Europe 2016

Nyast först

Europe 2016 Resenär
Warsaw 1
1 september 2016, Polen ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
(*TESSA*) We’re staying in a building that’s one of many making up the Old Town, reconstructed following the second world war and now a UNESCO historical site. We checked in late after the delayed train and grabbed dinner at a local chain restaurant, Zapiecek, that’s well recommended (we downed pierogi, beef and cabbage, vodka and sangria).

Our accommodation is way out of our league (but not that expensive). It’s proper lux. I can’t work the coffee machine. I’m in constant danger of knocking over the glassware and décor. The artworks are certified indigenous from across the globe (but not Australia). We tumbled dried our clothes for over 6 hours, over two days due to our inability to work the dual washer dryer. I’m blaming the tumble dryer for how tight my pants have gotten, but we all know it’s probably the pierogi.

In the morning of the 1st we joined a free Second World War walking tour (we tipped well, of course) and learned of the starvation and persecution of the people, as well as the destruction of the city. Pierogi for lunch (seriously) with potato pancakes, with an aperol spritz for me and beer for Sheldon – as is usual most afternoons.

We spent the afternoon at the Warsaw Uprising Museum. Following years of occupation, persecution and hunger, inspired by the earlier uprising of the Jewish people in the Warsaw Ghetto, the people of Warsaw armed in an effort to reclaim the city from the Nazis. With only about 10% of their makeshift army with firearms, they had little chance. The museum celebrates their wins – they took POWs and shut down a Nazi communication centre – but ultimately tells the tragic tale of the destruction of Warsaw. About 90% of the city was in ruins. The beyond cruel Nazi Ghetto that had claimed the lives of thousands of Polish Jews was wiped off the map.

The Poles know how to construct a museum. There were survivor accounts, interactive exhibits, films, a 30s café, and items to collect. It was engaging, factual and, in stark contrast to the presentation of museums in Germany, it was emotive. I shed a fair few tears here.
We had trouble finding the bus stop to get home. It’s not like Australia, where bus stops for each direction on a line are more or less directly across the road from one another.Läs mer
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Europe 2016 Resenär
Warszawa 2
2 september 2016, Polen ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
(TESSA) We slept in, checked out and strolled the Old Town. We stopped to share huge German-style meals that had the look, but not the taste of Germany. We toured a cathedral and joined the audience of an organ music concert within it. I'm so very glad we went in because it had my favorite stained glass windows of the whole trip. Check out the mermaid!
We visited the reconstructed Palace, made possible through hard work and donations of the polish people.
We were ripped off by a cab driver on the way to Warszawa Centralna (the central train station). We had gotten too comfortable and trusting having had so many good experiences. ‘Always agree on the fare before entering the cab.’ Indeed.
We boarded a train in the early evening. With no wifi, we chatted, looked out the window, read and learned some basic Russian. Spack-coin-a-noi-cha (Goodnight in Russian, the Aussie way).Läs mer
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Europe 2016 Resenär
Moscow - Saturday
3 september 2016, Ryssland ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
A long time on the train, a very very long time. Long and not very exciting until about 1am where the Polish border guards followed by the Belarus border guards kept us for what felt like 30 minutes by walking up and down the train checking and stamping everyone’s passports and documents. Eventually they left and even though the train stopped and started and changed directions continually, we arrived on time in Moscow.
At the train station we were met by a taxi driver organised by the tour company we were using for our Russian section of our holidays and he took us to our hotel, a Russian branch of the Best Western chain. A very nice hotel although the décor and the 1940s Western music pumping through the place made me think of the Fallout game series.
Check in felt a bit like checking in at the airport. We went through security gates, had our passports registered and signed official documents. This was all made more fun by the free champagne.
We spent much of the remaining day recovering from the long train trip (I personally was starting to become run-down) and we had to take advantage of the cheap but plentiful dinner buffet before we hit the hay.Läs mer
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Europe 2016 Resenär
Moscow - Sunday
4 september 2016, Ryssland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
After a breakfast buffet (which I found a little less exciting than the dinner), we were due to meet up with our guide in the lobby. We booked our Russian itinerary through a tour company with the rather official sounding name of Russian National Tourist Office. The tour is either alone, or with a group, depending on demand. So Tessa wandered around the lobby asking English speakers if they were from our group. It turns out, there were multiple people who had booked through the same company, but only 5 were on our tour. Our tour guide for Moscow was Olga - a local of Moscow who's favourite city is St Petersburg.

We went on a city tour by mini bus. Olga told us a load of facts, and since it's been several days since then, we've forgotten most of them already - except that Moscow was founded in 1147. We stopped for photos at a look out point and some probably overpriced souvenirs at a local store and then Olga showed us around Moscow’s underground rail stations. That probably sounds terribly tedious but the Soviets had beautifully decorated many of their main stations in the Moscow area. One particular station had many sculptures of people doing everyday things and there was a belief about some of the dog statues that if you touched their noses, you would have good luck. We saw many Moscow locals touch the dogs’ noses as they walked past and you can tell from the differences in colour on those statues as they had been worn down by touching over time.

On this particular tour we have our afternoons free to ourselves, so we wandered over to the Red Square for some lunch and a general sticky-beak around. The food was excellent and I had probably the best beef stroganoff I had ever had up until that point. Our waiter was very friendly and we had a chat about his sister who now lives in Australia. Unfortunately Red Square was packed with stadium seating for their annual celebrations of the city’s beginnings 869 years ago (quite young really) so we didn’t perhaps get the best view of whole surroundings but it was still great to walk around.

Back near our hotel, we headed to a local tourist village, I guess you would call it. It was a modern reconstruction of some older style Russian buildings with a truckload of souvenir stores and minor museums. We did check out the museum of vodka, because we were in Russia after all. We tasted some old-style vodka and some flavoured vodka, which were both nice, and chatted to the two ladies who were looking after the museum who wondered why we’d come so far to see Moscow. We also got a little distracted by two cats snuggling each other in the museum’s lobby section.

We finished up the day by ordering room service at our hotel which was quite a trial as they initially managed to forget to bring up one of our drinks and two of our entrees. Luckily our waiter had a translation app on his phone so Tessa managed to reach a mutual understanding between him, her and the cook who the waiter had to keep ringing. Unfortunately the result was a little disappointing for Tessa when all was said and done as the dumplings just weren’t up to scratch.Läs mer
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Europe 2016 Resenär
Moscow - Monday
5 september 2016, Ryssland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
(*TESSA*) Buffet breakfast again to start the day, and this time I got right into the chicken nuggets.
As a group, we visited the Kremlin. It's home to three cathedrals: one built for funerals of the royal family, another for baptisms and marriages, and another for coronations. Presidents of Russia still use the Cathedral Square to swear in to the post.
Russian Orthodox cathedrals differ from Catholic in that there is no stained glass used. Paintings decorate the inside of all the walls and ceilings. The alter is entered only by priests. Women cover their hair when the enter. I find these old, old cathedrals very moving and said a thank you for the fact that the Soviets didn't damage these ones.
Still as a group we visited the armory museum. Catherine the Great has always captured my attention. She participated in a conspiracy to dethrone her husband (he was assassinated) to take power. She communicated with philosophers such as Voltaire, had lovers and toy boys and began the Hermitage Museum. As well as armor, carriages and all that jazz, we saw the dresses Catherine the Great was confirmed in, married in, and then a dress from later life. Her portrait, as we are familiar with it, shows a grand women of some age and waist line. But she was so tiny as a girl, and as a bride, and judging by the dress not much bigger than me in later life, if at all. No photos allowed in the Armory Museum.
We are getting along well with the other tour members. We're sharing our transport and daily tours with one retired couple from Scotland and a single guy, Andy, from England. After our tour we shared long, late lunch with Andy and caught up on life stories. A lovely guy.
At night we all boarded an overnight train for Veliky Novgorod. Sheldon and I were in a four berth cabin - I got the top bunk! It was hot, the toilet was primitive and the train rattling.Läs mer
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Resans slut
5 september 2016

Warsaw 1

Warszawa 2

Moscow - Saturday

Moscow - Sunday

Moscow - Monday