Entering Russia via St. Petersburg, Moscow, the Transsiberian Railway and finally Irkutsk

Soooooo, after having had fun in the Baltics, I am up to explore Russia. With my Visa finally starting I took the hassle upon me to enter this huge country. And yes, I had to show my passport at at least five different occasions, and got some stamps, a migration card and have to register with Russian authorities if I stay longer in one place. But I had my stuff in order and entered Russia without problems. And wham, there it is! Even though I started with St. Petersburg, apparently the most western ( in lifestlyle) of all Russian cities, for me it still was so Russian. A mixture of old Soviet buildings and new blocks in the outskirts where I was hosted and super posh and luxurious buildings in the old town. And the old town is huge. Really huge. Took us two hours to walk down its main street without even reaching its end.
I managed to fill up my book supply on in the biggest Russian bookstore. Uh, and watch out people, if you order hot chocolate in Russia, you really get hot chocolate. No milk. Just a cup of hot, melted chocolate.
Nine hours in a over night train later, Moscow greets me with some of the most beautifull ligtht that I have experienced recently. This city is simply awesome. Unfortunately, my schedule pressed me to only spend one day in Moscow, and I did not have enough time to see more than the red square and its surrounding sigths. Still awesome though.
Then I was up for my first Russian adventure. Four and a half days in the Trans-Siberian railroad, together with 51 Russians (and two supprisingly clean toilets) in one car. It was at the same time a very long and a very short train journey. Each day melted into the next, not only because of uniformity, but also because we were driving east, against the time through five time zones. This meant that my usual daily rhythm, my watch and the dayligth outside slowly drifted apart. But inside, life had its pace at its own. You would wake up, have some breakfast, look out of the window, maybe read a little, have lunch, have a nap, look out of the window, chat with your neighbours (some were able to speak rudimentary english, but in the end you don't need so much to communicate), have another nap, eat dinner, go to bed. Repeat. At one point an American traveler was arested from the train, I didn't find out why though, would guess at Visa problems. I managed to make the whole stretch, and arrived, perfectly on time, to Irkutsk, the Paris of Siberia.
And it really is. It's a beautifull city, vibrant and full of life, with a nice promenade and hand-rung bells in the churches, which play beautifull but a little creepy melodies.
Lake Baikal is just a few days away, yeehaw!