We got to the airport just as Delta was doing the cancel and consolidate thing with the 10:45 and 11 something flights to Atlanta. We were on the 10:45 flight just in case we needed a safety buffer for our 4 o'clock Atlanta flight to Moscow. So left Nashville on a completely full plane around noon. We found our gate for the Moscow flight and had high hopes that it was going to be a somewhat empty flight as it was completely quiet. We strolled down to the food court to burn some time, hit the restrooms one last time and returned to the gate to see a mob of people. Definitely not an empty flight. We actually left on time.
The flight was smooth and as pleasant as a 9 hour flight in a sardine can can be since every seat was taken. Our only complaint was that usually, we watch a movie or two during the flight since we never go to the movies. The plane was old and didn't have the nice seat back personal screens with movie choices, just the big screen at the front and the mini-tv's hanging. So didn't pay any attention to the 2 featured movies...Hotel for Dogs and Yes Man. So that being our biggest complaint...things were good. Dinner was actually even good for airplane food...chicken.
We landed just as it was starting to rain. We had to wait a few minutes while two ladies with heat detecting gun devices went through the cabin and took every passengers temperature to detect for flu. The one thing that struck me right away was how everybody follows direction so well. Everybody was up getting their bags out of the overhead bins, as usual, and then they made the announcement that everybody needed to sit back down as they needed to do the temperature scan. Everybody immediately sat and remained seating until they gave the "all clear". That never happens in the US.
We funneled out to passport control. They opened up 3 additional lanes as we got there, so we zoomed on through. No questions, nothing. The guy looked up once to verify my picture then stamped the visa and the registration card that non-Russian citizens fill out on the plane. We've had a much tougher time getting into Canada. We picked up the bag we checked and headed to the Customs Green line (nothing to declare) which was more like just a doorway than an actual line or checking place.
We didn't know who was picking us up. So we just scanned the crowd for somebody holding a card with our last name on it. We met Katia, who was younger than I expected. She called for the driver and we walked to the pick up spot and he was there in seconds. We loaded our checked bag and our carry on in the trunk. Reading other peoples blogs about their experiences, we knew to expect small cars with small trunks. We always travel very light, we usually never check a bag, but I did fill an entire bag with second trip stuff...orphanage donations, clothes, toys, a few cheap gifts, some snacks. My plan was to stick it in the CSS office closet between trip 1 and trip 2. So anyway, loaded up the car and got into a very small back seat that smelled like stale cigarettes. My knees were jammed up against the drivers seat and I noticed right away that it was a stick shift. My first thought was "I'm pretty sure at some point this week, I'm going to throw up." If you know me pretty well, you know I get very motion sick. Astronaut and pilot, were career choices I eliminated at an early age. John's driving around town even makes me sick. My fear of Moscow traffic and all the driving that is required, was a really big fear. But I think its going to be ok. Vladimir, our driver, seems to be very smooth, even with the manual transmission. So thats a happy miracle.
My first impression of Moscow was that it reminded me of the urban outskirts of Vienna. Lots of grey, concrete buildings interspersed with planned green areas and lots of neon signs and billboards. Katia/Vladimir took us to a money exchange. This is the part for us thats hard. We just have to trust that we're being taken care of by CSS and not being ripped off. Everything I had read on line about having unmarked, clean, crisp US dollars to convert, really didn't matter. I even ironed the money so it was super crisp (the paper has a high cotton content, so it irons very nicely) We went into a little booth and the money exchange lady behind the glass just put the stack of bills in the automatic counting machine and didn't even look at them. She then replaced the stack of bills with Rubles and ran that through the money counting machine and passed the stack through the window.
We then went to a grocery and Katia asked what we wanted. We picked up some spreadable cheese, bread, a frozen pizza (for that night we just don't feel like cooking) bottled water, cookies, bananas,etc. Just a few things. I noticed that Katia handed the check-out lady a card. But didn't know what it was for. Later on, at the apartment, I noticed on the receipt that it must have been a discount card as there was a discount 120 rubles (about $4). So I need to remember to thank her today for doing that as I was in my "just getting off an international flight fog" and didn't connect the dots.
We then went to the apartment. David from Best Moscow Apartments met us in the parking lot. We said goodbye to Katia & Vladimir and headed to the 19th floor trying to remember how to get back out. David, who's Australian, was very nice. He showed us the apartment, explaining how to use the satellite tv, get on the internet, use the washing machine, etc. The apartment looks just like the pictures http://www.bestmoscowapartmentrentals.com/ and look for the Anastasia apartment.
David opened up the little fridge and he had stocked it for us.
We had butter, cheese, lunch meat, beer, water, juice, fruit, a fancy cake and really premium dark chocolates. The apartment is very nice. Its like somebody was living here and just left with all their clothes. Its got anything you would need....office supplies, full kitchen tools, even an Espresso machine.
We were walking zombies, at this point, as neither of us ever are able to sleep on planes. It was raining still, so we decided to nap. What a great nap. Five hours later, I got up. The rain had stopped and there was even a rainbow.
Feeling much better, John and I had a little bread and cheese snack then went walking. Our apartment seems to be in a convenient location.
If looking out the window it looks down on New Arbat, which reminds me of the Strip in Vegas or maybe even a little of Times Square. We have a casino with lots of lights and neon and one of those jumbotron screens playing advertising out the window. Lots of traffic and people walking but since we're on the 19th floor, unless we open a window, we can't hear it. We walked up New Arbat to the beginning of Old Arbat. Walked down Old Arbat, which is a pedestrian only touristy type street with souvenir shops, 2 McDonalds, 2 Starbucks, etc. Then walked back to New Arbat and went to the 24 hour market that is across the street from our apartment. We bought some egg noodles and what I thought was breaded chicken cutlets and headed home. I cooked up the noodles and prepared to pan fry the chicken but realized they were thick, fish fillets. Had some really good tangerines from the apartment fruit basket. Dinner was good. We cut open the fancy cake and discovered it was a prune cake. Then went to bed.
. They can also walk through ambulances, a bus and watch a garbage truck pick up cans with its arm over and over again. Thomas was too young to appreciate it, but he enjoyed watching all the other kids that were there. Its a unique event.
s experience with children, George is very tolerant. All in all, we are settling into a routine
