Prague, Warsaw, Tallinn, and St. Petersburg

July 16, 1997

Hey all,

Well, we finally made it. We are in the land of my dreams. I am tired, but excited. We'll be here for about 5 days, then on to Moscow, and the Trans-Siberian...

Getting out of Prague was an adventure. Because of the floods, we again had to go the long way around, this time to Warsaw. He got tickets to Dresden, but on the train decided to go through Berlin instead to completely avoid the floods. I think our decision was aided by meeting 2 guys from Kentucky and a group of 4 very attractive, but oh-so-17-years-old women from Finland. I think the conductor on the line from Dresden to Berlin was tired by the time she got to us, because all we had to say was "From Prague!" and she didn't even ask for tickets. That was a nice amount of D-marks saved...

Once in Berlin, the fun continued. The train station was full of refugees from the Love Parade, a 1,000,000-person strong techno party that occupies Berlin every summer. Hundreds of drunken, half-naked youth running around while I was told that the trains to Warsaw that evening were full. We were full of determination, though, and went to the lines anyway. When the train arrived, it was a Russian train, and we realized that a combination of my language skills and some cold, hard, American cash might get us aboard. Funny thing, it worked! We probably didn't pay too much anyway, and we had a lovely conversation with a Russian man who was going to Kiev. Things were going well.

The only aspect of the ride which wasn't good was the sleep issue. Neither of us are yet used to sleeping in trains, so when we got into Warsaw the next morning, Eugene just crashed. Driven on by a quest to see what can be seen, I explored the city. It turned out to be nowhere as interesting or as beautiful as Prague or Budapest, but I think a lot of that is due to the fact that none of the city was left standing in 1945. Everything there was built by a Stalinist regime, and the architecture really suffers, except for the rebuilt castle and town square.

We took another night train that night, this time a 21-hr job to Tallinn, Estonia. We got our tickets too late to get a sleeping cabin, so we had to fight for sleep in uncomfortable chairs while bad Baltic muzak was piped into the car. Not the best situation for sleep, by any means. The best aspect of that trip was high-fiving the Lithuanian border guard from the train window as we entered the former Soviet world. I'm just glad we didn't get shot.

Tallinn was a beautiful town that apparently had a supermodel convention going on. Either that, or there's something in the water. I just don't know. The city center is very beautiful, with my first Russian Orthodox church of the trip, and the oldest city hall in Europe. I'll have to visit for longer someday.

Our final night train (at least this week) was to St. Petersburg. The border entry was more complex than any other of our trip, but apparently our visas were legitimate, and they let us in! Yea! When we got into St Petersburg, oh so early, we couldn't check in to sleep or shower (either would have been our first in three days), and we couldn't get money until the American Express office opened. Maybe it was my tired, hungry state which influenced my emotions, but I almost broke down in tears when I saw the Bronze Horseman, the Winter Palace, the square where the 1905 and 1917 revolutions took place, St. Isaac's Cathedral... I've known of these buildings and sights for so long, it was overwhelming to finally see them in the summer morning light.

We've been in St. Petersburg about 36 hours now, but have done little other sightseeing. We have slept. That's pretty much it. I figure after one more night's sleep, I'll be ready to attack this city with a vengeance. And I will. Yes, I will...

Hope you are all doing well.

Lance

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