Over night train from Warsaw to Moscow
The train was very comfortable and possibly the best overnight train we have ever been on so far. New and clean, with everything you need – even a shower if you wish! The compartment has a little bench that when the top is lifted, is a wash basin.
The only con was that we had never really experienced an overnight train shake as much as this one. It felt like we were laying on one of those massage chairs – making sleep ‘interesting’.
We arrived into a snowy Moscow on Christmas day, but it felt like any other day. It appears the Orthodox Russians celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January.
We caught the metro to the station where we would head to St Petersburg. But first we stopped for lunch and were impressed by the grandeur of the buildings in both restaurant and metro!
They say first impressions last and that you sum up a person within the first couple of seconds of meeting someone. I would say that similarly you sum up a country by the way you experience the roads as a pedestrian. We were somewhat surprised to find that the Russians giveway to pedestrians at the zebra crossing or jn general. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we sure didn’t think they would be so polite. Of course you do get the odd nut job who drives straight through.
St Petersburg
The one thing we remember from this train journey was the fact that the food was similar or worse than airline food. Pricey, not much in it and not so cheap.
We arrived in St Petersburg and although there was a ceiling at the platform station, the platform was full of snow.
Our first night we had dinner at a place called Kazan. And we stayed at a really nice Airbnb unit on Malaya Morskaya Ulitsa right near Admiralteyskaya metro. We really liked this place because it had three bedrooms, was cosy and close to everything. The only downside was that the prior guests smoked in one of the rooms and the smell would not leave no matter how much we aireated the room.
The Winter Palace and Hermitage museum
Similar to other museums, the Hermitage may be a little much for young kids. For adults it’s quite amazing and full of works by famous artists like Rembrandt, Pissaro, Egyptian artefacts etc…. and definitely a must! With kids, you may find yourself walking that little bit faster past rooms.
One way you may wish to engage your kids during your visit is to prepare a booklet for them. I selected a couple of artworks that I knew would be at the Hermitage and got them to find them as we walked around. They then had to write/draw their thoughts about this artwork, or try to recreate the artwork in their own “style”.
Just some images of the Museum inside:
Church of the Saviour on spilled blood (also known as The church on spilled blood).
This cathedral is one of the most popular sights to visit in St Petersburg. This church was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded by political nihilists in March 1881. The church was built between 1883 and 1907. The construction was funded by the imperial family (wiki).
We didn’t go in but it is a spectacular cathedral to admire from the outside.
The Sitadel and Cosmonaut
Moscow
We found a small unit in the Arbat district and very close to Smolenskaya subway. It wasn’t the best unit as j bad to use my jumper as a pillow because it was too hard and stunk of mould; the shower was tiny and had no water pressure; the toilet didn’t flush very well. Nonetheless, the location was great and it was good value for money.
Moscow Metro
It’s difficult to believe that an underground metro can be a popular tourist attraction, but when you visit Moscow, you’ll soon realise why.
The Moscow metro, also known as “the people’s palace” is one of the biggest and densest in the world.
- Trains come past every 90 seconds!
- Contains 12 lines, 200 stations
- The deepest station is 84 metres below ground (Park Pobedy) and has the longest escalator – 126 metres long!
Most Moskovits know the quickest routes to take underground, connecting one line to the next. It’s another world down there with everyone walking to-and-fro! Clearly we didn’t know these quick routes, and on our arrival into Moscow from St Petersburg, we needed to go from Leningradsky station (situated on Komsomolskaya Square) on Line 5 to Smolenskaya on Line 3.
Unfortunately we didn’t take the right entrance and ended up having to carry our suitcases up and down many stairs. It was very stressful and tiring especially while trying to manage two boys during peak hour people traffic.
We were very impressed with how quickly the Russians stand to give up their seat for children! I don’t think there was a trip we did with the boys through the metro, where they stood – amazinginly polite people!
The Yusopov Palace (or Moika Palace).
This was an interesting visit to the house of the Yusopovs and see how rich this family was. This was so the place where Grigori Rasputin was murdered.
The Red Square
The Kremlin
It was New Year Eve and the Red Square was feeling very festive. Security was very tight with all sections of the square and city closed and full of security checks. We stayed at the square to celebrate. We grabbed dinner at an American style diner on Arabat street (go figure).
We left our unit at Moscow at approx 10pm on 1st January, to head to the station for the commencement of our Trans-Siberian journey.
Family Excursions Abroad 