Yekaterinburg is famous for two things. Which one is more significant, I will leave you to judge! We arrived there on the train after lunch today having crossed the Ural Mountains. Yekaterinburg is the fourth largest city in Russia with
Slightly bizarrely we spent the first part of the trip heading off to the east, stopping for a couple of hours at Novgorod and then heading all the way back west again! So, when we woke up in the morning
A particularly exciting day today as we saw Vladimir Putin. Well actually we didn’t, but our guide was fairly cyonvinced that he was in one of the line of 15 or so blacked-out Mercedes which streamed last us as we
At 16.05 we boarded the Polonez sleeper train at Warsaw Central Station. We had a compartment between us with a wash basin (under the table) but it was very comfortable for two. Initially it was all a little fraught and
Poland has seen a lot of conflict over the years, not least during the Second World War. The Warsaw Uprising in the summer of 1944 was led by the Polish Underground Resistance to try and free Poland from the German
Another day on the train today. We were split into two groups this morning and the first group drew the short straw – a 4.30am start. Our start was much more leisurely – we left the hotel at 8.45am for
If ever there was a city which made the case for not building a wall, then that city is Berlin. Today we had a full day in Berlin and they laid on a city tour for us. A prompt start
Well, we need to get used to longer train journeys, so today was good practice. It should have been seven and a half hours, but astonishingly the second (German) train was late, so it was about 15 minutes longer. We
The trip we are doing is a 40th Anniversary trip of the original Central Kingdom Express. In those days it took 42 days on trains. Luckily for us trains have improved quite a bit, so we only have around 12
Day 1 was not taxing (compared to what is coming!) – just a quick 50 minutes on the train to Liverpool Street and then 4 stops on the Circle Line to St.Pancras. We are staying in the Renaissance Hotel at