Nizhny Novogord - 21st July 2006 - 22nd July 2006

A view from the Kremlin in Nizhny Novgorod (considerably smaller and in many ways more attractive than Moscow's Kremlin) accross the roof of one of the many churhces the town boasts. Interestingly nearly all of the churches in Nizhny Novgorod are either fully restored or in the process of being restored and compared to thei counterparts in other places we have seen in Russia are consequently arguably more impressive because of that.

Train to St Petersburg - 18th July 2006 - 19th July 2006

On the journey to St Petersburg Tom was finding trying to sort out the import documents all a bit too much so waht better way than to find an empty corridor on the train, a bottle of vodka and a shot glass and pass relieve the stresses of the past few days that way.

Moscow - 13th July 2006 - 21st July 2006

Despite initial appearances this is not a statute hopnouring the Soviet Union's very own Superman, but rather a statute celebrating the Russian football team's participation in a past World Cup.



On one side of Red Square is the huge department store called GUM which is now full of Western shops, but when the Soviet Union fell was apparantly home to almost empty shops and long queues for the few things that were available.

Oulu, Finland - 28th June 2006 - 3rd July 2006

We stayed in Oulu for quite a few days, certainly far more than we initially expected, because the place was relaxed, the weather was good and we wanted to give ourselves a bit of a break before we get to Russia in a few days time. The town has little in the way of obvious attractions, but has a great vibe, a young population and a nice beach a short bicycle ride from the town.