After returning from St. Petersburg, Robb took them all off for the day sightseeing again, but the three workers decided to stay on and finish things off. It was the turn of the Art class to benefit and they bought some easels, paints, brushes and paper.
We were then invited to a Champagne lunch as it was one of the staff's birthday and the Director announces that they are to receive a grant of a million roubles (about £20,000) from the Russian Government to buy new furniture. After we go down the village to buy some more pots and pans, which took a long time, even by Russian standards, so Jim and I wandered off around the village.
All too soon it was the next to last day at the orphanage and it was another visit to the hardware store to get odds and ends and a new toilet unit for the shower block.
The three aidworkers went out to a local 'Mexican!' restaurant in the evening and managed to order what we wanted using a mixture of English, Russian, German and French!
Thursday was the last day at the orphanage and we started saying goodbyes whilst waiting for Robb to turn up to guide us through St. Petersburg. Eventually he arrived after being caught in rush hour and we started the long trek home. After driving up the E18, we arrived at the Russian/Finnish border and with the assistance of a very helpful English speaking (and Everton supporter) guard, we were back in the EU in 30 minutes or so.
Driving on to Helsinki, we took a long time to find the ferry (two terminals) and found a youth hostel to stay at a reasonable cost.
We spent the Friday sightseeing in Helsinki, taking in cafes and shops, until it was time to board the ferry which sailed at 5pm, crunching its way out towards Sweden through a frozen harbour. We were off the ferry and into Stockholm at 9.30am the following morning.
Saturday was spent driving across Sweden towards our next ferry at Gothenburg, which didn't leave until Sunday morning. After getting lost, we found an Ibis hotel in the form of a ship and stayed there for the night, boarding the ferry at 10am for an 11am departure.
This was our last overnight ferry across the North Sea and we docked in Newcastle about 10am. Then we just had a few hours of motorway driving to get back to North Wales.
