Sophistivacation

September 17th/18th 2017 Hello...Sweden! We should be home by now; instead we are in Stockholm. We were delayed in Tallinn which meant we missed our connecting flight in Stockholm.. When we landed, we had 10 minutes to catch our next flight. We headed to the departure gate but the flight was already gone. We then went to find the SAS service desk; the first one was unoccupied with a sign telling us to go to a desk beside gate 1. After passing through passport control twice and security once, we made it to the customer service desk. SAS had rebooked us on the 10.35 flight next morning but we had to speak to LOT Polish Airlines to get a hotel for the night. We went down one floor and found the LOT service desk; there were a few of the people from our Tallinn flight waiting for a hotel too. LOT booked us into the Radisson Blu Arlandia Airport Hotel for the night where we would get dinner and breakfast included; not so bad really....We asked where our cases were so we could change but they...

September 17th 2017 Today we fly back to Scotland...but not until 17.30pm so we decide to fit in a bit more sightseeing.  We have breakfast in the hotel then check out of our room before heading to the Kiek in de Kök museum. The English tour is just about to leave so its perfect timing. We watch a movie about the history of Tallinn before heading into the tunnels of the Bastion. The tunnels were used as bomb shelters and also by the Soviets during the occupation; it is really interesting. After the museum, we go back to Olde Hansa Medieval Restaurant for a quick drink before heading to the airport.  Our whole holiday has been an adventure; there is nothing we haven't enjoyed (well, apart from the mosquitoes in Beijing!). It has also been a real eye opener as we have been to places that are definitely not your average destinations and had a great time. The highlights were definitely Moscow, Beijing and staying in the Ger in Mongolia. I can't tell you how amazing the organisatio...

September 16th 2017 Surprisingly we are both reasonably fresh; so its a quick shower, breakfast and a tour round the city. Breakfast is pretty substantial and one of the best on the trip; its weird, I'm starting to prefer a continental breakfast rather than a fry up...I doubt that will last! We head out to find the start of the hop-on hop-off; there are 3 routes but we start with the red one as it takes us around the old town. It appears Estonians are crazy drivers, especially when we nearly fly off the end of the pier beside the maritime museum! We transfer straight to the blue line but it feels like a lot of the tour is repeated so we give the green line a miss. We walk to Freedom Square, before heading up to Toompea Castle. There is a glass cross in the square which commemorates the people who died during their war of independence. As we walk up the hill, we walk past "Kiek in de Kök Museum;" I was killing myself laughing, Iain didn't agree, ha ha! We will try to g...

September 15th 2017 We arrived into Tallinn port and decided to get an uber after asking a taxi driver how much it would cost (14 euros); I guess they like to overcharge tourists. The uber was only 5.36 euros so I'm not complaining. We checked into our hotel, it's a boutique hotel which used to be a bank. It is situated in the old town and is quite beautiful. Unfortunately, no upgrade this time though. We take the lift up to the top floor; the lift is totally prehistoric and it is a bit terrifying to step into, especially with two huge cases. We unpack a little and decide to go a wander around the historic old town. Tallinn is split between the old town and new town, a bit like Edinburgh. After a 2 minute walk, we stumble across town square which is surrounded by bars and restaurants. There is, what looks like, a police band playing outside the town hall so we decide to stop and try our first Estonian beer, Saku. The beer tastes a bit like Baltika 3; not the best but not the wo...

September 15th 2017 I have a hangover!  Too much red wine last night but I still make breakfast. It is a bit more substantial than the ones in Russia but not the best of the holiday, that was definitely beijing! After breakfast, I have another nap before showering and packing. This is a very girly thing, but my hair feels amazing and is super shiny; the water is so soft here. We check out the hotel and walk down to the bottom of the pedestrian street to get a tram to the ferry terminal. It is only 15 minutes away so we have plenty of time to make our 1.30pm departure.  Check-in is simple and we head to the departure lounge and for a beer. We order one pint and a half pint, 14 Euros! Let's hope Estonia is cheaper. At 1pm, we start boarding. I have booked comfort class for the 2 hour transfer to Tallinn. I ask where we need to go and thankfully, it appears to be the opposite direction to everyone else! We are about to get the elevator up to deck 9 but we notice luggage lockers a...

September 14th 2017 continued We arrived into Helsinki Railway Station which was only a 5 minute walk from our hotel. It was too early to check in but we left our luggage and headed out to find the hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus. We were still hungry after our croissant breakfast on the train and dare I say it, McDonalds was right across from the hotel. We were tired and hungry so that's my excuse! A chicken nugget meal later and I was ready for our penultimate adventure. We walked up the hill from our hotel and found Senate Square and the start of the bus tour. We decided on a combination ticket which also included a boat tour to cruise the Helsinki archipelago. The highlights of the bus tour were the Flea Market and the Temppeliaukio Church (or Rock Church). The church is built directly into solid rock where natural light enters through the skylight surrounding the centre copper dome. We decided to walk from the church to Market Square in order to get the last cruise of the day. ...

September 14th 2017 I am shattered! It's 5am and I am up, showered and ready for the next part of our travels.... We ordered a taxi the previous night, and it is outside waiting to take us to St Petersburg Finlyandsky Railway Station. Today we are leaving Russia and heading across the border to Finland. We arrive at the station where there is a huge number of people waiting; we are held in a customs control area where our passports are then checked, our bags put through security, and then we get to board the train. No first class travel today; just cattle class, but it is way nicer than what we have back home.. As soon as we move away from the platform, Russian border control start coming through the carriage. Our immigration forms are stamped and we are officially leaving Russia. It has been an interesting journey, from the border crossing with Mongolia, to Yekaterinburg, then onto Moscow and finally St Petersburg. We have had an amazing time in Russia and I would not hesitate to ...

September 13th 2017 It is our last day in St Petersburg and our last full day in Russia. We have loads to try and fit in so we have an early breakfast and pack as we won't have time to do it later; we are going to the theatre...again! We also don't want to waste time coming back to the hotel so I have to take my "posh" clothes (a dress and shoes) with me in my bag. Our first stop is the Hermitage and Winter Palace. We get a bus along Nevsky Prospect, which is 4.5 kilometres long, and get off just before the museum. Thankfully, we bought our tickets online so we get to use a separate entrance in the small hermitage building. It is only 10.30am but the queues are pretty big already. Once in, visitors have to leave their jackets with the cloakroom; this seems to be a thing in Russia, we have had to do it in numerous places.  As we enter through the barriers using our printed tickets, we get a map of the main building. We knew the place was huge, but there are 3 floors in...

September 12th 2017 We had a bit of a longer lie than planned but it was definitely needed.... We headed down to breakfast; it seems to be a bit like the last hotel but everything is fresher and it appears that a little more care has gone into the preparation. I made the usual toastie but with cheese and tomato, for a change! There is also a TV and they switched it straight to English so we could understand it; I think they like us here as there are also a group of Chinese tourists staying at the hotel, but they are super loud! After breakfast, we head out to find the bus stop for the city tour. As we start walking down Nevsky Prospect, police cars and dump trucks start blocking the roads.....is Mr Putin following us? Sadly not, it is a procession to celebrate the Russian Orthodox Church. Unfortunately, this also means that our bus is delayed and will not leave for another hour. We decide to walk towards St Isaacs Cathedral instead... After 30 minutes, we make it to the Cathedral. We i...

September 11th 2017 It's 6.45am and the alarm is going off....we are shattered and have slight hangovers! We are still on the train but due to arrive in St. Petersburg at 7.55am. Before that, breakfast is served. It's the last thing I want, an omelette and some cheese and grapes....urgh! I do my best to eat what I can. We arrive on time and our driver is waiting for us at the end of the platform. He drives us to our hotel which is literally 5 minutes along Nevsky Prospect, a great location to start our adventures. All we really want is a rest and a hot shower....but no, we couldn't check in until 1pm. The hotel did do all the registration, which is the time consuming part, but we were told to leave our luggage and come back later. Our walking tour of the city was due to begin at 10am so we went to find a coffee shop; there is definitely a coffee culture here with shops on every corner. We had a latte and honey cake before returning to the hotel to meet our guide, Taisiia.  ...