Traveler's notes

...Где города темны, опасны
   И холод с лета до весны,
   Леса и женщины прекрасны,
   Дороги и вожди гнусны.
   Это - Россия...

The airbus took off after about two hours in Shannon, and I found myself in Sheremetievo-2 after an 4-hour flight. Passport inspection, customs check and, voila, I am in Russia! About 20 taxi drivers offered me their service while I was walking across the hall of Sheremetievo with two heavy suitcases in my hands. I went outdoors and took a bus to the nearest subway station. I had hard times finding out how much I should pay for it. I took a seat in this bus and looked around.

The first impression. It is awfully dirty, very noisy and too smelly around. With two heavy suitcases, I found out that everything around is very inconvenient to the point of being almost inaccessible. On the other hand, nature is perfectly beautiful, climate is fine, and women are exceptionally lovely. In my opinion any of these positives could easily beat all negatives combined. So I was riding a bus enjoying beautiful landscapes of Moscow suburbs with the feeling of being back.

Finally, the bus stopped near "Rechnoy vokzal" subway station and I took the subway to "Bielorusskaya", and then to "Komsomolskaya" station. I exchanged my money and bought a ticket to St.-Petersburg. That was a train #10 and ticket cost me about 200'000 rub. This is a "special" train, so refreshments were served at no extra charge, and a bed was ready. I spent more than three hours just looking out of the window, watching beautiful Russian landscapes.

I want to mention that it might be Moscow that is dirty, noisy and smelly because the closer I was to Petersburg the better things I saw around. Even the temperature in the train became normal after Bologoye (As you might remember, there are no air conditions in Russian trains).

I arrived in St.-Petersburg in the morning and was met by my parents. The city was rather clean, the weather was coo, and the sun was shining not too high above the horizon. After a small party I went to Most-Bank to check its ATM machine.

The branch on Staronevsky has an ATM machine in its hall (called "bankomat" in Russia). This is NOT a First Union ATM as someone claimed. This ATM allows only one transaction - withdrawal, and limits a transaction to $200. You can select currency as an option - withdrawals in rubles and dollars are available. I used my First Union Check Card to access my checking account. Most Bank claims that they do not charge any fee for such withdrawals. (When I returned back I found out that First Union does not charge any fee, either, so it seems that withdrawals in this ATM are free). Everything went so smooth, as if it were here.

I tried to buy some groceries in SPAR market near Narvskaya subway station. This store looks and operates like the nearest Grocerland, but the prices are too high. I asked a cashier to charge the purchase amount to my credit card (VISA) and this procedure was the same as here. No passport required - the cashier just checked the signature. The total amount was charged in rubles.

After such experiments, I went to my summer house and had a great party with my friends. Russian vodka and wine is still fine, water tastes great, and lakes and forests are so beautiful! As a part of the party, we swam in the forest lake during a white night. The temperature was about +10C. And, believe me, I liked it better than the hot salted water in the nearby ocean.

My friend took me back to Petersburg in his car (Opel). I still can not understand how one can drive a car in Russia. Roads are so bad - I would say, unusable for driving. I had known it before, and I relaized it again. One has to be a brave fearless cowboy to do it. This could partially explain why obtaining a driver's license in Russia is a complicated task.

We also have quite different scale for temperature. When it was +30C and 97% of relative humidity, I still felt a fresh breath of wind, which is impossible in Miami. Only when I took an overcrowded trolley on the Nevsky prospect with all windows closed, I could feel somewhat similar to Miami's climate.

Time to go back. I went to Moskovskii railway station to buy tickets. If one buys tickets not for the same day, one has to stand in a long line of about 600 persons. This is not a big problem because you can take a small tag with a number from a special machine and do whatever you want before your number is called. (I went home to have my dinner). I took a ticket for train 57, and it cost me 127'000 rub.

Again Moscow, Sheremetievo-2, Customs, Registration, Personal Inspection, boarding, take off... Then I passed immigration inspection in Shannon and finally the customs here, in Miami. This is the end of my trip.

So here are some pieces of advice if you decide to visit Russia. Make sure you have all mentioned stuff. Do not take excessive cash: you can access your account from an ATM machine. Be careful when traveling by trains - one of those exploded (fortunately after I have arrived in Petersburg). Always buy tickets for public transportation - during your stay here you have lost all you skills in fighting with inspectors. If you spend in America two years or more, do not trust your instincts or your memory, - ask your Russian friend what to do in a certain situation. Do not forget to light a gas burner when you switch on the range...