RUSSIA - St Petersburg

We got in to St Petersburg slightly late at around 11. It was a real shock. For the first time it felt like we were travelling properly. Unlike Scandinavia where most people speak english no one here does. This does make easy tasks like buying a train ticket difficult. I spent some time in the summer learning about the Cyrillic alphabet (the alphabet they use) in order that i might be able to recognise some of the owrds when we got here. In hindsight i am so glad that i did this as it did prove useful in regonising words on the Metro. We got to the square adjacent to our hostel. It was a lively place inhabited by some shifty characters. At one point we got followed by a wierd guy speaking Russian at us. We followed the instructions to get to the hostel and still couldn't find it! I asked a group of Russian guys who had obviously had a couple of drinks if they could help. The situation seemed to get worse as they asked us to follow them, but as it turned out our suspicions were completely wrong, they were very kind and phone the hostel for us and found the entrance. The entrace was rubbish, it looked like a bunker door and when we got inside the stairwell it did not get much better, looking like it had been bombed! However getting up to 3rd floor and another bunker door we were welcomed by a nice guy and asked to take our shoes off. What an ironic contrast. Inside was warm and friendly. I suppose it must be a major problem looking after communal spaces in private buildings.

Next day we walked into the centre. After tourist information we found our way to the main square, Winter Palace bordering it on one side, unfortunately covered in scaffolding on that side.

Following Tourist info advice we went up the dome of St Isaac's and got a panoramic view of the city. The grandeur of the surrounding buildings was evident. We walked to a peninsula opposite the Hermitage and for some reason saw about 7 Bride and Grooms and wedding parties having their photos in the vicinity. It seems the place to be seen and pictured as a newly wed, may be it is a tradition? Hermitage/Winter Palace in the background.

On to the Peter and Paul Fortress which contains the first building built in St Petersburg. A little like Scandinavia there were loads of different museums, we decided to take in the Church, the St Petersburg Museum and the Museum of Russia Space Exploration.

On the way back we went to the train station in order to get our tickets on to Moscow. This proved to be much more difficult than any of thought it would be. After about an hour of struggling with it all we got a local to help us, we got a ticket each for some train on the right date late a night. They had absolutely no patience for us english!

Next day we went to The Cathedral on Spilt Blood which is based on St Basil's in Moscow, it was fantastic inside and out. Mosaics covered every wall internally.

Just behind the cathedral is a souvenir market where i bartered and bought a Kossak hat. So expect a few pictures of me in Siberia wearing a cool hat! We then ventured to the Hermitage which has to be one of the biggest Art Museums i have been in, we got lost several times, but i eventually found my way out. We got on the overnight train to Moscow that night and arrived early this morning. More to follow.

FINLAND

The ferry to Finland from Stockholm was a real experience!!!

Clem got an early night and this left me and Karl to go and sample the delights of the ferry unsupervised! In that time we got very lucky at electronic poker taking away about €45 which funded what would have otherwise been quite a quiet night!

We had a few beers from the Pub on board and enjoyed some of the free entertainment including an ABBA tribute group (Perr would have been proud) and a live band. After only about 4 hours at sea it seemed that everyone around us was a little worse for ware including one gentleman who looked remarkably like Boris Johnson, he missed his seat a couple of times, one time taking most of the glasses on the table with him! When the band came on we were able to make some shapes on the dance floor with several swedes and fins. The boat was an amazing night and we didnt end up getting to bed until 5.00am the next day was going to be a long one! The ferry got in to Helsinki at about 9.30.

Hungover in Helsinki

We left our stuff in lockers at the port and were then free to roam. We saw the Cathedral on the way to the city centre. First stop was the much anticipated Modern Art Museum by Steven Holl. In all honesty the outside did not impress me that much, but upon entering it lived up to expectations. When the museum is entered from the front you are confronted by the most fantastic light airy space with a long curving ramp hugging the side wall of that atrium, around, above and behind are glimpses of the route to come in the form of bridges, steps and ramps all sneaking into the central space.The museum is fantasically set out, taking you round what is a seemly random route, but extremely well organise so as to make sure that not one bit of it can be missed. If you were to look at one building where the route through the building is of such importance then this is it!

Following this we ventrued to the Finlandia - Alvar Aalto. The is one of the main music and conference venues in the city. We bought a ticket to look around only to find out that we had just purchased a ticket to look around the Finnish Nature Photograph of the year exhibition. No luck with looking around the building as there were no tours running at that time of the day, we were told to return the following day. We collected our bags from the terminal and called it a day.

Next day we got up early in order to get to the Finlandia once more. Before doing so we took the 3T tram route all round the city, it runs in a figure of 8 shape and we therefore saw a lot of the city very cheaply.
We got to the Finlandia and were told that there were no tours available that day as there was a conference and the orchestra were practicing. Dammit.

Not one to come all the way to Finland without seeing inside the famous Finlandia i broke out the charm, (and desperation) and spoke to one of the security guards, who after much persuasion, to the amazement of Karl and Clem, who were convinced we wouldn't get in, he agreed to show us around at 3 when the orchestra had finished practicing. Second blag into a public building for free on the trip so far!

We sacrificed the rest of the days plans in favour of burning some time with a walk around the area. We took in the sights of the Sibelius memorial the 1952 Olympic Stadium and then back to arrive promptly.
The security guard, Timo, gave us a very nice tour and after he was a little embarresed when we asked to have a photo with him. Legend!

The next day we caught the train to Turku, west of Helsinki. Turku used to be the capital of Finland and it seems that it will be European capital of Culture in 2011. It was grey and wet when we went and we didn't find that much to keep our interest for very long.

The day after we got the train to Jyvaskyla, north east of Turku. This was on our to do list for one reason, for those who haven't studied architecture ths will mean nothing but for those who have it is where Alvar Aalto spent much of his life and is where one can see many o his buildings including the Aalto Museum. Everything we did there was Aalto related and therefore i found it very interesting.

Next morning we caught the train back to Helsinki and then got on the train to St Petersburg. The train is about 7 hours including a long time being checked by border control etc. During the journey we were brought a complimentary beer and nuts, not a policy i see South West Trains introducing, however it might help them justify their extortionate ticket prices! Arriving late in St Petersburg was a real shock, for the first time on our trip, no one spoke english, the alphabet is obviously completely different and this all makes getting around with all of our bags very interesting.

SWEDEN

Train to Gothenburg from Oslo was less dramatic than our trip acros Norway however by British standards still quite picturesque, lots of autumn trees and large lakes which the train speeds past.Gothenburg is the first really bustling city we have been to. It seemed much bigger than Oslo and there seemed like there would be more to do. The city is far more spread out, or so it seems and not everything we planned to see was open that day.


Train across Sweden to Stockholm took 5 hours and went through nice scenery again, Sweden is much flatter than i had imagined, in some parts it reminded me of the Fens back Around Spalding where i grew up.

Stockholm is a fantastic city, so much to do. There are more museums here than anywhere i have ever been before, and there is one for every possible thing you could think of as interesting and some not so interesting, the Post Museum, the Police Museum, etc. The only musuem i have not seen is the Museum Museum. We did venture into the Architecture and Modern Art Museums and The Vasa Museum. The Vasa was an old ship built in Stockholm which sank on its maiden voyage, not 1000 meters away from where it launched. Apparently it sank because of poor design, not enough space for ballast etc. It's always the designers fault isnt it!!!

We got chatting with a nice Canadian guy who is travelling around Europe. He also has relatives in Scotland. It is amazing how easy it is to get talking to new people if you have beers handy!
Here is the view from our hostel, which was on a boat.

We board our ferry to Finland this evening and arrive in Helsinki in the early hours.

NORWAY

BERGEN - Arrived in Bergen on the 10th-rainy and grey. I got done at airport security trying to smuggle marmite onto the plain! This brings up a very important question, is marmite really a liquid?

Bergen is an amazing town on the west coast with the Fjords surrounding. We went up the view point peak and got an amazing view of Norway's second largest city.


We had the most amazingly expensive fish and chips from the fish market. 10 quid. It has become clear that Norway is very expensive, beers 6 pounds or more, a very sober affair through scandinavia me thinks!

Next day we took the train to Oslo, i say train but it was more like bus then train, then bus then train again! It seems there are as much works on the train lines here as in the UK! We were very lucky with the seats we booked, we had our own little area to ourselves which made the 6 hour journey very comfortable.

The train journey from Bergen to Oslo is amazing! The Fjords make for awe inspiring scenery, which then, as the train climbs higher turns to almost moon like scenery with the occasionally snow topped mountain.

OSLO - We got to Oslo tired from our travels, baring in mind the weight f the bags we were carrying on our backs we decided to get a taxi. A nice taxi driver took us to our hostel. He seemed amazed by the trip we had just started and wanted a photo with us to show some of his mates, we obliged.
Oslo seems to be a cool place, quite small for a capital but still some interesting things to see, particularly the Opera house by Snøhetta! Amazing, one of the best buildings iv seen.


We walked over 13 miles that day and took in as much of the surroundings as possible, including the Royal Palace where i had a photo with one of the guards, far less disciplined than outside Buckingham Palace.

Since writing this post i have remembered something else which i must write about. In the hostel in the seating area i got my book out for a quick read while we were waiting. I was near to finishing it, The Di Vinci Code, and is sparked off an interesting conversation with a Spanish guy who had lived in Norway previously. We had a conversation about history, religion and ethics. All in all a very interesting chat.

We are off to Gothenburg tomorrow.
Signing off, more to come.

Sam, Clem and Karl

In the beginning...

In the beginnning there were 3 intrepid travellers intent on experiencing a little of what the world had to offer.

They are; Clementine Griggs, Karl Harris, and Samuel Stevens. There general idea is to get from here to Australia and New Zealand over land wherever possible.

So imagine a Long Way Round Style map, the route is as follows;

Starting in Norway, we will move across Norway, Sweden and Finland, Trans-Siberian/Mongolian Express across Russia and Mongolia to Beijing. Then down through China, through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia to Singapore, then we will board a flight to OZ and on to New Zealand, Fiji, LA and San Francisco on the way home, all in the space of 6 months.

I will be trying to keep this Blog as up to date as possible so that you can follow our progress if you so wish.

If anyone wishes to make comment feel free, either by posting one or by emailing me.

Here is a picture of us all at Gatwick prior to departure.