To Moscow

 

To Moscow 1946

Info- meet at Rugby Rail Station at 1.30 pm Bring enough sandwiches for the meals and a cup. Don't forget your cup.

We tried to get more information. For example we asked which route are we taking through Europe? Where are we going to cross the channel? We only received vague replies.

So we got on a coach at Rugby rail station with a sense of adventure, apprehension and sheer fear. We tried eaves dropping, we tried asking questions again for example, "When do we starting eating the sandwiches." We had just eaten at a motorway service station does that meal count as one of the four which are included in the cost. " Don't you worry about it. Have you fetched your cup?" I assumed fetched was Yorkshire for brought. "You'll be alright then. I'll brew up when we stop then we can have breakfast in Germany." We were in London at the time. It was 4.30 pm so I asked what happens between now and then?"

"Which route do we take through--" "It's a bit complicated through Berlin. Have you not been with Yorkshire Tours before." No . "Oh you've a lot to learn then." Have you been to--- " no "You'll see it all."

Getting off the coach at 5.00 am in Germany the courier said" I slept like a log." He he had had the whole of the back seat of the coach to himself. We were squashed two to a seat with our bags.

From East to West Berlin the Yorkshire sparcity with words continued. We went through many check points showing passports etc, then the coach stops suddenly. The driver says," OK. Get out. This is it." Now we have been on the coach for 2 days so to jump out of the coach in 2 minutes is expecting a lot. He then says, "Come on be quick. I'll get booked if I don't move." People are waking up, stuffing clothing into bags, rubbing bleary eyes and then falling off the coach. We muster in a group on the pavement and discover that we have left the coach for ever. We now have to carry our luggage to the train on which we will be travelling for 2/3 days to Moscow. We follow the courier to the station like a pack of hounds. We don't speak the language, we don't know where we are or where we are going so it is important not to lose sight him. We go from Zoo station to Friedrickstatssa where we go through customs and immigration. We line up in alphabetical order so I am first. I go through a door, pass through a turnstile, then a barrier pass a guard/ soldier, not sure which. He was a man in uniform. Then yet another door. The other side of the last door proves to be East Berlin. Crowds of people are eagerly awaiting, every door opening. The person emerging could be a relative.

We stayed on Friedrickstrassa for 2 and a half hours. We didn't know why. Apparently we needed a group ticket which we learned as the courier rushed past us waving said ticket and shouting follow me. Still bleary eyed and slowed down by having to collect our bags we moved as quickly as we could up the stairs. Shouts of, "Some people are changing money. And whose bags are those? and where is the courier." Go up those stairs - no- not in there . Look there's the train to Oestranstrassa. Who is left behind? Get in the other carriage. We don't know where to get off. But she's still changing money. We have to get on. The train is moving. Stand in the door- the doors are closing. They are left behind. Do they know at which station to get off. He should do he's the courier.

We arrive in Oestranstrassa. We pile out like we are instructed by a German man to stand still. He gathers us together like sheep. He wants to impose himself on us as a guide. he manage to do this to some extent. We wait and the others arrive on the next train.

We follow Dereck. We are determined not to lose him now.. We realise how important this is but he has no intention of making it easy. Anyway we move along and descend some stairs then along a passage ways and then out into the street. We find the left luggage office. We wait again and messages come down the queue- it's full- it's closing. It will open again in half an hour.. The German guide tries to help but he can't speak English. He thinks if he speaks very clearly in German we will understand. A variation of English people speaking more loudly in English thinking that this somehow helps translation.

Our couriers finally get to the front of the queue. We go into the office and start dumping cases, bags and rucksacks on the counter. The man starts shouting. people stand around wondering what he wants us to do. We finally understand that he wants us to leave only suitcases. We move out with our hand luggage. The office closes at midnight. Also if you are not back before that you will miss the train we are told.

Dereck leaves. Lawrence is now in charge. "Well I'll be back here by 11.00pm, we'll retrieve all the luggage together." That is the first coherent information that we have received from Yorkshire Tours. We take it and run or more accurately crawl. We have a few hours to explore East Berlin. We find a seat and rest our weary bodies and people watch. There are many people rushing back and forth. There is a huge building on our right which looks like a shopping complex. there are also a few market stalls nearby. WE try to buy a nylon shopping bag. It is 74 marks that's £15. It would be a fiver in UK. We walk away.

We find a map. We decide to walk to the centre of Berlin to Karl Marx Plaza.. It is further than we thought and it takes us a long time. We see children in a play ground, men playing football, joggers, teenagers chatting in a park. There are many cars All tiny and all the same.

We reach Karl Marx Plasa. It's enormous. There seems to be no coherent design. It's a mixture of old and new. It's mostly plain with flashes of glister.

There were fountains in a beer garden and shops. The café we ate in was like a works canteen but more solid, practical and very clean.. The menu was limited and the food was not very good. Whilst we were in there Lawrence appeared with a remarkable story. He had lost all the money he was carrying for the whole of company. He returned to the café where he had eaten and found that the tables had been cleared . He looked in a waste bin and found the soaking wet envelope with all our money. Yorkshire Tours ay.

We returned to the station in time to retrieve our luggage and found the correct platform at the station by midnight. We deciphered the timetable and found loos before the train arrived. Lawrence says four to a car sort your selves out. In carriage 10 we had 24 compartments in carriage 1 we had 20 compartments. There were four bunk beds in each compartment.

We shared with a young couple called Frank and Kate and we tumbled into bed for a good night's sleep. Door was flung open lights switched on, "passport", "passport", "passport" 5 times.

Earlier Lawrence had given us our visas for Poland and Moscow. "Don't give away part B whatever you do or you won't be able to get back. I can't remember whether it was the fifth or sixth soldier who demanded it but anyway he took the lot. Finally we went to sleep around 2.30 am.

Next morning, we wash dress and eat breakfast in the dining car. Scrambled eggs on black/white bread and tea. Back to the carriage and the opportunity to look through the window as we travel through East Germany and then Poland. All very flat. The monotonous view occasionally broken by a cow or a single tree. But it was a Polish tree or a Polish cow. Delicious tea was available constantly and served from a samovar in glass cups by a Russian woman. At the Polish/Russian border more officials took our visas. We were interviewed by a succession of officials. Books every book was inspected, fruit, flowers, animals. My oranges were sliced. I was given a leaflet about pests. We were moved out of the compartment. Instructed not to move. "Get back in " on official said to Phil as he attempted to go to the toilet. The courier Lawrence was taken away with all our passports. Then the train moved out off the station. Panic. What is happening now.

They have to jack up the train, roll out the wheels and replace them with the narrower gauged ones because the gauge in Poland is different from the Russian gauge. Lawrence returns with Passports. Now if you want to change money come with me. We walk along the rail track back to the station. Wishing we could speak the language. At the station we change money. Find toilets which were of the stirrup variety. We walk up and down the platform looking at the food and drinks for sale. Bottles of mineral water, bread and cheese and thick slices of meat. We buy some anyway then walk back to the train.

We discover by bush telegraph that we can have an evening meal which is paid for. So we all troup off to the dining car on the train. Ingrid one of our party attemps to explain vegetarianism. We are served tomatoes with fresh cream followed by 3 practically uncooked fried eggs in grease. We feel sick but do not want to be rude. We drink pleasant raspberry and cherry juice. Lawrence pays and announces that we must leave the dining room. The waitress was not pleased about the leftovers. Lawrence brings us a mint or a chocolate to our carriage. We have no idea why? It was the first meal of his life that Phil had left uneaten. Greasy uncooked eggs were too much for even him.

Now the desire to sleep over comes the desire to look out of the window.

We gradually learn the details of the journey. Rumours filter down. Info is like Chinese whispers or secrets getting changed slightly or added to by each telling. We end up with a paranoid group.

A women gets out at Minsk to meet a friend from Liverpool University.

I can't remember how many nights we spent on this train. The last night I slept badly knowing that we had to be up early the next day. Still once up I thought I'll be OK. I thought I would be able to sleep in the hotel.

5.00 am door opens stewardess says time to get up in Russian. We fall out of bunk and stand in line for the toilet. We learn it will be locked half an hour before arrival in Moscow.. I wash and dress and manage to get a cup of tea. Phil breaks two glasses. **** We are told to fold sheets etc. Frank and Kate continue to sleep The stewardess comes in and puts the lights full on and insists that they get up. We manage to disembark. We are in Moscow.