Berlin

The infamous Trabant

Berlin was a bit of a mixed bag - I loved learning about the history of the city, but found little conversation with the Berliners. Instead of taking the metro, I walked for miles over the 2 days I spent there. Perhaps spending the previous 2 weeks mostly cooped up in a train really encouraged me to stretch my legs.

Brandenburg Gate by night......

After arriving at my hotel on the first evening, a quick look on the map told me I was only about 15 minutes walk from the Brandenburg Gate, another famous European sight I have never been fortunate enough to see. It was a good time to visit - very few people were around. After my first little adventure in Berlin, I returned to a restaurant outside my hotel for some pasta and a couple of glasses of wine.

......and by day

The next day was pretty busy. I walked, walked, and then walked some more. Having a good iPhone map application really does make life much easier. I researched the places I wished to visit, marked them on my map with a pin, and then set off on foot - the best way to get to know a city!

Some sights from my first full day in Berlin included the Brandenburg Gate (by day), the government building called the 'Bundestag or Reichstag', Checkpoint Charlie, the Topography of Terror Museum, Potsdamer Platz, the Fuhrerbunker, and the memorial to Europe's murdered Jewish population.

The Topography of Terror it seemed was mostly an apology to Poland and the city of Warsaw for the atrocities which happened in WWII. Some of the pictures and written history were brutally honest - a small Polish girl crying over her bullet riddled sister's body. This museum is placed at the location of the former headquarters of the Waffen SS, the most brutal arm of Hitler's war machine. Along the periphery of the museum, it was interesting to see a large intact section of the famous Berlin Wall.

Checkpoint Charlie was a mild curiosity - the former crossing point between East and West. Today, tourist tat has taken over.

Checkpoint Charlie

I especially enjoyed seeing the Fuhrerbunker, the location where Hitler killed himself and then was burnt in a pool of kerosene. There is very little to indicate the dark history which is associated with this site, apart from an information sign explaining the layout of the bunker. The site is now a scruffy little car park beside an ageing East German block of flats.

Site of the Furherbunker

A small act of justice to Europe's Jewish population was the placing of the Jewish memorial a mere couple of minutes from Hitler's bunker. Surely not a coincidence. I smiled imagining Hitler going apoplectic at what had happened to his precious Berlin.

Perhaps I was staying in the wrong part of Berlin. The nightlife did not seem particularly interesting and so I was in bed both nights not long after midnight. However, my disappointment with the nightlife was just a minor inconvenience - it was fascinating to see modern Berlin and sights connected to the dark days of the Nazis.

Jewish Memorial

Next Paris!

Rustic Warsaw

No headroom

Apologies for not completing my blogging for my epic overland journey from Japan to the UK. I'll try and finish the remaining blogs over the next few days so that I can start posting more up to date news.

From Moscow, I took the overnight sleeper train through Belarus to Warsaw. Arranging the Belarus transit visa in Moscow was a frustrating and time consuming task. It was also strange to be continuing my journey alone, having left Joep in Moscow so he could catch his flight back to Scotland.

Once again, I found myself crammed into a small compartment, although the quality was superior to the Trans Siberian trains - there was even a little table in the corner which contained an internal wash hand basin. The overnight journey was for the most part uneventful, with the exception of being woken up at an unusual hour by  a rather nice Belarusian female border guard who checked my passport and visa before asking me if I was transporting illegal narcotics.

Atmospheric square

I eventually found my hotel with the assistance of a local taxi. It was in the centre of the old Warsaw city - beautifully rustic with horses and carriages trundling past outside my window. For the two nights I stayed in Warsaw, I stayed well within the the old city. I did hardly any sightseeing - I just loved walking around the old cobbled streets finding cafes to have lunch, a coffee, or a beer.

Hotel in heart of old Warsaw

Warsaw experienced terrible suffering during WWII. By the end of the war, most of the residents were gone - either massacred by the Nazis or displaced because of the total destruction. The city rebuilt itself successfully and managed to rebuild much of the historical centre, hence the reason why it is known as the Phoenix City by some.

Night scene

I enjoyed being by myself in Warsaw. The people were generally friendly and the food, beer, and accommodation were all at a reasonable price. From Vladivostok to Moscow, there was hardly any time to catch breath - we were always moving from one place to another. In Warsaw, I had no concrete plans or any great desire to do much - it was a welcome chance to catch up on my thoughts by looking back at my journey from Japan and forward to the impending end in Scotland.

Coming soon will be blogs detailing the last couple of legs of the journey - a couple of nights in Berlin followed by a couple of nights in Paris. Thanks for reading!

Russian Air Force Museum - Monino

Kane and Yak 141 'Freestyle'

WARNING: This blog may not be of much interest to non-aviation enthusiasts.

Tu 95 'Bear'

On my final day in Moscow, I took a gamble and decided to visit the Monino Air Force Museum, about 30 miles east of the city. As my train for Warsaw was scheduled to depart at 5pm, it was a little risky trying to get to Monino and back due to unpredictable public transport links.

MiG 25 'Foxbat'

The risks paid off handsomely and I was extremely lucky with the Russian public transportation system on my journey back into Moscow. On the way to Monino, I decided to have a stress free and speedy journey there by taxi. It was anything but - the taxi driver got completely lost and spent expensive minutes driving around fields and forests trying to find the museum.

MiG 29 'Fulcrum' and Tu 144 'Charger'

Monino has to be a Shangri-la for aviation fans. I absolutely loved seeing the exotic planes on display - real legends of aviation. Wonderful! I spent around 2 hours there and did two circuits of the outdoor exhibits. The first circuit using my wide angled lens and the second was reserved for zoom lens shots.

Yak 130 and Sukhoi T4

The only disappointing aspect of the museum was seeing such remarkable exhibits slowly rotting in the open air. Clearly very little money is spent preserving these aircraft and it can only be a matter of time before some are sent to the scrappers yard. If it had been a museum in the USA, these aircraft would be in pristine condition within a hanger.

Tu 22 'Blinder'

After my successful return to Moscow, I met Joep for an hour and then found my train bound for Warsaw via Belarus. Apart from being woken up and quizzed by Russian and Belorussian border guards, the journey to Warsaw was quite uneventful. It was a little odd not having Joep around with his regular guidebook sourced km-by-km updates of the route. Inspired by all the MiGs I saw that day, I watched about half of 'Top Gun' in my upper bunk before nodding off.

Su 27 'Flanker' prototype

The biggest problem with this blog entry is that I can only put a small sample of pictures up showing my visit to Monino and the amazing aircraft on display.

Selection

Moscow

St Basil's Cathedral

Joep and I arrived early Thursday morning in Moscow. I was fortunate to be able to check into the hotel early, shower, and then head out to collect my train tickets for Warsaw. Unfortunately, I forgot to arrange a transit visa for Belarus, so had to spend a good deal of time over the 2 days getting that organised.

After collecting my tickets on Thursday morning, I had time to spare before the Belarus Embassy opened so decided to go for a walk. I walked for about 10 minutes and stumbled across Red Square with St Basil’s Cathedral in all its’ glory. To stumble unplanned up to such an iconic building really took my breath away. A building I had yearned to see for many years was right in front of me – wonderful!

I strolled a bit around the cobblestones of Red Square and saw the exterior of Lenin’s Mausoleum, the imposing Kremlin behind a tall wall, and the palatial GUM Department Store.

St Basil's Cathedral and Kremlin

Unfortunately, the view around Red Square was blemished by the construction of temporary seating for an upcoming event.

The Bolshoi

Both evenings, we enjoyed dining al fresco. In fact, both full days I also enjoyed sitting outside with a beer watching Moscow life pass me by. Despite such wonderful sights, I took remarkably few photos. Carrying a large camera around with me was becoming a very onerous task.

Marshal Zhukov

Moscow impressed me a great deal!

Trans Siberian Express - Yekaterinburg to Moscow

Free lunch

The final leg of our journey on the Trans Siberian Express lasted almost exactly 1 day and was much more comfortable than our previous trains. The restaurant car could be described as plush, the cabin attendants wore smarter uniforms, we received proper mattresses and an in cabin charging point, and the toilets were much more pleasant to use.

Perhaps, as we were nearing the Russia – Ukraine border, people were much more suspicious of foreign travelers. Many of my fellow passengers stared at my SLR camera with suspicion and as I left the restaurant car, a Russian by the name of Ruslan, enquired whether or not I was taking photos along the way. When I confirmed that was correct, he shook his head in disapproval.

Wooden shacks

Not long after leaving Yekaterinburg, we crossed into Europe from Asia. The gateway to Europe is the Ural mountain range. In my mind, the Urals were mighty mountains possessing challenging peaks. In reality, this mid-point between two continents was barely noticeable and was made up of small rolling hills. It was a mild disappointment to have missed the obelisk which represents the boundary between the two continents.

Blog writing

On the final night, there were no whisky swilling Russians to interrupt my sleep. I felt some foreboding as we approached Moscow, apprehensive of what I thought would be a dangerous city full of pick pockets.

Scenery

Yekaterinburg

City Hall Spire

The further west we travelled, the more prosperous things appeared. Yekaterinburg looked a fast modernizing city with world famous companies residing in swanky new business centres. People demonstrated their individual wealth by driving around in big engined BMWs, Range Rovers, and Porsche Cayennes.

There were only two things I had planned on accomplishing during the short stay in this city. The first was to visit the Church on the Blood, the site where the Russian royal family, the Romanovs, were massacred in 1918. The second was to observe a more recent part of the history of the city – the graves of Mafiosi who were gunned down during the 1990s as the two mafia groups, the Uralmash and the Centralniy, wrestled for control of the city.

The Church on the Blood, despite being less than two decades old, was well worth it. With its numerous golden cupolas and intricate artwork and gilding, it was clear a lot of investment went into its construction. No photos were allowed inside.

Trams

Almost 100 years ago the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas, the Tsarina, his children, and 3 servants were executed in the basement of a palatial home belonging to a wealthy Yekaterinburg resident. Perhaps to prevent the home becoming a catalyst of unrest in the then USSR, a local politician, Boris Yeltsin, demolished the house in the 1990s. It was a special moment to have visited a place with such great historical significance.

Church on the Blood

The Soviet name for Yekaterinburg was Sverdlovsk, named after the man who reputedly ordered the execution of the Romanovs. 

City Hall

After a steak lunch, it was off to a cemetery in the west of the city to see the graves of members of the Centralniy mafia group. In the years after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, two gangs fought each other for the influence and assets once possessed by the former Communist government.

Gangster Kingpin

Most of the graves were for young men in their 20s. Intriguingly, there was also a grave for a woman in her 30s – I have no idea who she is or what happened to her. I speculate she was somehow acquainted with the mafia gang and was in the wrong place when a shooting occurred.

Mystery woman

Trans Siberian Express - Irkutsk to Yekaterinburg

The middle leg of our Trans Siberian tour could perhaps be described as slightly more salubrious than the last. The cabin appeared a bit newer, and the restaurant car was comfortable with a goodish standard of food. Taking photos from a moving train with grimy windows still presented problems. The major difference between the previous leg of our journey was sharing our 4 berth cabin with two Russian men, Grigor and (another) Andriy.

We broke the ice and things went well for the majority of the trip. Grigor appeared slightly gruff and disinterested, but became more animated when he showed us photos of the Sochi Winter Olympics and some of Moscow. When he showed me a statue of Marshal Zukhov, he clearly approved when I demonstrated my limited knowledge of the role this man played in the successful defense of Stalingrad and Moscow during WWII. The Russians appear extremely proud of their country and seem willing to assert this pride, if the need arises. Neighbours of Russia beware!

Somewhat prematurely, gruff Grigor alighted the train before Yekaterinburg. This left Joep and I with Andriy, a seemingly harmless individual. Things started to go wrong when we were joined from another cabin by Maxim, who claimed to be a pancreatic surgeon. Maxim was not the problem – it was his 16-year-old bottle of Laphroaig that started to cause Andriy to unravel.

The combat fatigue wearing Andriy (from a place called Kherson, just to the north of the Crimean Peninsula), became more and more of a problem as he drank. After a few patriotic songs, Maxim, realizing his role in the unfolding debacle, bought the penniless Andriy a tacky pocket watch from the carriage attendant and promptly disappeared. Joep and I were left to suffer constant incomprehensible Russian and unwanted close personal attention. I felt that had we have travelled any further with Andriy, more serious problems may have occurred.

Joep and I neglected to wake Andriy up when we alighted at Yekaterinburg.