Second section: Casein and the Trans-Siberian Railway

Already on the day of departure from Moscow, Marie did not feel well, stomach cramps and nausea alternated, but fortunately for Marie, this resulted in a huge need for sleep to cure the illness. So after 12 hours of sleeping on the train, Marie still felt the need to take a few afternoon naps, including on the city bus and on the couch in the hostel before checking in. The way to the hostel turned out to be not as easy as hoped. After entering the address in Google Maps (using Latin letters), Maps usually suggests a correction in Cyrillic, which you accept because you don't know any better. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, we ended up near the hostel, but in Kazan, we ended up in a very dirty neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, where we stood out with our backpacks. After trying the name of the accommodation and finding the right route, we finally made it to the hostel. The difference between the suburbs and the city center is immense.

After several afternoon naps and checking into the hostel, we walked into the city. Kazan is the capital of the semi-autonomous region of Tatarstan (not to be confused with the kebab man at Bült). The population there is composed of about 55% Tatars, 40% Russians, and 5% other groups. This is very exciting because the Tatars are predominantly Muslim and the Russians are predominantly Russian Orthodox, which is also reflected in the cityscape. So, at the Kazan Kremlin, a mosque and an Orthodox church are built side by side, and the religions peacefully coexist. For us, this was also the first opportunity to see the inside of a mosque. This peaceful coexistence culminates in the Temple of All Religions, a temple that contains elements from 16 current and former world religions (including Orthodox and Catholic Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, and also elements of the gods from ancient Egypt). Although this temple was the idea of a brother and sister from Kazan and not of a higher religious or governmental authority, it symbolizes the possibility of peacefully and respectfully coexisting. Kazan is a great, worth visiting, and above all, multi-faceted city.

And now to Marie's absolute highlight so far: the journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway! It is wonderful to travel so slowly. We passed endless birch and pine forests, lakes and swamps, villages in the middle of nowhere, and large cities. We saw several abandoned ancient farms that looked like the mill courtyard in Münster, but really, really old, without museum gimmicks. Absolutely impressive! But it wasn't just the view out of the window that was great. The people we met were wonderful too. We met a family: Anita (9) with her sister Valerie (21) and her daughter Palina (1.5) and their dear grandmother. Thanks to Palina's beautiful smile, we quickly became friends. The four of them were in the neighboring compartment but visited us again and again since we were initially only two in our compartment. At night, two men boarded who were also very nice but initially just slept. After they woke up, they said that they take this trip every month because they work for Gazprom in Omsk. There they spend a month and then have a month of vacation at home. René played chess with Anita, we threw paper planes through the train, and made the biggest soap bubbles. René also folded a little paper frog for her, which made a few loops in the corridor.

After Marie had written the last section after half of the day to capture the vibe directly and unadulterated and not to forget this perfect train journey, she got bored. I mostly lay on the bed and looked out the window, but since Marie can't lie still for very long without getting fussy, she walked along the corridor listening to podcasts. Surprisingly, you meet very few tourists or people who speak English well, which is why you definitely have to be able to entertain yourself. Besides, it is not a dream to have only a train toilet for 36 hours, and in some cases, we had trains with only one power outlet, so you should definitely bring a good book or a few games.

Nevertheless, anyone who is tired of flying should consider taking a train journey. The decelerated mode of transportation, the hostel atmosphere through the small four-bed compartments and the corridors with up to 36 fellow travelers have a much more personal touch than a flight. By the way, there is also a connection from Berlin to the East all the way to Moscow for those who don't want to start in Russia.