Sunday 27 March
Auf Wiedersehen München
Easter Sunday, our last day in Munich. Breakfast this morning was augmented with beautifully dyed boiled eggs. They came in blue, green, red and yellow and were extremely festive. We went back to the room to make the most of a late-ish checkout from the hotel, partly because I was feeling really ill by now.
I wasn't really up to much today but we wanted a final walk around. We went back towards Marienplatz and had some fun playing with the camera and the bronze boar and fish, which live outside the hunting and fishing museum. The museum itself didn't appeal, apparently it has hunting and fishing trophies and dioramas of (presumbaly stuffed) animals in their natural environments. We also visited the Fish fountain (Fischbrunnen) and comitted its likeness to digital memory.
We then headed back towards the Opera House and this time managed to spot The Residenz, the Bavarian royal family's palace. This rather severe looking structure is still being renovated from damage it received in the war. We didn't go in but walked around the outside peering in all the various gates. We were quite taken with the various lion statues that are all around this area. We went back past the Frauenkirche so we could have a closer look having only seen it in passing from a distance. This little walk just about tired me out completely so we headed to McDonalds for a seat somewhere warm and dry.
We returned to the airport a little early, checked out the duty free shops and then settled in a corner with a DVD to await our return flight. Following an uneventful flight and immigration check we boarded a train for Clapham and headed home.
Posted by Hayley
Saturday 26 March
The bells, the bells. Oh dear
We began the day with Hotel breakfast again this morning. Nick added waffles to the spread this morning and I brought down some rice crackers and had these with delicous apricot jam. We decided that it must be third time lucky and so headed down to Marienplatz to try the glockenspiel. This time we were indeed successful. We watched the little figures dance. My favourite bit was the two knights that joust the first time around failing to connect with each other but the second time around one of them manages to hit his opponent! This is accompanied by chiming from the bells. It is not something I would hurry back to see but worth it because it is such a famous sight.
Since we knew today was likely to be our last chance to look at the shops we toured a number of the larger department stores including one devoted entirely to sports gear. Who knew there were so many sports that needed different equipment/clothes. It was really quite impressive! We also enjoyed the department store that had a Japanese themed month running, though quite where the coconuts and palm trees came into it I'm not sure!
My goal for today was to visit a proper beer hall and why not go with the most famous of them all - Hofbrauhaus. Apparently, it was a favourite haunt of Hitler's when he was looking for support for his newly formed political party. It is huge and has rows and rows of bench tables, waitresses in traditional dress and oompah music. Just like you imagine it being. I quickly figured out why Nick had looked dubious at the suggestion that we eat lunch there - the place was full of smoke and we just couldn't stand it. Instead we headed just across the square to a restaurant with a view of the beer hall, much more sensible we thought. Nick had a beer and chips and I had a huge and delicious baked potato, plain, even though the waiter thought I was odd. We topped this off with yet more ice cream for Nick from a cute little shop just behind the square.
We finished our day with yet more shopping, this time including a few forays into baby shops. I found one outfit in particular that was gorgeous but at 145 Euros I'm afraid it stayed in Germany and won't be winging its way to a baby near you. Actually, the baby clothes were again disappointing - I like English ones much more. We also visited a very touristy souvenir shop with cuckoo clocks and painted eggs. Nick was not amused particularly when it turned out someone inside wanted to buy a clock and was thus being shown how each of them cuckooed. He wouldn't let me buy one though!
I had been feeling progressively sicker over the last few days and by this afternoon I was ready to stop. We therefore headed back to the Hotel. I had another bath to try an ease my aching joints and muscles. We agreed on another room service dinner as I couldn't face going out. Nick had a strudel for dessert as he didn't think it would be right to visit Bavaria with out having at least one!
Posted by Hayley
Friday 25 March
The breakfast really was very, very good
Today started well with a huge breakfast. We had a buffet breakfast included in our room rate and there was plenty to eat. Nick made the most of it with bacon, sausage and eggs, cereal, yoghurt and fruit and pastries. I had melon, dried apricots and apple and smoked salmon It was also, the first time we had ever seen Champagne in the drinks selection of a hotel's buffet breakfast.
Today, of course, is Good Friday and as Germany is still largely a Catholic country this meant everything ground to a halt. No shops were open, few restaurants and disappointedly no glockenspiel even though we had headed down in time to hear it today. We did encounter an open air mass which reenacted Christ's journey with the cross. There were hundreds of people and the service was relayed from the front of the procession to the back through a series of mobile speakers. Not the sort of thing you see terribly often in Wimbledon.
There are, also, beautiful displays of eggs and bunnies in most shop windows. There is also a vast array of easter eggs available to buy, many in the shape of various animals. There are also real chicken eggs, with the centre blown out, beautifully decorated available all over the show.
Since the glockenspiel was out of action we decided to head to the toy museum which was one of the few things open today. This is mainly devoted to Teddy Bears, though I'm not sure if this is always true or if this was some kind of special display. Steiff bears originated near Munich and the display looked at the history of the company and the construction of the bears in some detail. They had a huge number of bears, some of which were very well loved indeed. The Musuem itself is housed in the Altes Rathaus (old town hall), which is a Gothic tower, rebuilt in its original 15th century form after it was destroyed by lightning. We enjoyed seeing the toys and the views of the square out of the windows in the rooms
We decided to continue our wander and headed the opposite direction to yesterday. Here we found the exclusive shopping section of Munich, full of designer boutiques and posh stores. Of course, everything was closed but as we probably couldn't afford to buy anything we were happy to window shop. On this particular wander we also came across the Theatinerkirche (St Catejan's) built between 1660 and 1770. It is an intriguing yellow colour and really quite spectacular even from the outside.
We continued around the block back to Marienplatz before deciding to head back to the hotel for lunch and a swim. We managed to find an open bakery where Nick could buy something to eat and I, of course, had supplies. Following lunch and the mandatory hour before we could go in the water we headed down to the lowest level to find the pool. Helpfully, the spa (yes we could have had other treatments) provides towels and slippers and a locker to keep your things in. There was a pool and a spa and we made good use of both. We had the pool to ourselves until right at the end so could splash around to our hearts content. It was lovely and very refreshing.
We headed back to the room for an afternoon/early evening nap before venturing out to look for dinner. Nick had another schnitzel craving so this was the chief aim. We, having surveyed the options, ended up at a restaurant called Spatenhaus, which was opposite the National Theatre. This actually turned out to be rather fun. It had rustic tables and decoration and a traditional Bavarian menu. The service was also what is apparently 'traditional'. The waiter was an older man who was rather gruff. the food though was very good. Nick had the aforementioned schnitzel, which came with tart cranberry relish, a slice of lemon, a giant salad and a potato gratin, and a beer (as is required). I had a salad and water - what fun! Nick also had homemade vanilla, strawberry and chocolate icecream for dessert. I watched! Fortunately we had a reasonable stroll home so Nick could work off some of the calories.
Posted by Hayley
Thursday 24 March
zum Flughafen
Another early start for a trip. I think my body is starting to acclimatise to them. We headed off for Gatwick to fly out to Munich. Having come to the startling conclusion that our wedding anniversary rather neatly coincided with Easter this year we decided we could carry out our threat from last year of having each of our anniversaries in a different country. We had also decided that this wasn't going to be a running around holiday and instead it would be a relaxing one and consequently we had booked into a five star hotel, with a pool and everything.
The flight, as per usual, went smoothly. Aided in part by us figuring out that if we purchased a headphone splitter cable we both could watch and listen to our own inflight entertainment courtesy of the DVD player on the laptop. It may have been more useful if we had realised this before we had gone through immigration. However, it all worked out in the end as the duty-free electronics store stocked them and we dutifully bought an iPod headphones compatible gold-plated model that worked a treat.
I hadn't been too concerned about the language change as I knew Nick's German was pretty good but I didn't realise just how good. We couldn't quite figure out which tickets we needed from the machine so we went and queued for a real person. Nick duly launched into asking for tickets in German and the ticket woman replied in speed of light German. She hadn't realised he wasn't fluent. She was very helpful and we found ourselves heading for the city.
I quite like airport-city trains, especially overground ones, as they give you a sense of the city without you having to too actively engage and this was no exception. We went right into the central station and then headed out to find our hotel. Fortunately it was only 5 minutes walk from the station. It looked a little dour from the outside but once inside the full 5 star deal kicked in. We had a lovely room with quite possibly the biggest TV I have ever seen, let alone wielded a remote for. Of course all the tv, apart from a couple of news channels, was in German or French or Spanish but I didn't let that stop me. After all I'm the girl who watched Russian TV that made no apparent sense. And anyway everything on the screen was really, really big and that more than made up for the lack of comprehension.
We decided that we would go for a bit of a walk around. The hotel literature said it was about 20 minutes walk from Marienplatz so we headed in that direction. Sadly, this meant we had to walk through a large shopping district. So we felt it would be rude to not look at at least some of the shops. We also spotted a t-shirt that made us feel right at home! Actually, these shops were a little disappointing and we ended up not buying anything, really quite unusual for us. One of the first things we noticed was the amount of construction/restoration currently going on. It is hard to find somewhere to look where there isn't a crane or scaffolding.
From here we continued into Marienplatz proper past the Frauenkirche, the seat of the archbishop. This was originally built as a parish church and has two towers topped with copper onion-domes. There is a nice story about how its architect made a pact with the devil to raise enough money to complete the church. He agreed to build a church in which there were no visible windows or forfeit his soul. When the devil saw the high gothic windows he thought he had won the soul but he was led to a position in the church where all the windows were hidden behind pillars. He stormed out stamping his foot leaving a black hoofed imprint that can apparently still be seen today. Due to war damage and subsequent restoration the trick with the pillars no longer works unfortunately. We didn't check any of this out ourselves but the building is very impressive from the outside.
We were too late for the glockenspiel so we continued our walk South. This led us to the Viktualienmarket, an open air marketplace that has served as the main market square for the last two hundred years. There is amazing variety of fruit, vegetables, nuts, meats and cheeses. All this food made Nick hungry, so he purchased some chicken schnitzel, that looked delicious.
By now I was starting to flag and we headed back to the hotel to put our feet up. I was also starting to feel just a tad grotty. We relaxed in the bath and followed it with a room service dinner and more DVDs. Before falling into the comfy bed.
Posted by Hayley
Monday 21 March
We're back baby...
A bit of a change of scenery, and a bit of back catalog posting as it were. Photos of Russia will make an appearance in the next few days. We're off to Munich for Easter, so we might even have some photos from Germany to post as well.
Posted by Nick
Saturday 19 March
Sorry for the delay in getting this up. I have been feeling pretty rough since I got back from Moscow. At first I thought it was just jet lag but as the week dragged on and I got sicker and Jennie called in sick for the first time any of us can remember I decided it was a bug. Consequently I had Thursday and Friday off work, in bed, mainly asleep largely fighting a killer headache though I do have other fluey symptoms (chiefly aches and pains). Today I am feeling a little better and I actually got up and dressed and went outside for a 20 minute walk. This afternoon however I have resorted to sitting on the couch typing. The big news here is that someone has flicked the summer switch. From wearing wool coats, hats and gloves a week ago we are in shorts and t-shirts today. Beautiful sunny skies and a balmy 20 degrees. We are not sure if it is going to last but are making the most of it by sitting in the sun with all the windows open to air the house. I just couldn't stay inside which is why we opted for a quick walk. Apart from that life is pretty quiet and we are looking forward to our Easter break.
Posted by Hayley
Friday 11 March
Our last day in Russia. We managed a sleep in today, 7.30 am. I had arranged to meet Jennie for breakfast at 9.15 before heading to the Kremlin, which opens at 10.00. But first, I wanted to do a little exploring of my own. I was determined to find some postcards and send them. Fortunately I could do all this inside the confines of the hotel. Actually the welcome brochure promised me there was no need to leave the hotel for anything as they had restaurants, cafes, a hair dressers, beauty parlour, shops, a movie theatre, cabaret, a night club and fitness equipment amongst other things. I headed down to the lobby and found a postcard shop. I clearly looked foreign as the assistant typed the number into a calculator and then showed it to me. Spasiba (Thank-you) I said. Having returned to my room to write them I next had to negotiate my way to the post office. It is on the second floor down some very long corridors for future reference. Again the told me the amount. Spasiba I said again. Mission accomplished and having fortunately only needed the one word of Russian I know.
I went back up stairs to locate Jennie and we headed for the breakfast restaurant. It was on the 21st floor (we were staying on the sixth and our lifts only went up to 13. Fortunately I had passed some lifts that went up to 21 on my morning walk to locate the Post office) and was at least a 20 minute walk from the rooms (well not quite but it certainly felt like it). I managed a bowl of very salty rice and a couple of glasses of water. Jennie was more adventurous and had pickled vegetables, coleslaw and a boiled egg and toast.
We decided to check out before heading for the Kremlin. This we did but the luggage check was again on the other side of the building. Oh well at least I have now seen a fair bit of the Hotel Rossija. We walked towards Red Square but neither of us were quite certain where the entrance was. Fortunately by walking around the wall we eventually located it. Turns out the guy on the gate has enough English to tell me my bag is too big but not enough to point to the luggage check. We figured it out by watching a Russian family who had the same problem. They x-rayed the bag again, my avocados are now well and truly irradiated, and took receipt of them.
We entered through the Kutafya Tower which leads to Trinity Gate Tower and then inside the Kremlin proper. Somehow we had got the wrong tickets. We wanted tickets for the buildings inside sans the Armoury (which holds many of the Kremlin's treasures but we knew we wouldn't have time) but ended up with tickets only for the Exhibition at the Belfry Tower. Obviously this happens a lot as we discovered that there was a ticket place at the exhibition where we could buy tickets for the main buildings inside.
The main square, Sobornaya ploschard (Cathedral Square), was being used as the backdrop for a period drama. So as we walked around the corner we were greeted by a group of mounted Cossacks. Quite an introduction to the Kremlin! There were also various actors and actresses scattered around in period costume. I think we kept getting in shot but they were obviously running behind schedule and had aimed to be finished by the time the Kremlin opened to the public.
Having established that we had the wrong tickets we headed for the Exhibition first. On our way we looked at the buildings lining the courtyard, including the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. This is a distinctive landmark that we used to help us navigate around during our walks. It is the tallest structure in the Kremlin and apparently until the 20th century it was forbidden to build any building higher. The exhibition itself, looked at the relationship between the Italian and Russian Courts through clothing, enamel vessels, Jewellery, Religious works and books. Fortunately, we didn't need much Russian to grasp the beauty of the objects. The enamel work in particular appealed to me. The intricacy of much of the painted and gilded work was also amazing. On work in particular was worked in tiny pearls with gold and must have taken good eyesight and a steady hand.
We were most interested in the Cathedrals so headed for these next. Unfortunately, the Assumption Cathedral, the most famous and impressive of the three Cathedrals appeared to be closed. At least that was what we presumed the iron bars and big lock meant as there was no-one to ask. The other two however were open. We began with the Archangel Cathedral. This houses the tombs of all the Moscovy rulers from the 1320s to the 1690s, including Ivan the terrible. It is full of intricately carved stone sarcophagi, apparently these were done in the 17th century and the later copper covers in the 19th century. The building however is much older. It was originally constructed in 1333 and dedicated to Archangel Michael. It required rebuilding between 1505 and 1508 because it had fallen into disrepair. The walls are covered with beautifully restored 17th century murals, which depict a range of things including images of the men buried there, scenes from Christ's life and images of the apocalypse. One wall is predominantly in reds, the other in blues. While we were there the resident four piece vocal group sang a piece which displayed the beautiful acoustics of the room.
We then headed to the second of the Cathedrals, Annunciation Cathedral. This was the royal family's private chapel from 1489 when it was rebuilt by Ivan III. The cathedral houses a large collection of icons. Many of these were painted by Theophanes the Greek, regarded as the greatest Icon painter. The icons have retained their colour and vibrancy and the reproductions that you see really don't so them justice. The murals on the wall are less well restored and we overheard a guide explaining that this was because it was one of the first things done and they hadn't really learned how to do it most effectively yet. This is a shame because the central room has a beautiful jasper floor and if the murals were similar to those in the Assumption Cathedral the effect would be breathtaking. As it is it is left to your imagination. The other feature that we particularly noticed is that the dome in the small chapel has the face of Jesus painted into it. This huge image towers above the gallery and adds to the unreal feel of the place.
Our time at the Kremlin had run out. I wish we had had more time. Ah well maybe next time. We collected the handbags and walked back through Alexandrovsky Garden past the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Eternal Flame. Two guards stand watch between 10 and 10 each day. They also seemed to have a friend who marched in between them had a chat and then marched on. Nearby are are a row of red urns which contain earth from 'hero cities' which withstood the fiercest fighting in World War II. We hurried back through Red Square one last time before grabbing the bags and meeting our driver.
We arrived in plenty of time, negotiated the security and headed for immigration. I'm not 100 per cent sure the immigration official believed it was me in the passport. She pointed at the picture, pointed at me, pointed at the picture and looked puzzled. Maybe I should investigate getting a new passport and visa. Fortunately she let me through. We had one final task to achieve before leaving - using up our roubles as it is illegal to export them. I achieved this by buying Nick some Russian cranberry flavoured Vodka that came in a bottle shaped like a Russian doll and myself an actual Russian doll. I did pretty well only having to add 40 Euro cents to my roubles to empty my wallet of them. Jennie bought our colleagues some chocolates and I added a further Euro 1.45 to empty her out. We boarded the plane to Dusseldorf and headed home.
Much to my amusement I had to leave the plane, go through immigration, be stamped in, walk along a corridor and an escalator, through security and back through immigration to be stamped out only to board exactly the same plane. Weird. We didn't have to do that in Frankfurt on the way over so I wonder what is different about Dusseldorf? We arrived home on time and I much to Jennie's chagrin stood in line with the three other non EU passport holders to clear immigration while she waited with all the other passengers. We collected the bags and emerged back to Britain and a friendly face. Nick had come to the airport to meet me. We headed home exhausted for a long sleep.
Posted by Hayley
Thursday 10 March
The alarm went off at 5.00 am to wake me for the flight to Moscow. Fortunately, Yulia had arranged for the University car to pick us up at the hotel and take us to the airport. However, this was the only time in Russia that I felt really cold. Both Jennie and I developed freezing feet that just wouldn't warm up for the entire car ride to the airport, wait at the airport, flight to Moscow and then car ride to the hotel. Perhaps the fact that they didn't warm up on the Siberia Air flight is not that unexceptional. It was not the most modern plane I have ever seen and there was a distinct lack of overhead lights, call buttons, air vents or even luggage lockers. In addition, apparently the no electronic equipment during take off and landing doesn't apply to ancient planes! Never the less we got there in the end, collected our luggage and were met by the pre-booked car driver. Yulia had told us that traffic in Moscow was bad but that hadn't prepared us for just how bad. Imagine Auckland's rush hour tripled and then add a bit more. I'm not sure if it was just the direction we were heading, the time of day or the weather but it took nearly 2 hours to reach the hotel from the airport. Considerably longer than the flight from Nizhniy Novgorod to Moscow.
We checked in to the Hotel Rossija and made our way to the rooms. A bigger feat than one might imagine. It is one of the largest hotels in the world and has a very confusing system of corridors and lifts. It also has quite strict security and one had to produce a security card to get in or out. Apparently you could get these issued for visitors but fortunately the need never arose. We had paid a few dollars extra for Kremlin view rooms and we weren't disappointed. My room was directly opposite St Basil's Cathedral. This is the cathedral at one end of Red Square that looks suspiciously like it might be made out of brightly painted gingerbread! As with the room in Nizhniy the room had huge openable windows which meant I could take in the view uninterrupted once I had pulled the net curtains. I had a quick bite to eat while I gazed at my view.
Jennie and I met up again and headed for the InTourist bureau in the hotel. InTourist were the Soviet tourist agency formerly and still seem to have something of a monopoly over much of the tourist trade. We definitively established that the Kremlin is not open on a Thursday and booked tickets for the Bolshoi ballet in the evening. Having achieved this we decided to go for a wander as Jennie wanted to purchase some Russian dolls for the schoolgirls she visits as part of our staff volunteering programme.
Of course, we headed in the direction of Red Square. The area is covered with fairy tale buildings with mushroom caps many in bright colours. You have to wonder if the colours are some kind of subconscious defense mechanism against the whiteness of winter. There was certainly plenty of snow though the sun came out for our walk making everything sparkle. Just as we reached St Basil's cathedral we encountered a wedding party, including a bride in full length white dress and very dainty heels, she wasn't really dressed for the weather.
Red Square was an interesting experience. It wasn't as big as I expected, though it looks big in the photos and postcards, perhaps all the snow made it seem smaller. However, it was incredible to walk on the stones that have seen so much Russian history. It is not a place you want to linger too long in the cold though as the wind whips through it. The four sides of the square have very interesting buildings on it. On one side is the North-East Kremlin wall and in front of this is Lenin's tomb, sadly this was not open when we were in Moscow. Actually, the inside is not something I have any desire to see. However, I took the obligatory tourist photos of the outside. On the second side is the State History Museum, built in 1883, it is a massive red building which apparently has been extensively restored and is, on my next visit, something I would like to do. On the third side is St Basil's. And the fourth side is GUM (Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin) or the State Department Store.
Jennie had been here in Soviet days when it was, in the words of Lonely Planet, 'all that was bad about Soviet shopping - long queues and shelves empty of all but a few drab goods'. Jennie also said that it was the hang-out of undesirables when she was last there. It did not start out that way though, in the nineteenth century it was where fashionable Moscovites went to shop and be seen. By all accounts, it has been restored to its former glory. We decided to have a look for ourselves. It has certainly had a facelift, the mall is full of western shops, British, French and Italian. It is a beautiful building that has long corridors that run a fair distance. It also goes up a number of storeys and the top levels have trendy cafes and restaurants. We sat and had a cup of tea, Russian style, with a slice of lemon and lots of sugar, and soaked up the atmosphere.
Having restored our strength we set out to find a Metro station so we could head to Old Arbat street. The woman at InTourist had recommended this for souvenirs. The Metro in Moscow is quite an experience replete with chandeliers, marble-galore, huge frescoes and statues. It was built during Stalinist times and remains remarkably efficient if a little difficult to navigate for foreigners who can't read cyrillic. We got there in the end but only thanks to some generous people pointing us in the right direction. The Metro is very cheap around 15 roubles or about 25p a trip and with the elaborate decoration is well worth the fare.
We were a little disappointed in Old Arbat street it was very touristy with prices that reflected it. Jennie was looking for traditional Russian dolls and many of the ones we saw were covered in glitter or painted with the visage of famous people. We could have had a Tony Blair, Madonna or George Clooney Russian doll but decided against it. Eventually we found a place that was more out of the way and had a greater selection. Jennie bought three dolls and I found some cute wooden Christmas decorations of a man and a woman in traditional peasant dress and a small spinning top. Success. Jennie also managed to grab a bite to eat for dinner - a delicious looking chicken and vegetable shish kebab with rice. I was still on the canned salmon at the hotel. We returned by Metro, then back through Red Square for a quick rest before heading out for the evening.
By this time it was snowing quite heavily and as we were both exhausted we had decided to catch a cab to the ballet. This turned out to be the wrong decision even though we had diligently booked a taxi at the hotel reception. Not only was the traffic dreadful, the driver didn't know where the Bolshoi Theatre was. We were actually a little surprised by this as you would have thought it would have been one of the major tourist attractions in Moscow. We decided to get out and walk when he started reversing back down the very busy main road. Unfortunately, it turned out we were about a 15 minute walk away, further than we would have been had we walked from the hotel. We were already running late and the driving snow didn't help. A very kind concierge for a private club took quite some time giving us directions, even leaving extremely posh looking women in the their Minks waiting in the cold while he made sure we knew what we were doing.
We arrived somewhat out of breath to various levels of security checks, including an x-ray on entrance. Possibly the execution of the Chechen leader had made them more nervous than usual, I'm not sure. The theatre is massive and we had tickets on balcony 1, box 10, seats 5 and 6. We found the right level and went through the elaborate pantomime of checking our coats. The ballet had begun when we took our seats but I don't think we missed any key storyline moments. The ballet was Sleeping Beauty and the baby had just arrived for her christening as we did. It was beautiful. I was a bit worried as the last ballet I had been to bored me to tears but with this there was so much to look at. The dancers, their costumes, the orchestra and the building itself. The auditorium was almost full, well I couldn't find any empty seats apart from the royal boxes and the other most expensive boxes and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves. The Theatre itself is beautiful. It has a giant chandelier in the centre of the room and each box is lit to each side by a mini-chandelier. There is a beautiful thick, beautifully embroidered red curtain, which intrestingly still has the Soviet symbol embroidered on it. We decided it must simply be too expensive to replace.
The costumes were all very beautiful and I particularly liked the fairy-tale characters who came to dance at the wedding. My favourites were Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf and Puss in Boots and the White Cat. At the intermission we headed for the salon, where they served champagne and blinis with caviar and smoked salmon. Again this was another grand old room though one gets the feeling that the funding cuts the ballet received as a result of the fall of communism are continuing to hit them hard.
We chose to walk home back through Red Square where the trees were lit by fairy lights, St Basil's by spotlights and the snow that had fallen was still on the ground. It was magical and rounded out an evening to a fairy-tale ballet perfectly.
Posted by Hayley
Wednesday 9 March
Up at 7.00 so that I could eat breakfast before meeting the others for second breakfast in the hotel cafe. There was a wide range of foods available but it turned out that the only thing I could eat was smoked salmon so I piled my plate high with that to augment the breakfast of cereal and fruit I had already had. We had been instructed to wait for Yulia in the lobby and she soon arrived with a University car to take us to our meetings for the day. We were headed for the University of Nizhniy Novgorod, our TEMPUS partners for the current project.
Jennie and I had been asked to prepare a presentation on quality assurance in British universities for, we thought, the workshop we were attending. It turned out that it was actually to a conference of senior university officials from the Volga region. Amongst them were a number of high ranking members of the Russian military. General's stars and all. Despite this rather shaky start the presentation went well and I can now say that I have given a presentation via an interpreter.
We were then treated to a rather extravagant four course lunch in the staff cafeteria. Fish again predominated and I had more smoked salmon along with tomato and a main of plain white fish. Everybody else fared rather better. They began with a cocktail of vegetables and smoked meat in mayonnaise, this was followed by a chicken and vegetable soup, then fish or pork and finally a range of pastries for dessert. Jennie and Kristina said they thought they would never need to eat again.
The afternoon was filled with meetings before a quick jaunt back to the hotel for a change of clothes and a snack for me. The rector took us out to Vitalich one of the nicest restaurants in Nizhniy for dinner. It is styled along traditional russian lines with bare wooden walls, an example of a traditional Russian oven, tapestries, folk art and other examples of Russian arts and crafts. In other parts of the restaurant there are stuffed animals including Lynxes, Chickens and Swans, restored guns and restored wagons. Quite an interesting combination. There is also live music later in the evening. As it was pancake week (apparently like Shrove Tuesday only it lasts a week), they also had a chef cooking pancakes that were shared around the table. I had another plate full of smoked salmon and tomato and more plain white fish as a main course. Jennie very kindly shared her caviar with me and I have to say that was the highlight of the meal. There were also, according to Russian tradition, various rounds of toasts and much general imbibing.
When it came time to leave we all rugged up and we remarked on the rector's hat after some difficulty we managed to ascertain that it was seal fur. One time when I had to hold my tongue in deference to another culture. We headed back through the falling snow to our hotel. Time for bed you might think but no we apparently had time for a little further work and a complete unpack and repack of my suitcase when I realised I had left all my notes at the University before I finally made it to bed just after 1.00 am.
Posted by Hayley
Tuesday 8 March
My trip to Russia got off to a very early start. The alarm sounded at 3.30 am and the taxi arrived at 4.00. Such are the joys of trips from Heathrow to non-EU countries. We, my boss Jennie and I, were scheduled for a 7.05 am flight to Nizhniy Novgorod via Frankfurt. The people at check-in asked would we mind going on the earlier, 6.35 am, flight to Frankfurt. No problem we said as we figured we may as well spend time at Frankfurt duty free rather than Heathrow where nothing was open. The flight went smoothly and we were soon viewing the goods in the Frankfurt terminal. I didn't buy anything but Jennie stocked up her cosmetic supply.
We met our colleague Kristina at the gate. Kristina works for ESMU in Brussels but is Swedish by birth so we were a very multi national party. The flight from Frankfurt to Nizhniy Novgorod is around three hours but this passed quickly enough by the time we had eaten and caught up on the news.
Arriving in Nizhniy is quite a shock it is not quite like the other international airports I have visited, more like a slightly run down Hamilton airport. I was lucky enough to have a very friendly custom's woman who upon seeing my New Zealand passport launched into a lengthy discussion on New Zealand in Russian! She concluded the discussion by telling me I had lost a lot of weight through mime. I have subsequently been informed that not all Russian Custom's officers are that friendly.
We were met by our Russian colleague Yulia and the University mini van. We were the last through customs and I suspect she was beginning to believe we hadn't made it. We set off through the icy streets sans seat-belts making me a little nervous. Everything looked very beautiful covered in snow though I am assured that the area around the airport is a very run down industrial area. Home to, amongst others, the Nizhniy Novgorod Automobile Factory, the original point of origin for the University minibus.
Yulia made sure we registered safely at the Oktyabrskaya Hotel before leaving us to our own devices for the evening. The rooms in the hotel were of a very good standard given the three star rating. I had a TV, a mini-bar and a very cute pink hair dryer. The only disconcerting thing about the hotel was the level the heating was kept at - a good 25 degrees. I had to sleep with the window open on the -10 degree night just be be slightly comfortable.
My room looked out over a square, a statue and a small church. These are very popular with walkers both human and canine and you could see people out at all hours. Again these were covered in thigh deep snow and more began to fall as the evening progressed. It is apparently quite late for snow fall, but following a very warm December and January Yulia thinks it is just winter getting its own back.
Jennie, Kristina and I headed into Nizhniy Novgorod Town Centre in search of dinner. (Well actually I had already eaten from my home supply). This is a very pleasant walk, probably even nicer when it is a little warmer, down by the Volga then past the town Kremlin and defence wall on down the main shopping street and then finally past the best preserved building in Nizhniy, the State Bank.
March 8 is International Women's Day and is celebrated as a major public holiday in Russia. This meant there was lots of activity on the street. We were treated to a cover band in the main square followed by fireworks. I thought they were rather good, though I think Jennie may beg to differ.
The public holiday made finding a place to eat rather difficult as many of the places Jennie has eaten in previously were closed for private functions. We eventually located a cafe however, when we paused to look at one of the traditional wooden buildings down a side street off the main shopping area. It was called the Green Lamp and is evidently, a popular hang out for Journalists and other coolish people. The food was fine, dominated by soups and fish and with an extensive pancake menu for dessert. Jennie and Kristina ate well and dinner, including a beer each, came to 6 Euros each. Not bad.
We wandered back the route we had came and headed to bed exhausted. I just had time to quickly run through the presentation for the next day.
Posted by Hayley