Well here we are in Moscow. The flight from Bangkok took about 8 hours. I got a little sleep but I don't think the boys did. They watched more video and played games. Michael also enjoyed walking up and down the aisles. There was a particular stewardess who would stop him for a cuddle and a kiss. I don't think he knew what to make of that but did as he was told. Again the food was good as was the service.
Passport control at Moscow airport is a disaster. Like it was in China, there is little to tell you where to go and the queues start off as a crush of people. It probably only took 45 minutes but it felt much longer. Turning the air conditioning would have helped. There was no way we could have negotiated an extension to the boy's visas. I don't think the lady we saw understands any English.
We took the airport express train to the city. This starts from the opposite side of the airport to where we picked up our bags. Sitting in the train I started looming at a map of the subway system and the man I was sitting next to asked me where I was going and told me I would need to change lines at a particular station. All of this was in Russian. After this he called his wife over who speaks very good English. We talked about planning to go to Saint Petersburg and the lady suggested we buy tickets tonight as we might not get them tomorrow. They live in Saint Petersburg and were heading to the station we needed to go to to buy the tickets. So we followed them all the way to through the metro. They even carried Michael's case some of the way. When we finally got to Leningrad station, where it was raining, the lady took us to the ticket counter and organised it all for us. Once again, these Russians are surprisingly kind and eager to help.
After getting the tickets, we crossed the square to a cafe and had something to eat and apple juice. Then I took us the long way around the building to get back down to the subway. A couple of policemen there helped me find the right line and told me to go 5 stops. So we did and then rode the 45° escalators up to the next line. However, I wasn't sure which way to go so we stopped. A chap came over and asked if he could help. He spent while wondering which was best but seeing that we were flagging, his led us up to the street level, carrying a couple of our bags as he did so. Up there he negotiated with a couple of taxi drivers to take us to the hotel. This took quite some time partly because of a traffic jam right next to us. In the end though, he put us in the taxi, I thanked him and he wandered off. The taxi ride was only 5 minutes. It would,d have taken me 40 minutes to weave through all that traffic.
The Adagio hotel is one of those that you wouldn't know it was there from the street but upstairs it is small but lovely. Cosy, comfortable and clean. Just what we need. So now we will go and have dinner and then a bath and bed.
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