Train Ride #2

After we arrived back from the orphanage, Ed and I were a bit melancholy.  We just did not like the idea of having to go back home without Grisha.  But, we didn't have a choice so we proceeded to pack up and went to the grocery store to get food for our return trip that night.  We were taken to the train station by another driver and at this point I can't even remember her name.  We got settled in our car and settled down for our long ride back to St Petersburg.

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post about the train was that when the train made its stops, the bathrooms were locked.  This is because the waste empties directly onto the track and I suppose they don't want stinky waste building up at the stops.  Well, on the way to Kotlas, I was not aware of this and had a very stressful situation at one time when I REALLY needed to go to the bathroom.  I will not get into what I did to resolve the situation but I did learn my lesson and on the return trip made sure to amply relieve myself frequently.  (Too much information?)

Anyway, the trip to St Petersburg was uneventful and we arrived the next night at 9:30PM  Sergey picked us up and drove us to our hotel, we checked  in, and went in search of a place for dinner.  We found a nice sushi restaurant that had menus with pictures, in case the waiter didn't speak english.  After dinner we walked down the street a bit and checked out a WWII memorial that was across the street from the hotel.

Then, it was time to get some sleep for our plane journey home the next morning.