Russia

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Yay! My visa was approved and I'm official to travel to Russia in the month of October. How stressful to send your passport away in the mail, fingers crossed that the company that you are using is legit and that it will make it to the Russian consulate and back? Whew. Glad that's done. I used a private company because the process to obtain the visa from the US is a little daunting and I didn't want any room for error. I basically paid my fee and filled out an application that contained the info they would need to file for the visa on my behalf. They also took care of the invitation letter that I needed, so I didn't have to go through one of my Airbnb hosts because I'm not staying in a hotel. Apparently you have to be "invited" to visit Russia. Which is cool. I have a Russian friend that offered to help me, plus I gathered you can easily go through your hotel to do the same. The company I used made the process so smooth and stress fee. I paid a little extra to have a specific person help me since I'm know for asking a lot of questions 😊. I experienced no glitches, and they communicated well that they received the necessary info from me, that the application was sent off to Russia, and that the passport/visa had been picked up and sent back to me. I sent my application via Fedex on July 20th and received the passport with the visa attached on August 10th, so really 3 weeks from start to finish. Not too bad.

Next step is obsessively planning for my train and subway travel. I booked my high-speed train from Moscow to St. Petersburg online at Russiantrains.com. I splurged for business class with a ticket cost of $95 for an roughly 4 hour train ride. I've now started a tentative itinerary for Moscow and and in the process of studying the subway system to determine the most efficient use of my time there.

I heard that a friend of a friend has visited Russia multiple (50+????) times, so I am going to touch base with her to see if she has any tips on navigating the system, especially to see what the availability of English kiosks are in the stations. I hoping to get a multi-day pass so I can ride as much as I want without worrying. The train stations are beautiful there and I"m looking forward to just sight-seeing those on my journeys. I anticipate getting on the train going the wrong way at least once. Who am I kidding? I'm hoping the more I plan the less lost I will get.

I've also downloaded several translation apps, one that can be used offline, as well as a tutoring app so I can learn some basic words. I also got an app for the metro system and one I can purchase a ticket through for the train from the airport to city center when I get there.

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