Night location: Helsinki, Finland For our final leg of this incredible holiday we are visiting three countries in six days, starting with Finland! Leaving Russia was bittersweet as we all feel as though we have so much more to see, and that's only in the two major cities, let alone the vast countryside beyond that! Yet, it was definitely a relief to pass through customs at the train station, and then through the prolonged passport control on board our train, wit...

Special Edition: Redisodes While on the train leaving Russia, we have been reflecting about some of the unique experiences that we have had in this country. This special edition is an attempt to capture some of the more chaotic and/or humorous Russian adventures that we have had. 1. Transportation a) Metro - We have found the metro stations to be a bit more complicated than what is necessary. Unlike every other train system that we have experienced, when you...

Night location: Saint Petersburg, Russia Today has been our coldest day of the trip so far with a top of only 6 degrees. Fortunately there was no rain however so we were still able to get out and about without a problem. We caught the metro to Admiralty which was by far the nicest station that we have seen in Saint Petersburg with beautiful mosaics depicting scenes of the navy. From 1711 to 1917 Admiralty was the headquarters of the Russian navy and is currently...

Night location: Saint Petersburg, Russia We have had another action-packed day in Russia! As is our custom, we research the night before about planned activities for the following day so that we are ready to go after breakfast. On this trip, as Edith is put to sleep in her travel cot after dinner, our 'team meetings' have typically been conducted via Messenger across our two rooms. Our original plan for today was to visit the Hermitage Museum however during the...

Night location: Saint Petersburg, Russia This morning our group of five split up in order to see the city from two different forms of transportation. Gemma, Gareth and Edith opted to see the sights from the deck of a canal boat, while Amber and David went on an extensive Segway tour. In Saint Petersburg, on just about every canal crossing, spruikers bombard pedestrians in a variety of languages encouraging passersby to board their vessel for a tour of the cana...