Vodka and old friends... fabulous!

Somewhere about half way across Siberia, bored of my own company and that of strangers, I decided to take a detour from the usual trans-siberian route and head down south to Volgograd. A few text messages later and a plan had formed; I would take the train from Yekaterinburg to Volgograd and stay with my freind Nadya there for one night before heading on to Moscow and my flight home. In Irkutsk station, however, the oh-so-helpful woman behind the desk told me that there were no tickets available. Ach well, I sighed, 'twas not to be.

On reaching Yekaterinburg, however, I thought that there was no harm in asking again and this time I was informed that there were tickets to Volgograd available, but only in Kupe class (which is not my preferred class, it's more expensive and you run the risk of being stuck in a compartment with 3 drunk men, as opposed to the more open platscartny carriages). Marvellous, I thought, and proceeded to buy a ticket.

I spent one night in Yekaterinburg and saw the place where the Romanovs were killed (although the actual house was knocked down and there's now a memorial and a big church) along with some more Lenin statues etc. It seemed a nice city but not the most interesting place in the world, so one night was more than long enough (especially as I got horribly bitten by mozzies, man, they love my English blood!).

The train journey was kinda as expected, that is, I was in a compartment with 3 drunken Russki men, Victor, Kostya and I didn't catch the name of the third. Much eating and drinking of vodka and beer ensued, which I was, of course obliged to take part in. At some point not long after leaving Yekaterinburg we passed from Asia into Europe but I was quickly passing from sober to drunk and so I missed it. Anyway, at this point there is a scene missing and we shall cut to the next morning...

The boys were awake and drinking vodka around 9 or so and I tried to sleep on but wasn't allowed. I did, however, refuse all offers of vodka/ beer as I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have made me feel better, whatever they said! Anyway, the boys left at Samara, thank God, leaving me opportunity to sleep of the effects of the alcohol. A lovely girl called Alyona joined the train a bit later on and we had a really nice chat.

THe next morning I arrived in Volgograd. Fantastic! It really felt like coming home. I made my way to Nad's place and once showered and refreshed we had a great chat and catch-up. Then, she asked if she could possibly take advantage of my fabulous cooking skills and could I possibly cook her some chilli. No bother, says I, and it was done. After lunch we headed into town meeting my friend Dasha (my Russian little sister) who has grown up a lot since I last saw her. She's now 17 and about to start uni (she was only 14 when I left). Had a nice wander and then met up with some more friends for pre-birthday celebrations. A fantastic night was had by all!

Anyway, will have to cut this short as my time is running out at this internet cafe. I shall finish updating you all once I'm back in the UK (tomorrow).

Love,
Lottie x

PS Sounds like you had an exciting trip home Ezio, you'll have to tell me all about it!