So we are back, a little tired, but thats to be expected. It was a grueling 21 hour trip.
We flew from Athens to Atlanta, 12 hours, 2 hours in Atlanta, then 4 1/2 hours to Portland.
We have made the trip in 14 hours, but that is going through Amsterdam. They didnt offer that flight. Delta has kind of taken over KLMS business. Anyway I dont think we will do that again.
The trip to Moscow was wonderful. It is such a city of differences.
There are still many reminders of soviet times. Towers with stars on them, statues (Moscow has many), the hammer and sycle (sp)...and yet many churches. All newly reconstructed since the fall of the Soviet Union. They have completely rebuilt many of the cathedrals to exact replicas of the previous ones.
We had a ball with Katherine. She took us everywhere, all on foot. We came home every afternoon with tired feet:) The sidewalks seem so hard, maybe because of the cold weather.
It was reassuring to see Katherine going about her daily routines...although I think she really misses Seattle:)
Like I told her, people are people, everywhere you go.
The highlight of our trip was visiting the school that the kids attend. The students were all so well behaved..
The driver that took us back to the airport at 230 am was, I think, Boris Yeltsen reincarnated.
Only now he has a crewcut. Now Ive been in lots of scarey taxis. Greece isnt known for its safe drivers, but man, this one took the cake. He jerked, and swerved, speeded up, slammed on the brakes, for no apparent reason. The only good thing was he had an Icon of the Panayia in the car.
Like that would save us!!
I did notice when we got back to Athens how much happier people seemed to be. The Russians are pretty glum.
We also bought a washer in Athens. This is a huge deal. We had to go to the laundromat, then shlep the wet laundry back to the apartment and hang it out to dry. It was a huge project..anyway, Im very happy to have a little piece of home now.
I am really tired, and am rambling.
Theres no place like home!!!!!