Last stop

We're in Moscow now, the final stop on the return journey. We arrived three days ago on the train from Tomsk (mid-Siberia). We'd been there for two days after catching the train from Irkutsk.
Tomsk is a small university city, off the main trans-Siberian line. We shared a cabin with two Russian guys on the way there, but they only boarded halfway so we avoided any vodka sessions. Tomsk itself is a charming place full of back streets lined with traditional wooden buildings with ornate fretwork around the eaves and windows. There's not a lot to do there, but we had a pleasant day wandering around, looking at the architecture and the views across the river. We did have a bit of a disaster when we arrived however, as the hotel we thought we'd booked had no record of our reservation and was already full. Tomsk isn't exactly geared up for foreign tourists, so we spent a couple of hours marching around the city's wide faceless boulevards looking for alternative accomodation. Not the best fun when you're carrying heavy rucksacks. Still, we ended up in a nice place, if very 'Russian' - all mismatched chintz and metallic wallpaper. We did get a sofa in the room though.
It took the best part of three days to get from Tomsk to Moscow, with two nights on the train. We shared our cabin all the way, first with two quiet businessmen, then a mad old army major with gold teeth who spent most of the day trying out different Russian sentences on us while holding his face two inches from Louis's ear, in the hope that his proximity might encourage understanding on our part. Other than some very basic information, it was totally useless however. Not that it stopped him trying different questions, over and over again. He got a friend eventually, when another guy boarded, so that was good. He also gave us some very tasty cake biscuit things. The last day we shared the compartment with a young couple and their screaming child. They were friendly enough, but after a few hours trapped in a small room with a truculent toddler, you just want to get off.
Moscow has been great. We visited the state gallery of 20th century Russian art. There were virtually no other visitors in the massive building, so we felt a little like VIPs who have to visit places out of hours to stop them being mobbed. Some of the art was excellent, other pieces...well, not so good. We've walked around a lot of the city centre, including a trip to a covent where Peter the Great walled up his half-sister (nice) and one of the city's biggest markets, full of trinkets and antiques.
This morning we visited Red Square: the Kremlin, St Basil's Cathedral and Lenin's creepy mausoleum - in the halflight of his underground bunker he looks like a tiny wax dummy. All very strange. We're off to the station now to catch the train to Warsaw, then back home via Germany and Belgium.