Night one in Russia

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Amsterdam was peaceful and the plane ride over was perfect. Getting through customs and luggage retrieval was a breeze. Then the pleasure trip took a little market correction. My transfer from the airport to the hotel was a no show. Glad I had a hard copy of the contract. With details left out, I ended up taking an airport taxi (at three times what I paid for the service). Orbitz made a mistake sending me an email asking how everything was going. I plan to tell them.

Got to the hotel and just like the market, there was an upswing. Yanina at the front desk has been more than helpful with little details. She is now elevated to 'niece' position. I'll miss her on her days off. Walked around the neighborhood past McDonalds and Burger King (two doors away from each other) and of course KFC (big in Europe). Ate at a nice little place (Russia's answer to a diner) with authentic dishes and cold beer. Katia (yes, another one) was the only wait staff able to speak a little English. She and Yanina (and me) relied heavily on a phone app translator. Amazing technology!

The room is typical European hotel, small but clean and well done. Works for me. I'll try to add pictures. Tomorrow I plan to continue to acclimate and review my City Pass documents (waiting for me at the hotel today). Tired, going to sleep.

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Photos

room 1
Entry

room 2
bed

room 3
tv / sitting

room 4
'closet'

room 5
bathroom