Day 1: Москва (Moscow)

Dear friends,

Today was my fist full day in Russia.  I didn't really sleep much on the plane, but somehow still felt energized when we landed in Moscow around 7:15am.  We had a very bad experience at JFK, as our flight reservations were put on hold by someone in Aeroflot yet no one wanted to be responsible for it.  The Russian employee continuously saying "I don't understand" and my Dad raising his voice was not a very good combination.  However, we did eventually make it on our flight.  The flight was only 8 hours and 30 minutes or so.  It was non-stop from JFK straight SVO in Moscow.  The flight was very good.  The meals were good, service was good, etc.  I watched movies pretty much the entire time so it made the time go by much quicker.  When we landed in Moscow, I was ready to get out and start exploring.  Passport control (паспортный контроль) was very easy to get through.  He took my passport and looked at me, scanned it on his computer and handed it back.  It literally took 10 seconds.  My parents were with the same officer checking their passengers, just took longer for them.  Shortly after getting our bags we were met by our translator, Liubov.  She is a very nice young lady in her early to mid 20s.  Very beautiful of course.  She drove us out from the airport and straight to our hotel.  We dropped off our luggage, said goodbye to our translator and headed straight for Red Square (красная площадь).  The Red Square was beautiful.  It was really an amazing site to see.  We saw the inside of the famous St. Basil's church.  

The inside was just as beautiful as the outside.  We truly had a beautiful day in Russia.  It was sunny and a comfortable 72 degrees (F) with a light cool breeze.  This is rather cold, as most Russians in Moscow are used to hotter temperatures this time of year.  

The people we met in Russia so far are very nice.  For those who don't speak Russian, most will go out of their ways to make sure you understand and are enjoying yourselves.  I think the funniest experience today was my Dad in a Russian market and he accidentally pumped into a Russian woman's cart.  She ended up swearing at him and saying something along the lines of "shit head" or something like that.  I laughed at least...

We ended the first night eating near our hotel.  My Mom had beef stroganoff, my Dad had ribs and I had Borscht and cabbage rolls.  The food was amazing and the beer was very good too.  Looking forward to what tomorrow brings us.  Enjoy the photos and do contact me with any questions you have.

До свидания, 

Дэвид