the other leg.

    After a quick shower and breakfast complete with a bellini (alright 3 bellinis), it was time to hit the streets. Our first stop was Saint Issacs Cathedral. For 400 rubles (5 pounds) you could climb the dome to get an unobstructured view of central St Petersburg and enter the Cathedral itself. The climb was approximately 190 steps which isn't anything like the climb of the Duomo in Florence in 40+ degree heat but the view was pretty spectacular nonetheless.
    We then entered the Cathedral and it was probably one of the most spectacular sights I have ever seen (and the 4th largest in the world - the 1st being St Peters in Vatican City).The entire cathedral was adorned with marble, granite and gold and comprised a variety of colours (see photos). I was trying to take in all the beauty when Jamie ran over to me to inform me that 200,000 slaves died making the cathedral but then corrected himself saying that actually its ok he was wrong, they died building the whole city - totally makes it better.

    After I decided that I was never leaving this building, Jamie bribed me with more Mojitos and 5 seconds later I found myself outside walking towards our next stop Church of the Savoir on Spilled Blood or in lamens terms another church. I made a few observations on our walk as follows:
    1. There are weird people that sit in boxes everywhere across this city - at the bottom of the escalators in the metro stations (apparently to stop the mile long escalator if someone falls down the stairs), in parks and on certain streets. They all make me feel extremely uncomfortable.
    2. The emergency sirens on the police cars sound like a child is behind the wheel turning on and off the siren or a really horrible DJ mash up.
    3. Like the UK and most European cities, the traffic lights have a warm up orange light to indicate the light is about to turn green, but they also have a countdown timer here showing how long the light will remain green for - very cool.
    4. There are Army, Navy and Air Force personal everywhere in what can only be described "very Russian" uniforms.

    On arrival at the Church I was in awe of the "onions" on top of the buillding and upon entering the church the beautiful mosaics that adorned the entire interior. The Church was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded in 1881.The church was built between 1883 and 1907 and the construction was funded by the imperial family (estimated at 4.5 million rubles!).

    After a mulled wine in the nearby park, it was time to walk to the other side of the river to Peter-Pavels Fortress. This park is, for the most part, free, but had little side attractions including the surrounding wall which had to be paid for. After a brief walk around, we sat on a wall alongside the Neva River and shared an Irish Creme Magnum that was boozy as hell. I swung my legs carefreely over the edge and enjoyed the view not realising in the process I had also managed to cover the majority of my pant leg in bird poo. Jamie just laughed at me and then suggested it could be chocolate, but was almost certain it was bird poo.

    After a quick clean up job with a few tissues, we made our way along the waterfront back to our hotel ready for a spa/sauna afternoon. Our hotel happens to have an insanely good spa complex complete with about 5 different types of saunas including the fabled Russian Log Room which apparently sits at about 90 degrees and a Snow Room where you are subjected to -15 degrees. Donned with our sexy white hotel bathrobes, we made our way down to the spa to try them all of them and the snow room was surprisingly quite enjoyable after sitting in a furnace.    Read more

  • CJs Excellent AdventureTo Finland and Beyond
    Day 18

    Peter the hof

    September 30, 2016 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Day three in Russia today, and we marked the occasion by heading to Peterhof Palace, a wee bit outside of St Petersberg. As we set off from the hotel, the skies were blue, and the breeze rather fresh, but nothing that a few years of living in London hadn't prepared us for.

    To get to Peterhof Palace, we settled on a hydrofoil as the transportation option of choice. It set off from close to our hotel (ten mins walk away), and took us to the foot of the palace gardens, right by the water. Because of the fresh breeze, sailings were running a bit behind, and it was also made clear that there might not be a return sailing if the weather worsened much more. Being hardened travellers, wise in the ways of the world, and possessing the knowledge from research we had done months ago, we thought "Meh - we'll be fine" (can you see where this is going?) and so we bought our one-way ticket to the palace, and boarded the hydrofoil. FYI - the company was so concerned that they wouldn't be able to honour return tickets, that they weren't selling them.

    The ride out to the palace was pretty comfortable, despite what had been decribed as bad weather. The swell was ~5-6 ft, but thanks to the wonder of the hydrofoil largely sitting out of the water, it was only the odd wave that actually connected with the hull. As we sailed, we watched ominous rain clouds float across the horizon, and head towards us, though it wouldn't be until later than they came to anything at the palace.

    Having arrived at the palace we walked our way up the worlds longest water feature (record unconfirmed by Guiness), from the dock, to the palace. As you'll be able to tell from the photos, the recurring theme of this particular palace was gold. There was so much gold around, that you'd think when they built it, they various Italian architects involved reached back in time, grabbed Midas, and forced him to wander the estate, touching everything he could, like a small child.

    You'll notice that there are no photos from inside the palace. That's because you aren't allowed to take any inside. However, given the inconspicious wealth displayed by the exterior of the palace and it grounds, I am sure that you'll be able to image what the inside was like. Midas hadn't just wandered the grounds, they let him in to the palace itself too, and what wasn't gold, was mahogony, ebony, silver, or silk.

    There are times when you are forced to wonder, what the purpose of such a palace is. It is all very well being able to wander around one that was built hundreds of years ago, but what would possess someone to build such a place, and is anyone in the world building something similar now? I hope not, but I fear, yes.

    And after a couple of hours of wandering inside the palace itself, and being castigated by numerous Nurse Ratchet-type ladies for various unknown infractions, as well as wandering through the grounds, it was time to head back to St Petersberg itself. We made our way back to the dock to get our return ticket, but the booth for our hydrofoil company was closed. Moving to another booth, we were informed that there were no more return sailings, and that we would have to find some other way of getting home. This was somewhat strange, given that there were still a few Hydrofoils leaving for St Petersberg, and there were still some people getting on them, but for every ten people trying to get on the return hydrofoil, only one would be able to make it on. Not sure what tickets they had, but they must have been pretty special, maybe Midas was back and they were also made of gold. Or, I suppose, they were returning to a different part of St Petersberg.

    Anyway, at that point, we decided that we had better make a move, and make sure we got back to the hotel at a reasonable hour. Both of us remembered that there was a nearby train station, so using what little available info had been cached on Google maps, we headed towards the railway tracks. As we walked in the general direction of the railway tracks, the area became less and less touristy, and more and more coucil estate-y. But we are hardend travellers, and we had done our research a few months ago, so we puched forward, until we got to the railway track.

    And then we got to the railway, and there was no station. So we had to choose, do we go left or right? We went right, and started walking. Unfortunately, the railway promptly dissappeared into the forest, within about ten minutes of walking along side it. We found ourselves in a bit of a quandry. How to get home now?

    So after circumnavigate=ing a rather large Soviet era estate, and losing close to an hour of our livea, we ended up back where we started, at the palace. By this point, we had experienced our first set back (however minor), of the trip back. We were away from the touristy area, had no access to data via phone, and no idea what bus we needed to catch.

    After talking some time to collect our thoughts, we employed some good old fashioned observation. We waited by the bus stop across from the palace, and tried to work out which of the buses passing through, would get us close to St Petersberg, as they all looked like suburban buses. After a bit of time, and the observation of some Japanese tourists that had joined us at the stop making a move for a particular bus, we quickly assessed the available information, and jumped on the same bus. It had Japanese people on it (likely tourists), it had Metro in the destination (albeit in cyrillic lettering), and it was heading in the general direction of St Petersberg. Based on that information we got on. And based on that information, we made it to the St Petersberg Metro system, and managed to get ourselves back to the hotel.

    If we had got the hydrofoil back to St Petersberg, we would have been back at the hotel within 40 mins of leaving the palace. In the end, it took us just over three hours. It was an adventure, and some nerves were a bit frayed, but we made it, and had a laugh at the fact this was not the last time this would happen on the way home. We had a drink at the hotel, to celebrate our triumphant return to room 468, after such as long arduous journey, and that was really our day.

    The story of the day - don't freak out, be cool man.    Read more

  • CJs Excellent AdventureTo Finland and Beyond
    Day 19

    Mighty Moscow

    October 1, 2016 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    After getting lost in the back and beyond of Russia yesterday we decided to play it safe and actually look up how to get to train station in order for us to travel the 715km on the Sapsan Train to Moscow. It was another early start, having to be out of the hotel at 5.30am to catch the first metro of the morning ensuring we had enough spare time if something happened to go wrong before our train left the terminal at 7.05am. I'm starting to think that I was way too eager when I booked all of these early morning trains to ensure our time was maximised everywhere. The only thing that is maximised right now is my tiredness (I know, boohoo to me 😢).

    We found the train station and the train with relative ease and jumped on board eager to see our next Russian City. We had booked two window seats on a four seater table berth and sat down to shortly be greeted by a hungover Russian guy named Kiril who was 5 months older than Jamie, was an Event Planner from Moscow who had been in St Petersburg for an event, and, had had a hard night the night before and offered his leftover beer as if to prove his point. Now you might think that Kiril knew amazing English however, you'd be wrong. We quickly determined that he couldn't speak much English nor us Russian and the conversation took place via hand gestures and google translate. Jamie and Kiril hit it off and they giggling like little school girls writing each other love notes on their phones while I watched on from the opposite side of the table like a third wheel on a date. Things got a bit more intense when, after watching my episode of Grey's Anatomy, I looked up and Kiril was now fast asleep on Jamie's shoulder to which he remained for the remainder of the trip. Cue dramatic heartbreak.

    We arrived at the Train Station and Kiril made a quick getaway, not saying goodbye to his new friend. Jamie, saddened and feeling used, had to resort to hold Teemu until he regained his composure. Teemu just gave this blank stare like he didn't care but Jamie was too busy wiping away the tears to notice. Once composed, we made our way to the Metro Station and after the ease of navigating the metro stations in St Petersburg we thought we had this business down. We proceeded to stand in line for a ticket machine until we got to the front and realised it was only for recharging a pre-existing card, we then thought "no worries, it must be these other machines" and again stood in another line until we realised the different looking machine was actually just a newer version of the same one we stood at previously. We then decided to actually go to a ticket kiosk, and when we finally got to the front - the lady couldn't understand us. Flummoxed and still reeling from his earlier heartbreak, Jamie proved a common male notion wrong and asked the information people for help. Fortunately, they spoke English and wrote down our requirements on a piece of paper to hand to the ladies at the ticket kiosk.

    After the better part of an hour mucking around trying to work out how to get our metro tickets, we were on our way and walked to the ticket barriers to find that they are actually tap and go, and we could have used a credit card..... I don't think words can do justice for the looks that came over our faces so I will let you use your imagination. The prices are fairly reasonable for a metro ride at 30 rubles a trip regardless of where you end up in town. I know Russia is big and ginormous, but Auckland could learn a thing or two about affordable and efficient public transport from this place.

    On our brief metro trip, it was now Teemu's turn to make a Russian Friend and was accousted by a lovely Russian lady in her 50's, pointing and cooing over Teemu which he later told me translated to "you are so super adorable". The men in my life are obviously a hit with the Russians.

    When we finally got to our metro station, we had a brief walk through our hotel neighbourhood which can only be described as the Shoreditch (for those familar with London) or Kingsland/Ponsonby (for those familiar with Auckland) of Moscow with random Russian girls posing all artsy like for other girls with big fancy cameras everywhere. I felt like I had just walked into a Vogue fashion shoot looking all casual in my quicksilver hoodie, no make up and heavy bags under my eyes.

    After dropping our bags we made a beeline for lunch at a place called Pinch which had the most amazing lemon drop cocktail (gin, lemoncello and prosecco) I've ever had for a casual 7 pounds or so.. it was so good I forgot to get a photo. I'll probably go back so I'm not worried. The food was delicious albeit small so obviously dessert was a must. Fortunately, Jamie "knew" a place and had already identified the location of a cake cafe aptly named "I love cake" near our hotel. Upon arrival at the cafe there was a big glass window fill of cakes to choose from, the selection was too tough but in the end we went for a coconut raspberry angel cake. The filling was a condensed milk icing which was super sickly sweet and dense and didn't really do it for me but Jamie was a big fan.

    After the heart attack inducing dessert, we went for a walk around the local neighbourhood and came across a photographic exhibition documenting industrial scenes from power plants to welding complete with beautiful flowers and hedge sculptures. I'll give the Russians this, they certainly are eclectic.

    In desperate need of fruit to feel healthy again, we found the local supermarket and spent most of the time perusing the vodka section (it's healthy, it's made of potatoes). We ended up buying some actual fruit but more importantly picked up some red Georgian wine from the Kakheti region and some Spanish rose (it's healthy, it's made with fruit). The Georgian wine was absolutely delicious and for €5 pounds we will probably pick up some more for our trans-siberian train journey in a few days time.

    Our days events ended with a dinner at a local Shawarma restaurant (very Russian I know) which had the most delicious moutabal and shawarmas we had ever tasted and a wander through the illustrious neighbourhood lit up by fairy lights adjacent to our hotel.

    Current distance between us and Auckland: 16,100km    Read more

  • CJs Excellent AdventureTo Finland and Beyond
    1
    Day 21

    Moscow: Part Deux

    October 3, 2016 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Day two in Moscow began with a stroll from the hotel, via a rather circuitous route, to the centre of Moscow.

    On the way we wandered through the wide, green , and seemingly forested central reservations of various avenues, until we hit the Moskva River. As we walked through though these central reservations, we passed through innumerable art installations, celebrating the life, times, and culture of Moscow. Sometimes, it was the natural beauty of wooden arches, woven with wisteria, geraniums, and roses. Sometimes it was billboards of photographs, illustrating the industry of the area. Sometimes it was trampolines and jungle gyms for children to get active, and make use of the green space within the city.

    As we walked through all these things put on by the government for its citiziens, we viewed it with some wonder. Having lived in New Zealand, and lived in London, it is inconcievable, that such things would be provided by a government for its citizens. The resources made available, and free of charge, put to shame those made available for free in many other parts of the world.

    Having made it through our conversation on the political analysis of government provision of cultural activities to the citizenry, we made it to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, one of the many chruches/cathedrals, dotting the Moskow landscape. Truth be told, the vast number of incredibly grand religious buildings that we have come across in our travels so far, have almost got us to the point of Christian cultural saturation. We just aren't able to appreciate the beauty and significance to the degree that we should.

    After the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, we wandered along the river, passed the Kremlin, to Red Square. Unfortunately, there was no spectacular Soviet-era military parade to be seen, or even something ever-so-slightly more cultural. That being said, Red Square was thronging with people, watching the changing of the guard, viewing Lenin's mausoleum, and over course, St Basil's Cathedral.

    Also encountered on our self-directed walking tour of Moscow: the Bolshoi Theatre, the headquarters of the former KGB, and the Moscow Opereta. The late afternoon, and early evening were spent nibbling some tasty Russian treats, and indulging in some more Georgian wine. We then headed out for dinner at a restaruant local to our hotel, before Courtney got too hangry, and hulked out. Dinner was delicious; Courtney did hulk out, but recovered; and we enjoyed a further Sunday evening stroll.

    Nothing exciting to report today. The photos provide the strongest narrative.    Read more

  • CJs Excellent AdventureTo Finland and Beyond
    Day 21

    Kremy the Kremlin

    October 3, 2016 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Our third day in Moscow started with a quick self tour and photogrpahic journey on some of the most beautiful metro stations in the city on our way to pick up our tickets for our Trans-siberian railway adventure. The photos you see below were quite tricky to obtain as it had be in between each train coming into in the station (which is every 2 minutes) to ensure the photos were not overrun with Russian communters who would probably punch my lights out for taking photos of their angry unsmiling faces. This resulted in me waiting at the side of a passageway until the majority of the platform cleared and then me running out to the middle to quickly grab a photo before the next train arrived and before angry security guards came and told me off. I'm starting to realise there is an angry theme here.

    After picking up our tickets with surprising ease, we made our way to the mighty Kremlin (my nickname - Kremy). We thought that the entire Kremlin was accessible based on the map we were given and decided to tackle it logically by transversing it in a clockwise fashion. We noticed that no other tourists were actually in and around this part of the Kremlin but thought that they were stupid not tackling it like we were planning to because we are so awesome. It didn't take long for the sound of shrill whistles to cut through the silence and we looked up to see Russian police officers gesturing wildly for us to return to the other side of the road. I learnt my let iesson pretty quickly, only cross roads at the Kremlin when there are actual crossings and where other tourists around. A given building might look like it's open to tourists, but that doesn't mean it is.

    After our run in with the law, we proceeded to be good little tourists and looked around the cathedrals, which were heavily popular with Chinese tour groups, and then made our way to the Diamond Fund where the Russian crown jewels and other expensive jewelleries are held, including the biggest gold and platinum nuggets in the world. I had my eyes on the diamond encrusted crown but Jamie said he couldn't afford it yet which means one day there is hope.

    We made our way out of the Kremlin and towards the exit where we encountered a changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown warrior. As Jamie pointed out, these soldiers better have good physiotherapists to correct the unnatural things they do with their legs. Spectacular to watch, disastrous for avoiding arthritis

    It was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for our big train adventure which required a trip to the supermarket to pick up some food and more importantly a trip to the liquor store to pick up some vodka, the average price for a bottle being around 300 rubles (less than 5 pounds). I chose an apple infused Russian vodka (I think) for us to share and make friends with on the train.

    The night ended with a trip back to the Lemon Pie cocktail place and then back for more shawarmas because they were so bloody good (and relatively cheap).

    Tomorrow we hit the Trans-siberian railway, our first leg comprising of 4 nights and 5000km to Irtkusk in Siberia, so it's time for our last good sleep before we get rolled around a train cabin.    Read more

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