7 September

The difference a day makes!
I woke this morning to a bright sun, a later time and sore feet. I had thought after all the walking Alexander and I did yesterday that my leg muscles would be sore – they weren’t, but my feet were really painful.
I eventually got up at 0730 and showered and prepared for breakfast, but this time I was down at just after 0800. By the look of the buffet tables, quite a few had already eaten and gone, but there was still plenty and more came out while I was there.
My leisurely meal consisted of toast (three pieces, but they were very small), orange juice (diluted with water as it seemed very sweet), sugar crispies with milk and eggs with bacon. There must only be fat pigs around the north of Europe as I’ve never seen so much fat on the bacon rashers. This morning I had a very short chat with a priest from Germany (who was there with his brother, by their appearance) until he realised I wasn’t from Germany and didn’t speak German.
Then I was back up to my room, checked emails (quickly and replied to some) and then repacked my bag for this evening. After checking all was right, I went down to reception, checked out and left my suitcase and backpack in the luggage room and went off to explore a little further.
I walked down to the five-corner square (named such because it has five buildings facing into it) and saw that whee not used for celebrations it is a parking area. One of the buildings facing into it is a department store, so I had a look inside. It was four floors, ground and three more, with each department having its own sales assistant and cash register, and each department could be locked separately (and some were open different hours). I have never seen such shop assistants, though. The outside of the building was good at the front but not good on the sides or the back; the stairs were worn different amounts in different places (no lifts) and the floors were bare concrete. The range of goods and the prices were very comparable to home, especially electronics and toys.
After that I walked buck up the main street past the street to the hotel. There was a new department store there with some exotic and pricey toys (R3600 for a toy camel, nearly as large as a real one). Then I continued up to a new supermarket (with 46 checkouts, it really was super!) and had a look around. There were some revelations.
The range of things was nearly as wide as anything at home, the prices again were about the same and a lot of the names were in English (and the same brands).
I saw a child firmly telling her mother that the brand of toothpaste the mother had selected was the wrong one and the child returned it and got the right one (at a lot more expense, judging by the mother’s expression).
I was looking around at the breads when a Russian father with his son said, “Hello” to me in English, I thanked him but his son had to translate that.
Frozen vegetables, shrimps, chips and a lot of other things could be taken in bulk and packed, as well as lollies.
I finally left there with a drink, some chips to snack on and some confectionary for the train, in case I couldn’t get any meals on the way to Moscow or they were unsuitable. As I left the supermarket, the same Russian father said hello again as this time he was leaving with his family (son and wife). I gave him a koala pin and explained to the son it was because he had been so nice and friendly. He was very pleased and put it on as he was wandering away to the car (the son had to push the trolley).
I sat on a seat opposite the parking lot. There were a number of benches, mainly occupied by parents of children on a large playground set. There were a huge number of children playing on it, and for the older children, the parents just sat back (and had a smoke – don’t think I’ve seen so many smokers since Italy) and watched. There was also an enterprise with four horses (one Shetland) giving rides and running a thriving business and another of a young boy with two small battery-powered cars which children could “drive” for about five minutes, His business wasn’t quite as thriving as the horses.
I went to walk further along the main road, but two things stopped me. My feet were now suffering and there was a lot of noise from the main road at the time I was going to ring Fran. I went back and sat down until I got through (+61 and the number got her, which amazed me) and then walked back towards the hotel. By the time I got there I had sort of recovered, so I headed further east (the city runs north-south on its long axis and east-west on its minor axis). Ten minutes got me to the outside of the city in that direction so I headed back to the hotel.
Observations along the way were that the ground floor of most apartment blocks were commercial premises, there were a lot of small trailer-like vans along the way selling almost anything and there were a lot of families out. There were also large numbers of young children walking about by themselves or in groups, as seen in Australia years ago but only in country towns now.
I arrived back at the hotel and it wasn’t until I sat down that I realised how sore my feet were. I stayed there, listening to John Williamson, with the occasional interlude of watching people enter and leave and a very brief chat with a journalist (who thought I was one because of the camera) until just after 1800. I got my luggage from the luggage room and was told my taxi was already here. I checked my email first (only junk mail, unfortunately) and then went out and took the taxi to the station. Here I saw the train was already on the board, No. 15, to leave at 1855 and to arrive in Moscow at 0648 (day after tomorrow). Out I headed and down to the platform (no ramps, escalators or lifts here), showed my ticket to the first person who looked like a train official and was told “two down”. Two carriages down I was told “two down” and so on until I was at the carriage second from the front (which may have been the instruction given). Here I found I was at the correct carriage – the next trick was to find the correct compartment. Room II, Berth 3 is where I am. And at 1855 the train went out, with me in my room and a couple next door.
The scenery along the line was spectacular once we left the outskirts of Murmansk and Kola. We travelled beside a river and later beside a series of lakes. The trees got taller and of different varieties as we went south.
We hadn’t been far along when a chap came with a basket of goodies – biscuit (chocolate cream layer), apple, chocolate bar, tea and coffee sachets with milk and sugar. He wanted to know what time I wanted lunch tomorrow (1300, we worked out) and what meal (fish – ugh and sick noises, so he went “moo” and I gave thumbs up). Having finished that successfully, when the car supervisor came along I gave her a koala pin, showed her how to put it on and must have made a friend. Later when I went to go to the toilet, she opened it up for me and it has, wait for it, both toilet paper and soap. Perhaps this is because I’m in “soft first class”, but I will find out.
Later, she asked about tea. When I professed ignorance (didn’t know what she was saying, she brought back a cup filled with hot water. We then worked out which was the tea bag (however, in Moscow I will get Lipton Black Label if I can), she looked shocked when I indicated milk and she indicated sugar. By this time I had worked out how to say thanks very much, and she nodded and smiled warmly (or perhaps it was pityingly, knowing how bad my pronunciation was).
I had seen the power-points in corridor (110 V, but that doesn’t matter), so I processed the photos (it’s getting dark at 2130, so I won’t be taking any more tonight) and wrote this up and then found … different pin configuration! Now I will have to work out how to recharge the laptop or else have to write up on paper and type in while on the boat. Then I’ll also have to work out how to eke out power over the days on the TransSiberian if I can’t recharge laptop, camera batteries, iPod and mobile. Perhaps by then I’ll know enough Russian or have found out a way around it.