On a Floating Bridge

more photos…

A knock at my door in the pitch black and it was time to get ready to get off the train. Bleary eyed I opened the door and the Providnik walking away down the corridor turned and motioned for me to get out of my silly pink flowery pyjama bottoms and into something more suited to the streets of St. Petersburg. I started pulling things out of the wardrobe frantically and shoved them into my backpack. Finally all packed, I stood outside the carriage looking through the windows that line the corridor from end to end, hoping to catch the German couple who might be able to help me when we arrived.
They came out of their compartment, 2 doors down and told me that the girl � Julie was hopefully going to be met by a representative from the Russian university, the boy Tarik was going to a different university in Moscow, leaving that evening on the same train I would be taking the next day.
When we arrived, still in total darkness, the 3 of us made our way from the very back of the train all the way up to the station that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned of the engine grime for 60 years. Emptying from hard class with huge numbers of plastic bags were Russians and Belarussians, inappropriately dressed in mini skirts and t-shirts. Gypsy cab drivers scanned through us asking if we wanted taxis. Heads down we walked past. Julie’s rep was waiting, so her boyfriend and I left her to get the subway to the station we would both be leaving for Moscow from, him today, me tomorrow. He kindly helped me get my metro tickets and put my luggage into storage. We had a coffee together, before he showed me how to get to the station where my travel agent was keeping my Moscow-bound ticket. We parted ways, leaving me very grateful for the help. Having sorted all the admin for my trip and found my hostel, I set out to explore St. Petersburg, taking in the Hermitage, and a performance of Swan Lake at the Palace Theatre. Tomorrow evening I will take the train to Moscow, my last pause before the Trans-Siberian proper.