Train Times

A lot of time has stormed past since my last post. As I type this, the overnight train back to Yaroslavl is just leaving the station in St. Petersburg. I’ve just spent three days in Peter’s town, and it was a whirlwind of sights (more on this in another post to follow). 

I have another burly Russian fellow for a roommate (I had one on the way over, plus another gentleman joined us at some point along the way to Moscow). We’ll see if we pick up a third or fourth along the way this time. It turns out I didn’t buy a first-class ticket as I’d intended. Rather I bought a second-class roundtrip ticket. (I should note that if not for Sveta's patience and assistance I probably wouldn't have been able to buy any ticket!) Normally I don’t consider myself to necessarily be a first-class traveler, but I thought I’d splurge in order to ensure I had a two person compartment for the 12 hour train ride. To put this in perspective, imagine bunk beds in a space 6 feet wide by 6 feet long . . . then imagine sharing this space with up to three strangers. It’s not something Americans are inclined to consider and say, “Yeah, that sounds cool.”  But that’s second-class on a Russian overnight train. 

This car appears to be a newer version of the one I came to St. Petersburg in. It doesn’t have the dark wood motif charm that the other car had. I miss that already. It felt more homey. More a classic train car. This one has the ambiance of a hospital room. Though I’m not sure why that should matter much, since the idea is to fall asleep soon, after all. 

It will be interesting to see if my new roommate will enter the Snoring Olympics. I feel pretty primed to rip off some good snorts tonight, as my nose is slightly stuffed and that should ensure ample mouth breathing. Of course, it’s not my snoring that’s a concern. It’s the roommates’ bellows that can be extraordinarily obnoxious. On the way down I found the only solution was earplugs, which blessedly did stifle the decibel level enough to allow for some restless sleeping. 

We’ll see how the night progresses. One thing I have noticed (and that others have commented on) is the punctuality of Russian trains. It may be that they build in large cushions in the schedules. At Yaroslavl on the way down, the train arrived 30 minutes before scheduled departure and stayed sitting until the appointed time before heading on. When we got near St. Petersburg the following morning, the train came to a standstill in the middle of nowhere for 20 minutes, in order to ensure that we arrived precisely on time into the station. There must not be any bonuses for beating the schedule. 

What else to say about the train? Hopefully not much. But if this evening’s journey presents any new adventures, I’ll add comments to this post. Okay, the train ride home proved uneventful. Only one snoring roommate. Thank whomever invented earplugs!