The neighbour of the beast

Yekaterinburg, Russia

After 24 grueling hours on a train, we were salivating over the prospect of a shower and a clean set of clothes. We arrived in Yekaterinburg, the site of Tsar Nicholas II's last stand, just after midnight.

Online accommodation booking in Russia is in its infancy. Perhaps more accurately, English online booking is in its infancy. In any case, the choice of hotel is sometimes straight-forward.

The limited choice of hotels in Yekaterinburg led us to booking at the Bolshoy. I would strongly recommend staying anywhere but this hotel. We dragged ourselves up the stairs only to discover a shoebox of a room sans toilet and shower. Although there was a solitary communal toilet to service the entire floor, there was no shower.

After much gnashing of teeth, directed at the hotel's reception, I concluded that the tsar was not murdered here after all; he died of shock on arrival at this hotel in Yekaterinburg.

One word: Hell.

Spasiba (thank you)

Russia

If you were on a Russian train, would you know where the hot water urn was? Would you know the toilet protocol? How about understanding the Russian-language timetable?

As railway novices we were confronted with scores of such mini-challenges on our journey from St. Petersburg to Murmansk. To the lovely railway staff who guided us through this minefield, we left this note (right) and some perfume as a token of our eternal thanks.

One word: Grateful.

Nice day for a swim

St. Petersburg, Russia

As the temperature nudged 20 degrees Celsius, hundreds of people stripped off on the banks of St. Petersburg’s canals outside the walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress. An insane few were even enjoying a dip in the water.

It is with great relief that I can report that all swimmers and sunbathers survived the filth of the water and the ever so modest temperatures.

One word: Darwin.

Lock it in, Eddie

Vilnius, Lithuania

After a day in Vilnius, the most puzzling question was, “Why the locks?”

Every bridge we had crossed was laden with dozens of locks, but with no explanation.

It all became clear on what we now call “wedding Saturday”, a day in which it seemed half of Vilnius was attending a wedding. Walking into town, we witnessed a charming ritual at our local bridge. Bride and groom attached a single lock to the bridge, before ceremoniously throwing the key into the stream, presumably never to be retrieved.

One word: Romantic.