Day 1 (part 2): Crossing the Volga

I believe it is a river, but it looks like the sea,

Though it is far removed from its estuary.

Day 1: Rtishchevo (Old Russia)

A perfectly planned grid-iron of 5-storey Khruschev-era blocks, round a central rectangular park with chrysanthemums and pansies. In the middle a bust of Lenin, and at the end a fountain, a Soviet-style hall of fame, and Lenin once again. Blue-and-white chocolate box station finishes the ensemble.

Happy Moscow Day!

I'm off now - train at 10.50pm, arrive Almaty 7.20am Wednesday. No posts till after then.

...and I cannot lie

Loved the opulent Metro stations (but didn't get any decent photos).

Less impressed by the sculpture park (but some redeeming features).

Inevitable "Stalinist" architecture shot

How unoriginal!

(cool though)

Changing trains

Just before dawn on the Poland / Belarus border:
Massive jacks lifted our train into the air, whilst a team of orange-clad workmen (with a little help from a gantry crane) efficiently swapped the Western European gauge wheels for the slightly broader Russian standard.

We were supposed to sleep through this, but I was too excited...

(Have safely arrived in Moscow now.)

1939 / 2009

Seventy years ago today German troops attacked Poland, leading to the occupation of the west of the country. The Soviets soon attacked and occupied the east.

Today I say farewell to my friends in Berlin, and am to travel in peace through Poland, and on to Moscow, where other friends await my arrival.