Moscow

If you would have asked me 25 years ago if I ever thought I would go to Moscow, I most definitely would have said NO!  In the mid 80’s the cold war was at it’s peak and the thought of traveling to the Soviet Union was about the furthest thing from my and most Americans minds.

Sorry, no pictures yet.  I tried really hard to get some when I got in to the airport.  Until now, every country I had been to have welcome to our city signs.  I looked all over for a Welcome to Moscow sign, but nothing!

We landed in falling snow.  It was pretty bleak, pretty much out of a movie.  Our partner was waiting for us and he had arranged a taxi.  That means he walked around talking to all the guys trying to make a little money on the side by transporting a group of people in their Chrysler mini-van.  He looked a little shady to me.  As a rule I never use a non-sanctioned taxi, you know, just some guy with car keys looking to make an extra buck.  Our partner insured us he had talked to a lot of them and found this guy.  So we did it.  It turned out ok.  It took about 2 hours to get to the hotel compared to 3 hours by public transportation.  One small thing, I HAVEN’T BEEN SO COLD IN MY LIFE!!!  The moisture that is supposed to come out of you nose when you breathe was actually freezing IN MY NOSE!!!  Cold.  The next couple of days are work.   Friday we are going to try and go to Red Square, then Saturday to a 20th century Soviet Art museum.  It sounds pretty interesting.

The next post will have pictures of Moscow!