China post #1

We've been over a week in China, but due to one thing or another we've not got around to updating the blog or even sending this site out to friends.

So ...

The trans-siberian was a great experience. Mongolia has definitely been the best so far.

St. Petersburg was chilly after leaving balmy Dublin. Beautiful old quarter there with it' s canals and imperial buildings facing on to the Nava river. It is very dilpidated though and could do with a lick of paint, especially when you compare it with Moscow. In Moscow you can spell the money, with it's Ferrari dealerships and fancy bars and restaurants. SP is more laid back.

We spent a whole day trying to acquire student cards, but we made back the money a few times over with free entrance to museums and half price for this and that. Students again - great!

Trying my first Borsch (beetroot soup) above and since it was summer it was served chilled - SP was about 17 deg at the time!















We met some Irish lassies on a trans-mongolian package too and the locals quite took to them!