The Polar Express (2/18/2002)

Hi Everyone,

Well, several hours ago I pulled into St. Petersburg on the second 28-hour train trip in less than three days. Four friends and I decided, arguably out of temporary insanity, to take a weekend trip to Murmansk. Yes, THAT Murmansk: where the doomed submarine Kursk was launched, where "The Hunt for Red October" partially took place, and which was closed to all non-military personnel during the Soviet days (with good reason: it houses Russia's nuclear northern fleet).Our trip began Friday afternoon. After several hours of chatting and occasionally snacking on the entourage of food that we brought, we entered into conversations with a slew of members of the Russian navy: some cadets headed for Arctic traning, others nuclear scientists. Most had never met an American before and were extremely pumped up about meeting people from "over there." Luckily, we will get to meet up with several again in St. Petersburg after a month or so when they return from their time on the nuclear icebreakers.

In any case, we arrived in Murmansk at around 6:30 p.m. after 28 hours on the train and nearly 1000 miles behind us. (The song that greeted us at the edge of the world was, of course, "Crazy" by Madame Britney Spears. Great. Once you think you go far enough to escape pop trash, it blindsides you.) The temperature was, surprisingly and thankfully, not all that cold: the air, however, was considerably cleaner than in St. Pete. It snowed lightly for perhaps six of the twelve hours we spent there - though the whole city was blanketed in a gorgeous layer of white powder, too much like dust to even stick together for snowballs. We ate, visited the few outdoor, foot-accessible tourist attractions, as well as a few cafes as the night wore on. The city (400,000 people, the largest city in the world north of the Arctic Circle) was surprisingly quaint and well-kept for something out of the main tourist circuit. If nothing else, at least I can say I have been above the Arctic Circle and that the Indian and Southern Oceans are the only ones I have yet to see.

As great as the city was, our small fellowship crashed from tiredness as soon as we boarded our sleeper car at around 6:30 a.m. Twenty-nine hours later, we arrived back in our good ol' gray haven, St. Petersburg. No, I didn't see the US-Russia 2-2 tie hockey game, but did watch part of our thrashing of Finland from our restaurant in Murmansk (fittingly named "The Bear.") Hopefully that's a sign of good things to come.

I hope that things are going well in the States, Germany, Australia, or wherever you happen to be.

Poka,
Matt