Farwell to Russia, Much Too Soon!

The travel writer who wrote my guide to Russia, obviously got off the plane in the wrong place...... perhaps Outer Mongolia??? Moscow was nothing like the description that I faithfully learned in preparation for coming here. My favorite bad advice that he gave is that I should dress all in black and not wear anything conspicuous. Also, instead of a purse, I should carry a plain plastic bag. Talk about "conspicuos;" if I had followed his advice I would have really stood out, especially compared to all the women wearing Versace clothes, Jimmy Choo shoes, and Gucci handbags. Another piece of his advice was to beware of bands of women who might attack and rob me. The only bands of women I saw were the ones trying to get into Escada for a sale. I have to admit that before arriving I was fearful. The advice from the handbook and growing up with Russia being the anti-American superpower made me nervous about venturing out from the hotel on my own. The ride from the airport didn't help either. The architecture everywhere is intimidating; everything is huge and ponderous. It's all designed on such a gigantic scale. Even the main roads are 12 lanes wide with traffic going all the time. The first day I did make all kinds of excuses to myself; I have a cold, I have to catch up on my blog, I speak only 3 words of Russian and I don't know the Cerrilian alphabet. Also, when I checked into the hotel, the 2 Brittany Spearlettes at the front desk had a ball making sport of me. Finally though, I started meeting folks like Yana, who ran the internet center of the hotel. She spoke great English and also was incredibly helpful and friendly. At one point, I tried to tip her and she declined and said" No, I want you to know that Russians are friendly and that you receive good customer service." Guess who I would put into place as manager of the hotel?.... Finally, the second day, I got the courage to leave the nest and walked to Red Square. Nothing can describe it. It would take a week to see it all and I walked away feeling that I had touched an important piece of the history of my lifetime. The 2nd day was time for whimsy. The week before I left Florida, a piece appeared in the local paper about a Harley Davidson store that had opened that month in Moscow. There was no address, just the name of a high end shopping area near the River. I had a cab drop me in the general area and after a good walk, I found it! It was like old home week. I showed everyone there the article and they had to have copies. I took lots of goofy pictures of all of us and I didn't leave without a "Harley Davidson - Moscow sweatshirt." I'm sure I'll be the only one in Florida, and possibly the only one in the US with a Moscow H-D product....To sum up my time in Moscow, it was so much like being in Paris, only larger, more friendly, and cleaner. The city is immaculate. I didn't even see a cigarette butt anywhere. And despite the language issue, people try to communicate. A cab driver and I laughed the entire trip at our attempts to speak each others' language. We finally settled on the little German we both knew......Sadly,today I must say Dostyvania (good bye) to Russia and also Spaseeba (thank -you) for a lovely time. It's off to the airport for an overnight in Milan, Italy and then on to Delhi, India.....Signing off with hopes for Happy Trails for you, Marion