From Russia With Love
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2006
1
3
14
Trip End
Aug 13, 2006
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Moscow,
Russia
Thursday, August 3, 2006
Moscow, Russia
11:00pm
The flight from Frankfurt to Moscow is 2.5 hours. Added to the 7.5 hours of flying time from Chicago to Frankfurt, Moscow is just a 10-hour hop away. It is just all those intervening hours in the airports along the way that make the journey more daunting. For those who are curious, my watch is now 9 hours ahead of Chicago time.
I arrive just a little late. Somewhere over Vilnius we hit some weather, and lost time maneuvering around it. The lightning display outside the window was impressive. Passport control and baggage claim go surprisingly smoothly, and I exit the secure area hoping to see someone holding a sign with my name. Somehow I miss my driver in the throng, and a very helpful fellow who hawks rides for a local taxi company does me the favor of using his cell phone to call the transfer company I had booked my ride with. Eventually we find each other and I'm off to the city!
Traffic moves smoothly until we reach the city outskirts, and then things slow to a crawl. I lean out the window to take a photo of the first very gaudy building I see, and then almost immediately we are at my hotel-a clean and modern Holiday Inn. It is already 8pm.
I telephone my clients who have arrived before me (a couple), and we make arrangements to go out to dinner. We had a fantastic dinner at an Italian restaurant just around the corner from the hotel.
Returning to the hotel at about 10:30pm, Roman, the gay Muscovite I have hired to show the guys around the few gay clubs in the city, is waiting for me in the hotel lobby. We spend a few minutes discussing the schedule for the tour's stay in Moscow, and the times I want him to show up to be available to work for the group. There will be nine of us in town by tomorrow night, and his first job is to take us out for dinner. He works as a technical translator, and seems very personable. I am sure he will add a lot to the tour.
While we are meeting we try the internet connection in my room. It is going to cost me about US$25 per day for high-speed access! This outrage is just one more indication of why Moscow is considered one of the most expensive cities in the world! The internet is down for the time being, so I have composed this off line. Now I am heading out to find an internet café.
Hugs,
Dan
1:00am Postscript to previous entry: After walking for one hour at midnight in search of the internet café, which was not where the front desk staff told me it would be, I return to the hotel and prepare for bed. I check one more time before turning out the light at 2:00am, and this time I am able to connect. At least I got some good exercise!
Comments
Roman the gay muscovite guide
Well. Talk about sightseeing.