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Trans-Siberian Train Journey

From Beijing to St Petersburg by Train
September 19 to October 11, 2001

Flag of Russia

St. Basil's CathedralMOSCOW & ST. PETERSBURG

Friday, October 5, 2001 – Arrive Moscow
Early in the morning we passed through some of Moscow’s outer suburbs including Rostov and Aleksandrov, and caught a glimpse of the gold domes of Sergiev Posad. After the train rolled into Moscow’s Yaroslavskiy, we were transferred to our hotel. The first morning we visited some of the city highlights with Olga, our Moscow tour guide.With a population nearing 9 million, Moscow ranks as the world’s fourth largest city. In the afternoon we had free time to explore the ‘City of Destiny’.
While in Moscow, we stayed at the Rossija Hotel, the largest hotel in Europe.

Saturday, October 6, 2001 – Moscow
We visited the Kremlin, the seat of government in the heart of the city. Within its walls are many impressive buildings including the modem Palace of Congress and the magnificent gold and silver domed cathedrals dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. We also visited the Armoury Chamber which houses armour, weapons, crowns, jewels and state coaches from the tsarist period. The afternoon was free to explore this cosmopolitan city – and check our e-mail at one of the impressive internet cafes. We took in a ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre this evening.

Sunday, October 7, 2001 – Moscow
A free day to explore this thriving metropolis – we took a few subway rides to see the spectacular Moscow underground, where the stations are virtual art galleries! Before we boarded our train to St Petersburg in the evening, we caught CNN pictures of the initial bombing of Afghanistan, which sobered us up and took a lot of the joy of travelling out of our group.

The HermitageMonday, October 8, 2001 – Arrive St Petersburg
We arrived early in this magnificent city, and commenced the day with a city orientation tour. The city is made up of islands linked by bridges located in the delta of the river Neva which flows into the Gulf of Finland. St Petersburg is renowned for its superbly planned squares and wide avenues, and its spacious parks and gardens. Changes in the world’s fortunes with the start of World War tin 1914 also saw the city lose its proud identity, being renamed Petrograd. After the explosive upheavals of the Russian Revolution it was renamed Leningrad in 1924. The era of ‘glasnost’ and ‘perestroika’ in the 1990’s led to the end of communism and the name of St Petersburg was returned. Seeing its restored beauty of today, it is hard to imagine the shattering events it has withstood, including the bloody 1917 Revolution and the bombs and artillery fire of the 900 day siege during world War II. We took the metro ‘downtown’ in the afternoon, and walked around the central area, near St Isaac’s Cathedral. In St Petersburg we stayed at the Moskva Hotel.

Tuesday, October 9, 2001 – St Petersburg
Today’s highlight was the Hermitage museum, located on Palace Square and displaying one of the world’s finest art collections. The collection includes millions of items; paintings, sculptures, furniture and antiques.

Wednesday, October 10, 2001 – Tour concludes.
We concluded our Trans Mongolian odyssey today after breakfast, saying our good-byes to our new-found friends, before heading off to Berlin for our next travel adventure.

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Last modified: December 27, 2002
Email: Rudy Nikkel.