Onwards to Moscow

September 6th 2017

We awoke at 7.30am, showered and packed ready for our pickup just after 9. It was our last breakfast in the hotel so we made the most of it. Our driver, Alexandre picked us up as scheduled and drove us to the station. It only took 20 minutes to get there so we were slightly early; the driver helped me with my luggage and put it through the security check. He then preceded to explain in Russian how to understand the platforms; thankfully, it was not that difficult and we followed the crowd once it had been announced.

We were in first class, carriage 10, a two berth as before. After showing our passports and tickets, we struggled onto the train with our bags and supplies! This train was more modern than the previous and we even got a little basket, full of goodies; 2 bread rolls, chocolate, tea, sugar, creamer, an apple and a bottle of water! There was also a newspaper but the only part that I could understand was the Sudoku. 

We settled into our carriage, which was stifling hot, contemplating a dinner of noodles or the below average restaurant car. Turns out, we have a meal included in the ticket which means we can have either dinner or breakfast; we both opt for dinner. A woman comes around asking what we want to preorder in Russian, thankfully there is a man in our carriage who is able to translate! The people next to us are from New Zealand so he does the same for them; we don't feel so bad now! We ordered beef and cheese so no idea what that actually means but we will wait and see...

After 15 or so minutes, we are officially in Europe again. See you next year Asia......

The same woman then comes around offering peeva; we know that's beer! 11am is a bit early but hey-ho, we are on holiday! 400 roubles later (£2.80 a beer each) and we are happy as Larry....

So we settle back to reading, blogging and watching the scenery go by; there are hundreds upon hundreds of silver birch and pine trees, fields and a few houses dotted here and there, I'm sure this will change as we get closer to Moscow.

At 6pm local time, we go to the restaurant car for dinner; this is the time we prebooked...or so we thought! Turns out we booked 6pm Moscow Time, that's 8pm local. We have a good giggle with the 3 woman as one was trying to speak into her phone to translate into English while Iain was typing on his phone trying to translate into Russian....we got their in the end and just ordered beer! 



The woman in the dining car obviously feels sorry for us and brings us some cheese and 2 grapes; we wonder if this is the cheese part of our meal. After 5 minutes, a fish dish of salmon and vegetables then arrives (we did order beef but we are not going to complain!) So far we have found Russians to be very hospitable, I do wish I had learned a few more phrases though!



Dinner was rather tasty and it was free! We sit for a while before buying another beer to take back to the cabin. As we are leaving, the couple in the cabin next to us are arguing with one of the waitresses, turns out they never got their change from earlier in the day. The waitress enlists the help of a Russian who is sitting eating smoked fish that he bought from a seller at the previous station platform, it smells amazing! The discussion escalates and we decide to leave!

It's about 8.30 local time so we decide to get ready for bed and lounge about in the cabin for the rest of the evening. Roll on Moscow!

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