moscow day 2 / Siberia

Sorry this took a while, we have had internet problems.

We got a good night sleep last night. We were able to stay awake until 8 o’clock and we slept till 5;30. We decided to go down to the gym around 7 and get a little work out in. This hotel has a very nice facility. They have a huge indoor pool, boxing room, many treadmills and full weight system. We came back to the room after an hour of sweating and took showers and decided to get the day started.

We went to the mall around 10:00 am it had just opened so we went straight to the forth floor and had Sabarro Pizza for breakfast. Dee Dee realized while we were there that she needed a sweater for Monday so we went shopping. We found her a sweater in about the 3rd store we went in and then I started look around. I found so much stuff I wanted and it was pretty cheap considering but it will have to wait till we get back to Moscow and see if we have any money or room left in the suitcase. But for those who know me the jeans and t-shirts were awesome. Somewhat of a Banana Republic/ Buckle / Euro trash, I am ready to get back and shop.
Anyway, we left the mall around noon and walked back to the hotel. For those of you who don’t remember it is about 2 blocks from our hotel. We got back to the room watched TV and took about a 2 hour nap. We woke up just in time to pack and get down to the lobby to check out at 4:00. Unfortunately our ride could not pick us up until 6:00pm so we sat in the lobby and people watched for 2 hours. Demitri and his wife picked us up at 6 and we were off to the airport. We went through security and then things got a little crazy. We knew our bags were a little over the weight limit but we did not know 8kg was such a pain in the butt.

I went to the cashier to pay the fine for the 8kg and this is when I found out again something great in Russia that we in America don’t have. When you don’t want to deal with Americans or anyone for that matter just put a sign in your window that says Technology Break 15min. Now it does not matter that you have been sitting there doing nothing for the last 2hrs. It is time to let technology break. I am not sure how technology gets tired, I did not know it got tired, but in Russia it does. So after waiting 20 minutes and paying the 1000 Rubles / 30 dollar fine, we were back in business. I went back to check in and got our boarding passes. Dee Dee and I did notice something odd. They only gave us one baggage claim ticket. I asked the lady was that correct and she says yes. So on our way we went, to the smallest airplane loading area I have ever seen in my life. My den in my house was bigger than this. It looked like they ran out of loading stations upstairs so downstairs in a hallway they posted the number 12 on the wall and now you have concourse 12. It was nice.

The plane ride to Siberia was about what I expected. There were a few loud children, although more behaved than the last trip. Unfortunately, the 2 gentlemen in front of us smelled like a pair of wool socks after someone ran a marathon in the Iraq desert. I threw up in my mouth a few times. The flight was only four hours but we move ahead 4 hours so after a very good dinner and an hour or so nap, we arrived in Siberia at 4:45 in the morning. Now remember when I said we only received one baggage ticket. Well it was a problem. We had to wait until everyone got their luggage first and left and we were the last 2 people in the place before we could convince the commi that it was my bag. I thought the name tag in English and my passport may be a clue, but no.

We got in the car with Alexander (our driver not my son) and we were off to the hotel. The nice thing about this time with him was that there was no ice on the road, the downside he could drive faster. I did find out why he drives so fast. He is heading to the salt flats next month to set the land speed record in a Basra. I don’t know how fast 120km is but in the back seat and at 5 in the morning and driving in the center lane it seems real fast. Well we just checked in to the hotel and we are going to stay awake a little while and then nap. Talk to you all soon sorry this one was long but lots to talk about.

I think there was a misunderstanding. It is ok to email me I am very bored. I am just only doing daily updates via the blog this time. Some people thought that I did not want to receive emails, wrong. Please send them we have nothing to do and only one channel in English. Oh yeah, it is -23c here today so we will not be going outside.

Brad