Ok. I get Croatia now. It is warm, welcoming, and picture perfect. It is everything you want on your holiday to the Mediterranean. Or rather, to the Adriatic. It is so picture perfect, nothing out of the ordinary seems to…
Tallinn, Estonia: Like Riding a Bike
We pull into the station in Tallinn (Estonia!) aboard our train from Saint-Petersburg. It would be the last, last, last train ride of our round-the-world trip. As we disembark, I quickly notice how very European the world we are in…
Saint Petersburg and Our Rule Addiction
Founded by Peter the Great back in seventeen hundred and three, Saint Petersburg recently had its three hundredth birthday. The name was switched to Leningrad in nineteen seventeen when Lenin rose to power. But was quick to switch back around…
Moscow Mules: Russian Alphabet Basics
We spent two days (and an evening and a morning) in Moscow. So little time to see one of the great cities of the world. I’m embarrassed to admit that is all the time we could give it. The good…
Yekaterinburg, Russia: How to Save Humanity
It is three thousand four hundred kilometres – a two full-day journey – to get from Irkutsk to Yekaterinburg. It is the most amount of time at one go that we will be spending on a train on the entire…
An Evening on a Trans-Siberian Train
We board our westbound Trans-Siberian train in Irkutsk. In Russia there are four classes: third, lower second, upper second, and first. We opt for lower second to: save a bit of money, and, avoid meeting no one but other foreigners.…
Baikal Lake, Russia
Lake Baikal. Our first taste of Russia. The majority of travellers cross Russia starting in the West, ending in the East. But not us. Not this time, at least. Our decision to do the Trans-Mongolian route east to west meant,…
Amalfi/Sicily, Italy – Day 31
After Rome, we headed to the Amalfi coast where we spent around a week or so, followed by Sicily. There we met up with Jamie again, spent some time on the beach, did a rainy day trip to Pompeii, and…
Rome, Italy – Day 20
I’ll start this entry off on a high note – For what was supposed to be the final night back in Florence before coming to Rome (back in the tent), the day’s -free- appys didn’t treat me so well, and…
Pisa/Florence, Italy – Day 17
Pisa was everything I expected. It’s so difficult dealing with attractions like Pisa. It’s an image you know so well it’s as if they teach you about it in Grade 1. You get there, and yep, there it is, along…