We Made It!

Hello from Moscow! We've made it this far! It's 4:45AM and we're about to catch a shuttle back to the airport for our flight to Kaliningrad. Everything has gone extremely well - all our trains, planes, and automobiles have been on time. Getting through the passport control last night was an event - definitely a cultural experience! More on that later...more on everything later.

Later...

Here are a couple shots from our flight. We were in a state of ‘perpetual dusk’ as we flew to Moscow, heading west over six time zones. We seemed to be looking down on Siberia for most of the flight. The vastness and starkness were truly impressive – a sea of snow-covered steppes and snake-like rivers that stretched on and on and on... Every now and then we would spot a lonely light shining in the middle of nowhere and wonder what on earth was down there, so cut off from everything else. From the warm interior of the plane, it was easy to wish that we could touch down for just a moment to experience the cold night below. Then a quick shiver would bring me back to my senses, as I thought of all those men I’d deployed to Irkutsk and Yakutsk in my many games of RISK!

Our flight to Kaliningrad went smoothly. We landed at 8:30AM – right on time – in a cold November rain. Yuri, FTIA’s rep, met us at the airport and drove us to our hotel. He got us settled, showed us the central areas of town, and said he’d be back to pick us up in the morning. We both liked Yuri instantly. He seems to have a great personality, he’s a nice slow driver, and he said our baby was cute!

Walking around town brought back a flood of memories for both Jon and me. The sights and sounds and smells are so familiar to us. The dark clothing, the fried garlic bread, the beautiful architecture... It feels good to be back in the Baltics.