28.06.12 Tuesday evening
Tuesday evening. Word of our presence on the train spreads amongst the staff. The barman makes a trek to invite us along. We go. It comes as a relief from the sauna that is our compartment.

27.06.12 Wednesday
Wet again. Large puddles and road gutters running full greet us on our early morning arrival in Petrozavodsk. A dank basement cafe provides coffee and toasties for breakfast. John takes his exercise running hard to retrieve his passport left on the train. 400 metres in record time. A personal best. Originally established in the 18th century to support a cannon foundry this is a utilitarian place boasting 3 statues. We photographed that of the ubiquitous Lenin who was well in charge of a plinth once occupied by a czar. "Do you speak English?" brings flustered smiles and shrugs from all we meet save two young ice cream sellers who blush with delight at their achievement. A call from Mark at Lakeland Laser, as we wait for our next train, informs us that the stainless steel disc for the Jubilee Cairn has been sent for polishing. Not a lot of people in England know that. Now if it's trees that claim your interest we've passed a million, rather a lot and more, since catching the "Artika" train that will deposit us in Murmansk some 19 hours hence.
They effectively block any view... and then there's the lakes.

28.06.12 Thursday
Bonsai on a vast scale, has reduced the trees in height and the vegetation to scrub as we crossed the Arctic Circle during the night. We can now see further than the line-side. It rains here too. Just after noon and we step from the "Artika" on time into the focus of our endeavours - Murmansk. It has to be said the train was good, very good, indeed praiseworthy... but there's only so much conversation one can make about trees. A swift transfer in an elderly taxi drops us in another world. The Radisson Park Hill will provide a shower and change of clothes. After more than two days without it's clear we need both. The rain overfills the puddles in the broken tarmac.