After we had settled into our hotel, we went off for some orientation.We walked to the Metro (found it eventually - it was a church that had been converted). The escalators were long - takes over 2 minutes to go down them.After checking out the Hermitage, we decided to walk down main street to see where all the sites were.It was an interesting walk - the city is full of tourists but much more affluent than I expected.We stopped at a cathedral. Inside there were l...

THE ROAD TO RUSSIA Left Tallin for St. Petersburg at 11:00pm. We got to the station early (about 45 mins before the train goes). The train is there but locked up. Eventually the train is opened up and we find our compartment. It is a 4 berth that we have to ourselves. Get ready for bed and are just settling down when the carriage attendant turns up with forms for us to fill in. Then get back down to bed. At about 2:45, the border crossing pantomime begins. First...

We left Riga today on the bus. It's not raining but is threatening to do so! The route went through endless pine forests with occasional glimpses of the Baltic. The beaches looked good but by then it is now raining , a bit forlorn. We arrive in Tallinn - it's still raining and we have to queue for a taxi - not very pleasant. The hotel is in the old town and is quite quaint. We are in a room at the back of the hotel - we need a map just to find our way back to rec...

A reasonable start to the day - up at a decent hour and a leisurely breakfast. Then a shock to Fran. We caught a trolley bus to the station - just as quick and 1/10th of the price of a taxi. The bus journey to Riga was uneventful. The bus seemed full of Italians - I don't know why. We had our passports checked for the first time since St Pancras. When we got to Riga it must have previously been pouring with rain - flooding everywhere. We continued the trolley bu...

We had an early start in Warsaw - up early out at 6:30 (4:30 UK!) to catch the train at 7:20. Found the platform OK and then Fran's priority - had to buy stuff for journey as there is no restaurant car on the train.The train was half empty - have a compartment to ourselves. It took a long time to clear Warsaw but eventually we are travelling through the countryside - nearly all forest with bits of farmland in between.We changed trains at the Lithuanian border (di...