Across Russia to Japan and Malaysia - Part 2/12 (Kazan)

Our next stop was Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan. Kazan is a beautiful city and its Kremlin absolutely breathtaking.

Flag with the coat of arms of the Republic of Tatarstan.

In Kazan we stayed in the Hotel Guiseppe, which while not the cheapest hotel is highly recommended - a central location and excellent service.

 Peter next to the Kazan Cat monument on Bauman Street.

 Henry by the carriage of Empress Catherine II.

 Ladies strolling towards the Kazan Kremlin.

 Spasskaya Tower - the entrance to the Kremlin.

 The Kul Sharif mosque.

 The Söyembikä Tower - the leaning tower of Kazan.

A monument to the architects of the Kazan Kremlin.

A monument to the poet, Mussa Jalil.

After the sight-seeing, it was time to get something to eat and we headed off to Maximilian's Brauerei, where our Russian skills managed to get us four portions of sausages instead of two!

The restaurant where we had a very substantial meal.

One of the surprises on our trip was how little English is spoken in Russia, despite it being widely taught in school. Henry, of course, has studied some Russian, but it seems that the Russian he is taught and the Russian spoken in Russia are somewhat different.

Another difficulty was Henry's nut allergy, which meant that we had to be rather careful when choosing where to eat and what to eat. 

After our ample meal, we went for a post-prandial stroll to help the digestion. 

Russian cities are full of monuments and fountains, and Kazan is no exception - an example is given below.

One of the many fountains in Russia (complete with obligatory girl posing for a photo).

We would have liked to have spent a little longer in Kazan but we had to move on. Our next stretch was the two-day train journey to Novosibirsk.

 

Henry ready for the next stage of our trip. The stripy bag contains our provisions for the journey.

Russian long-distance trains come in four different categories, the highest category being named trains such as the Tolstoi or Tatarstan, which have the most modern rolling stock. The lowest category are trains with three-digit numbers such as this one which started in Adler, near Sochi, and travelled to Novosibirsk. Three-digit trains have older rolling stock and less modern facilities, but we found that they were in fact more comfortable. The slower pace made for a gentler rocking motion and made it much easier to sleep.

Each carriage has one or two carriage attendants ('provodnik'/provodnitsa'), who keep the place clean and make sure that all is as it should be. Our train had two young provodnitsa, who burst into nervous giggles whenever we approached them. We gave them the nickname of 'the sponge bobs' because of the T-shirt one of them wore while cleaning.

One of the best things about Russian long-distance travel is the samovar at the end of each carriage. This guarantees a supply of hot water for tea, coffee, soup, instant porridge and cup noodles. One of the favourites among Russian travellers seemed to be instant mashed potato.

 Novosibirsk - Adler.

Across Russia to Japan and Malaysia - Part 1/12 (Vainikkala - Moscow)

Summer 2014 was special because Henry and Peter travelled overland from Europe to Asia.

We took the Trans Siberian Railway to Vladivostok, ferry to Japan, and returned to Finland via Malaysia.

All aboard!

An engine in the night.

Following a good night's sleep on the Tolstoi train from Vainikkala, it was breakfast and off to see the sights of Moscow.

 Peter with his morning coffee.

 Henry looking forward to breakfast.

We started our day's sightseeing with a walking tour of parts of central Moscow.

 The Bolshoi theatre.

 Kremlin's Saviour Tower.

The Historical State Museum on Red Square.

 St. Basil's Cathedral.

A church in the Kitai Gorod area.

 The black limousines waiting to put on their blue lights and rush round to the Kremlin.

 The view from Tverskaya Street.

After lunch at an Il Patio restaurant, we took the advice of The Scorpions and "followed the Moskva River down to Gorky Park", where we strolled around and rested in the sunshine.

 The Moskva River with the monument to Peter the Great.

Henry in his favourite metro station, Mayakovskaya.

As evening set in, we went back to the Komsomolskaya Square and the Kazansky Station to catch our next train - the 'Tatarstan' to Kazan.

50th Anniversary Trip

Elk's Street followers will have noticed that the blog has been rather silent in recent months. There is an explanation for this. Firstly, the photos on the blog are mostly taken with a mobile phone, which had some technical difficulties (after having been in Thomas's hands) and as a consequence all data - photos, contacts, notes, music etc - were erased. So there was nothing about which to write. Secondly, your scribe's work has changed so that he spends hours a day working at a computer and as a result has little interest in sitting in front of a screen in the evening as well. And finally, Henry has become a stroppy teeenager, reducing your correspondent's energy levels and limited reservers of positivity.

Nevertheless, some nice things have happened in the Elk's Street world. One of which was Mum and Dad's golden wedding anniversary in November 2012.

For reasons of school and cost, it was not possible for the whole of Elk's Street to go to the celebrations but Peter, with a little help from Stephen, hatched a plot to make a surprise appearance. The plan was that Peter would go over to the UK, stay with Stephen in Knaresborough, and then surprise everyone - the prodigal returns!

Knaresborough is a picturesque village and the day after my arrival we had time for a walk around. The weather, as can be seen from the photos below, was very good, although the evening before it had been raining the proverbial cats and dogs.

Stephen by the entrance to a hermit's cave.

The sharp-eyed can find a number of sculptures in the forest along the river.

Old Man of the Forest.

A lizard-rabbit.

A diving kingfisher.

The river Nidd with the railway viaduct.

 

The railway viaduct.

Knaresborough Castle

Knaresborough Castle with War Memorial.

View to the River Nidd from the castle.

After a stroll round Knaresborough, we took the short train ride to Harrogate, where we met Sarah, who joined us on her lunch break.

 Sarah and Stephen.

In the evening, Sarah drove us non-drivers over to Preston, where we were to stay at Catherine's before the big 'bash'. Even though it was only a small do, there were quite a few of us there:

• Mum and Dad
• Peter
• Catherine, Andrew and Jonathan
• Ruth and Abigail
• Patrick, Jane, Daniel and Lois
• Stephen and Sarah
• Sarah, Ben and Lukas

My subterfuge worked a treat. Everyone was in the bar having a pre-dinner drink, when I walked in and quietly stood in the background until I was noticed. Of course, the beard was excellent camouflage!

The dinner was held at The Derby Arms in Longridge, an excellent place for solid, unpretentious food. My photos were useless, so most of the photos below are courtesy of Catherine.

One end of the table.

And the other end of the table.

Dad, Mum and Jonathan.

Jonathan and Patrick

Jane, Lois and Sarah.

Lukas and Ben.

Lois and Lukas.

Ruth and Abigail

Patrick.

Peter.

Sarah and Stephen.

 Daniel.

 Patrick decided to go for a 'light lunch'. Here is his venison steak with suet pudding.

Mum and Dad with their anniversary cake. The trick here was that the cake was a photo cake, that is, it was decorated with a photo of Mum and Dad cutting their wedding cake 50 years earlier.

50 years is quite some time - well done, Mum and Dad!

Japan Trip - Part 8

It was time to return to Finland.

Thinking back over our trip, it was certainly an interesting experience. It is difficult to sum up Japan in a few words but here are a few thoughts.

• Thomas was of the opinion that there were rather a lot of Japanese.
• Henry was impressed by the technology.
• H-M liked the cleanliness and the ancient and unique culture, although she fears that it is slowly fading.
• And I was surprised by how green Japan was.

While Japan might not seem like an obvious tourist destination, we would certainly recommend it. Tourist information can be found from the Japanese National Tourism Organization.

 

The Tokyo Metro, which is easy to navigate when you know how.

We would like to thank Yuko for her hospitality and kindness in spending so much time with us. Without her, things would not have gone as smoothly.



Being in Japan during the rainy season meant there was one sight that we didn't see, Mount Fuji. 

But on the flight home, what did we see?

Mount Fuji

Japan Trip - Part 7

Our Japan trip was drawing towards its end, but there was still one promise that we had to fulfill, a visit to Miraikan, The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation.

 In the same way that Thomas had been looking forward to the visit to the ninja museum, Henry had been looking forward to this trip. And sure enough, he wasn't disappointed.

Highlights of the visit included figures that reacted to the human voice, the geo-cosmos globe, the robot baby seal, an exhibition about underwater exploration, and a show by Asimo.

Asimo the Honda robot.

The geo-cosmos globe, which is used to illustrate global weather patterns.

The globe's size is clearer on this photo.

From Miraikan, we continued the technological theme by going to Akihabara, the electronics centre of Tokyo.  There, we met another Mount Holyoke College alumna, Yumiko for a meal and did a little shopping.

 A street in Akihabara.

 Henry, Yumiko, Yuko, H-M and Thomas.

 And then to the final part of our stay in Japan. It started with a visit to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. This is a museum dedicated to the animated films made by Studio Ghibli. I didn't really know much about the films but the character of The Catbus was fun.

 

In the Ghibli Museum.

 By this time, Thomas was starting to feel at home in Japan, as the picture below shows.

 Thomas in Tokyo.

Henry, of course, had long since become a Japan fan. For a gadget-freak like Henry, a country where the toilets need multi-button control panels like in the photo below is just the place to be.

Control panel of the famous Japanese "Washlet".

After some final shopping, we had our evening meal in a Thai restaurant, where the food was excellent.

 Yuko and H-M.

Yuko, H-M, Henry, Thomas, and Peter