grumpy dragon took the night train

hello, russian train. we meet again :) god, have i missed you and the adventures we'd always have!

waiting around for the couple to set their place up in the kupe (2nd class).
reason why i like riding plaskart (3rd class)...way more open space.
they had the cutest baby...who shrieked a lot and went to sleep at 3am.
#why you should always carry ear plugs when traveling

wagon's corridor.
lady was standing in front of me at the train station's ticket counter.
i was the last girl the ticket lady served.
i got the last ticket for this train.
these last minute, unplanned trips always need a huge dose of luck to work out.

 

retreat to my bed.
yes, nerdette carried her IM book along.
i could live just riding trains.
i especially love russian trains.
how the carriage sways a little,
as the train rattles on the tracks,
clackaty-clack
getting you to your destination.
that familiar rumble that lulls one into a peaceful state of mind.
the way the brakes screech at turns
and when the train halts.
silence.
and then it picks up where it left off, chugging away on the railroad once more.
clackaty-clack, clackaty-clack.

most of the russian homes i've been too, have the dining table in the kitchen.
the kitchen functions as the meeting hall in the one bedroom apartments.

i have this strange thing, where i like checking out people's apartments...i know it sounds creepy, but most buildings here in russia look quite the same, that is they all are rather boring and ugly on the outside, so its interesting to see how people add a bit of personality to their space.

someone spent the entire night cleaning up before the arrival of his fussy sister :)

it's almost impossible to get a picture of him.
as impossible as it is to get calls, texts, replies.

every russian city i've been to, has its own ulitsa lenina (lenin's street)

 KATE! =)
it was amazing to talktalktalktalktalktalktalktalktalktalktalk and catch up =)
♥

the coolest thing about this restaurant was not that it served sushi with funky names like 'e.coli', 'staphylococci' and 'streptococci' (hint hint: guy who runs it is a med student), but that we actually got shushed by a pretty drunk russian dude.
"excuse me ladies. you. are. very. noisy."
"can. you. please. give. me...."
"can. you. please. be. not. so. noisy. for. me. please"
the whole time his eyes were having a hard time to focus (english is a pretty difficult language to handle when one is sober).

he went away soon enough without troubling us any more than causing the entire place to hush down too and stare at us, as he battled to come up with the words to get his message across.
(really, he was just trying to be funny...we bumped into a lot of drunk ruskis that day)
kate and i went back to talking animatedly, albeit with softer tones,
about life, the universe and everything :)
it's definitely an mc kawanz reunion, if you get told off for making noise :)

 that bed he's sitting on, is a pull out drawer bed (that's what i'm calling it) from the cupboard behind.
he was showing me 'antiques' his landlord had left around the house, because i told him about this function on my camera that allows me to take photos and make them look 'aged'.

classic arif squint.

 ish. give me that!

 why must you take so many photos?
i was hungry and made him follow me to go get noms.
we were too lazy to cook anything from scratch and got a lot of snacks,
only to come home and make pizza from scratch, steam some veges, corn on cob and pelmeni (russian ravioli) and have a hearty, healthy meal.

 i have this thing for striped shirts now.
rocking the jailhouse look =)

ze little brother is not so little, eh?

loobloo (love)

i left kursk the next night because i got told i had a final exam the very next day!
arif got me a ticket that afternoon
said goodbye to his comfy apartment and him.
kate met me at the train station to hug me goodbye.
also handed me a bag of stuff to have on the train and for thl (mc love in action).
so uber thoughtful :)
(btw, i chose the blue chocolate box and the chocolates in it come with messages like fortune cookies!)

uneventful train ride back.
reveled in being rocked by the chugging train on my top bunk bed in the plaskart wagon.
maskva.
zombie walked back to the hostel.
washed up, crammed in as much therapy as possible.
aced the exam, but was more sad that it was over (no more rheum at rossalima), than i was happy with my 5.

ho hum~