First day in Putin's patch

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Hi again.

Not sure if I'm asleep or awake as it is now Friday evening, and we have settled into our Moscow hotel after a nightmare schedule out of Iceland. Our flight from Keflavik was 1 am, so after a leisurely fish meal in Grindavik (worst of the week, but I had to try saltfish, the mainstay of the Iceland economy for many years). Heather's plaice was also pretty poor, so I fear the place had changed hands since getting a rave from the Lonely Planet -- always a risk. We then did the obligatory over-priced dip in the legendary blue lagoon which had turned green over summer due to algae, and thence to the airport, dropped off car etc.

The Iceland Airlines trip to Copenhagen was really only two hours, during which they woke us up to serve some cold fish. Had to put the clocks forward two hours, so before 6 am Danish time we were staggering around Copenhagen Airport, killing time and trying to snatch some shut-eye. Drooled over lovely Danish design in the overpriced airport shops and finally got onto SAS for Moscow. As before, no food in cattle class, and we put the clocks forward again two hours and made Moscow just before 3 pm.

The meet and greet guy, Sergey, was waiting, but it was a two hour drive to the hotel Vega, not quite in the centre of town, but pretty handy to the wonderful metro.

Our first impressions are that Moscow and Russias legendary reputation for service are unchanged. Won't need that universal plug to stop the bath water running away that I brought, but service downstairs is slow and surly. Which ever guide book suggested bringing lots of patience to Russia was spot on. Food also was pretty average. And no Australian wines in sight. But nothing that a good night's sleep couldn't fix.

Saturday pm
Money ran out yesterday so finishing this after a busy day whose most memorable features seemed to be zig-zagging around the Metro and missing stations, seeing my Cyrillic is pretty weak still. Anyone coming to Russia, I strongly recommend doing a crash course in the alphabet or at last acquiring a pocket-sized card for the wallet that can remind you that C = S, P = R etc. etc. When they don't list the names on the metro stations and sometimes don't stop at certain stations because of renovations, it is very easy to go wrong. But not to worry, the trains are very frequent as one doubles-back and the decor is memorable!

We managed a river trip (fairly dull), failed to find all the art galleries and museums but stumbled on many interesting places in the middle of Moscow's 860th birthday celebrations, which included free concerts and closed streets. City looks a picture with flowers everywhere. Massive place with amazing buildings. If people are not in military uniform they are wearing jeans, so I feel entirely well dressed.

Will have to find Lenin's tomb, the Kremlin and all tomorrow, so fingers crossed. Hope you are all doing as well as Heather and I. Join the tour group tomorrow evening

Cheers

Georgie

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Photos

Love those onion domes!
Love those domes!