Kazan, Russia

We awoke in Kazan, the capital of the province of Tatarstan. Kazakhstan and all the other '-stans' are just to the south of here. We were thrilled by the exotic atmosphere and Islamic influence. The star of Kazan is the old kremlin (or citadel) and the star of this is the stupendous mosque.

Three new stars then introduced themselves: Anver, Zlata and Gujel. Young students from the local university keen to practise their English on us in return for an idiosyncratic tour of their city. Before our late night train we rounded off our Kazan stopover with a sunset cruise on the River Volga. It might have been gently romantic but for the pumping Russian disco beats.

Very Beautiful People (video clip)

Giggly Kazan kids try out their English on us.

Moscow, Russia

So iconic is Red Square that it was impossible for us not to gawp unabashedly at St Basil’s Cathedral, the Kremlin and Lenin’s Mausoleum. In all honesty, we had more fears than hopes for Moscow but it proved not to be so alien after all.

As lazy tourists, we basked in the Kremlin’s sunny park eating ice creams, reading and enjoying some last traces of familiarity in our final major city before sending ourselves to Siberia. The Trans-Siberian Railway officially begins from Moscow but first there was the Metro to navigate. A grand metro it is too, even if we needed our combined energies, sharp elbows and Sam’s distant memory of her visit as a student, to find our way up and down the grandiose escalator halls.

St Petersburg, Russia

We shared our sleeper cabin with two Lithuanian nuclear waste experts. Scathing about their Russian counterparts, they entertained us with alarming anecdotes about their specialised field. They teasingly fueled our nervousness of the late-night border crossing but, in the event, there wasn't a sniffer dog in sight and the two female guards were unfailingly polite. Welcome to Russia.

Sam's mum, Liz, and stepfather, Jim, would be joining us here in St Petersburg for five days before we headed further east and we were super excited to see them (and their supplies of dairy milk and Sunday newspapers).

We thoroughly enjoyed wandering, chatting, picnicking and sight-seeing together in the sunshine of St Petersburg's faded grandeur. Two full days of exploring made a dent in The Hermitage's enormous art collection and imperial ballrooms.

Its real treasures are the ‘trophies’ kept tucked away in three un-signposted rooms. These spoils of war remain the object of high level national bartering; they are not trumpeted to the public. Works by Monet, Cezanne, Gaugin make for rather beautiful collateral. One special moment found us in a roomful of Picassos before realising that we had them completely to ourselves. Yet the stand-out was Matisse's 'The Dance'.

Birthday treats for Liz and Sam in the form of a trip to the Kirov Ballet for the four of us to see Giselle. Truly splendid, even for Jim and Phil. Thanks Granma!

All too soon though, it was time for us to catch the famous Red Arrow train, Russia's Train Number 1, to Moscow.

So We're In Russia... Da! (video clip)

The Church of Spilled Blood, St Petersburg.

Vilnius, Lithuania

A cramped night bus took us north once more. Nine hours with our knees up by our elbows, in the company of a scary-looking nun, was proof positive that trains are superior to buses. Vilnius is the northernmost Catholic town with an unbelievable number of baroque churches, so the nun on the bus was not such a surprise. We even stayed in a converted monastery - but with no free food we remained steadfastly heathen.

A rustic central European town with a northern influence, Vilnius is not. Whatever we might have expected, the Apple store, Radisson SAS and Toni&Guy salon suggested prosperous Scandinavia. Across the beautiful river, a small bohemian area did kick against the slick charm of the EU's 2009 Capital of Culture - the Republic of Uzupis. Described by the tourist PR as a 'Baltic Montmartre', we found it more crusty Camden.

Next stop: St Petersburg...

Warsaw, Poland

A zippy 3 hour train took us up to the country's capital. It so happened that we arrived on the anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. This proved a huge eye-opener as we absorbed the city's violent history, most engagingly from a young Pole called Majek who appointed himself our guide. Precocious with his knowledge if over-ambitious with his English, we took it in turns to decipher his exuberant story-telling.

We'd been warned to expect little of Warsaw but it was a real highlight for us. Even more so when we found out the city had been completely flattened then swiftly re-built after the war, guided by photos and paintings of its previous image.

Fishy Feast (video clip)

A much-needed protein fix.

Krakow, Poland

Krakow lived up to our high expectations (thanks to Phil's mum and dad for a great recommendation). Such a beautiful place is easy to enjoy so we simply lingered in the enormous main square, people-watched, wandered the streets of the old town and climbed up to the impressive Wawel Castle.

We discovered the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz. A fascinating place to explore, dig around in bookshops and sample the sephardic food. The next day we visited Auschwitz. All history books and films pale into comparison when confronted with the immediacy of this experience.

Signpost in Krakow (video clip)

Which way?

Budapest, Hungary

Pushing north, we were back on the overnight train - this time to sparkling Budapest. It was a nostalgic return for us, reliving our 4th date here last summer. After our hot and smelly travels, there was really only one place to go: the steam rooms of Gellert Hotel. Scruffy back-packers we may be, but we certainly appreciated this deep cleanse in opulent surroundings. What's more, it helped us sleep soundly on our second consecutive night on a train.... north to Krakow.