Fancy / Day 31 of 64 / 09 June
Onward to Moscow! I left my hotel at 9am to catch my Trans-Siberian train to Moscow (RZD 015, rzd.ru, 5737 RUB/123 SGD/pax). I didn’t have breakfast at the hotel, so I decided to get some at the Yekaterinburg Railway Station [Екатеринбург-Пассажирский, Yekaterinburg-Passazhirskiy]. After having my breakfast and buying some supplies for the 25-hour ride, I boarded the train at 10am. Like clockwork, the train left on schedule at 10.12am.
Yekaterinburg Railway Station.
For this leg of the journey to Moscow, I had bought tickets on a “premium” train. I wanted to see how different it would be from the standard train. It turns out that “premium” trains on the Trans-Siberian are almost infinitely fancier. Although there were still four beds to a cabin, the cabins themselves seemed wider, the beds seemed wider, and there was even a TV. The staff on board provided great service, and the ticket even included a meal.
Fancy! And I’m not being sarcastic this time.
After putting my stuff down, I went to the restaurant car to get a cup of coffee. When I returned to my cabin, lunch was already served. The food resembled airplane food, which unlike most people, I thoroughly enjoy.
I love train food.
Timetable for Train 015.
My cabin was shared with a Russian family: mom, dad, and their son and daughter. Their young son was adorable. He kept looking out the window together with me, and he would randomly point at things and talk. I had no idea what he was saying but we both laughed anyway.
The family eventually alighted at Kazan Railway Station, and Andrey from Moscow took their place in the cabin. Andrey worked as a web designer for a Japanese blockchain company, and he had been in Kazan on company business.
Since he lived in Moscow, I asked him for some suggestions for my time there. He recommended Zaryadye Park, which he said was designed by the same architect responsible for the High Line Park in New York City. He said the main attraction there is a cantilevered bridge that hangs above the Moskva River. He also recommended the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Gorky Park, and the nearby New Tretyakov Gallery.
Not long after the train pulled out of Kazan, I went to bed. I needed to get some rest for tomorrow: my first day in Moscow!
– Ryan
Sixty Four Days 