TGVBR

will . escreveu:trens brilhando, placas brilhando, piso brilhando
e eu adoro a cor vermelha

foi inaugurado recentemente ?

adorei ...

The pictures from the Moscow "aeroexpress" are amazing. I've been to
that airport (cheremetsovo) innumerable times, and it was more than an
hour in a dirty smelly taxi before we were inside Moscow proper. With
the increase in traffic since 1983 it must be hell today.Half way you
pass a memorial, showing how close to Moscow the nazis got in WWII.
What is most amazing in the pictures is that everything is shiny and
clean. Back then everything was dirty and smelly. Even the fumes from
the car smelled really of bad gasoline. The train stations (called
vauxhall for some reason , check
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vauxhall) actually smelled of burning
coal. It was not for steam engines, but for the samovars in the
passenger cars. A samovar is a kind of a kettle russians use to boil
water for making tea. Each car on the train had a "train mother" whose
duties included making tea and selling sweets etc. She also prepared
the beds if you had a sleeper compartment. I don't know if it was the
same on 2. and 3. class, we always went 1st class (of course). It is
ironic that the soviets had 3 classes on their trains, probably to
remind them about the class struggle or something ideological like
that.

Going by train in the good old soviet days was a good way to travel.
It felt much safer to use technology from before the revolution. Don't
ask me about flying with Aeroflot... Also, you got in touch with
people on the trains. Everybody brought something to eat or drink, and
often it was almost a party (not communist though) atmosphere in the
compartment.