St. Petersburg

So after the first few days away everything is going well and having a good time. Despite the majority of people speaking as much English as I speak Russian(which has improvedto at least 5 words now), everything has been suprisingly easy. Getting by using a combination of sign language and trying to read Russian. I've found that the best thing to do is try and translate the cyrilic into the normal alphabet and then with a bit of imagination you can make a guess about what it means.

Have spent a few days in St. Petersburg going to some of the main sights and just wandering around. Its an amazing city just to walk round,even outside the tourist areas all the buildings are unique and most of them were palaces at some point.

Last night got the overnight train to Moscow. Went for the third class budget option as it was a lot cheaper than both 2nd class or just a seat, but it was suprisingly good. Had a bed in a carriage with about 40 people but slept OK. I think all the weekends away with GUMC have been good training for being able to sleep anywhere.

Have spent the day walking round Moscow, seems quite different from St. Petersburg, with a lot of stereotypical communist tower blocks. Planning to go the Kremlin and Red Square tomorrow.