Firstly, I must apologise for the incredibly long absence. I see its been 2015 since my last post. Eek! Well it certainly isn't from lack of travelling. Life has continued to provide wonderful opportunities for exploring. I guess I have just gotten carried away with life and stuff to the extent I have neglected my writing responsibilities. So I shall kick some butt and get back into it.
First stop, Russia.I decided to visit in February. Yes....middle of winter and bitterly cold I know. But in many ways, that simply made it much more beautiful. Not only did I not have to deal with swathes of tourists, but everything was white and clean, covered under a blanket of snow. The colours seemed to be brighter and the locals, much more relaxed.
Russia has always been one of those countries which has intrigued and mystified me. I have wanted to visit Saint Petersburg for as long as I can remember, but beyond that, I was unsure of what to expect. For whatever reason I can't really say but I guess fear and a 'cold war upbringing' may well have been part of it. What a waste of emotion!
Its very difficult to visit Russia as an independent traveller. So I decided to book onto a small group tour starting in Saint Petersburg, travelling onto Novgorod, and then overnight train to Moscow. I chose On The Go Tours and the Russian Revolution 9 day trip. It was fabulous.
Our group consisted of just four of us; two twenty somethings and then two of us in our forties. The guide was also only a twenty something. So it was a perfect group size and a nice mix of ages.
We visited all the spectacular sites such as Peter and Paul Fortress, Church on Spilled Blood, the Hermitage and Winter Palace, St Catherine's Palace and the Nevsky Prospekt. We ate some fabulous Russian meals and enjoyed a great evening out at the Vodka Museum.
In Novgorod, the ancient city on the Volkhov River, we visited the kremlin, cathedral and Museum of Wooden Architecture, which was amazing.
Then in Moscow, we explored the Red Square, did a tour of the Kremlin and Lenin's Mausoleum, visited St Basil's Cathedral and explored a Cold War Bunker. We also had the once in a lifetime experience of ice skating on the Red Square.
All in all, this was a wonderful distraction from the norms of daily life. Everything was culturally challenging and different. Definitely needed to have a Russian guide as very few people spoke English which would have made a visit almost impossible done by myself. But the local people we met and those I did chat with were very welcoming and eager to speak about their country and their history and the tragedies of the 19th century. I loved the openness of people to talk about their personal experiences of living in Soviet Russia. Theirs is such a long, substantial and influential history and it was truly impressive that people of all ages know their history and understand and appreciate it.
Russia is truly a beautiful country with such culturally important history that is ought to be on everyone's hit list.
