[UPDATE] : Check out my Crew Brief with The Flying Pinto, click here ! Follow TheFlyingPinto over at Twitter : @theflyingpinto
Wow wow wowiwo. Didn’t think much at first, was on the verge of swapping this flight but kept it in the end. And ohhh boy did I do the right thing ! We left hazy Dubai mid morning and five and a half hours later, my eyes dropped at the sight of The Red Square. It’s the perfect cliche.
One very useful tip. That’s if you’re a non language speaker. Please plan your trip thoroughly. Russia has very little english speakers and the simple task of getting a metro ticket can be quite awkward. We did eventually get a return ticket but the sheer amount of people qeueing behind us had us feeling EXTREMELY pressured. Understandable, one might think, because we were there for hours trying to explain where we wanted to go through what seemed like a bulletproof window. Speaking loud and clear towards the microphone (or what we thought was a microphone… could of been a very discreet AK47, who knows!). We must of looked totally hilarious from a local’s point of view : “hand gestures by a foreigner trying to describe an architectural masterpiece at a metro agent in a crowded russian underground station” is the kind of visual you’re looking for. But who gives a flying crap ??. The rest was a piece of cake. We got on the right train, counted 6 station down the line and got off. Yes, because you can’t read the signs either. Or you can maybe recognize the first letter and the last of the station name and hope you’re in the right place. We managed it beautifully. We ended up exactly where we had planned to be. Right there. In the Red Square… Along with thousands of other wondering souls, brides, soldiers, eagles and monkeys. Not to mention the amazing looking long-legged women in high heels and light tank tops… A rather lenghty picture taking session took place right after I tripped over on one of the squares’ tiles :
This is a WPSimpleViewerGallery
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The place feels just like wonderland. The buildings are amazing. Flaming with colours. And it really looks pretty fake but a closer look at them and you’re really in front of a fantastic building. I thought it would be much bigger. It truly looks like a cake from a distance. A cake with plenty of icing and toothpicks pinned on top. It feels so good being in place of history and culture. As I’ve said in my previous post, it’s something I’ve been missing for some time now. It felt like drinking a freshly squeezed orange juice if you get the connection. Something that wakes you up….
It wasn’t cold at all. In fact it was uber-pleasant. At last we get to breathe fresh air and have a decent breeze to prance around in.
I was joined by Nanita from Thailand, Clarissa from South Africa, Brian from Curacao and Mike from Thailand, who is an avid reader of the blog and managed to swap one of his Vienna trips to fly to Moscow with yours truly: me. He thanked me too many times (ahahah I didn’t where to put myself) because, as he puts it “It’s because of the blog I got the interview and the job”…
So we strolled along happy chappy bubbly, took more pictures, chatted and gossiped heaps before heading back to the hotel because we were all feeling peckish. I decided to call it quits for the night and headed to the room for some tweeting and a holy Club Sandwich. Blasphemous I know.
That’s about all. I have another video called “Another Day At Work #2″ coming up the wire… stay tuned…
Spasiva.
Sorry my post freaked you out in the start, it was well worth it no?
totally worth it ! The flight was super easy too !
Hi
As your Thai friend said, I feel the same you really motivated me through the interview process and your blog helped me so much. Its great.
As for Russia, Ive been to Moscow once, while working on ships, and in the metro it was quite crazy too! Apparently we are not supposed to drink there and not to take pictures because its a strategical military advantage or something like that (One russian guide told me this as I was bringing guests to a City tour).
Have you tried a Russian Club sandwich, if so, do you recommend it hahahaha
Club S. no, not really. Fries were cold. More bread than meat. Not the best one I had.
Love your blog! I want to go to Russia so bad! The video was great! Liked the music.
Is your Thai colleague wearing a bow tie? Funky!!!
Hey there, glad you liked our city despite all the little troubles you had with Russian-only speakers
See you around!
Ooh, love that song. what’s its name again?
Polka by Yves Klein Blue
Hi ya ya
not being able to video myself floating on a whoopee cushion in the bath-tub in the flat in retaliation reply to your video At Work #2 much as I’d have loved too just as a jolly japeI all I would like to say is be careful “burn-out” and “work exhaustion” are recognised and fully reimbursed social security diseases, don’t let it happen I feel you’re walking dangeroulsy close to the edge skywalker !! May be the force be with you….
Martha Vader