Ekaterinburg, Russia

Our time in Ekaterinburg was all to brief, but was much needed between two long train journeys that would have been absolutely brutal if not split. Given that our host was a keen cyclist, and we were keen to get some exercise and stretch our legs, we ignored the drizzle and cold weather.

Our tour of Ekaterinburg unearthed a large number of educational and military establishments, one of which was this 'black tulip' memorial to soldiers lost in recent conflicts - Afghanistan,  Chechnya etc. We were surprised given the propensity to shame of most countries toward conflicts after WWII.

I was also surprised to see icecream advertised as being USSR, though there are many examples of soviet remnants that could have been removed if people wished. Our host explained that some people felt nostalgia for this past, at least to the soviet flavours of icecream. The price is also very reasonable - 15 roubles is 30 pence or $0.45.

Against common principles, the footpaths were our domain while cycling in Ekaterinburg, and we were bewildered by the size of the kerbs - certainly too high for a wheelchair to manage.  We made the most of a couple parks that were much friendlier to cyclists and enjoyed the beautiful Autumn colours that were becoming more striking as we passed into colder climates and the seasons progressed.

That evening we experienced our first couchsurfing party of the trip, with ourselves, two Russians and a Czech guy. Despite having to get up at 4:30 the next morning for our train, we put in a pretty good effort.

Low impact living, Couchsurfing

This is the second article of a series I am writing for the low impact living initiative about trying to live in a low impact way while traveling . It is a great website full of interesting information, and I would strongly encourage having a look around.

If you want to know more about couchsurfing - the main accommodation Dani and I have been using, you can check it out on this blog.

Image by Olga - our host in St Petersburg

Suzdal, Russia

A three hour local-train ride away from Moscow is Suzdal - a provincial town with an absurd number of architectural and cultural jems. Unsurprisingly, it is popular with Russian and foreign tourists, though was anything but crowded.

The town had its own monastery, dozens of churches, and collossal walled complexes, the purpose of which we could only guess. Suzdal even has its own Kremlin, which is remarkable considering the small size of the town, but reflects its importance in the region historically.

There was also an open-air museum of wooden architecture, which had collected many 17-19th century buildings from the surrounding area. The churches were particularly spectacular.

They had a fantastic smell inside too, and were surprisingly warm and cosy. We spent some time sheltering from the cold wind and taking in the atmosphere.

Dani and I also found a peasant house that is almost exactly the scale of construction that we would one day like to build for ourselves - 8 metres by 5 metres internal dimensions.

During our stay, we were in our first paid accommodation for the trip, in a homely B&B housed in a wooden building typical of the town. It was the same price as we would have paid for two beds in Suzdal's hostel dorm, and was certainly more comfortable and friendly.

The embellishments on the house are commonplace in the area, and I got really excited about the carved wooden decorations around the windows, so decided to make a photo study of them. Below is a small selection of the pictures.

Moscow, Russia

Arriving in Moscow we were a little apprehensive, as people had suggested it was a harsh metropolis, with less charm and beauty than St Petersburg. However, after surviving the incredible Metro system at morning rush hour and arriving at our hosts apartment, less than 1 kilometre from the Kremlin, we quickly found ourselves liking the city with it's many layers of history and change.

It was also nice to see more of the Soviet era present in terms of architecture and statues. We explored an urban park that seemed to hold dozens of old communist relics, including a crowd of Lenins.

Just across the street from our hosts apartment on Tverskaya was the most incredible supermarket we had ever seen, that put shame even to Harrods. It was apparently built for the high-ranking communist party members to shop in, complete with chandaliers and beautiful carvings. For us, the basic foodstuffs were the same price as everywhere else, so we were able to shop in opulence for a time.

There were some pretty incredible buildings from Stalin's time too, like this gargantuan university building, that housed student dorms among other things. There were several of these giants that loomed over the city and dominated the skyline, which made us think of Batman's Gotham.

Not everything was so serious and imposing though, and we found a more playful side of Moscow that was in all likelihood linked to the enormous amount of wealth being generated there. We spent an afternoon relaxing in a huge park filled with many things that western countries would not consider making freely available to the public for fear of theft or damage, like these giant beanbags.

Another free aspect of the city we enjoyed was a dramatic recreation of a battle with Napoleon. We witnessed a huge spectacle of dancing, singing, fighting and hollywood-quality horsemanship that was put on in the Red Square.

There was also a ridiculous side to the wealth in Moscow though, and one example we witnessed when walking home at 11pm through a very fancy shopping mall adjacent to the Kremlin. Not only were people spending obscene amounts of money in designer stores while grandmothers begged for small change outside, but they were employing people to be live models for clothing.

Wealth is not new to Moscow however, with the Kremlin itself a record of the gross inequalities that have been present for a long period. We explored a number of private chapels and mini-cathedrals that were reserved for the Tsar at one time.

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Our first experiences of Russia were a giant Lenin mosaic and an aging metro carriage whose lights flickered intermittently, so we couldn't have been happier. It is always interesting that travellers look for stereotypes to fulfil their notions of a place, but we quickly realised that St Petersburg is very European in many ways - though certainly not in terms of it's famous architecture.

We were very enamoured with the Church on Spilled Blood - so named because it stands on the place where a Tsar was assassinated. Luckily, our second visit was in glorious sunshine, so we were able to enjoy the gaudy colours.

Apart from tramping the atmospheric streets, we also visited the Hermitage museum, but didn't even manage to see a third of it's colossal collection. Surprisingly, we were able to visit for free as we hold international student cards (ISIC) and Russia kindly recognises all the world's students. It was a fantastic way to spend a rainy afternoon.

It was a real pleasure to continue couchsurfing, as we stayed with a local girl the same age as us, and were able to ask her anything that popped into our heads about language, food, culture, the soviet times and how things have changed. We stayed with her and her Grandmother (Babooshka) and spent lots of time in their cosy kitchen.



From there we learnt some basic Russian - mostly to do with avoiding meat and then double-checking there is no meat in what we ordered. We swapped recipes and tasted a delicious Cambodian soup (recipe below).

It was good fun to try and communicate with our host's Babooshka, and one night we even had two Babooshkas at once! Dani showed them the vegetables we had grown back in England and they fed us some of the apples they produced at their summer house.

We also noticed some Babooshkas on the streets in a much less pleasant scenario. Apparently many older people are forced to work by economic necessity, and we certainly saw many women near metro stations and on busy streets. We watched a policeman move along a group of old ladies who were mostly selling flowers and fruits.

A brighter side of St Petersburg was it's prodigious quantity of art. Our host was a photographer and took us to a great World Press Photo exhibition.

It was also very apparent on the streets that people feel strongly about art and decorating communal spaces - perhaps as a reaction against more austere times. It really made walking around a more interesting experience, and was one of the reasons we quickly developed a soft spot for the city.

Recipe - Somlor Ktiss (Cambodian Soup) by Olga from Russia

- Mash or pulverise a few kaffir lime leaves and some lemongrass
- Cut pineapple, onion, eggplant (aubergine) and tomato into large chunks
- Chop chilli and turmeric root finely (can use dried turmeric if root not available)

- Fry the chilli and spices, then add the eggplant to brown
- Add coconut milk and a little water if desired
- Add the other vegetables and simmer until cooked, but not soft
- Add lime juice and basil just before serving

- Serve with a communal bowl of rice for people to add to their soup

Helsinki, Finland

We entered Finland and still felt that pleasant familiarity with the Nordic (no longer technically Scandinavian) architecture, though it was starting to transition to a different style from what we had been accustomed.

Helsinki also lived up to our expectations of modern Finnish quirky design and we found a free art gallery tucked away in gritty back street.

Though there was an overall Nordic feel to the city, we welcomed seeing Russian influences, both in modern art and older buildings.

Undeniably, the best thing about Helsinki was the overall feel of the city as a place to live. This was evident everyday we were there with a Cat Video Festival and a very well attended flea market organised through social media and completely free.

Later in our stay we helped a couple of people from the British Council erect a rollercoaster garden for an outdoor design exhibition (they kindly mentioned us on their website). The wooden planters were constructed but we had to piece them together, with a few held up over 4m in the air.

Though our stay in Finland was too short, it gave us the ideal transition between sadly departing Scandinavia but excitedly entering Russia.

Recipe - Gluten flour sausage (selten) by Pinja from Finland

(preheat oven to 150 C)

1. Start with 1 part water to 3 part gluten flour and put them in separate bowls; the water in one bowl (wet) and the flour in another (dry)

2. In the wet bowl add: boiling water with stock cubes, tabasco, tomato puree, liquid smoke or bbq sauce, soy sauce (you can play around with any of these flavourings, or any new ones)

3. In the dry bowl add: gluten flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder (optional to add chickpea flour for more 'crunch')

4. Mix the two bowls of ingredients together until it had a doughy consistency

5. Roll giant fat sausage in aluminium foil

6. Cook for 1.5 - 2 hrs in a 150 C oven.

You can then cut this giant sausage into slices, e.g. for sandwiches, pizza; or into chunks to then put in other dishes, e.g. stir fry, spaghetti bolognese.

Stockholm, Sweden

We had been looking forward to Stockholm as many people we met had only good things to say about it. Dani and I had also really enjoyed the Stieg Larsson Millenium series, so were interested to see some of the locations he described. We stumbled across one area by accident, and thought it looked very familiar. We later discovered it was the home of Blomkvist.

This fashionable neighbourhood was on Soder Malm, one of the many islands of Stockholm, and was where much of Larsson's novels were set. We found a free tour online, as tourist information was charging an outrageous amount for a similar map. The island also felt really local, with few cars and lots of people going from place to place.

Each of the islands had a different personality, and the organisation of the city felt like it was many small cities rather than one large metropolis.

The oldest and most romantic island was Gamla Stan.

It was very atmospheric on the overcast day we went, especially when we found ourselves alone in an alley away from the main pedestrian streets.

We really liked the quiet island we were staying on - Reimersholme, with only one access point and so no through-traffic. It also seemed to be a popular location to store boats.

Our host's apartment was tucked away and a lovely location in terms of access to the city and having a quiet respite at the end of the day.

Our favourite area was a collection of houses that resembled holiday homes, hidden away behind a park, and only accessible via pedestrian walkways. Their view was completely at odds with the surroundings.

I really liked the small, mostly wooden houses - especially this one with a tree growing straight through the building!

Besides our explorations on foot we also managed to chill and were very enamoured with this decadent cafe, housed in a grand building but with very reasonable prices. It was yet another good tip from a couchsurf host, who also happened to make the most delicious apple pie (recipe below).

Recipe - Apple pie, by Ann from Sweden

Dough

- For non-vegan: Mash together 100gm butter, 200ml of flour and 50ml of sugar with a fork, then bring together with your hands.

- For vegan: Mash together 1 cup of flour, 1/2 tsp of salt, 80ml of oil, 50ml of sugar and 2 to 3 tbsp of cold water, or until it comes together.

Filling

- Slice 5-6 apples into very thin pieces, peeling skin if desired and removing seeds. - Layer with cinnamon in between until mold is full. Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes at approx 180 degrees celsius, until the apples are soft.