Moscow,
I landed safely a little after 10 in the morning at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow. The flight was long but unremarkable so I was surprised when we landed and everyone started clapping. It seemed as if the majority of the passengers were surprised we made it.
"I can't believe we made it!" "Me neither, this is great!"
My hostel is near the Starriy Arbat (The pedestrian only tourist walkway). Last year I was here but it's always surprising how nice this place is (www.hostel-moscow.com/lang-pref/en/ - Check it out). I was able to stop in at a restaurant that had a Gipsy Kings cover band, they were nice to listen to and the weather was perfect so I sat outside and had a daiquiri (Win).
One of the best things about Russia is that the sun sets so late. It seems to finally give up around 10:30ish. That extra time means a lot when you're meandering around the city aimlessly.
Today I woke up around 5 am with the expectation of making it to the airport around 7 am. My flight to Ufa took off at 8:30am. I went from the Arbatskaya stop to the Belorusskaya stop where the express train to the airport is. By the time I got there, the next train was at 7 so I didn't get to the airport until 7:35. I retrieved my bag from the luggage storage room and proceeded to the information desk to find out where I needed to go. As it turned out I was in the completely wrong terminal and had to get a taxi if I was going to any chance of making it on time.
Considering that I'm writing this from Moscow, you can assume that I didn't quite make it on time. Not only did I not make it on time, I had to buy a new flight. Getting a taxi to take me to the terminal and changing my flight felt like taking a stack of money out and using it to start a fire. (Gotta keep warm somehow).
On my way back from the airport to the hostel a group of people came into my train car speaking English, and doing it very loudly. As I sat there defeated, thinking about how I was going to correct this, one of the two men sitting near me leaned over to the other and said "Americantsii," and shook his head. After that a middle aged man stood up, clearly working off a brutal hangover, and shouted with all his might that the group needed to leave his car because he was dealing with a horrible headache. The students left, slowly, while muttering things about the man. Part of me wanted to stand up and say: "Oh snap! What now!?" But I decided it was probably better to just to stay quiet.
I arrived back at the hostel, defeated, got a room, and passed out. Tomorrow I will not take any chances. If this was a game the score would probably be something like Russia: 9, Me: 0.4. (0.4 for showing up.)
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