Day 57 16 June 2013 St Petersburg- A boy named Tommie (2) Today No stories or pictures of where I am. I just want to share some really good news. A month ago, almost to the day I visited my good friend Eddie Verdriet in Hanoi. His little son was in intensive care and it started to look was losing his battle to stay alive. While talking to Eddie he faced the reality of Tommie dying and what to do afterwards in the event this would happen. Perhaps I had be...

Day 56 15 June 2013 The conductor opened the door at 6am and asked if I wanted coffee. Yes sure I said, and within minutes I was holding a large glass of strong brew. He even called me by my name; perhaps having a tourist on board was a bit of a novelty. At arrival my driver was waiting for me at the train door, again holding up a sign with my name. He insisted that he wanted to wheel my backpack so, go ahead Boris make my day. Another General Motors Chevrolet...

Day 55 14 June 2013 Moscow My last day in Moscow. I had decided to visit the " Museum of the Great Patriotic War" In other words “The Second World War”. Slowly you get used to all these sights as I have seen similar museums the world over but, I suppose everyone want to tell their own story to their inhabitants, and perhaps the very fact that these museums do exist may have prevented a few wars. 25 years ago we were on the brink of a nuclear war wi...

Day 54 13 June 2013 Moscow I hadn't used the internet or checked my email since a week ago and was I need of a pc. My host told me that the pc "had broken down and doesn’t work anymore". So this morning I acted like a real expert and pulled all the wires from the back; reconnected them all again and, there you go! It all worked again. Keeping a blog I do mainly for myself so I have a record of my activities; family and friends can read it along with me a...

Day 53 12 June 2013 Moscow My room is very large, I think it was formally was used as the lounge as beside a double bed it has a lounge suit ,large table and two sideboards full of books and the usual knick knacks plus an array of cards from all over the world, which I take, have been sent by people who were previous occupants of the room. I would like to tell a few things about the Russian apartment blocks.On entry to this building you have to insert a spe...