Getting&arriving there

No planning means no advanced booking for train tickets.
Buying tickets half an hour before the stimated departure time means paying at least twice the average price.
We wanted to leave Moscow so price did not matter to us.
The rest of the morning was spent in shared sleeping cars chatting and sleeping. I took out a friend's guide and  read something on Jaroslavl.. I thought it could have been useful having some infomation on the palce we were going to visit.

So Jaroslavl is the result of a killing of a bear by Prince Jaroslav. It seems like he was such a strong and bald young man that he faced this wild animal only with a axe and killed it with just one hit. What a fearless hero! To make sure such perfomance was not going to fall into oblivion, he built a fortress. And they all lived happily ever after.

After four hours, some hiccuped rest and munched food, we got off the train, bought the ticket back  and tried to find the hostel/hotel.
There is one thing to be aware of when travelling around Russia: make sure you perfectly know how to get to wherever you want to go. Asking passers-by is no use. Not cos they aren't willing to help but cos they will give you opposite information.
And you are left there with a big question mark: should I go straight?or turn left?or should I turn right?should I ask someone else?should I cross the street?
What is for sure is that it builds up your diplomatic skills.
Somehow - andafter a considerable walk up and down Jaroslavl, we got to the hotel which was clean, comfortable and welcoming. And very close to the old part of the town.

Jaroslav: no planning needed

Four of us got together for the trip to Jaroslav.

We've been talking about it for two weeks. Talking, not planning.

"So, are we going to Jaroslav?" "When are we going?" "Who's coming?" etc etc.

The part related to - how we get there, where will we stay, what we want to visit, wasn't taken in consideration too seriously.

We kind of knew how to get there ("there are trains leaving from Moscow to Jaroslav" we were told), we kind of knew how to come back ("well, if trains get there then trains will also come back" - we thought) and we knew there was a place were we could spend the night. We booked it few hous before departure.

Approximate directions were given on how to arrive at the hotel/hostel by a friend of us: "Just go straight from the train station. Keep right. It is a 20 minute walk". 

Jaroslaw counts nearly 700.000 inhabitants.

None of us printed a map of the town.

We only checked the weather forecast: Saturday max temperature 20 Celsius degrees, clear sky. Sunday: light rain (maybe).

The evening before leaving and after a few text messages, we agreed on meeting at 9am at Komsomolskaya metro station, on the platform.

That has been the only thing we planned of the whole trip.

A weekend away : Jaroslav

Just what was needed.
A break away from Moscow.
At times you just want to spend few hours somewhere without metro, traffic, pollution.
Moscow is a great place, but walking distances (no need for metro in Jaroslav!), friendly faces, cheap restaurants and clean air, can actually recharge your batteries.

The weather was kind both on Saturday and on Sunday. No rain, no cold wind, no snow.

Back to Moscow

It’s been more than a month now.I’m back to work and back to life.

I spent the first two and a half weeks at a friend’s house while looking for a place. I found a flat halfway from work and the “ring”: the brown circle metro line that marks off the centre of Moscow.

It is starting to be quite chilly.. plus 10 Celsius degrees in the afternoon. From the balcony of my bedroom (I’m on the eight floor) you can see two of the “Seven Sisters”. At night the view is inspiring, sexy, intriguing.

It happened to me to walk around Moscow at night. Or to get a taxi back home at 4am. It is incredibly fascinating and I always feel safe.