Carjam travels

Gallery: Greece

carjam — Sun, 17 May 2009 01:08:00 GMT

Greece

carjam — Sun, 17 May 2009 00:59:00 GMT

Mike and I arrived back from Greece this morning. We spent 3 nights in Athens, and then 5 in Batsi on Andros Island in the Cyclades. It was consistently warm and sunny eveyday. Visiting the Acropolis was awesome, we also saw the changing of the guard and ate lots of tzatziki. The ferry to Andros Island was 2 hours from the mainland, and we stayed in a studio 30 seconds on the beach. We swam in the sea just about every day and hired a scooter to check out the island.

Tallinn

carjam — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:45:00 GMT

We boarded the Viking Line ferry in Helsinki, bound for Tallinn. The ferry was a huge ship that seemed to be more of a cruise ship than anything. There were lots of bars, restaurants and an entire level of cabins. There was even a live band playing old Finnish favorites. The old blue hairs were loving it. The ferry ride was short and smooth. The weather was great and the sea was calm.

Tallinn is a beautiful city. The Old Town, dating from the 12th century, has everything you could want. Original town walls, cobbled streets and beautiful churches. It is a very romantic spot and a great last stop on our trip. It has snow a few times which has only added to the experience.

The Estonian people are surprisingly sweet. The country has been occupied by various countries over the past 400 years, often brutally so. The Soviets seemed to have done the most damage, shipping off over 30 thousand people to Siberia after the end of WW2 for supposedly collaborating with the Nazis. Considering the current population is just over 1 million people, this action must have touched the entire population in one way or another. The Soviets also sent large numbers of Russians here to "colonize" the country. Needless to say Communism is still considered a dirty word. Estonia has moved on though. They have been a member of the EU since to mid 90's, and have also become a member of NATO. The country seems to be thriving.

Tomorrow we fly to London. Our big adventure we be officially over. The past five weeks have flown by. We have enjoyed each experience. From sleeping in a Yurt in Mongolia, to trying to order food in Russian restaurants. Whether it was watching the fog roll over the Great Wall of China, or watching a hockey game in Helsinki. We loved it all.

Thanks for reading along. I hope you've enjoyed the stories and the brilliant photos Meredith has taken. I'm glad we could keep you in the loop. Hopefully we'll get to see you all again real soon.

Team CarJam,

Over and out.

Gallery: Tallinn

carjam — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:24:00 GMT

Tallinn

Helsinki day 2

carjam — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:33:00 GMT

We started the day with a sauna at our hostel, which was different. It's pretty cold here (about 0), with a cold wind off the sea today. I visited the Helsinki City Museum, which was interesting, then Mike and I got the tram uptown to the Ice Rink to watch an ice hockey game - a Helsinki team play another team from the Finnish league. It was great - Mike loved it and was telling me all the finer points, as it was the first time I'd seen it live. The game is very quick, but much better to see for real than on the tv I thought. The score was 3-3 at full time, so they went into overtime, when the visitors (Assat) scored, which was disappointing.

We love Helsinki, as it's so easy (maybe compared to Russia). Most of the signs are tri-lingual (Finnish, Swedish and English), and the people are really friendly and nice. It's clean as a whistle, with lots of cafes and restaurants and seems like there's lots going on here. Apparently Kiwis can get a 12 month working holiday visa for Finland, and I wonder how many are here...

Gallery: Helsinki

carjam — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:21:00 GMT

Helsinki

carjam — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:09:00 GMT

Mike, Nick (our friend from the St Petersburg hostel) and I got the morning train to Helsinki. The border control on both sides was easy - the Russians didn't ask us a thing, even though I had all our various paperwork ready.

After checking into our hostel right by the ferry terminals, we had a walk around town. I didn't really know what to expect from Helsinki, but was pleasantly surprised: it's very clean, the people are friendly and everyone speaks English (a welcome change from Russia), it's pretty, with cobbled streets and trams, and stylish. In the evening we went to a free concert by a group of local classical musicians, but left after the first act, which was like music from a Hitchcock film, crossed with fingernails on a blackboard.

Overall Michael and I really like Helsinki, so far.

St Petersburg days 2 & 3

carjam — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:41:00 GMT

Day 2 in St Petersburg, we saw: The Bronze Horseman (statue), Peter & Paul Fortress & Cathedral, a German pub, the Field of Mars & eternal flame, and several wedding parties. I tried caviar for the first time, and didn't like it.

Day 3 in St Petersburg, we saw: St Isaac's Cathedral (climbed to the top of the colonnade), various bridges over the canals, Kazan Cathedral. We visited the Church on the Blood, built where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated. It was caverous inside, and covered in colourful mosaics, which were incredible - it was one of the absolute best churches we have ever seen. That night we went to see Swan Lake at the Hermitage Theatre, which was great (although it seemed to be full of tourists).

St Petersburg is very beautiful - lots of Baroque buildings, canals, pretty churches, trams, theatres. It was a pity the weather was wet, cold and windy, as I think it would be stunning in the summer.

Gallery: St. Petersburg

carjam — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:46:00 GMT

St. Petersbrug

St. Petersburg

carjam — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 01:49:00 GMT

The train trip from Moscow was uneventful. We slept for most of the 7 1/2 hour trip. For once there wasn't someone snoring in the cabin with us. We arrived at 6:30am. It was still pitch dark outside and the full moon was still quite high in the sky. The sun doesn't rise here until 9am.

We checked into our hostel only to find out we are the only guests on our floor. There is a young American lad who is alone on the second floor. Must be the quiet season. The hostel is great. Free WiFi, laundry and breakfast. Our bed is even comfortable. It feels like a 5* joint after some of the shockers we've been staying in. It has an awesome location, a 3 minute walk from the Hermitage!

St. Peters is a lovely city. Lots of canals, beautiful architecture and a rich history. The people seem to be much more relaxed than anywhere else in Russia. It has a upscale European feel to it. It's a pity about the weather though. Cold, gray and wet. It is the first bad weather we've run into, so we don't mind as much. Nick, Meredith and I spent the afternoon exploring the Hermitage. It is an unbelievable collection of artwork, housed in the former royal winter palace. It was the home to the Tsar's until the 1917 revolution. The building itself is awe inspiring. It is by far the most impressive "residence" I have ever been in. It must have been even more so when filled with the personal treasures and furniture of the Tsars. The Russian royal family was apparently Europe's richest. No wonder the peasant revolted! The artwork collection is one of the largest in the world. All the big names are here. I lost count of how many Monet's I saw and there must have been 30 Picasso's. The collective value must be staggering. The Hermitage has 3 million pieces of art, but only has space to display 1/2 of them at any one time. We ran out of steam after 4 hours, hardly scratching the surface.

After a light meal it was off to bed. Life's tough when your unemloyeed.

Moscow day 3

carjam — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:39:00 GMT

First thing this morning, Michael and I got the metro to a market for some souvenir shopping. The metro at rush hour was mad - a sea of people, and the trains come about every 30 seconds. I read in a guidebook that more people use the Moscow metro than use the London and New York metros combined, which is pretty phenomenal.

The market was great - there were heaps of Russian dolls, cashmere, Soviet memorabilia, fur hats and lots more. We made some essential purchases and were on our way again - the metro to Red Sq to see St. Basil's Cathedral.

The Cathedral (built by Tsar Ivan the Terrible about 1560) is small and poky inside - there are several very tall chapels inside, with not much floor space. Every inch of the walls and ceilings were covered with colourful floral frescoes, and there were rich icons on many of the walls. Apparently Napoleon used it as stables when he was here!

The women here are very stylish, and I've never seen so many high heels. I feel out of place in my trainers and jeans, while there are lots of women in stilettos and fur coats.

The temperature here in Moscow surprised us - the first snow has not fallen. It's about 5 degrees, which is the warmest place we've been since Beijing a couple of weeks ago. The sun has been shining every day we've been here, so we feel pretty fortunate with the weather.

Michael and I get an overnight train to St. Petersburg tonight. I can't believe our 3 days here is up already - there's so much we didn't have time to do. We have really enjoyed Moscow, and thoroughly recommend it to anyone.

I have added more photos of Moscow to the Moscow photo album...

Moscow day 2

carjam — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:55:00 GMT

What a brilliant city. I didn't expect Moscow to be this beautiful. The weather helps. It was well above 0 today and not a cloud to be seen.

We went to the Kremlin this morning. While inside the Kremlin we visited a few churches. Inside the Archangel Cathedral there were four monks singing. They were amazing. It was a tad odd that after they finished they tried to sell their CD to all of the onlookers. Commercialism didn't seem to fit there. Being extremely cheap, we declined. All of the churches are at least 400 years old and all are stunning. We also visited a museum and saw crowns, thrones and carriages. One Empress had 4 personal carriages. A tad greedy I think. There was a diamond jewelry exhibit. Opulent. Photos were not allowed inside any of the buildings, sorry. We spent a couple hours looking around. The Kremlin is bigger than I thought. The walls are 2.7 kms long. My feet were feeling it.

The afternoon was spent on the metro. In the 1930's Stalin built several extremely grand metro stations. We stopped off at 5 of the more impressive stations. They are impeccably clean. Not a bit of graffiti to be seen. Mosaics, sculptures, paintings, marble floors... We did take lots of photos, but it really needs to be seen to be believed. The metro tickets only cost 19 rubles each. Deal!

Moscow impresses. Moscow surprises. Moscow we love you!

Gallery: Moscow metro

carjam — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:51:00 GMT

Moscow metro

Gallery: Moscow

carjam — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:02:00 GMT

Moscow

carjam — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:13:00 GMT

We arrived into one of the many railway stations in Moscow early this morning, and fought our way to buy a metro ticket among masses of people. Our hostel is in a great location, only about a 10-15 minute walk from Red Square. We left our heavy packs there and headed to the main square for the sunrise. St Basil's Cathedral blew us away, it's so colourful and fairy-tale like. The Kremlin was more impressive than I had anticipated, with awesome gates and high brick walls. Red Square also has the State History Museum, which is another incredible brick building at the north end, and the GUM (rhymes with 'plume') department store that is simply amazing - very posh with fountains and iron railings.

I visited Lenin, who after dying in 1924 is still lying in state in his own mausoleum in Red Square. There was virtually no queue to see him (very unlike Tiananmen Square in Beijing), and I thought he looked like a margarine sculpture - yellow and very waxy.

We visited the Cathedral to Christ the Saviour, which Stalin destroyed and was subsequently rebuilt in the last 20 years. It was the biggest and most intricately decorated church we've seen yet, with enormously high ceilings, rich icons and chandeliers.

Moscow has really surprised us with its beauty. I was expecting a more drab city, but what we've seen so far has been amazing.

Nizhny Novgorod 2

carjam — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:04:00 GMT

Mike and I went to a Russian tapas-style place for lunch, and felt pleased with ourselves for deciphering the menu using the phrasebook (although we ordered one dish twice). After spending a couple of hours in a cheap internet cafe, we saw the latest James Bond film - in Russian. We were hoping there would be subtitles, but no such luck. Then off the to train, and it was the newest one yet. We left Nizhny Novgorod at 10.45pm, and got into Moscow at 6.10am on Tuesday 11 November. And guess what? Russians snore.

Gallery: Nizhny Novgorod

carjam — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:59:00 GMT

Nizhny Novgorod

carjam — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 23:55:00 GMT

A few hours sleep made us feel much better. I woke up with a terribly sore neck though. I think it's from sleeping on short beds, with hard pillows. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Our hotel is horrible. It's another Soviet era disaster. The sink in the bathroom drains into an open grate on the bathroom floor. The shower is not separated from the rest of the bathroom, so water goes everywhere. The best is the extremely bright neo sign that shines through our window. Awesome. Amazingly enough I seem to sleep perfectly fine. Meredith isn't coping so well though.

We attempted to get the bus into town. It only costs 11 rubles per person. Cheap as chips. We waited in the freezing cold for about an hour before we gave up on our bus and grabbed a cab.

Nizhny Novgorod seems to have a lot going for it. There are some beautiful buildings here. The city is located at where the Oka and the Volga rivers meet. There is a lot of river traffic keeping the city busy. There are many beautiful churches, several statues, lots of bars, and a completely intact Kremlin. There are two main shopping streets that are pedestrian only. It's a great city to walk around. The locals seem more light-hearted than their cousins in Siberia. There seems to be more smiles and laughter around. There are beautiful views of the river at a monument to an explorer(his name escapes me)who in 1938 flew non stop from here to Vancouver over the North Pole.

It is quite cold here. Although there is no snow to enhance the beauty of the city, it is still my favorite place in Russia so far. There doesn't seem to be as much air pollution here. The Russians do have an issue with littering. There seem to be piles of garbage in areas around town. The main shopping areas are spotless, but as soon as you leave these areas the problem becomes easily apparent. Also, I haven't seem a recycling bin in ages. I'm not sure if they bother.

Gallery: Yekaterinburg Nizhny Novgorod train

carjam — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 02:56:00 GMT

train

Gallery: Yekaterinburg

carjam — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 02:51:00 GMT

Yekaterinburg