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.