There and back again
Visited Russia, our eastern neighbours, for the very first time on tuesday. The day trip was a bachelor party for a friend, which turned out low on humiliation and high on quality walkingabouts.
The way in and out was easy, a train called Sibelius worked just fine, apart from a surgically early wakeup call.
Rain was pretty consistent during the train ride in, but happily enough, subsided almost immediately after the arrival.
Despite scary stories in the media, there were no evident criminals in the crowd. Or at least the tales of spectacle-snatchers and wallet-kidnappers proved false. Shopping-wise the town doesn't hold much to offer. The old market hall provided pirate cds and dvds, glassware and really ugly dolls. Nothing to entice, really. Had lunch at the Slavjanskaja Trapeza, near the castle. Had a plateful of pelmens (first ever), Emperor’s Meatloaf, and honey-nut pancakes, all of which were packed with goodness. Didn’t bring a camera, but took plenty of pictures, the freshly charged n95 ran out of juice on the backward swing, the load of trying to pick up of low signals of the basestations having taken its toll.
Missed the Round Tower, but did a long round of the Castle, the tower was scaffolded, but fortunately the view from the top was not blocked. 
Musicnaut:
Excellent photos. Too bad the train was Finnish.
June 27, 2008, 19:12lavonardo:
Yah, the method of transportation was indeed domestic, saved the real adventure for the next trip.
They did serve up a decent breakfast (with sparkling wine and plenty of meat), though.
June 27, 2008, 19:41