The Eugene Who Came in from the Cold

Next stop on the Eugene World Tour 2009 - Russia! Hopped the morning Sibelius train from Helsinki to St. Petersburg. Seated next to us on the train were four people from Pittsburgh.

There are way too many of us Americans. I can't go anywhere to get away from us.

All border and passport checks are done on the train while moving. The first set of passport checkers were Finnish. Nice guys, though they were all packing handguns. Made me wonder what kind of trouble the Finnish border guys get into.

Next up - the Russian border check.

Now if I've learned ANYTHING from movies and television, it's that there are two types of female Russian guards. The big no nonsense East-German-swimmer women... and the foxy dominatrix ones. You can recognize the foxy ones from their distinctive walk, where the heels of their boots make those intimidating CLOMPS as they step across the floor. Think Vanessa Angel in "Spies Like Us" - not Cate Blanchett in Indiana Jones.

So which one was I going to get? Which one was going to ask, "PAPERS PLEASE!"

This is me we're talking about. Of COURSE I got the big, no nonsense one. She was pleasant enough - just took my passport without saying anything. But the foxy one was apparently assigned to other duties. I'd like to think she was off somewhere seducing some American guy to become a Russian spy.

And can I say how much I love train travel? So much nicer than airline travel. I had breakfast in the dining car - scrambled eggs with sausages, cold cuts, salad, potatoes, bread, and a croissant. Unlike with air travel, I actually got some rest during the voyage. Actual honest REST.

Great. Now I'm revisiting the fourth Indiana Jones movie in my head. More from Russia soon.