Sunrise over Moscow

My twenty something hours of travel went as well as you can expect. My legs ached, my back and butt hurt more, and my nose started bleeding from all the crappy airplane air-conditioning. Surely if we sent man to the moon in the 60s (and the Russians sent the first cosmonaut into space before that!) we should have invented teleportation by now.

Russian customs was fine, despite what I'd heard. Such has been my experience so far of this glorious city! The big Russian lady looked at me with a serious face, then giggled to her neighbour as she stamped my humanitarian visa and passport and sent me on my way. I used my first Russian then, asking зто багаж? (it is the luggage?) while pointing to what looked to me like the exit to the arrivals gate. She said 'da' and I walked off, not wanting to hold her up any more than was necessary, but unsure if my bag would be on the other side of the door.

Luggage and jet lag in tow, I found my taxi transfer driver. He shook my hand with a firm grip and a smile and said 'hello Fiona, I am Vladimir. Welcome to Moscow!' and grabbed my suitcase and was off to his taxi. I trotted behind him. It was the perfect welcome to Москва!

The hour and a half drive in Moscow peak hour gave me a good view of the city. In a haze I watched the outer derolict suburbs change into the grandeur of Moscow central. There were sporadic glimpses of statues of Lenin and Russian orthodox churches as the taxi sped on. The thing I have noticed in a few countries is the landscapes driving in to the city from an airport. There are usually plots of land with few houses, to buffer from the noise of the planes. In Borneo, this buffer zone was the first time I saw jungle, with vines hanging between the trees. In Japan, the big highways had truck drivers texting on pink phones while driving. In London, the double decker buses and Edwardian streets looked like something from a Sherlock episode. In Moscow, there were fields of brilliant silver birch trees, their leaves just starting to change colour. The sun was rising and the sky was a light light blue with thin white clouds. It was a beautiful sight. I knew I would like Moscow from these orange and white trees.

I took some blurry photos of the streets on the way to my Godzillas Hostel. They are a contrast to the photos of Moscow city, but this first impression was a strong one for me. Jet-lagged, I showered and headed out straight away to Red Square to try to find my new friends- three girls from Brisbane who are also attending the WFYS festival and staying in the same hostel. And all russian language learners! I found red square, in all its glory, and the photo below shows my exhaustion and relief that Russia -you're gonna be all right. My first sunrise in Moscow that was 20 hours in the making was a glorious one.Read more