Last night was a little interesting. I went to sleep at 11pm Moscow time and could still see some blue in the sky. The sun rose before 4am. We went to the Kremlin today and took a tour of the chapels. They are absolutely amazing. The largest cannon & bell are both on display there as well. The cannon had to have a 3 foot bore. The bell was about 15 feet tall and 2 feet thick at the base. There is a piece broken off the lower rim of the bell that is taller than Rain. I took about 50 pictures of the chapels and inside the Kremlin wall. We're in the air on the way to Khabarovsk and should land about 10am. We're flying Domodedovo airlines this time. So far it seems about the same as Dalavia. The plane is an IL-62M - built in the 70's judging by the formica paneling. I'm adjusting to the jet lag a little better this trip than on the first one. The return trip should be easier too since we'll be in Khabarovsk 2 weeks and Moscow 5 days. A little over 24 hours stands between us and our court date now. We're almost there.

Joe

It seems strange - the sun is still out at this hour and is just starting to go down. Back home it's pretty well dark by now. The weather is pretty good in Moscow. It was about 70 F when we landed and sunny. Moscow looks different without all the snow. The hotel we are staying in is a really nice place with a great view of Moscow. We had a good dinner in the restaurant and enjoyed the atmosphere. This could be our last western style meal for the next 2 weeks. We fly out tomorrow night and hopefully will see Katya once we land. Then on Friday we have our court date. This will probably be our last English speaking TV as well. The next 2 weeks will definitely be interesting to say the least.

Joe

Well the hotel is different. There is a casino and a strip bar in the hotel. This kind of worries me. I just haven't experienced this kind of hotel before. The room is huge! King size bed, a seating area, a work area and a large bathroom. The bathtub is large enough to lie down in. I had a long soak. And after the plane it felt wonderful. It is very humid here today. I fell asleep on our way to the hotel in the van. It (the van) was hot and felt steamy. That's a perfect recipe for a nap for me. We had dinner in a nice restaurant we remembered to order in courses so we actually were pretty full. I think Joe might go explore the hotel for some soda or water and see what else this place offers. I am going to relax and if I can stay awake for another hour or so read or watch TV. NASCAR sounds funny in Russian. We hope to see the Kremilin tomorrow before we head out to Khabarovsk.

Rain

Well, we are getting ready to land once again in Russia. This time, for some reason I am very anxious. Yesterday seemed strange from the moment I woke up. I woke up at 8:00 (EST) . This is odd because usually on a Monday morning I am leaving the house at 8. While I was doing some basic straightening of the house time fly by, suddenly it was 10:30 and I hadn't even had a shower yet! But after I was ready to leave, time seemed to drag. It just seemed like twelve hours from 11:30 (est) to one O'clock (est) when Al (my fater in law) came to see us off and Fred (our driver and all around wing man) came. After stopping at the Wawa for my last cup of American coffee for three weeks (comfort food for me) we headed for the airport. The plane was late boarding and taking off by an hour (give or take 10 minutes). Warning - never drink margaritas before flying! The salt will make you retain water and swell up like a puffy pink balloon. And hot wings will.... well enough said. I still haven't gotten the knack for dressing for Russia. This time I wore yoga pants, cotton socks, canvas sneakers (black) (white runners let the locals know you are a western tourist) I was still hot! I have found I like Russina breakfasts better than Russian dinners. Breakfast is a hard roll, butter, cold cuts, fruit and coffee or tea. Dinner is a meat (I had boiled chicken, rice, cooked carrots and a roll). Sounds good but there is something different. Maybe it's a spice or something but it's different. I slept only about two hours. Joe was able to sleep four or so hours So today I am a cranky, swollen pink hot balloon. I give up! I hope our hotel is nice...

Rain

We're about an hour from landing in Moscow. I actually slept a few hours this time. This is a good thing since it is about 6am back home. We just had breakfast - typical Russian fare - fruit, meat, bread. It doesn't seem as strange this trip as it did last time, now that I know what to expect.

Joe