- USA
- Ireland
- France
- Belgium
- Back in France
- May 30, 2005Mexican Princesses
- May 31, 2005Versaille
- June 1, 2005Last Day in Paris
- June 2, 2005Coast of Marseille
- May 3, 2005Callanques of Marseille
- June 4, 2005Leaving Marseille
- June 5, 2005Busted Ankle
- June 6, 2005Healing in St. Raphael
- June 7, 2005Bongos on the Beach
- June 8, 2005Goodbye, St. Raphael - Hello Cannes
- June 9, 2005Antibes Daytrip
- June 10, 2005Chilling in Cannes
- June 11, 2005To Nice with the Finns
- Monaco
- Switzerland
- Germany
- Austria
- Hungary
- Poland Fun
- June 29, 2005Zakopane
- June 30, 2005Hiking in the Tatry Mountains
- July 1, 2005Trail of Wooden Architecture
- July 2, 2005Krakow Jazz Festival
- July 3, 2005Kazimierz
- July 4, 2005Goral Burger
- July 5, 2005Ciupagi
- July 6, 2005Czestochowa
- July 7, 2005Trainhopping
- July 8, 2005Happy Birthday Mom!!!
- July 9, 2005Happy Birthday Jack
- July 10, 2005Banana Riding
- July 11, 2005First Russian Embassy Visit
- Poland Family
- July 12, 2005Family, at Last
- July 13, 2005Mom's Schoolfriends
- July 14, 2005Muddy Ponds
- July 15, 2005Partying in Poznan
- July 16, 2005A Relaxing Day
- July 17, 2005Sheeshah Bar
- July 18, 2005Five Souvereign Lands
- July 19, 2005The Good News
- July 20, 2005Another Family Function
- July 21, 2005Just Chilling
- July 22, 2005The Best Bike Ever
- July 23, 2005Looking for a Home by the Baltic Sea
- July 24, 2005Copernicus and the Boyscouts
- July 25, 2005Visas are Set to Go
- July 26, 2005Luxury
- July 27, 2005A Day at Work
- Russia
- July 28, 2005Back in St. P Looking for 1UP
- July 29, 2005Peter's Pimpin' Palace and the Neverending Nights
- July 30, 2005Big Bad Moscow
- July 31, 2005Beating Birches
- August 1, 2005Off to Siberia
- August 2, 2005Drinking with the Guards
- August 3, 2005Big, Rolling Trans-Siberian Party
- August 4, 2005Pack up, Only Six Hours Left
- August 5, 2005Irkutsk
- August 6, 2005Swimming in Lake Baikal
- August 7, 2005Drenched
- August 8, 2005Partying with Uzbeks
- August 9, 2005I Love You Omul, I Heart Baikal
- August 10, 2005Pushed out of Russia
- Mongolia
- China
- August 26, 2005Chasing Buses
- August 27, 2005Looking for the Opera
- August 28, 2005Sleeping on a Wall
- August 29, 2005Trying to Find the Opera Once Again
- August 30, 2005Forbidden City and Searching for the Opera
- August 31, 2005The Opera Sucks
- September 1, 2005Hutongs and Strange Food
- September 2, 2005The Peking Ducks Incident
- September 3, 2005Beijing Shopping
- September 4, 2005The Dirt Market and Tiger Penis Vodka
- September 5, 2005Temples, Temples, and More Temples
- September 6, 2005The Amazing Summer Palace
- September 7, 2005Goodbye Asia
- Back in the USA
World Trip
Irkutsk
We woke up at about 1pm, to find lots of SMSes from the Polish people whom we did not meet. They were off to Listvyanka. We had a city to see.
Luckily, Irkutsk is much smaller than Moscow, so a day seemed like just enough time to see it.
We took a marshrutka to the Lenin statue, which we figured must be in the city center. A marshrutka is a minivan bus-type service that is a really cheap way to get around in Russian cities. They are hard to figure out because there are no maps or schedules, but with a little courage it is possible to use this means of transportation to get where you need to go.
Next, we went to the Irkutsk Fine Arts museum. I really enjoyed this place. It was much smaller than the Hermitage or the other museums I’ve been to in Russia. However, the atmosphere here was very un-Russian-museum like. Of course, there were little old ladies sitting in every room making sure that all the visitors behave. However, they were very friendly here, smiled (unheard of!), and were very insistent that you did not miss any of the exhibits, even getting into friendly arguments about where we have or not have been to assure we get the most out of the museum.
Afterward, we strolled around on the city streets and enjoyed the Syberian city architecture that is quite unique to Irkutsk. We visited some churches. Eventually we needed to get some food, and Mysia wanted something western, so we got pizza.
On the way back to the hostel, we wanted to take the same marshrutka we had taken here, but obviously in the opposite direction. After standing in one spot for about half an hour, not one passed in the direction we wanted to go in, but about five did in the other. So after asking some Russians I came to the conclusion that this particular route was circular. We crossed the street and grabbed a ride.
After a long ride everyone got out and the driver told us to leave. Apparently the route was not circular. So we paid the driver a second fare and went back. It turns out that the route goes around the block in the direction we originally wanted to go in. All in all, it was a nice and cheap way to see parts of the city we would not be able to see on foot.
As the evening approached, it was time to go out. Mysia opted out because she was exhausted. Allen and I headed off to the Stratosfera nightclub.
The night out was fun. Stratosfera is a combo club, lounge, bar, casino, and bowling alley. It was a good club and we met some nice girls. Since daylight was approaching when we got out, we decided to hang out until 7 in the morning and go directly to the train station, where we were meeting Artur and Mariola, two more people who we had planned to originally travel with.
We met them and made our way back to the hostel.
