READ the latest blog entry by Bourne End resident Sarah Rees, 22 is embarking on the journey of a lifetime with a three-month train trip from Russia to Thailand.

It is a Friday and I am desperately squashing things into The Bag and mentally preparing myself for a overnight sleeper train to Moscow, ear plugs at the ready!

As I prepare to leave, I really feel that my first port of call (and my first taste of Russia) has been wonderful.

The sights have lived up to their hype and filled four very long days with interest.

The two hour wait for the Hermitage (and I was there early) was very much worth it, and I emerged back into the sunshine with a sore neck from three hours of craning at splendidly grand and intricate ceilings. What a place.

I also adored the onion-domed church (Church of the Resurrection), whose bright shiny colours and swirling patterns made it feel very Disney Land but served to satisfy that Russian ideal we all have. Awe-inspiring onion domes, check!

My favourite part of the trip though, was the little glimpses of day-to-day Russia that lurked behind the ice cream stalls and the armies of tour buses.

I watched the old ladies in headscarves furiously crossing themselves as they rushed into church to bow before the many paintings that adorned the walls.

The hoards of perfect wedding couples piling out of their shimmery stretch limos for photos at the sights and to place a padlock on the tall lamppost outside the Church to symbolise their matrimony (not such a appropriate metaphor!).

And I even managed to prove that rumour true; Russian men actually do sunbathe standing up! I sat on the banks of the river and admired their grey pants and menacing stares, eyeballing the sun in a burn-me-at-your-peril sort of way.

I've been given vodka with my lunch, filled my camera with pictures and acquired fifteen mosquito bites (remarkably two on my nose!) so I think it's time to go. I feel I will be back, perhaps in winter to get a true taste of the Russian heart within this very European city.

Moscow is an eight hour train journey away and supposed to be far more 'Russian' than St Petersburg. We shall see!