Living the high life in Moscow.

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Geo: 55.75, 37.62

We left Adelaide on Monday night flying Emirates direct to Dubai. This was great as our body clocks were ready for sleep and in fact I did sleep quite a bit on the plane. A four hour stopover in Dubai at the Emirates Business Lounge was an easy break and then on to Moscow which is in the same time zone as Dubai so only one time change to contend with.

At Domodedovo Airport we were provided with a bus for the one hour drive into Moscow. A 40 seater bus for the two of us!. First disaster struck as in getting off the bus at the hotel Fletcher left his briefcase containing his laptop and our ongoing travel documents on there! We are still trying to track it down.

Once checked in we went to our room 1269 but the swipe card key wouldn't work. It took 3 reissues and a half hour of waiting till we finally got in. We then received our accreditation which entitles us to some receptions, free entry and VIP status at the stadium and buses to take us to and fro. There are also some free tours, one of which is to The Kremlin and The Armory which we will definitely embrace.

Then it was off to the Opening Dinner held in a magnificent 18th Century building in a huge inner courtyard. Once speeches and presentations were done with we were entertained by some of Russia's finest artists. There was a great orchestra playing Tchaikovsky and classic favourites, then artists from the Bolshoi danced and then a whole group of opera singers combined to sing popular arias and classics from Phantom , Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar. Magnificent. We also had some traditional Russian dance (modernised for more commercial tastes) and then these brothers who are acrobats did some amazing things and showed phenomenal strength.

With good company and fine food and wine a great start to the Champs and I am looking forward to more to come.

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Photos

View from my window
View of the White House from my window.

The White House
Scene of conflict in 1993