We discovered the town of Vitsebsk north easy of Minsk to be delightful. Old buildings and churches set by the river. We booked into a hostel , leaving the trucks parked by the cathedral as there were mostly pedestrian streets.
We were given a 5 bedded room but were still rather amazed to be woken at 1 in the morning as a potential new person was shown the room. She declined on seeing the dog but it still took a while to go back to sleep!!!!!
We were quite anxious about the border crossing into Russia so were completely amazed to find that we weren't even stopped . This beggars the question of whether we now have the correct authorisation. Arriving in Moscow we asked at the hotel but couldn't get any answers especially as most of the week is holiday for most people.
Finding the hotel was really tricky and took several tries but arriving we were allotted the car park set aside for camping. Our toilets were on the first floor in the staff quarters but were clean and warm.
The weather has been freezing with lots of rain.
We spent the day in Moscow, having got the hotel shuttle bus for 20 mins to the nearest metro station and then a 40 min train ride , cost 50 p each way.
It was quite quiet in the centre and we wandered around for hours in the kremlin and surrounding streets. Lots to see, tiring too!
We decided to try the Golden Ring and headed for Suzdal . The rain was relentless and the wind icy cold. It was a nice surprise to find a campsite very modern very pricy £20 a night.
As it was Terry's birthday we went to the restaurant on sight and enjoyed a Russian meal. The lady on the table next to us helped as the menu was all
In Russian and we didn't understand a word. But we picked lovely salads, a kind of stir fry and then pancakes and ice cream delicious.
Suzdal is very picturesque with loads of old monasteries and churches and thankfully the weather became drier although still bitterly cold .
We will move on tomorrow to another town in the Ring and then a third as we think this could be the only touristy places we find apart from st Petersburg.