2006 Russia Trip Day 3
Arriving at the Moscow Airport we quickly felt the whack of Russia. Moscow is not known for its bi-lingualisms and the Russian writing known as Cyrilic is about as easy to understand as hyrogliphics and much less logical. Without going into detail it is safe to say it is difficult at best.
We did find some bi-lingual directions but even they were confusing. You basically had to go to the “Green Channel” line if you had nothing to declare and the other channel if you did. We didn’t but there were forms to fill out (which we learned later are basically ignored and never turned in or requested. The money exchange area was quick and with a large commission being taken, we knew we were being taken. Even the Russian/Brooklyn family pointed this out to us.
My wife was insistent we had to fill out these forms. I asked one gentleman who looked official and he just ignored us. So I made my way over to the uniformed woman near the Green Channel signs. I began to ask and before I could finish my question the answer was obvious.
“Go Green Channel, NOW!” She screamed at me in a voice and tone which sounded like she was sending me to Siberia if I didn’t have my “papers.”
I was shocked to say the least and motioned to Claudia to c’mon let’s go. We grabbed our bags which we had picked up as we left the plane and walked about 20 feet through the Green line and there we were in the middle of a hustling bustling Moscow air terminal.
I noticed a young Russian man in a suit on a cel phone with a sign in the other hand “Brill.” It had to be our contact/driver. I shook his hand as I pointed to the sign to motion I was Brill and he motioned for us to follow him. As we moved toward the open doors we could see dozens of taxi’s (some legal others not) and even as we were following our driver several others tried to pull us to their taxi’s. I knew to expect this and just kept saying “nyet” and pointing to my driver.
We got to the curb and he motioned for us to wait for there while he got the car. Five minutes later he returned while my wife kept asking “is he coming back?” I reassured her there was nothing to fear and we loaded up the car and headed cross town to our hotel.
Along the way (it took an hour as Moscow traffic is some of the worst in the industrialized world) I asked the driver if he spoke any English and he shook his head that he did not. I was able to ask a few questions along the way which he did answer. Just general conversation and questions about some gasoline signs and things. He never really warmed up but it was worth the effort.
It sprinkled a bit, the humidity wasn’t great but we made the most of it after 20 hours in the air and in airports. I was nice to be somewhere other than a plane. When we finally arrived at the hotel, built in 1980 by the French for the Moscow Olympic Games, it was quite pleasant. Big signs proclaiming Cosmos (our tour group) were plastered all over the building in plane site of the giant statue of French hero Charles De Gaulle.
No sooner had we gotten to the desk and began to check in when a woman about 50 greeted us in chopped English.
“I’m Vera,” she said as she held out her hand. “I’m with Cosmos. You are Mr. and Mrs. Brill?”
This was only our second experience with a Russian official (the first was the Soviet Style woman in uniform at the airport) and already I was feeling better. Vera was dressed professionally in a business suit, was direct and efficient although she rarely smiled. During the next two weeks we would learn why as we got to know her much better as our tour guide.
Vera laid out the plans for the next 24 hours for us. Where we had to be, when we had to be there and while she didn’t say why we could surmise this woman was on a schedule and you better adhere to it. What she lacked in western people skills, she more than made up for in the style of the former Soviet Union when it came to blunt and direct as well as efficient. Or so it seemed when it came to the latter.
Our room on the 21st floor was comfortable, and had a great view of the vast park and church across the road. It was outside Moscow central by miles and later we would find out this park was built for the Olympics as well. Remember these were the Olympics the USA boycotted when the soviets invaded Afghanistan. In retaliation to Jimmy Carter’s ban, the Russians refused to join the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Vera made a point of mentioning this during our visit. She also put in dig about how hypocritical it was the USA protested the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan but felt no ill feeling about invading Afghanistan in recent years. The not so subtle jab drew a few ooh’s from the assembled group of tourists few of which were Americans. I explained to her and our other guide later on, this was just fine and we could take the ribbing.
The interesting thing about the hotel room and others pointed this out later as well, is the fact the windows opened fully although there were no screens or balcony. A child could have easily slipped out and fallen 21 stories to their death. Or a suicide could even easily occur. In the west this was a huge lawsuit waiting to happen.
Claudia and I anxiously wanted to visit the park across the street wondering what it was and what was the historical significance. It was early in the day and our agenda has always been to immediately go on “local time” no matter how many hours we had been awake. An old colleague who traveled often told me this was the most efficient way to avoid jet lag and he was absolutely correct.
Seeking input from the concierge we asked about the park and he showed us how to get there. We asked about the “historical significance” of the site.
“There is no historical significance,” he stated matter of factly.
Okay.
We found the park to be wonderful. While the 1980 Olympics may not have had great social impact (outside of the fact NBC was to pay $80 million for the rights to broadcast it but turned it down) there was historical significance. What had been built as a showcase to offer the “wonders” of the Soviet system to the world now was a series of really cool exhibition halls. Massive gold fountains depicting the women of Russia and their struggles and much more were spread over hundreds of acres. This was a real showcase. It was also under used.
Since it was near the Metro station there were lots of small shops and street vendors. We ate some street food including a pocket bread filled with meat we had heard about. It was only 75-cents and filling as well as tasty. As daylight waned and tiredness set in we headed back to the hotel for a late dinner.
We changed clothes and went down to one of the few restaurants open in the hotel. This was a hotel for tour groups so massive buffets were the order of the day when they were on. Tonight we were on our own.
First meal in Russia? What else but Beef Strogenoff, caviar as an appetizer but I was going to wait on the Vodka. The stroganoff was not much to write home about and indeed we would have better in St. Petersburg and after tasting the cavier?
“Fish eggs,” said my wife. “It may be expensive but it still tastes like salty fish eggs.”
She was correct. Bottom line if you are not a fish person chances are you aren’t going to like fish eggs. The tab for the meal was 1543 rubles, which is about $60. Not cheap but not expensive for what is according to the latest survey, the most expensive city in the world.
Bed time and off to tour Moscow.
