Welcome to Moscow

We landed in Moscow on a grey day. As we approached the city I looked out the window and saw what looked like a display of tens of thousands of beige to grey Legos on a sandy landscape all connected by a thread of highways filled with bumper to bumper automobiles. What I was looking at was the Soviet Unions answerer to the social economic problem of the 20th. century; everyone works and everyone has a home.

The two hour ride from the airport to the river port reminded me of the United States of the 50’s. Along the highways were sprawling shopping areas with no rime or reason, no zoning and no sign restrictions. Each merchant attempted to promote their establishment with a bigger sign thus making any vision of the business itself impossible.

We arrived at the river port to find our boat adjacent to an expansive park filled with families riding the rides at the carnival and picnicking along the river. Our boat is a considerable distance from downtown Moscow but close to the Metro line.

With an eight hour differential our bodies didn’t know what to do but welcomed bed at 10:00 PM Moscow time only to wakeup at 3:30 AM and not able to go back to sleep. At 5:30 AM I was up running the pier and familiarizing myself with our home for the next three days.

We hooked-up with Gene and Chris, another couple from Birmingham, who we met through Avie and Ron, for breakfast and coordinated our activities for the next several days.

Our cabin is small, 160 sq. ft., the shower is part of the bath i.e.… the shower head is above the sink and the shower curtain keeps the water off the commode and towels. We’re adaptable. This afternoon and evening we will go into Moscow and attend an evening musical performance.