From Russia with love

I still need to pinch myself to check if it’s true but yes: I really, really did make it to Moscow! The journey itself was surprisingly hassle-free. My place of departure had me a bit worried about possible loss of luggage –and I was already mentally rehearsing my best Naomi impression- but it seems they have at last figured out how to run an airport without having to reroute the luggage through Italy first. The customer officers on the Russian end also seemed not the least bit fazed by my double visa and so before I knew it, I found myself standing on the Red Square.

My first impressions of Moscow are on balance very positive. The outskirts of the city that we passed through on the way from the airport frankly look drab: filled with big blocks of communist-era concrete without even the faintest glimmer of joy; ugly, grey, multi-storey monsters that symbolise that infamous Soviet building style. But downtown Moscow is a whole different story. The tiny bit of it I have seen so far is colourful, bright and beautiful. For some reason it feels very… European. It reminds me a bit of places like Vienna with these pastel tinted buildings. The Red Square, however, is unmistakably Russian. The St Basil’s basilica, popular backdrop for many news reports, is so over-the top colourful that it is hard to believe it is not some bizarre form of Russian humour. The Kremlin walls, on the other hand, are deadly serious. The tragic-comic Lenin mausoleum somehow hovers between those two extremes. I hope I will have time to explore all further later on.

I will be working here in Moscow until tomorrow. Then we leave for a week for a city south of Moscow, nearer the Ukraine border. I will be back in Moscow by the weekend after that so look forward to spending that time discovering some of the wonders Moscow has to offer.

До скорой встречи!

Moscow 25 June 2008

Behind enemy lines

O dear, that was not how it was supposed to go. Like the rest of the Dutch I too had been somewhat gripped by Orange fever. I am hardly a football fan, and to be honest I had never even heard of half the players on the team, but it was too contagious not to be infected. And now it's over... The hard part for me will be that, starting Wednesday, I will have to endure the ridicule from behind enemy lines. I think I have no choice but to realign my loyalties with the team of our national traitor no. 1: go Guus!

Holland - Russia: 1-1

It really does look like three is a charm. This time around I have the visa (with the correct dates), I have the flights (non-refundable) and so far nobody has cancelled anything! Fingers crossed that it stays that way. So -if all goes well- by this time next week I will actually be in Russia. I just hope they will still let me in after we kick their behinds this Saturday!

Plot twist

Yes, you are correct. That is indeed a copy of the shiny Russian visa that as of this afternoon brightens up the pages of my passport! So how come I won't be in Russia within 2 days from now you might well wonder.

In a bizarre twist of events now that the visa is ready, the rest of my arrangements have fallen through. The confirmation of my visa arrived at a time this afternoon that in Moscow fell after working hours. By that time the Russians had already postponed all interviews and cancelled all other bookings. As it turns out, at such short notice it was impossible to arrange everything. So... we have rescheduled. Now -if all goes well- I should be in Russia by the last week of June instead. But who can spot the catch on my visa?