The last 5 days...

Hmmm,.. what have we been up to?? LOTS!
ok, in brief, we left poland and headed to the great expanse of Ukraine, not without shits and giggles on the way. First off we had a 6 hour train journey from Krakow to Przemysl, which is the Polish town closest to the Ukraine boarder - everything nice and easy there. We then took a bus which was to take us to Lviv. The bus was instantly ukranian, from the dodgy pink flowery curtains to the diesel fume filled insides and the big flat caped farmer driver who, it seemed, was a smuggler of fridges and freezers (and other things in small packages passed onto people upon our arrival). With the first stage short and with curtains strictly closed we rocked up at the hectic boarder swiftly... Exit poland... fine... enter Ukraine? oh no, not that easily... Please mr you come with us... it seems upon closer inspection (via a huge machine which can magnify small parts of ones passport) Sams passport has been tampered with. Sams gorgeous face is coming away from the passport! So off the bus he goes with Ukranian guard in tow.
Mr, please explain why you have changed your picture. Well, thats me, ive not changed it. Ok, what is your date of birth and why do you look so different to your picture? (they were looking at the side of my head over and over?? you cant see that in the passport). Its an antique.. anyway lots of questions followed and then they asked to see my wallet and more id.. which i couldnt show because the fake student id with the different date of birth would have made them wet their pants. After many questions and 20 odd mins later we were back on the bus and into Ukraine!
Oh, Ukraine it was like stepping back 3 years! Babushkas with headscarves pulling ploughs in fields, all the old soviet cars that we did not see at all in Poland were everywhere in Ukraine. The road felt like it had been transplanted from the moon with deep craters and holes, all roads leading off the main road were mud tracks being totted along by completely untastefull and unfazed women in knee high patent red leather/plastic boots and white tiny skirts! This was it. We had clearly stepped out of Europe and into the randomness of the former soviet union...

Lviv was a beautiful city, really untouched so far by tourism but just as amazing (if not more so) than Prague or Krakow. Everything is in Cyrillic so it was the first chance we had to test out our skills... which it seems are lacking slightly! The first night rocked.. we met up with a few other people and were taken to a bar called the 'bunker'. This place was unreal, to enter you had to knock on a completely unmarked door, at which point a tiny shutter was opened and a password was demanded (??). Once given a Ukrainian policeman (not real) and castro look a like (not real) let you in (if they wanted) and led you downstairs to a room completely decked out as a kind of rebel hideaway... It was dedicated to the Ukrayins’ka Povstans’ka Armiya.. people who fought the germans then carried on fighting the russians up until 1970 in the woods around Lviv. Helmets, knives weapons all over the joint, pictures of the rebels and all the staff in uniforms. All underground in a bunker type building.. we didnt leave until 7am! The best thing about Ukraine is everytime you buy something you think they have undercharged you! Our whole night in the bunker for ten people drinking all night... the total tab for the whole night?? £13.10. unreal! the beers in the bar were less than 20p.
After Lviv and its exceptionally cheap beer, great buildings and atmosphere we caught our 1st real long distance train to Moscow! Third class all the way and for 25 hours. It was busy, noisy, cramped and hectic - all things we could cope with, the only problem believe it or not was the HEAT!! Oh my, it was -3 outside but in the train was well over +30c.. it was hell! We were both in shorts and t shirts but all we could do was lie down and sweat for the whole journey!
Anyway, now we are in Moscow, this afternoon we checked out Red Square and had a quick sneaky peaky at the Kremlin. More than anything it feels like we are in a James Bond story. You only live once!