August 7, 2009
Stories to come...
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Airport Nightmare
August 6, 2009
Our first trip to an airport/train station where we weren't running to get there on time came in Berlin. That is where the good luck ended, however. The airport was crazy!! In fact, we're not even counting it as a part of Germany. We would hate to mar our impressions of this beautiful country by associating it with our airport experience. We were a bit early--about 15-20 minutes before they would let us go through security and check-in. We shuffled around things in our bags, trying to guess about how heavy 15 kg should feel. Finally, our flight came up to go through security. We got through fairly easily, then stood in line to check in. My blue piece of luggage came in at 15.3 kg, but the woman at the counter didn't say anything. We weighed the other bag and things were going fine until she told us we needed to go pay the check-in fee, go back through security, and then come straight to her where we would get our boarding tickets.
Not thinking this was a huge deal, we took off to pay the fee (we had added checked bags online--a change in itinerary that cost us about 20 Euros), and upon getting to the counter were told the price. I thought the man had said 18, so I handed him a 20. "Eighty euros," he clarified. "Eighty? Did it not charge anything to my card?" "Your card has been charged for your flight and luggage. This is the check-in fee. Eighty euros, please." So even though we'd tried to go cheap by flying on Ryanair, they got us in the end (the original flight was about 4 euros before tax, which came to about 60 euros for the two of us). Word of advice--if there is the remotest possibility you will want to check a bag, say so when you first order your flight or you might be looking at an 80 euro additional fee.
Then we went back through the first security check, got our boarding passes, and went to the second security point, This is where the real fun began. Every flight that was going out (there were about 6 at this point) were funneled into one/two security check lines. I say one/two because there were no formal lines. Just a mass of humanity trying to push their way up to the one roped gate where two security personnel stood trying to hold us back. One girl in front of us was determined to make her bag fit in the little box that tells you if your carry-on is the right size. She ended up jamming it in, getting it stuck, and having to pry it out. We all stood there while she tried to get through. All the while, people are pushing in from behind and all sides to get to the front of the line.
We made it through this eventually, and went back to another line to go through the gate that opened to a waiting room. We sat for another 20-30 minutes waiting for the plane to arrive so we could board. For some unknown reason, we thought that the seats were assigned, so avoided jumping into the mad rush that was people trying to get on the plane. We didn't get to sit by each other, but figured--not a big deal, at least we didn't get trampled to death. My mom had the sad luck of sitting by a boy from Brazil who was coughing a lot and had a concerned-looking flight attendant checking his passport. She was sure she was going to come out with swine flu. She seems okay so far...
So we got into Bergamo, grabbed our bags, and took off for the parking lot. Then we had to cross a busy highway--a nice Italian guy finally told us that if we went a bit further up, we would find an underground tunnel--and then were able to check into our room. It was quite modern and different than the Marriott. It is our own little joke to now walk into our room and say, with our noses up in the air and our hands outstretched in a dainty fashion, "Well, it's no 5-star Marriott, but I suppose it will do." The things we do to entertain ourselves after dragging our bags somewhere because we are trying to avoid paying for a taxi!
Our first trip to an airport/train station where we weren't running to get there on time came in Berlin. That is where the good luck ended, however. The airport was crazy!! In fact, we're not even counting it as a part of Germany. We would hate to mar our impressions of this beautiful country by associating it with our airport experience. We were a bit early--about 15-20 minutes before they would let us go through security and check-in. We shuffled around things in our bags, trying to guess about how heavy 15 kg should feel. Finally, our flight came up to go through security. We got through fairly easily, then stood in line to check in. My blue piece of luggage came in at 15.3 kg, but the woman at the counter didn't say anything. We weighed the other bag and things were going fine until she told us we needed to go pay the check-in fee, go back through security, and then come straight to her where we would get our boarding tickets.
Not thinking this was a huge deal, we took off to pay the fee (we had added checked bags online--a change in itinerary that cost us about 20 Euros), and upon getting to the counter were told the price. I thought the man had said 18, so I handed him a 20. "Eighty euros," he clarified. "Eighty? Did it not charge anything to my card?" "Your card has been charged for your flight and luggage. This is the check-in fee. Eighty euros, please." So even though we'd tried to go cheap by flying on Ryanair, they got us in the end (the original flight was about 4 euros before tax, which came to about 60 euros for the two of us). Word of advice--if there is the remotest possibility you will want to check a bag, say so when you first order your flight or you might be looking at an 80 euro additional fee.
Then we went back through the first security check, got our boarding passes, and went to the second security point, This is where the real fun began. Every flight that was going out (there were about 6 at this point) were funneled into one/two security check lines. I say one/two because there were no formal lines. Just a mass of humanity trying to push their way up to the one roped gate where two security personnel stood trying to hold us back. One girl in front of us was determined to make her bag fit in the little box that tells you if your carry-on is the right size. She ended up jamming it in, getting it stuck, and having to pry it out. We all stood there while she tried to get through. All the while, people are pushing in from behind and all sides to get to the front of the line.
We made it through this eventually, and went back to another line to go through the gate that opened to a waiting room. We sat for another 20-30 minutes waiting for the plane to arrive so we could board. For some unknown reason, we thought that the seats were assigned, so avoided jumping into the mad rush that was people trying to get on the plane. We didn't get to sit by each other, but figured--not a big deal, at least we didn't get trampled to death. My mom had the sad luck of sitting by a boy from Brazil who was coughing a lot and had a concerned-looking flight attendant checking his passport. She was sure she was going to come out with swine flu. She seems okay so far...
So we got into Bergamo, grabbed our bags, and took off for the parking lot. Then we had to cross a busy highway--a nice Italian guy finally told us that if we went a bit further up, we would find an underground tunnel--and then were able to check into our room. It was quite modern and different than the Marriott. It is our own little joke to now walk into our room and say, with our noses up in the air and our hands outstretched in a dainty fashion, "Well, it's no 5-star Marriott, but I suppose it will do." The things we do to entertain ourselves after dragging our bags somewhere because we are trying to avoid paying for a taxi!
Berlin
Aug 5, 6
Well, we've decided German-speaking countries are a win!! Between Dusseldorf, Vienna, and Berlin, we're impressed! We loved our two days in Berlin (and not just because we got upgraded to a 5-star hotel--Marriott Berlin, though this had no negative bearing on our judgement, either ;) ) Though I miss speaking Russian, Berlin has been fabulous!
I slept on the most comfortable pillow I have ever experienced in my life! I almost didn't want to get out of bed--but Berlin called, so go I did. The first day was fairly laid back. We started out with an American breakfast at Play Off because I was craving eggs. The pancakes were an added bonus! We had a great server named Steffan who was oh-so-helpful! Another potential future brother-in-law as he is perfect for Amy. I am determined to have a German brother-in-law yet! He was very nice and spoke English really well.
After the breakfast, we headed off to find a laundromat. Our dirty clothes were piling up--we hadn't washed them since Moscow, and we only packed so many clothes. We got directions from the front desk at the Marriott and took off for the metro. I love subway systems! They are so convenient, and generally self-explanitory, though Moscow admittedly has the best system I've ever experienced.
Right across from the laundromat we found a shwarma place! But they are called Dumu or something here. Being way to full from breakfast, we made a mental note to come back if we found the time (which we did the next day during our hop on/hop off bus tour). A nice woman helped me get the German instructions to the washer figured out, and we started our loads. A German man helped show us which settings were best, and recommended a spinning machine (called an extractor, apparently--according to mom. She also says we have these in the States) that turned out to be great--we only needed about half the time on drying thanks to him. By the way, this was the first dryer I'd seen in 3 months--it's a festivus miracle (that's for you Amy, and any other Seinfeld lovers out there). We took the metro back to our hotel so we wouldn't have to haul our clothes around all day. Remembering how comfy the beds were led to a little nap.
When we woke up, we decided to walk around to some of the sights near us. We went to a holocaust memorial and then down to the Brandenburger Tor (gate). The Berlin wall ran right in front of this gate, and the gate now stands as a symbol of freedom. We also walked through the Tiergarten Park by our hotel. So beautiful! We found out that 1/3 of Berlin is covered by green space (as they said) and water.
After ordering up a scoop of Carmel Biscuit Creme Ice Cream and a Macadamia Nut Ice Cream from Haagen Das, we were able to use their free internet. We'd also had a yummy strawberry tart and chocolate with nuts (we hadn't eaten since breakfast because we were so full, but made room for late afternoon desserts!). We finally got all of our Russia pictures up, as well as Vienna and hope to catch up on Prague and Berlin soon.
Day two in Berlin--Aug 6, was spent on a hop-on/off tour of the city. This was the best way to see the city (except for maybe a biking tour which would have been really interesting and fun). Even though it was a hop on/off, we ended up with the same tour guide every time. He was really funny and remembered us, saying, "Our ladies have returned!"
I should also add how good we were today--no sugar, and we did crunches! And we've decided to ration out our sugar days for the rest of the Europe trip--getting ready for swimsuit-ing it up at Lake Powell in 1 1/2 weeks!
But back to Berlin--our favorite sight was Checkpoint Charlie where the American sector met up with the Soviet sector. They had large panels put together telling the story of the lead up to the Berlin wall. We spent about an hour in this one spot alone. We are fascinated with all of the history in this one city and the thought that it happened in our life times! (Some of it more my mom's life time than my own, but still). I was really surprised to see that the wall really wasn't all that high--especially when considering it separated two completely different worlds, ideologies, and political freedoms. It is hard to imagine these two worlds coming right up against each other. It really hit me how families were literally divided by this wall. Pictures on display showed two mothers holding their children up to the wall as they reached out to one other. I bought a postcard of a picture that took third place in a competition called, 'Overcoming the wall through pictures,' or something like that. It is a picture of a hand breaking through a wall, reaching out to help those on the other side. We also found what would have been our favorite souvenirs if we could have afforded them--on display in one shop were various compasses, globes, etc. that had come from museums across Europe. I want to say they were meant to represent the world coming together. Near this same area, and throughout the city, they have laid out bricks denoting where the wall once stood.
As I said, we love Berlin and were really sad to leave. We were impressed with how many people speak English, and by how helpful everyone was. Mom insists that I add here--Berlin is a very modern city because so much of it was bombed out during World War II.
Well, we've decided German-speaking countries are a win!! Between Dusseldorf, Vienna, and Berlin, we're impressed! We loved our two days in Berlin (and not just because we got upgraded to a 5-star hotel--Marriott Berlin, though this had no negative bearing on our judgement, either ;) ) Though I miss speaking Russian, Berlin has been fabulous!
I slept on the most comfortable pillow I have ever experienced in my life! I almost didn't want to get out of bed--but Berlin called, so go I did. The first day was fairly laid back. We started out with an American breakfast at Play Off because I was craving eggs. The pancakes were an added bonus! We had a great server named Steffan who was oh-so-helpful! Another potential future brother-in-law as he is perfect for Amy. I am determined to have a German brother-in-law yet! He was very nice and spoke English really well.
After the breakfast, we headed off to find a laundromat. Our dirty clothes were piling up--we hadn't washed them since Moscow, and we only packed so many clothes. We got directions from the front desk at the Marriott and took off for the metro. I love subway systems! They are so convenient, and generally self-explanitory, though Moscow admittedly has the best system I've ever experienced.
Right across from the laundromat we found a shwarma place! But they are called Dumu or something here. Being way to full from breakfast, we made a mental note to come back if we found the time (which we did the next day during our hop on/hop off bus tour). A nice woman helped me get the German instructions to the washer figured out, and we started our loads. A German man helped show us which settings were best, and recommended a spinning machine (called an extractor, apparently--according to mom. She also says we have these in the States) that turned out to be great--we only needed about half the time on drying thanks to him. By the way, this was the first dryer I'd seen in 3 months--it's a festivus miracle (that's for you Amy, and any other Seinfeld lovers out there). We took the metro back to our hotel so we wouldn't have to haul our clothes around all day. Remembering how comfy the beds were led to a little nap.
When we woke up, we decided to walk around to some of the sights near us. We went to a holocaust memorial and then down to the Brandenburger Tor (gate). The Berlin wall ran right in front of this gate, and the gate now stands as a symbol of freedom. We also walked through the Tiergarten Park by our hotel. So beautiful! We found out that 1/3 of Berlin is covered by green space (as they said) and water.
After ordering up a scoop of Carmel Biscuit Creme Ice Cream and a Macadamia Nut Ice Cream from Haagen Das, we were able to use their free internet. We'd also had a yummy strawberry tart and chocolate with nuts (we hadn't eaten since breakfast because we were so full, but made room for late afternoon desserts!). We finally got all of our Russia pictures up, as well as Vienna and hope to catch up on Prague and Berlin soon.
Day two in Berlin--Aug 6, was spent on a hop-on/off tour of the city. This was the best way to see the city (except for maybe a biking tour which would have been really interesting and fun). Even though it was a hop on/off, we ended up with the same tour guide every time. He was really funny and remembered us, saying, "Our ladies have returned!"
I should also add how good we were today--no sugar, and we did crunches! And we've decided to ration out our sugar days for the rest of the Europe trip--getting ready for swimsuit-ing it up at Lake Powell in 1 1/2 weeks!
But back to Berlin--our favorite sight was Checkpoint Charlie where the American sector met up with the Soviet sector. They had large panels put together telling the story of the lead up to the Berlin wall. We spent about an hour in this one spot alone. We are fascinated with all of the history in this one city and the thought that it happened in our life times! (Some of it more my mom's life time than my own, but still). I was really surprised to see that the wall really wasn't all that high--especially when considering it separated two completely different worlds, ideologies, and political freedoms. It is hard to imagine these two worlds coming right up against each other. It really hit me how families were literally divided by this wall. Pictures on display showed two mothers holding their children up to the wall as they reached out to one other. I bought a postcard of a picture that took third place in a competition called, 'Overcoming the wall through pictures,' or something like that. It is a picture of a hand breaking through a wall, reaching out to help those on the other side. We also found what would have been our favorite souvenirs if we could have afforded them--on display in one shop were various compasses, globes, etc. that had come from museums across Europe. I want to say they were meant to represent the world coming together. Near this same area, and throughout the city, they have laid out bricks denoting where the wall once stood.
As I said, we love Berlin and were really sad to leave. We were impressed with how many people speak English, and by how helpful everyone was. Mom insists that I add here--Berlin is a very modern city because so much of it was bombed out during World War II.
Prague to Berlin
August 4, 2009
One last note on Prague--we really did like it, I think we just hit a point of exhaustion where we needed some rest! It was great to be able to use Russian again, though. As we were leaving for the train station--which was another adventure trying to get the correct tram to it--we stopped to get a bottle of water. I started speaking in Russian for some reason, and the woman turned to her co-worker and said, "She's speaking Russian!" She was excited to hear it, and I was excited to speak it! She was so nice! She was very impressed that I spoke Russian at all, and I managed to say everything correctly, which is always nice. She said I spoke better than Czech people--more clearly and correctly. So at least my Russian works out for me in Prague!
After all the running to the station, our train was 80 minutes late. We met some nice people while waiting--a German girl and a guy from Mexico. Then when we got on the train, we were in with some really nice Hungarian guys who loved everything American. At first we didn't even know they spoke English, but about a couple hours in, we started talking with them, and they spoke really well. I can't believe how many people know English! Then a bit later I met a nice man named Can (pronounced Ken) who was born in West Germany near Dusseldorf, but whose parents are Danish. We talked for quite a while, which was nice because the train ride took about four hours. We talked about how it is a great experience to be able to travel. His English was nearly perfect, and I really liked how he used the word adorable. He kept saying, "Your life is adorable, just adorable! To have been able to travel, to have lived in Russia. Adorable!"
Then we said goodbe to our new friends, except for one German girl who was nice to enough to show us how to use the subway (S) to get to the subway (U) so we could get to our hotel in Berlin. When we arrived, the man at the desk told us the hotel was booked, but that they had made other arrangements. The thought of hauling my baggage to another hotel wasn't pretty, but before I could even think about it, he told us they had already arranged for accomodations at the 5-star Marriott hotel in a great location--near many of the sights we wanted to see! And he ordered up a taxi for us. It was there within minutes, and we were on our way!
A 5-star Marriott for the inconvenience--by jove, I love inconveniences! I will definitely be making a purchase of sheets, pillows, and blankets to match the ones we slept on at the hotel. I had no idea such comfortable, adorable pillows even existed!
One last note on Prague--we really did like it, I think we just hit a point of exhaustion where we needed some rest! It was great to be able to use Russian again, though. As we were leaving for the train station--which was another adventure trying to get the correct tram to it--we stopped to get a bottle of water. I started speaking in Russian for some reason, and the woman turned to her co-worker and said, "She's speaking Russian!" She was excited to hear it, and I was excited to speak it! She was so nice! She was very impressed that I spoke Russian at all, and I managed to say everything correctly, which is always nice. She said I spoke better than Czech people--more clearly and correctly. So at least my Russian works out for me in Prague!
After all the running to the station, our train was 80 minutes late. We met some nice people while waiting--a German girl and a guy from Mexico. Then when we got on the train, we were in with some really nice Hungarian guys who loved everything American. At first we didn't even know they spoke English, but about a couple hours in, we started talking with them, and they spoke really well. I can't believe how many people know English! Then a bit later I met a nice man named Can (pronounced Ken) who was born in West Germany near Dusseldorf, but whose parents are Danish. We talked for quite a while, which was nice because the train ride took about four hours. We talked about how it is a great experience to be able to travel. His English was nearly perfect, and I really liked how he used the word adorable. He kept saying, "Your life is adorable, just adorable! To have been able to travel, to have lived in Russia. Adorable!"
Then we said goodbe to our new friends, except for one German girl who was nice to enough to show us how to use the subway (S) to get to the subway (U) so we could get to our hotel in Berlin. When we arrived, the man at the desk told us the hotel was booked, but that they had made other arrangements. The thought of hauling my baggage to another hotel wasn't pretty, but before I could even think about it, he told us they had already arranged for accomodations at the 5-star Marriott hotel in a great location--near many of the sights we wanted to see! And he ordered up a taxi for us. It was there within minutes, and we were on our way!
A 5-star Marriott for the inconvenience--by jove, I love inconveniences! I will definitely be making a purchase of sheets, pillows, and blankets to match the ones we slept on at the hotel. I had no idea such comfortable, adorable pillows even existed!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Mom on Prague
Kim has procrastinated writing about our Prague adventures and instead wants me to write my impressions! First, I have come to realize that our feelings toward a place depends to a large degree on the amount sleep we have had. I also would not recommend, having lived in Russia for three months, going to a place like Vienna and then immediately returning to a former USSR country! The shock to the system is too great! That said, Prague was picturesue with cobblestone streets and beautiful, old ornate buildings everywhere! The river with St. Charles Bridge and beautiful palace is amazing, especially at night!
What we thought was going to be a sketchy hotel in the ghetto area of town (our first impression after arriving there after midnight) was actually ok and in a great location. We even had a bidet in the bathroom-something not even the 5 star Marriott in Berlin had! And it also had a continental breakfast and free internet!
Kim is great at adapting to each metro in the places we visit and soon we are able to "get around" quite well. We took a hop on and off bus tour and saw the major attractions described through an English headset. The headset also warned us about pick pocketers and somehow we didn't feel as safe as we have in other places. They also gave us some interesting tidbits such as the first tulips were grown in Prague and later sent to Holland where they have become famous!
A nice lady in a souvenir store warned us about mistakenly giving out Euros instead of Czech crowns saying that some might not be so honest in telling us of the errorl. Unfortunately, we had the misfortune of experiencing this as we saw a 50 crown sweet roll that we bought with a 50 Euro! Funny how if you have your money bag down the front of your pants to keep the pick pockets from snatching it and reach into the wrong one of the two zippered sections where you think the Czech money is, you can pay about 100 times what the roll is worth! Another lesson learned the hard way!
We asked the lady at the front desk of the hotel how to get to the train station since it was a different one than the one we came in on. She told us how to catch a tram rather than take the subway but apparently we didn't understand.. After wandering up, down and across a busy street with all our luggage and asking a policeman who said he spoke English but not the kind we understand, we got on the right tram and made it to the station by the skin of our teeth, again! Kim stopped to buy water and spoke to a woman in Russian. She seemed so excited to find someone to talk to in Russian. Kim's Russian has come in handy more than once in Prague. After our stressful trip to make the train on time, we discovered it was 80 minutes late. The ride through the Czech mountains to Germany was breathtaking and worth the trip! We met two boys from Hungary going to Dresdan to pick up a car. They love American goods and buy on ebay frequently. They said even after paying customs and shipping, it is less expensive and they love the quality of American goods-especially cars! All the people we met on the train were friendly and helpful.
One last impression-it was amazing as we were on the train going from Austria to Prague, how at the border the countryside and towns changed immediately and we knew we were back in a former soviet block country!
What we thought was going to be a sketchy hotel in the ghetto area of town (our first impression after arriving there after midnight) was actually ok and in a great location. We even had a bidet in the bathroom-something not even the 5 star Marriott in Berlin had! And it also had a continental breakfast and free internet!
Kim is great at adapting to each metro in the places we visit and soon we are able to "get around" quite well. We took a hop on and off bus tour and saw the major attractions described through an English headset. The headset also warned us about pick pocketers and somehow we didn't feel as safe as we have in other places. They also gave us some interesting tidbits such as the first tulips were grown in Prague and later sent to Holland where they have become famous!
A nice lady in a souvenir store warned us about mistakenly giving out Euros instead of Czech crowns saying that some might not be so honest in telling us of the errorl. Unfortunately, we had the misfortune of experiencing this as we saw a 50 crown sweet roll that we bought with a 50 Euro! Funny how if you have your money bag down the front of your pants to keep the pick pockets from snatching it and reach into the wrong one of the two zippered sections where you think the Czech money is, you can pay about 100 times what the roll is worth! Another lesson learned the hard way!
We asked the lady at the front desk of the hotel how to get to the train station since it was a different one than the one we came in on. She told us how to catch a tram rather than take the subway but apparently we didn't understand.. After wandering up, down and across a busy street with all our luggage and asking a policeman who said he spoke English but not the kind we understand, we got on the right tram and made it to the station by the skin of our teeth, again! Kim stopped to buy water and spoke to a woman in Russian. She seemed so excited to find someone to talk to in Russian. Kim's Russian has come in handy more than once in Prague. After our stressful trip to make the train on time, we discovered it was 80 minutes late. The ride through the Czech mountains to Germany was breathtaking and worth the trip! We met two boys from Hungary going to Dresdan to pick up a car. They love American goods and buy on ebay frequently. They said even after paying customs and shipping, it is less expensive and they love the quality of American goods-especially cars! All the people we met on the train were friendly and helpful.
One last impression-it was amazing as we were on the train going from Austria to Prague, how at the border the countryside and towns changed immediately and we knew we were back in a former soviet block country!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Prague at midnight
Just on the run, but had to recap last night. We decided to walk to our hotel--we had instructions written out on how to get there, saying it should take about 45 minutes. The nice people in our train advised us against this, but we decided to try it out anyway. The young man helped us grab our baggage and even carried it down a flight of stairs for us. Irina showed us where we could get a taxi or take the metro. We exchanged information (she wants to practice Russian and English with me) and said our goodbyes.
After she left, I set out to find the street our directions said to start from. This was a little tricky considering we didn't have a map of Prague, and that I don't speak Czech. Fortunately, my Russian has come in handy once again! I asked a man in the station where Wilsonova street was, and he directed me upstairs, where I talked to another woman who pointed the direction we should go in. So I ran back downstairs, got my mom, and we headed off into the night. Why she wanted to walk an hour after midnight when she was upset that I would make the 5 minute walk from the metro to my apartment in the dark was beyond me.
So we crossed a really busy street and took off to the left. Then the street went up a fairly steep hill, and I was cursing our decision to bring an extra bag. By now a light rain was falling, but it was kind of refreshing after the hill. We followed the directions that said to take a sharp turn and a slight left, only to find that we were on the wrong street! I kept thinking one of the cross streets would be our next direction. Street after street--nothing. So we went back to the left to see if we could find Wilsonova again. A couple streets later we gave up and waved down a taxi. He didn't really speak Russian, but understood enough that we could communicate. For 9 euros, we figured it would be worth getting home before sunrise (he wanted 10, but we only had 9 to our names).
It seemed like he was unsure of where to go and called a friend. I kept hearing him say Konvikstka (our street name) over and over, and figured he was either asking directions or telling his friend where he was. I decided he was asking when I saw our street come and go. I started to say something, but we'd already driven past it, and he was still chatting away with his friend. Finally, he hung up and we looped back around. I said in Russian that I thought I had seen it back there, and we circled through the back streets again. This time when we passed it, I figured it was worth pointing out that we were by our street. He threw the car in reverse and we finally made it to our area. He pulled in a building away, so we were a little sketched out as to where our hotel would be. Then we saw that it was just the next building up and went to get checked in.
Though the area looked pretty ghetto last night, upon a second review in the day light, it's not half bad. And the continental breakfast was pretty good, too. Now off to figure out what we're going to do for the day.
After she left, I set out to find the street our directions said to start from. This was a little tricky considering we didn't have a map of Prague, and that I don't speak Czech. Fortunately, my Russian has come in handy once again! I asked a man in the station where Wilsonova street was, and he directed me upstairs, where I talked to another woman who pointed the direction we should go in. So I ran back downstairs, got my mom, and we headed off into the night. Why she wanted to walk an hour after midnight when she was upset that I would make the 5 minute walk from the metro to my apartment in the dark was beyond me.
So we crossed a really busy street and took off to the left. Then the street went up a fairly steep hill, and I was cursing our decision to bring an extra bag. By now a light rain was falling, but it was kind of refreshing after the hill. We followed the directions that said to take a sharp turn and a slight left, only to find that we were on the wrong street! I kept thinking one of the cross streets would be our next direction. Street after street--nothing. So we went back to the left to see if we could find Wilsonova again. A couple streets later we gave up and waved down a taxi. He didn't really speak Russian, but understood enough that we could communicate. For 9 euros, we figured it would be worth getting home before sunrise (he wanted 10, but we only had 9 to our names).
It seemed like he was unsure of where to go and called a friend. I kept hearing him say Konvikstka (our street name) over and over, and figured he was either asking directions or telling his friend where he was. I decided he was asking when I saw our street come and go. I started to say something, but we'd already driven past it, and he was still chatting away with his friend. Finally, he hung up and we looped back around. I said in Russian that I thought I had seen it back there, and we circled through the back streets again. This time when we passed it, I figured it was worth pointing out that we were by our street. He threw the car in reverse and we finally made it to our area. He pulled in a building away, so we were a little sketched out as to where our hotel would be. Then we saw that it was just the next building up and went to get checked in.
Though the area looked pretty ghetto last night, upon a second review in the day light, it's not half bad. And the continental breakfast was pretty good, too. Now off to figure out what we're going to do for the day.
Getting to the train--Vienna
After deciding we were pros at the Austrian metro, we didn't think we had to worry about leaving too much time to get to the train station by 6:58 pm. We even stopped for another ice cream, served up by a very kind man who helped us pick out several different flavors to make up one scoop. We then went on down to the metro and back to the hotel. We got our bags from the front desk, and I double checked with the receptionist to make sure I was taking the right metro to the train. She said yes, just make sure that on your transfer you look for train S 8, 80, or 60 so that you end up at the train station and not the airport. Confident that I could switch over to the blue line on my own, we headed off.
We got off of U2 at the correct stop and started to look for the best way to get to the blue line. Then I noticed that the blue line wasn't numbered like the other metros--because it wasn't a metro line! So the race started to find where the metropolitan railroad was. My mom got caught at the light, but told me to go ahead and check it out, and that she would catch up. So I set off, finally finding the symbol I was supposed to follow, only to have it disappear.
I ran back outside trying to find my mom and eventually saw her. I sent her in to buy a streudle while I looked for the train (we had to try one--we were in Austria!). Then I ended up following her in to ask the cashier how to find the correct train. She pointed to the monitor outside, and I rushed to see if a train was going there. Nothing. Not 8. Not 80. Not 60. But then I took another look at the map, and noticed that S9 looked like it might go there. Just then my mom said, "Hey, this one says Sudbahnhof. I think it goes there!" This one left at 6:40, so we kept looking, knowing we would probably not make it if we tried that. Then S9 platform 3 popped up leaving at 6:25--in 4 minutes! We rushed up to the platform and got on the train that would take us to the train station.
I sighed in relief and checked the schedule above the doors to see how many stops until hours. When my mom heard my sigh, she said, "We're not there yet girl!" In three stops, a man by us stood up, so my mom showed him our tickets and he said he was on our train and would show us the way. We followed him a short ways to the station, and then he directed us to go up and to the right. When we checked the monitor, we realized we should have gone a different way. A very nice man saw me looking confused, and asked in German if he could help me. I slowly said, "Yes," in English, and he started speaking in English and told us which platform to go to. We thanked him and headed back a different way.
We saw our train at the tracks with a few minutes to spare. We sat in the first wagon we came to that said seats 65 and 66. How big and roomy, and even a plug for a laptop! we thought. We sat here for probably 30 minutes, tasting our streudle and Austrian chocolate, until a man came along to check tickets. He informed us we were in first class, but that our tickets were 2nd class tickets. He pointed out the way to go and sent us on our way.
I came to the first door. It said it was automatic, but I couldn't get it to open for the life of me. Finally it did, and we went through. The next door was the one that went to where the wagon connected with the next one. I got the first one opened and was standing over the hitch of the train. I couldn't get the next door open and the first one started to close on my large bag. Just before I turned and noticed this, I had the thought, what if the floor opens up when the door closes and I fall through? Needless to say, I freaked out when the doors closed on my bag and my arm and I couldn't get it open! I was trying to get my arm out and avoid being trapped while a hundred thoughts of death and falling flashed through my mind. Finally the doors popped back open and I got the set in front of me to open as well. "Sorry, I may have overreacted there. I thought I was going to die."
We then set off through about 4 wagons, one of which I will call the hell wagon because it was at least 110 degrees in there!! Hoping that our wagon wouldn't be this hot, we moved forward. When we finally got to our wagon and coupe, it was air conditioned! Some students from Arizona had taken our spot, but got up and moved when they saw us come in.
We ended up in the 6-seat-er coupe with a woman from the Czech Republic named Irina. She speaks some Russian, so we chatted for a bit in both Russian and English. So fun!
We have decided to try and avoid other similar adventures when getting to the next country, but are pretty sure we will have an exciting story just about every time we have to up and move.
We got off of U2 at the correct stop and started to look for the best way to get to the blue line. Then I noticed that the blue line wasn't numbered like the other metros--because it wasn't a metro line! So the race started to find where the metropolitan railroad was. My mom got caught at the light, but told me to go ahead and check it out, and that she would catch up. So I set off, finally finding the symbol I was supposed to follow, only to have it disappear.
I ran back outside trying to find my mom and eventually saw her. I sent her in to buy a streudle while I looked for the train (we had to try one--we were in Austria!). Then I ended up following her in to ask the cashier how to find the correct train. She pointed to the monitor outside, and I rushed to see if a train was going there. Nothing. Not 8. Not 80. Not 60. But then I took another look at the map, and noticed that S9 looked like it might go there. Just then my mom said, "Hey, this one says Sudbahnhof. I think it goes there!" This one left at 6:40, so we kept looking, knowing we would probably not make it if we tried that. Then S9 platform 3 popped up leaving at 6:25--in 4 minutes! We rushed up to the platform and got on the train that would take us to the train station.
I sighed in relief and checked the schedule above the doors to see how many stops until hours. When my mom heard my sigh, she said, "We're not there yet girl!" In three stops, a man by us stood up, so my mom showed him our tickets and he said he was on our train and would show us the way. We followed him a short ways to the station, and then he directed us to go up and to the right. When we checked the monitor, we realized we should have gone a different way. A very nice man saw me looking confused, and asked in German if he could help me. I slowly said, "Yes," in English, and he started speaking in English and told us which platform to go to. We thanked him and headed back a different way.
We saw our train at the tracks with a few minutes to spare. We sat in the first wagon we came to that said seats 65 and 66. How big and roomy, and even a plug for a laptop! we thought. We sat here for probably 30 minutes, tasting our streudle and Austrian chocolate, until a man came along to check tickets. He informed us we were in first class, but that our tickets were 2nd class tickets. He pointed out the way to go and sent us on our way.
I came to the first door. It said it was automatic, but I couldn't get it to open for the life of me. Finally it did, and we went through. The next door was the one that went to where the wagon connected with the next one. I got the first one opened and was standing over the hitch of the train. I couldn't get the next door open and the first one started to close on my large bag. Just before I turned and noticed this, I had the thought, what if the floor opens up when the door closes and I fall through? Needless to say, I freaked out when the doors closed on my bag and my arm and I couldn't get it open! I was trying to get my arm out and avoid being trapped while a hundred thoughts of death and falling flashed through my mind. Finally the doors popped back open and I got the set in front of me to open as well. "Sorry, I may have overreacted there. I thought I was going to die."
We then set off through about 4 wagons, one of which I will call the hell wagon because it was at least 110 degrees in there!! Hoping that our wagon wouldn't be this hot, we moved forward. When we finally got to our wagon and coupe, it was air conditioned! Some students from Arizona had taken our spot, but got up and moved when they saw us come in.
We ended up in the 6-seat-er coupe with a woman from the Czech Republic named Irina. She speaks some Russian, so we chatted for a bit in both Russian and English. So fun!
We have decided to try and avoid other similar adventures when getting to the next country, but are pretty sure we will have an exciting story just about every time we have to up and move.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
We love Vienna!!
Mom outside the Volkstheater
Rathausplatz
A lamp by Rathousplatz--surprise, surprise
Parliament Building
The beautiful grounds near Rathausplatz
The National Library of Austria
Inside of Petersplatz Cathedral
Inside of St Stephen'sSchronbrunn Palace, Vienna
Got into the hotel safe last night--paid about 32 euros for a taxi, which seemed like a deal because public transport would have been 10 euros each to get out of the airport, then another 5 or so each for the metro. The hotel was great--I even drank out of the tap! Mom keeps commenting on how spoiled we are and how much we love it! She especially noticed the soft, luxurious sheets, and the modern technology the hotel has to offer (we had to insert our hotel key for the lights to work!).This morning we checked our bags at the hotel and took off for the Schronbrunn palace. We love the public transport system here! 5 euros each for a day pass, and it's good for any public transportation. It is very easy to use, and we are grateful for our experience using the Moscow metro system. I have to admit, I do miss the metro stations in Moscow--they are also so interesting and beautiful with their different themes.
We love Vienna~everything is so clean and beautiful! When we got off at the Shronbrunn stop, we made our way with the rest of the tourists up to the palace. We decided to not pay to go inside, and wander the grounds instead. Boy are we glad we did! So beautiful! The gardens are amazing! The first one we happened upon was a rose garden with pretty arches and rose bushes everywhere. Then we came upon a path where the trees had been pruned into archways that extended forever it seemed.
We then took a left right behind the palace. The most breathtaking view opened up to beautiful gardens that led to Neptune's fountain, behind which was a hill with a beautiful structure at the top! We couldn't believe it! Definitely the most beautiful view we've seen so far!
We wandered down to a Greek ruin and saw some more fountains and statues. We even wandered into the palace the back way and read some of the history about the place. We then bought the biggest pretzel I've ever seen in my life, and tried to get into an Apple Struddle making demonstration, which we missed by 15 minutes.
Satisfied with the palace, we jumped back on the metro U2 towards downtown. We walked past the beautiful opera house and were on our way to St Stephens Cathedral when we saw McDonald's and thought they would have free wi-fi. They do, so here we are, with our $1 salad and small diet coke. Definitely better than the 6 euro/hour price they were going to charge us at the hotel.Now that we've finished blogging, we're heading out to the cathedral. More updates later!
This was written en route from Dusseldorf to Vienna:
Our time in Russia has officially ended! We were sad to see it go, but are excited for the adventures that await us!
The first actually came today in the airport as we changed flights in Dusseldorf. Thinking we had plenty of time to catch our next plane, we made our way to gate B73. First we had to go through passport control, where we saw a guy we think Amy should date--attractive and German, what's not to love? After exchanging about four words with him, we're sure he's the one.
We then went to find where airport security was, and a nice German man gave us perfectly understandable directions--that is, they would have been perfectly understandable if either of us understood German. My mom felt this would be a good time to pretend she speaks German, nodded her head, thanked him, and whisked us away to the right. "He said follow the line, right?" she asked me. "I have no idea. I didn't catch a word he was saying, and I'm not sure why you thought you should pretend that you did. What if he said, 'Oh, by the way, they didn't check your bags all the way through, you should probably go pick those up?' Oh, well, let's follow the line and see where it takes us. I can already tell this is going to be different than Russia--I'm not used to not understanding people!!"
We followed the line and magically ended up at the security check point for our gate, where we got pulled aside so they could check my laptop. Of course, I didn't understand that this was what they were doing as the man spoke to me in German. Instead of just telling him we didn't understand, we decided it would be most effective to just sit and look at him until he understood that we had NO idea what he had just said to us. He's a quick one, lucky for us, and switched into English. He directed us to follow his colleague to another table. After running a strip with a metal circle on it over the keyboard and back of it and checking my bag thoroughly, they let us proceed to the gate. We have already noticed a difference between the airports in Russia and those in, well, any place that ISN'T Russia. Can you say quality service?
(I have to insert here that as we were trying to go through passport control in St Petersburg, the poor family in front of us was catching all kinds of attitude from the woman checking them in. He asked her to be a little more kind to his wife and children, and she yelled after him to not tell her how to do her job, then came storming out of the little box she works in and told him to come back and keep his kids from touching anything. She then harassed him about not having a family passport, to which he replied he had tried to get one, and they told him he couldn't. Needless to say, we switched to a different line--thought better of taking our chances with her bad day. This turned out to be a good idea, as she closed the gate and refused to check anyone else in.)
So anyway, we get through the security check and start wandering towards our gate. We spot a bathroom and decide to stop while we're close. I hear something that sounds like "DeGroff" over the loudspeaker, followed by other German words. I think to myself, huh, they have a word that sounds like DeGroff--wonder what that means. Then as I'm washing my hands, I hear 'DeGroff" again, followed by German. Then the English version of this, which was, "Passenger DeGroff, last boarding call." My mom and I sprinted out of the bathroom and started following the signs to B73, cutting through the duty free shop to try and save time (mom knocked something off, but figured she didn't have time to pick it up). Another nice German man said, "Vienna? DeGroff?" And I said, "Yes, DeGroff. I am so sorry! I thought I heard my name." My mom added, "We thought we still had an hour." He just smiled and said, "No, we have quick turn arounds here. Not a problem." He then showed us to the counter and told us we just needed to go straight, take a left, go down and to the left and board the plane. We thanked him as we ran off. We were the last ones on the plane and everyone was already seated. Mom and I took our seats, turned to each other, and started laughing. "Can you believe we almost missed our plane?" "Yah," I said, "good thing we didn't stop for ice cream!!"
As the flight attendant came around to give snacks, and after handing us our orange juice she asked in German which snack we would like. We kind of just looked at her and said, "We speak English." She then offered us a sandwich or wafers. We took one of each between the two of us. We split the delicious cracker with cream cheese and chives, as well as the hazelnut vafly.
So we love Germany and are a little sad to leave. Luckily, we get to come back to Berlin in a matter of days. They left quite the positive impression on me, and I would be happy to return any time!
Our time in Russia has officially ended! We were sad to see it go, but are excited for the adventures that await us!
The first actually came today in the airport as we changed flights in Dusseldorf. Thinking we had plenty of time to catch our next plane, we made our way to gate B73. First we had to go through passport control, where we saw a guy we think Amy should date--attractive and German, what's not to love? After exchanging about four words with him, we're sure he's the one.
We then went to find where airport security was, and a nice German man gave us perfectly understandable directions--that is, they would have been perfectly understandable if either of us understood German. My mom felt this would be a good time to pretend she speaks German, nodded her head, thanked him, and whisked us away to the right. "He said follow the line, right?" she asked me. "I have no idea. I didn't catch a word he was saying, and I'm not sure why you thought you should pretend that you did. What if he said, 'Oh, by the way, they didn't check your bags all the way through, you should probably go pick those up?' Oh, well, let's follow the line and see where it takes us. I can already tell this is going to be different than Russia--I'm not used to not understanding people!!"
We followed the line and magically ended up at the security check point for our gate, where we got pulled aside so they could check my laptop. Of course, I didn't understand that this was what they were doing as the man spoke to me in German. Instead of just telling him we didn't understand, we decided it would be most effective to just sit and look at him until he understood that we had NO idea what he had just said to us. He's a quick one, lucky for us, and switched into English. He directed us to follow his colleague to another table. After running a strip with a metal circle on it over the keyboard and back of it and checking my bag thoroughly, they let us proceed to the gate. We have already noticed a difference between the airports in Russia and those in, well, any place that ISN'T Russia. Can you say quality service?
(I have to insert here that as we were trying to go through passport control in St Petersburg, the poor family in front of us was catching all kinds of attitude from the woman checking them in. He asked her to be a little more kind to his wife and children, and she yelled after him to not tell her how to do her job, then came storming out of the little box she works in and told him to come back and keep his kids from touching anything. She then harassed him about not having a family passport, to which he replied he had tried to get one, and they told him he couldn't. Needless to say, we switched to a different line--thought better of taking our chances with her bad day. This turned out to be a good idea, as she closed the gate and refused to check anyone else in.)
So anyway, we get through the security check and start wandering towards our gate. We spot a bathroom and decide to stop while we're close. I hear something that sounds like "DeGroff" over the loudspeaker, followed by other German words. I think to myself, huh, they have a word that sounds like DeGroff--wonder what that means. Then as I'm washing my hands, I hear 'DeGroff" again, followed by German. Then the English version of this, which was, "Passenger DeGroff, last boarding call." My mom and I sprinted out of the bathroom and started following the signs to B73, cutting through the duty free shop to try and save time (mom knocked something off, but figured she didn't have time to pick it up). Another nice German man said, "Vienna? DeGroff?" And I said, "Yes, DeGroff. I am so sorry! I thought I heard my name." My mom added, "We thought we still had an hour." He just smiled and said, "No, we have quick turn arounds here. Not a problem." He then showed us to the counter and told us we just needed to go straight, take a left, go down and to the left and board the plane. We thanked him as we ran off. We were the last ones on the plane and everyone was already seated. Mom and I took our seats, turned to each other, and started laughing. "Can you believe we almost missed our plane?" "Yah," I said, "good thing we didn't stop for ice cream!!"
As the flight attendant came around to give snacks, and after handing us our orange juice she asked in German which snack we would like. We kind of just looked at her and said, "We speak English." She then offered us a sandwich or wafers. We took one of each between the two of us. We split the delicious cracker with cream cheese and chives, as well as the hazelnut vafly.
So we love Germany and are a little sad to leave. Luckily, we get to come back to Berlin in a matter of days. They left quite the positive impression on me, and I would be happy to return any time!
Catch up
As you can tell, the last couple of posts were skeletons of what happened. We've been struggling to find time to catch up, and I sat down and wrote the first few days of Moscow out finally this morning while mom was in the shower. Hopefully we can fill in some details later!
Modern ballet of Anna Karenini
Friday, July 31
Kazan Cathedral--everyone really liked
Modern Ballet of Anna Karenina--we all thought this was going to be an opera, turned out to not only be a ballet, but a modern ballet. Very passionate! We all ended up really liking it, even though it wasn't what we expected (I'm secretly hoping Tyler will blog about this so I can copy and paste his story here :) ).
Cathedral of the Spilled blood
Rinok--bought lots of jewelry, met Yuri (?) one of the first baptized in Petersburg
Park
Saturday, Aug 1
Hermitage
Talked to Luba--Russian lady, about God, families, intl rel, etc
Taxi to airport--prob with people in front of us at passport ctrl, but we made it through
Modern Ballet of Anna Karenina--we all thought this was going to be an opera, turned out to not only be a ballet, but a modern ballet. Very passionate! We all ended up really liking it, even though it wasn't what we expected (I'm secretly hoping Tyler will blog about this so I can copy and paste his story here :) ).
Cathedral of the Spilled blood
Rinok--bought lots of jewelry, met Yuri (?) one of the first baptized in Petersburg
Park
Saturday, Aug 1
Hermitage
Talked to Luba--Russian lady, about God, families, intl rel, etc
Taxi to airport--prob with people in front of us at passport ctrl, but we made it through
St. Petersburg Day 1
5 am start to the day
Wander around--got more done by 10 am, than I did my entire last trip up here
Peterhof
--all sleep on boat over and back
Walked around Nevsky Prospect--saw admirality, hermitage, St Isaac's Cathedral
Check in hostel--kim ty back for bags, ty back again later--personality test
Business Lunch
Here's Tyler's take on Peterhof:
"St. Petersburg is in Europe. And if you were here with me, you would definitely be able to tell immediately. Peter the Great Tsar of the Russian Empire had it built to be his new capitol and "Window to Europe." It is situated on the Shores of the River Neva and the Gulf of Finland. Yesterday we took a hydrofoil down the Neva and into the Gulf, and eventually ended up at Peterhof. This was one of Peter the Great's imperial residences. (I will post pictures of it later.) It is an amazing work of architecture and landscaping. The multi-tiered fountains, immense and lush gardens, and the beautiful palace that crowns the whole ensemble definitely combine to make I place that I would be proud to call home. We'll see if the Russian government is taking offers. We continued our tour of the real estate of St. Petersburg, so I will keep you posted on what I finally decide to purchase."
Sounds pretty perfect, doesn't it?
Also, the personality test--Tyler got story of the day for this one--he got stopped on the street and led down a side alley and up to a room to get a stress test. They had him hold on to these two metal poles that measured his stress patterns when various subjects were mentioned. High stress for Tyler: love and money. Go figure.
For the whole story, go to Tyler's blog on the subject--definitely worth a read.
Wander around--got more done by 10 am, than I did my entire last trip up here
Peterhof
--all sleep on boat over and back
Walked around Nevsky Prospect--saw admirality, hermitage, St Isaac's Cathedral
Check in hostel--kim ty back for bags, ty back again later--personality test
Business Lunch
Here's Tyler's take on Peterhof:
"St. Petersburg is in Europe. And if you were here with me, you would definitely be able to tell immediately. Peter the Great Tsar of the Russian Empire had it built to be his new capitol and "Window to Europe." It is situated on the Shores of the River Neva and the Gulf of Finland. Yesterday we took a hydrofoil down the Neva and into the Gulf, and eventually ended up at Peterhof. This was one of Peter the Great's imperial residences. (I will post pictures of it later.) It is an amazing work of architecture and landscaping. The multi-tiered fountains, immense and lush gardens, and the beautiful palace that crowns the whole ensemble definitely combine to make I place that I would be proud to call home. We'll see if the Russian government is taking offers. We continued our tour of the real estate of St. Petersburg, so I will keep you posted on what I finally decide to purchase."
Sounds pretty perfect, doesn't it?
Also, the personality test--Tyler got story of the day for this one--he got stopped on the street and led down a side alley and up to a room to get a stress test. They had him hold on to these two metal poles that measured his stress patterns when various subjects were mentioned. High stress for Tyler: love and money. Go figure.
For the whole story, go to Tyler's blog on the subject--definitely worth a read.
Russian food we love!
Caramel Apple blinchik--Moscow by us Teremok
Schwarma--Ty found on Belarusskaya
Anything Tyler makes
Business Lunch
Ratatouille
Pasta
Ice cream at Coffee house plus truffle, cheesecake, and apple struddle w/ praline and pineapple ice cream
Panini
Salads
Cheese cheburek
Cheese piroshki
Potato piroshki
Russian chocolates
Krugli lavash--round bread
Schwarma--Ty found on Belarusskaya
Anything Tyler makes
Business Lunch
Ratatouille
Pasta
Ice cream at Coffee house plus truffle, cheesecake, and apple struddle w/ praline and pineapple ice cream
Panini
Salads
Cheese cheburek
Cheese piroshki
Potato piroshki
Russian chocolates
Krugli lavash--round bread
Last day in Moscow
Wednesday, July 29
Last day in Moscow
Packed in am
Went to office-said goodbe
Yummiest Russian candies
Tyler's--dropped off stuff
Walked arbat--bought lots of pictures, and let mom in on the pina colada tradition at Hard Rock Cafe
Train experience--Tyler in the sitting part, we platscart--get beds, but no dividers from other passengers--mom really likes it I almost lost a leg trying to make the bed--we're in a best bruise contest, no sleep hardly
Nice man helped us with our bag
Last day in Moscow
Packed in am
Went to office-said goodbe
Yummiest Russian candies
Tyler's--dropped off stuff
Walked arbat--bought lots of pictures, and let mom in on the pina colada tradition at Hard Rock Cafe
Train experience--Tyler in the sitting part, we platscart--get beds, but no dividers from other passengers--mom really likes it I almost lost a leg trying to make the bed--we're in a best bruise contest, no sleep hardly
Nice man helped us with our bag
Russian Tradtl Dance
Tuesday, July 28
On Tuesday, our last full day in Moscow, we decided we should get back into some more touristy things and headed off for Red Square. We went through St. Basil's cathedral and while in line met a couple who were touring the world for one year. Sounded like they had been everywhere! The man gave me his blog address, which is now lost in a stack of papers, but someday I will check it out.
We then went to a street by the river where a bunch of artists had set up their work and were selling it. Unfortunately, everything we really loved was about $400 and up. Deciding we could find something a little more to our budget, we left. We grabbed another shwarma on the way back to Tyler's apartment where my mom took a nap. We had dinner (pasta and vegetables from Sunday's birthday dinner) and a some banana cream pie (also from Sunday--a real treat considering they don't have pies like we're used to).
Then Tyler, my mom, Svetlana, and I headed off to the "National Show of Russia" which is a folkdance performance of traditional Russian songs/dances. We thought about Jenny the whole time--she has toured with BYU to Europe on the folkdance team. It was really fun and both my mom and I are glad we were able to go! I really think Svetlana enjoyed it, too. It was fun seeing my mom and her communicating with each other through the little bit of English Svetlana knows and some improvised sign language! We then took pictures by a pink cadillac that was parked outside the Cosmos Hotel where the performance was. Then it was back to Tyler's to try and shuffle a few things in our bags, then back to our place.
When we got off the metro at my stop, we grabbed a cheburek (roll type thing) with cheese which was delicious! Two guys heard us speaking English and followed us to the little stand where we bought our food. I heard them say, "Let's get a little closer and listen." Not sure that I was up for an adventure (it was already 1 am), I tried to ignore them. They gave us suggestions on which food to buy, and soon I gave in to talking to them--they were both really nice, and one of them spoke English. Afterwards, my mom commented on how nice they were and not creepy at all. I told her, "See--now you know what I mean when I say I stopped to talk to some random guy, but I wasn't worried because he seemed really nice." So hopefully some of my past stories aren't so scary to her now!
We got home and gave Sergei a card we had bought for him (it was his birthday), along with a pair of work gloves and a box of See's candies my mom had brought from the States. We ended up talking with Irina and Sergei until 2 am, even though my mom and I were exhausted. It was fun acting as the interpreter for the three of them, and it was really neat for my mom to listen to Irina's conversion story. I'm glad my mom had the chance to get to know them a little better, as the rest of the week had been pretty hectic and we were gone all the time.
On Tuesday, our last full day in Moscow, we decided we should get back into some more touristy things and headed off for Red Square. We went through St. Basil's cathedral and while in line met a couple who were touring the world for one year. Sounded like they had been everywhere! The man gave me his blog address, which is now lost in a stack of papers, but someday I will check it out.
We then went to a street by the river where a bunch of artists had set up their work and were selling it. Unfortunately, everything we really loved was about $400 and up. Deciding we could find something a little more to our budget, we left. We grabbed another shwarma on the way back to Tyler's apartment where my mom took a nap. We had dinner (pasta and vegetables from Sunday's birthday dinner) and a some banana cream pie (also from Sunday--a real treat considering they don't have pies like we're used to).
Then Tyler, my mom, Svetlana, and I headed off to the "National Show of Russia" which is a folkdance performance of traditional Russian songs/dances. We thought about Jenny the whole time--she has toured with BYU to Europe on the folkdance team. It was really fun and both my mom and I are glad we were able to go! I really think Svetlana enjoyed it, too. It was fun seeing my mom and her communicating with each other through the little bit of English Svetlana knows and some improvised sign language! We then took pictures by a pink cadillac that was parked outside the Cosmos Hotel where the performance was. Then it was back to Tyler's to try and shuffle a few things in our bags, then back to our place.
When we got off the metro at my stop, we grabbed a cheburek (roll type thing) with cheese which was delicious! Two guys heard us speaking English and followed us to the little stand where we bought our food. I heard them say, "Let's get a little closer and listen." Not sure that I was up for an adventure (it was already 1 am), I tried to ignore them. They gave us suggestions on which food to buy, and soon I gave in to talking to them--they were both really nice, and one of them spoke English. Afterwards, my mom commented on how nice they were and not creepy at all. I told her, "See--now you know what I mean when I say I stopped to talk to some random guy, but I wasn't worried because he seemed really nice." So hopefully some of my past stories aren't so scary to her now!
We got home and gave Sergei a card we had bought for him (it was his birthday), along with a pair of work gloves and a box of See's candies my mom had brought from the States. We ended up talking with Irina and Sergei until 2 am, even though my mom and I were exhausted. It was fun acting as the interpreter for the three of them, and it was really neat for my mom to listen to Irina's conversion story. I'm glad my mom had the chance to get to know them a little better, as the rest of the week had been pretty hectic and we were gone all the time.
I would walk 500 miles...
Monday, July 27
Went to get registered in the morning. Mom got quote of the day when I pointed out that she had dropped something on the ground. She said, "Oh! Good thing you noticed or we would be up that well-known creek!!" (pronounced crick). I laughed and laughed! Something about the way Lake Powell and other trips go totally justify this comment!
We bought the little girls barrettes and grabbed some almonds and dried fruit at a little shop on the side of the road. We then met up with Tyler and Ryan. Tyler took us out to the BEST schwarma place I have ever been to! SO YUMMY!!! We were sure we would be going back for more and had found our favorite Russian food. This was the most delicious shwarma I have ever had--they put the meat and veggies into a pita and toasted it--so so so so good! Mom loves it!!!
We then walked about 500 miles around the city so mom could see something other than the metro. We went to the American embassy where we got in trouble for trying to take a picture, then down to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. I bought the icon that Eli and I had found in St Petersburg and were so sad we didn't have time to buy (fortunately, he had seen them at the cathedral in Moscow when his family came in to town. They had bought them all out, and it had taken the cathedral a while to replenish them!). The icon is of Christ. I also ended up buying an icon of the Virgin Mary and Christ.
We then went to Grabli so my mom could see what I've been talking about for months. I ordered up my usual--grechka (buckwheat), a heaping bowl of self-serve borscht, and a blinchik with banana and raspberry sauce. I also got Turkey in a french cream sauce. My mom got beef with mushroom sauce which turned out to be really good.
Then it was off to Kolomenskii park, where mom took a nap down by the river, and Tyler and I talked in Russian about what we would miss about Moscow. We took lots of pictures, and then made our way back to the metro. On the metro ride home, mom and I were sitting across from Tyler, and he and I were making faces at each other. He winked (he can only do this with one eye), so I winked back at him with both eyes, then twisted my tongue around (I have only met one other person who can do this in Moscow--I didn't realize it was that rare to be able to do that!), and then touched my tongue up to the tip of my nose. About at this point, I noticed the guy sitting next to Tyler look at me, then look at Tyler. He saw mom try to touch her tongue to her nose, then he tried it, then I did it again, and he gave me a thumbs up. Then he turned to Tyler and asked why he was speaking in English, and if he knew me. It was hilarious!! The guy apparently thought that I was just some random girl who had started making faces at Tyler. He explained that he knew both of us. Mom and I totally cracked up at what this must have looked like to this guy--some girl comes in, sits down, starts winking at a guy she doesn't know and twisting her tongue around--sounds pretty sketchy to me! Just another day on the metro.
Went to get registered in the morning. Mom got quote of the day when I pointed out that she had dropped something on the ground. She said, "Oh! Good thing you noticed or we would be up that well-known creek!!" (pronounced crick). I laughed and laughed! Something about the way Lake Powell and other trips go totally justify this comment!
We bought the little girls barrettes and grabbed some almonds and dried fruit at a little shop on the side of the road. We then met up with Tyler and Ryan. Tyler took us out to the BEST schwarma place I have ever been to! SO YUMMY!!! We were sure we would be going back for more and had found our favorite Russian food. This was the most delicious shwarma I have ever had--they put the meat and veggies into a pita and toasted it--so so so so good! Mom loves it!!!
We then walked about 500 miles around the city so mom could see something other than the metro. We went to the American embassy where we got in trouble for trying to take a picture, then down to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. I bought the icon that Eli and I had found in St Petersburg and were so sad we didn't have time to buy (fortunately, he had seen them at the cathedral in Moscow when his family came in to town. They had bought them all out, and it had taken the cathedral a while to replenish them!). The icon is of Christ. I also ended up buying an icon of the Virgin Mary and Christ.
We then went to Grabli so my mom could see what I've been talking about for months. I ordered up my usual--grechka (buckwheat), a heaping bowl of self-serve borscht, and a blinchik with banana and raspberry sauce. I also got Turkey in a french cream sauce. My mom got beef with mushroom sauce which turned out to be really good.
Then it was off to Kolomenskii park, where mom took a nap down by the river, and Tyler and I talked in Russian about what we would miss about Moscow. We took lots of pictures, and then made our way back to the metro. On the metro ride home, mom and I were sitting across from Tyler, and he and I were making faces at each other. He winked (he can only do this with one eye), so I winked back at him with both eyes, then twisted my tongue around (I have only met one other person who can do this in Moscow--I didn't realize it was that rare to be able to do that!), and then touched my tongue up to the tip of my nose. About at this point, I noticed the guy sitting next to Tyler look at me, then look at Tyler. He saw mom try to touch her tongue to her nose, then he tried it, then I did it again, and he gave me a thumbs up. Then he turned to Tyler and asked why he was speaking in English, and if he knew me. It was hilarious!! The guy apparently thought that I was just some random girl who had started making faces at Tyler. He explained that he knew both of us. Mom and I totally cracked up at what this must have looked like to this guy--some girl comes in, sits down, starts winking at a guy she doesn't know and twisting her tongue around--sounds pretty sketchy to me! Just another day on the metro.
Church and Birthdays
Sunday, July 26
Sunday really got started as mom and I left for church with my very large suitcase (we had decided to send some things on with Tyler and Ryan so we wouldn't have to trek across Europe with them. Originally we thought this would be about $35 to check an extra bag, but later found out it was closer to $200--yikes! Needless to say, we decided taking some of it across Europe didn't sound so bad. Tyler is still taking a big chunk of it home with him). It was quite exciting to drag the bag along with me wearing four-inch heels. We got quite a few looks as I dragged it down the steps and onto the metro!
Once we got to church, my mom was able to meet my favorite young women--Sonya, Masha, Zardis, and Tomaris! I will miss them so much! Sonya came and held my hand as I got together with the study abroad students to practice the song we would be singing in sacrament meeting. Mom and I had a funny story we were starting to tell Tyler, but were then reminded that we were in the Church, so decided to save it for later and sit reverently as the meeting started. I interpreted for mom during sacrament meeting, and Ashley, Tyler, Ryan, and I did a musical number. After, we went with Tyler and Ryan home to get Ryan's birthday dinner started. Tyler offered to carry my bag home and spared me another crazy trek through the metro, for which I was very grateful.
Tyler and Ryan made the most delicious dinner--Tyler made a homemade soup with homemade croutons, and the both of them worked on pasta and an amazing sauce! We were all treated with mojitos and banan cream pies!! Nastya, her brother, Svetlana, Ryan, Tyler, mom, and I were all there to celebrate Ryan's birthday. It was really fun to sit and chat and just be together.
Sunday really got started as mom and I left for church with my very large suitcase (we had decided to send some things on with Tyler and Ryan so we wouldn't have to trek across Europe with them. Originally we thought this would be about $35 to check an extra bag, but later found out it was closer to $200--yikes! Needless to say, we decided taking some of it across Europe didn't sound so bad. Tyler is still taking a big chunk of it home with him). It was quite exciting to drag the bag along with me wearing four-inch heels. We got quite a few looks as I dragged it down the steps and onto the metro!
Once we got to church, my mom was able to meet my favorite young women--Sonya, Masha, Zardis, and Tomaris! I will miss them so much! Sonya came and held my hand as I got together with the study abroad students to practice the song we would be singing in sacrament meeting. Mom and I had a funny story we were starting to tell Tyler, but were then reminded that we were in the Church, so decided to save it for later and sit reverently as the meeting started. I interpreted for mom during sacrament meeting, and Ashley, Tyler, Ryan, and I did a musical number. After, we went with Tyler and Ryan home to get Ryan's birthday dinner started. Tyler offered to carry my bag home and spared me another crazy trek through the metro, for which I was very grateful.
Tyler and Ryan made the most delicious dinner--Tyler made a homemade soup with homemade croutons, and the both of them worked on pasta and an amazing sauce! We were all treated with mojitos and banan cream pies!! Nastya, her brother, Svetlana, Ryan, Tyler, mom, and I were all there to celebrate Ryan's birthday. It was really fun to sit and chat and just be together.
Yasnaya Polyana
Saturday, July 25
Mom's second day in Russia, and boy was it a crazy one!! We ran like crazy to make our train to Yasnaya Polyana. First we had to find where we could buy our tickets--we had about 8 minutes before the train left. We finally found the cashier (after being directed to the wrong one), and then set off to find our platform. We literally sprinted through the station--definitely went to the wrong platform first, but a nice cleaning woman finally pointed us in the correct direction. We jumped on the train right before it took off.
Once on the train, mom and I talked a lot. Or rather, I talked a lot because I was really tired and kept rambling on and on. A little girl in front of us was fascinated with us, and kept stealing peeks at us from behind the chair. Just as we were pulling up to one of the last stops, I asked her mother in Russian what stop it was. The little girl's mouth dropped wide open and she stared and stared at us. Her mom was like, "Sorry, I think she's in shock that you speak Russian! She's been so interested in how you speak the whole time, she never imagined that you would suddenly start speaking Russian!" So I started talking with the cute little girl, who was quite happy to talk after she got over the shock of it all. She and her sister were so adorable! They are from Ukraine and were in Russia visiting their grandmother. Loved talking with them and they posed for pictures for my mom and me.
Then it was off to Yasnaya Polyana, Tolstoy's estate. This is one of our favorite places in Russia!! Tolstoy was an amazing man, and his wife phenomenal! We had so much fun on our tour of his house and estate! We met up with a woman named Janet, who had hired an English-speaking guide, so that was really neat. We saw about 150 brides (okay, more like 30, but still, a ton!), and took lots of pictures around the estate.
To go in the house, we had to put on these huge shoe covers made of leather that were one-size-fits-all (I'm pretty sure it would have fit a size 15 man's shoe), so we were clopping around in them, trying not to fall. My mom was sitting on a bench to put them on at the second part of the house and was trying to take pictures of her feet in them. I took the camera to get a better shot, then turned to go in the house. Suddenly I heard a big crash! Mom and leaned to far back, and being the only one on the bench, sent it tipping over. Once I knew she was okay, I was laughing and trying to help her up. Another woman came to help and said, "Get her up!" I think she thought my laughter was obstructing my ability to help. We got her up and realized the bench had fallen on her arm! She was okay and laughed, and then said, "Oh, dang it! You should have taken a picture of me on the ground!" I laughed and said, "I love that you just said that! Somehow, I don't think that woman would have been okay with me leaving you on the ground to take a picture, though!"
We toured the grounds, with Janet asking about every 3.2 minutes what time it was because she hadn't brought a "time piece." Watches and other forms of telling time will henceforth be known as time pieces as far as my mom and I are concerned!
We then tried to find Tolstoy's grave, which they said was unmarked. When we came upon a mound, I suggested that this was perhaps it. "Oh, no, it would have some kind of marking, wouldn't it?" So I told them to wait while I ran ahead to see if I could find it. I ran for about 10 minutes through the forest, which was actually quite fun, then stopped to take some pictures. Then I saw an old Russian couple coming up the path, and they directed me back up the path where I had just come from to find the grave. By the time I got back to mom and Janet, a crowd of people were gathered around the mound I had seen. Sure enough, this was his grave. Janet didn't get this however, and suggested a different path for us to wander down to find it. We pointed out that the grave was in fact right there and headed back down towards Tolstoy's home.
We were starving by the time the day was over, but our train didn't leave until about 6:00 pm. All of the little shops were closed, plus we didn't know if we had enough money for the train back if we bought something from the cafe that was open. We had eaten a yogurt and drank one water bottle all day, so I was dying. And we knew we had about a three-hour ride ahead of us. We pulled through, though--not much else we could do, and I wondered what everyone would think about me bringing mom back starved and bruised (which is why I had to wait a sufficient amount of time to post blogs...haha). I was complaining about being so hungry, but mom told me to toughen up and that she wasn't complaining. She then added, "I like the self-denial!"
Our train finally pulled in, and we met up with Janet again. We decided we needed to show Janet how to use the metro system in Moscow--she had been paying ridiculous prices to travel one metro stop, and so we rode with her to her stop. I was so concerned with helping her know where to go that I forgot this was OUR stop for our transfer. At the last second, after telling her goodbye, I remembered where we were. "Oh, shoot! This is ours, let's go!" I darted off the train with mom following behind. I thought at the last second that it would be bad if mom got caught in the doors, so I reached out to try and prevent them from slamming closed on her. Despite my efforts, they caught her on the way out, and she was pinned with her arms at her side, pulling her shoulder blades towards each other. I was trying to pull the doors open and explain that she needed to keep moving (they don't just pop open like in an elevator), but she seemed pretty distraught and looked confused as to the best way out of this situation. We finally pulled her out, and though she was a little disoriented from the shock, came back to herself enough to make our way to the next metro. She still has the bruises in memory of the event. Between falling off the bench and getting stuck in the doors, we started to doubt if mom would survive Russia.
When we got to our metro stop, we decided to grab some food and opted for blini (like Swedish pancakes). We got a berry one and the most delicious blinchik I have ever had in my life--carmel double apple with almonds. Totally worth starving ourselves all day!
Mom's second day in Russia, and boy was it a crazy one!! We ran like crazy to make our train to Yasnaya Polyana. First we had to find where we could buy our tickets--we had about 8 minutes before the train left. We finally found the cashier (after being directed to the wrong one), and then set off to find our platform. We literally sprinted through the station--definitely went to the wrong platform first, but a nice cleaning woman finally pointed us in the correct direction. We jumped on the train right before it took off.
Once on the train, mom and I talked a lot. Or rather, I talked a lot because I was really tired and kept rambling on and on. A little girl in front of us was fascinated with us, and kept stealing peeks at us from behind the chair. Just as we were pulling up to one of the last stops, I asked her mother in Russian what stop it was. The little girl's mouth dropped wide open and she stared and stared at us. Her mom was like, "Sorry, I think she's in shock that you speak Russian! She's been so interested in how you speak the whole time, she never imagined that you would suddenly start speaking Russian!" So I started talking with the cute little girl, who was quite happy to talk after she got over the shock of it all. She and her sister were so adorable! They are from Ukraine and were in Russia visiting their grandmother. Loved talking with them and they posed for pictures for my mom and me.
Then it was off to Yasnaya Polyana, Tolstoy's estate. This is one of our favorite places in Russia!! Tolstoy was an amazing man, and his wife phenomenal! We had so much fun on our tour of his house and estate! We met up with a woman named Janet, who had hired an English-speaking guide, so that was really neat. We saw about 150 brides (okay, more like 30, but still, a ton!), and took lots of pictures around the estate.
To go in the house, we had to put on these huge shoe covers made of leather that were one-size-fits-all (I'm pretty sure it would have fit a size 15 man's shoe), so we were clopping around in them, trying not to fall. My mom was sitting on a bench to put them on at the second part of the house and was trying to take pictures of her feet in them. I took the camera to get a better shot, then turned to go in the house. Suddenly I heard a big crash! Mom and leaned to far back, and being the only one on the bench, sent it tipping over. Once I knew she was okay, I was laughing and trying to help her up. Another woman came to help and said, "Get her up!" I think she thought my laughter was obstructing my ability to help. We got her up and realized the bench had fallen on her arm! She was okay and laughed, and then said, "Oh, dang it! You should have taken a picture of me on the ground!" I laughed and said, "I love that you just said that! Somehow, I don't think that woman would have been okay with me leaving you on the ground to take a picture, though!"
We toured the grounds, with Janet asking about every 3.2 minutes what time it was because she hadn't brought a "time piece." Watches and other forms of telling time will henceforth be known as time pieces as far as my mom and I are concerned!
We then tried to find Tolstoy's grave, which they said was unmarked. When we came upon a mound, I suggested that this was perhaps it. "Oh, no, it would have some kind of marking, wouldn't it?" So I told them to wait while I ran ahead to see if I could find it. I ran for about 10 minutes through the forest, which was actually quite fun, then stopped to take some pictures. Then I saw an old Russian couple coming up the path, and they directed me back up the path where I had just come from to find the grave. By the time I got back to mom and Janet, a crowd of people were gathered around the mound I had seen. Sure enough, this was his grave. Janet didn't get this however, and suggested a different path for us to wander down to find it. We pointed out that the grave was in fact right there and headed back down towards Tolstoy's home.
We were starving by the time the day was over, but our train didn't leave until about 6:00 pm. All of the little shops were closed, plus we didn't know if we had enough money for the train back if we bought something from the cafe that was open. We had eaten a yogurt and drank one water bottle all day, so I was dying. And we knew we had about a three-hour ride ahead of us. We pulled through, though--not much else we could do, and I wondered what everyone would think about me bringing mom back starved and bruised (which is why I had to wait a sufficient amount of time to post blogs...haha). I was complaining about being so hungry, but mom told me to toughen up and that she wasn't complaining. She then added, "I like the self-denial!"
Our train finally pulled in, and we met up with Janet again. We decided we needed to show Janet how to use the metro system in Moscow--she had been paying ridiculous prices to travel one metro stop, and so we rode with her to her stop. I was so concerned with helping her know where to go that I forgot this was OUR stop for our transfer. At the last second, after telling her goodbye, I remembered where we were. "Oh, shoot! This is ours, let's go!" I darted off the train with mom following behind. I thought at the last second that it would be bad if mom got caught in the doors, so I reached out to try and prevent them from slamming closed on her. Despite my efforts, they caught her on the way out, and she was pinned with her arms at her side, pulling her shoulder blades towards each other. I was trying to pull the doors open and explain that she needed to keep moving (they don't just pop open like in an elevator), but she seemed pretty distraught and looked confused as to the best way out of this situation. We finally pulled her out, and though she was a little disoriented from the shock, came back to herself enough to make our way to the next metro. She still has the bruises in memory of the event. Between falling off the bench and getting stuck in the doors, we started to doubt if mom would survive Russia.
When we got to our metro stop, we decided to grab some food and opted for blini (like Swedish pancakes). We got a berry one and the most delicious blinchik I have ever had in my life--carmel double apple with almonds. Totally worth starving ourselves all day!
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