russia: moscow: ice festival at park pobedy

This was the first time in three years I was in Moscow during the two weeks of the annual ice festival at Park Pobedy.

I didn't originally intend to be in Moscow at all during my holiday break, but that's what happened when I got around to booking trains and planes.

You could barely call this winter in Moscow this year. We've had very little snow, and temperatures have been something like 10 degrees warmer than usual.

I have no idea how they kept the ice sculptures from melting, since they weren't indoors.

What was indoors was a series of sand sculptures.

There was also a chick wearing a costume of I don't know what.

As I visited not too long after dark, on a Tuesday, I paid 350 rubles for entry.

I love ice festivals. Even when they're lame (like the 'Ice Fantasy' Claire and I saw in St Petersburg a couple years ago,) I still love them.

russia: kurgan

Kurgan is the 53^rd largest city in Russia, just over 2000 kilometers east of Moscow, with a slowly shrinking current population of just under 327,000. It ended up being the warmest place I visited during this mini tour of Siberia, with temperatures only slightly below freezing. Definitely not what I expected anywhere in Siberia.

Kurgan is the modern name of the city, it was founded as Tsaryovo Gorodische in 1659 by a farmer from Tyumen. Like the beginning of many Siberian cities, its early history involves time as a fortress and fortified city.

Kurgan was granted official town status by Catherine the Great (Catherine the 2^nd,) in 1782. This is also when the city took its current name. Wikipedia tells me the name comes from a burial mound, called a kurgan, that was close to the original settlement. The city moved a few times, but only by a few kilometers each time, and always close to the Tobol River.

The city got its first school, hospital, and fire station (with a lookout tower!) in the early 18^th century. During the years when being sent into exile was a thing, Kurgan was one of the cities that regularly hosted exiles.

Several of the so called Decembrists were sent to Kurgan. The Decembrists were a group of military officers and minor nobles that tried to revolt in December 1825. It didn't work, and they were all punished, along with their families by being sent into exile.

Before 1917, most of the houses of Kurgan were made of wood. (Typical in Siberia.) The wooden house tradition slowed down, but continued to hold on until the mid 20^th century, when big (boring and ugly,) concrete apartment complexes were built.

My train from Omsk was a nine hour night train, and arrived exactly on time in Kurgan. I stayed in the train station for a couple hours, for no reason in particular. My walk to my hotel only took 30 minutes, and was one of the more boring city walks I've done in Russia.

Finding my hotel was easy, but I was not able to check in early. Well, I was able to do so, but I didn't want to pay 50% of the nightly fee just to get into the room a couple hours early. Instead, I left my bag at the front desk, and went out to explore.

My hotel was really close to the city center, it only took me ten minutes to walk to Lenin Square. I intended to go there to see and take photos of the statue of Lenin. When I got there I discovered an ice festival, with sculptures placed all over the square, all around the statue. Totally awesome.

Because of the ice festival, the area around Lenin wasn't nearly as empty as I'm used to seeing. Most of the time when I want to take a photo with the man, locals watch me, but there isn't anyone in my frame. 

This time, I had to wait a couple minutes for people to move, then hope they didn't get in my frame while the camera was counting down. Since everyone in the area was taking plenty of photos, no one looked at me at all. Hee hee.

One of the ice sculptures was sortof like a giant wok on a platform. I think it was more a way to play on the ice, as opposed to an actual sculpture. I saw a few parents put their kids in the middle, then watched the kids try to climb out again, sliding all over while doing so. Really cute.

On one side of the square was an ice rink, not yet completely frozen.

From there I ended up walking along random streets, eventually ending up at the local Decembrist museum. It was in a yellow wooden house, one of the ugliest yellows I've seen. Definitely not the colour I would have chosen, but I didn't choose it, soooo... The entrance to the museum was around back, I wonder why.

I was happy to find a museum that did not have a foreigner fee for me. I was not happy when I saw a photo fee listed, argh. Just include a few extra rubles in everyone's entry fee, and stop these silly extra fees. They just make me feel like a human atm. Oddly enough, this was the first city in which I found postcards during this trip, and I found them at this museum. Even though I still had the rest of that day and the next to see the city, I bought the postcards. I also bought a magnet. 

The exhibits of this museum were all on the second floor of the house. The museum displayed furniture, clothing, personal items, and photos of the Decembrists, along with an information page for each room. There wasn't anything unique in this museum, but I was still glad I visited. The ladies who worked there were surprised to see me, as I don't think Kurgan gets many foreign visitors, and those who do come don't come in winter. All that on top of me being by myself, the ladies were fascinated. 

Kurgan doesn't have much to see or do, which is probably the greatest reason the city doesn't get a whole lot of tourists. After I left the museum there was nothing particularly exciting on the map that I wanted to see. I ended up walking the streets in a grid patterns, just to kill time and hope I'd see something worth taking a photo of.

I did find one photo to take, at a fire station of all places. Many Russian cities still have traditional fire stations, which include watchtowers. 

They look very similar to water towers, but have a balcony area at the top, where someone used to stand and watch the city. Before people were connected by phones and electronics, the fastest way for a fire station to learn about a fire was to watch the city.

This fire station was also painted an ugly yellow colour, so was the watchtower. The watchtower was shaped like a lighthouse, I remember wondering what the heck a lighthouse was doing in the middle of a city when I first saw it.

A review of this fire station on google maps says the fire station was completed in 1882, so it really is old.

I kept walking, coming to the platz in front of the Philharmonic Theatre. A good place to people watch, though not much else. I really wanted to keep walking around the city, but for whateva reason I was running out of energy. I found a nearby supermarket and picked up some snack food for dinner, then walked back to the hotel, where it didn't take long to check in.

I wasted time online for a while, then was able to convince myself to go back out for another hour. I walked back to Lenin Square, and was excited to find that most of the ice sculptures were lit up for the evening. I guess when they were built/carved, light wires were built into them, so the ice appeared to change colour, I loved it!

Obviously, there were plenty of locals out along with me, but at that point I stopped caring. The ice rink was finally completely frozen, and I noticed the 'walls' around the rink were also changing colour. Awesome. 

The whole area was worth standing around for a while to people watch. I did feel sorry for the kids who were dragged from one sculpture to another by adults. The adults took photos, then moved on, but didn't really let the kids play, nor interact all that much other than to take the photos.

I did not sleep particularly well that night, my room was quite warm and stayed that way even though I turned off the heat. I didn't have a window, so I wasn't able to do much. Ugh.

In the morning I did my normal wasting of time by putzing around online, but since I knew Kurgan didn't have a whole lot going on, it didn't really make a difference for the rest of my day. Once I did get going, it didn't take me long to pack up and check out, then leave my pack at the front desk.

When I looked at my phone, Yandex maps listed three statues of Lenin in Kurgan, so I decided I wanted to see the other two on my second day in the city. My walk to the first one was quite long, but since I had the whole day to get through, I didn't care.

Go figure, when I got close to the first statue I wanted to see, I figured out it was in a factory complex of some kind, behind a guarded gate. Argh. So much for seeing all three. If I had more confidence in my Russian abilities, I'd have asked the guard if I could just take a look.

I ended up turning around and walking back in the direction from which I came, thank goodness for clear, wide pavements the whole way. At one point I crossed the street because I saw a building with a large mosaic mural on one side.

It turned out to be a school.

As I got back into the general city center, I passed the suburban train station, which had an old looking city sign in front. Since I love city signs no matter how lame they look, of course I took a photo with the sign.

From there I walked all the way to Lenin number three, with a stop at a supermarket along the way. When I found this Lenin I was surprised to see that he was in front of a school. I've seen a lot of Lenins, and I think this was the first time I found him in front of a school. I don't know why, but that isn't a common place for him to be.

After seeing Lenin, I walked to Park Pobedy, or Victory Park. Getting there took me through some really boring residential areas. Since Kurgan was having such warm weather, the snow was melting a bit and getting to the ugly/dirty stage. I assume most winters are not like this in Kurgan.

Park Pobedy was like most such parks in Russia. I saw a couple fountains, but the water wasn't running. I wonder what they look like in the middle of summer? I also found several large war memorials. 

One of them had an eternal flame, as well as plaques with engraved names. There was no one else around, though that was probably due to the weather more than a lack of remembrance.

At this point I felt as if I'd seen everything I wanted to see, but then I discovered another problem: a lack of cafes listed online. That is, there were cafes on the map, but none of them seemed like places I could go to kill a few hours. Argh. Instead, I made my way back toward Lenin Square, as seeing the ice sculptures again would be fun.

Along the way I saw a church and stepped inside. The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral wasn't all that big, but I quite liked the inside. The entire thing was painted with frescoes, they all looked quite old and faded. The iconostasis up front was gold, as was the giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling. A nice place to stand and send a few prayers up to the Big Man in the sky.

Lenin Square was just as busy as the night before, so I walked around the platz several times, just watching people. 

There were a couple ice slides built on one side, I really wished I had something to use as a sled to go down, as it looked quite fun.

Eventually, I went back to my hotel to pick up my pack, then walked back to the train station. I found a chair relatively near a plug, then sat there for a few hours until boarding my train. I don't think I need to come back to Kurgan, as it was quite boring, and none of the 'views' were particularly scenic.

russia: shlisselburg and st petersburg

Back in December, the ladies and I spent one weekend in Shlisselburg and St Petersburg. The main reason we went to Shlisselburg was to visit a fortress there. We didn't figure out until after we got to town that the place wasn't open half the year, during the colder months. Needless to say, we were disappointed.

The ladies left Moscow during the third weekend of June, when I still had two more days of meetings for the end of work. Even after my remaining days of work, I had more time until my booked flights to the States, so I planned a series of trips in and around Russia.

One of these trips was back up to St Petersburg and Shlisselburg. I knew that a summer trip would have much longer days, much warmer weather, and a fortress open to visitors.

After coming back to Moscow from Transnistria, I spent the day doing various household chores and changing out the clothes in my backpack. That evening, I made my way to one of the train stations in Moscow, and hopped on a night train to St Petersburg.

Aas expected, my train arrived on time. I knew my hostel wouldn't be willing to check me in quite so early, but I didn't mind. I walked to the hostel, they let me drop my bag so I didn't have to carry it around all day. 

I also spent a couple hours in the common room, charging my phone and figuring out how to get to various places I wanted to see on this trip.

My first sight was a wooden church just outside the city limits of St Petersburg. I had seen pictures of the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin on social media, and wanted to see it for myself. Getting there wasn't very difficult, though it took a little longer than I wanted it to.

I rode the metro a few stops, transferred lines, rode a few more stops, then found a marshrutka to take me the rest of the way.

The bus stop nearest the church was only 30 meters from the church, so it was perfect. The church was actually inside wooden walls, there was also a bell tower inside the walls. The roof of the church was the best part of being there. The onion domes were made of wooden pieces, it was all very intricate and beautiful.

The inside of the church was painted, but not as much as other churches I've seen. My visit happened during a service, so I didn't stay in there for long, and didn't take many photos.

After seeing the church, I walked to the bus stop on the other side of the street; I got lucky that I didn't have to wait long for the next bus to come along. 

When that bus dropped me off at a metro station, I rode more trains, to get to the end of another metro line.

During our visit to Shlisselburg we discovered a public bus that went between Shlisselburg and St Petersburg, the trip was only 40-50 minutes or so. Instead of taking a taxi like we'd done last time, I chose to take this bus again. It left quite regularly from the end of this metro line, yay.

Forty minutes later, I arrived in Shlisselburg. I knew exactly where I was, and where I wanted to go, I knew I wasn't going to be spending too much time in the city. 

I walked straight to the marina, marveling at how different the city looks in summer versus winter.

The next boat to the island on which the fortress sits left in just fifteen minutes. Even though it was quite windy, I stayed on deck during the ride. There was another fee to enter the fortress, and I could've rented an audioguide too if I'd wanted. (I didn't.)

The fortress was originally called Oreshek when it was built by the men of Grand Prince Yury in 1323. The fortress was originally built because of the regular fighting between Sweden (which then included Finland,) and Russia (which was then the Novgorod Republic.) 

The fortress continued to be involved in fighting between the countries for a few more centuries, before the border was completed solidified in 1702.

Peter renamed the fortress Shlisselburg in the early 18^th century.

In later years the fortress was used as a prison, holding political prisoners. I didn't recognize the names of any of the prisoners, but I assume students of Russian history would recognize names. The fortress was used as a museum in the 1920s, with exhibits about the October Revolution. 

During WW2 the fortress was under seige for around 500 days by German soldiers. Somehow a garrison of Red Army soldiers held out, and the siege was lifted in 1943.

Overall, the war was not good for the fortress. Not many of the original towers remain, and the interior was almost completely destroyed. Renovations have rebuilt some of the walkway along the top of one section of wall. What remains of the church has been transformed into a war memorial, though you're only allowed to look at it, not step into the ruined area. I don't think there are any plans to rebuild the church. 

The area that was a museum before is now a museum again, only this time it is about the political prisoners who were held there. I went through the museum, but it wasn't all that interesting.

I also went through one of the former towers, as well as through a gate that let me out onto a small beach area. Everyone and their mother was out there, but I could understand why. It was pretty, and the weather was good.

After enjoying the scene for a while, I made my way back to the dock and took the next boat back to the mainland. 

After looking at the map I realized there was a Lenin statue in town, we'd missed that last time. Not very big, but I'm always happy to see a Lenin statue.

After Lenin, I spedwalked to the supermarket we'd loved so much back in December. I was gutted to find out it wasn't currently carrying any of the Finnish chocolate I'd found last time. Booo. From there it was a quick walk back to the bus station, and a short wait for the next bus back to St Petersburg.

My day of exploring didn't end when I got back to St Petersburg. 

The bus brought me to the same metro station from which it had departed, then I rode a couple more trains before walking for at least thirty minutes to a church.

Smolny Cathedral was pretty. Much prettier from the outside, the inside was relatively boring. The outside is blue, rather eye catching. The inside was nearly all white, with the exception of various icons, and gold iconostases. That probably sounds jaded, but I've seen plenty of gold iconostases previously, this one wasn't memorable.

After the church I walked back to the metro, and I have to admit that by this point my feet were quite sore. I rode the metro to the stop closest to Namaste, a restaurant I will never get tired of visiting.

The next morning it took me a while to get going, but it didn't matter to me. I started with more walking, quite a long walk. I walked from my hostel all the way to Park Pobedy, a bit over seven kilometers. The weather was still nice, so I was quite happy with myself. I was also quite happy when I stopped in a bakery along the way and found brownies and cheesecake.

The park wasn't all that amazing, but I did enjoy watching other people in the park. Plus there were some good photos with reflections from the ponds.

There is a metro station on one side of the park, I went there to catch the trains again. I rode to a stop near a museum, called Museum Erarta. It's a contemporary art museum, in a modern-ish building.

As expected, I liked some of the pieces more than others. I suppose this is how I feel about any museum I visit. Walking around this museum was completely different from what I'd been doing just 24 hours earlier, I love that about Russia.

After leaving the museum, I made my way back to the hostel and picked up my backpack. Then I went back to the metro, for what felt like the 89^th time during this visit. 

Eventually I want to see all the metro stations of St Petersburg, so this time I was on the trains for a bit longer, riding all the way to the southern end of the purple line. I was disappointed that only the very end station was interesting (to me,) aesthetically.

When I felt like I'd seen enough, I rode to the station closest to the train station, arriving about an hour before my night train back to Moscow. I love St Petersburg, I know I'll be back soon.

russia: ulan ude, ivolginsk, and babushkin

The last stop of our May holidays was a city called Ulan Ude. It's the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, on the eastern side of Lake Baikal. (The republic surrounds the lake.)

Ulan Ude has just over 400,000 people, according to Wikipedia and the 2010 census in Russia.

Ulan Ude was settled the same way much of Siberian and Eastern Russia were settled: as a fort, by the Cossacks. They did this in 1666, and called the fort Udinskoye. The arrival of the Trans Siberian Railway is what caused/helped most of the growth of the city.

Our train arrived on time (of course,) the next morning in Ulan Ude. The sun had already come up, so we didn't need to hang out in the station. We wanted to take photos with the train station sign, but the back side of the station was under renovation so that didn't happen. Argh.

We knew we wanted to do a day trip that day, and we couldn't check in early, so we put our bags in storage for the day and started walking. About 10 minutes after we walked out of the station it started snowing, hard.

Yes, I know we were in Siberia, which is pretty much legendary for winter, and winter weather, but we were soooo not ready to deal with a blizzard in nearly mid May. 

There was no shelter nearby, so we just kept walking.

Our first team photo was in the snow, at the world's largest Lenin head. I have no idea why anyone would think to make his head this big, but they did. It's 7.7 meters tall, or 25 feet!

More walking brought us under a Victory Arch. This one crossed the street, painted beige. Not as photogenic as other arches we've seen around the country. Since it crossed a busy street there was no way to take a centered photo, which is usually what I prefer.

As it was May, the fountains of the city had been turned on. Since it was also blowing snow, this made for an amusing contrast, at least for us. I tried to take a photo, but the snow didn't show up well, oh well.

This particular fountain was right in front of the theater, which was gorgeous as usual. One of these days I'm going to plan a trip well enough that I book myself tickets to a performance in one of the theatres I see. (Probably in the warmer months, so I can wear appropriate shoes with nice clothing.)

We found a small cafe for breakfast. It wasn't amazing, but it was warm, which was much appreciated at that point. 

Trying to order was confusing, though I don't know why. Language issues, I think. We thought we were ordering off the menu, but it seemed as if the lady put in a basic order then added various items as 'extra.' In the end they forgot to bring Claire's drink, she was disappointed. Sigh.

From there we walked to a mini bus station to catch a marshrutka to a big Buddhist temple complex. We had to wait a bit for the marshrutka to fill up, then we had an hour long ride. The landscape was beautiful, but marred by the rubbish caught in the bushes all over. Plastic bags, ribbons, etc... 

So sad that people can't seem to put rubbish where they should. Or better yet, use less so there is less rubbish to begin with.

The temple complex in Ivolginsk is beautiful. Colourful, and quiet. There are rows of prayer wheels all over, as well as several different temples. As far as we could tell, not all the temples were open, but that was okay. There were small cabins on one side of the property, I think you can rent them for a day or two, as if you're a pilgrim. It would certainly be a calm place to stay, though I'm pretty sure that even I would be bored. 

I kinda led us clockwise around the property, as much as I could. We went inside two of the temples, which were awesome. We spun most of the prayer wheels we saw as well, always following those clockwise. There was one spot with several large stupas, though I didn't see anyone praying near those. I'm not sure of the difference between what is inside a temple and a stupa. There was another large temple under construction on the property, I wonder how long that will take to finish. And what it will look like, and how it will be different from the other temples that already exist, and who is paying for it.

We left because the wind and snow were picking up, and we were cold. Angela went off to the toilet and just a minute later the bus to go back pulled up. We yelled her name, hoping she would hurry, because we didn't know how long it would be until the next bus came. Thankfully she came quickly enough, and I think the driver understood we needed our friend, so all three of us were able to take the bus.

We got off the marshrutka as it went back through the city, not too far from the Lenin head, instead of waiting to get all the way to the mini bus station. 

It was a lot easier to walk back to the train station from that point to grab our bags, then check into our flat for the next couple nights.

As our flat was located right near a whole bunch of restaurants, we didn't have to go far to get food for dinner, yay.

The next morning we got up early so we could do another day trip, this one to a small lakeside town called Babushkin. We'd all loved our visit to Lake Baikal in March, and were hoping to see it again, but from the other side of the lake. During part of the train ride we got glimpses of the lake and realized that some of it was still frozen!

The train station in Babushkin was really modern and new. The rest of the town, not so much. Half the roads we followed to get to the lakeshores were dirt, or at least unsealed. The walk to the lake shore went through town, and wasn't the least bit interesting.

Then we got to the lake, and it was all worth it, all over again. Despite the cold, it was beautiful weather, and we were on a 'beach.' Our initial views had all of us just standing there taking it all in. So pretty. I need to come back to this lake in summer and fall, because I bet it is just as gorgeous.

Babushkin is not where people come to see Lake Baikal. There is no tourist infrastructure, at all. We walked along the beach, not seeing a single other soul, except for the guys out fishing. They were out in the water, all wearing waders.

One of the guys was sitting in a rubber raft, the others were standing in the water. I imagine they were all cold.

Further along the beach we founded a couple abandoned train cars that are probably used as shelters or homes at various times. We also found a lighthouse, totally covered in graffiti. I wonder if it is still used at all, or when it was last used.

Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous every time we looked at the water. The beach was not sand, it was small rocks, most of which were pretty smooth. Even though we thought everything was beautiful, I don't think locals hang out on this beach in the summer.

Eventually we went back into town, and go figure, another snowstorm rolled in, fast. It only last about 15 minutes, but whoa, it was fast.

The map showed a museum in town, but it was closed. It wasn't a Monday, so we figured it was for the holiday weekend. Or maybe locals just open it wheneva they want? It's not as if keeping it closed was going to miss a lot of foot traffic.

We found a 'cafe' with basic Russian food. I was okay with that, because I can always have solyanka, which is basically a kitchen sink meat soup. Then we went next door for boozy, because we were all still hungry.

Obviously we had nothing left to do at that point but kill time until the train back to Ulan Ude. We looked into at least three different stores, but there was nothing of interest. Really cheap Russian ice cream bars are not tasty.

We found one memorial on the way back to the train station, I think it was a general war memorial.

By the time we got back to the train station we only had another hour to wait. All three of us had our phones, so it was no problem to pass the time.

We got back to Ulan Ude too late to get dinner, so we had to make do with the snacks we hadn't yet eaten. Oops.

The next morning we got up and walked back to the train station to cross the tracks and find a bus stop. We didn't have to wait long for the bus we wanted, which took us up a hill to a Buddhist temple sitting on top. The views over the city and surrounding area were great from up there. There were a couple big gold stupas right at the entrance; one of them was a museum and the other was filled with small Buddhas inside.

There is a 'tunnel' of prayer flags around the entire back side of the temple, while walking through it we saw people adding more flags. So many prayers, I hope most of them came true.

Claire and I went into the temple, though Angela wasn't interested. There was a small sign that said photos were allowed with a small donation, so I put money in the box. 

I took photos, trying not to get in anyone's way, and following the respect rules I know. I hope I remembered them all. It was a nice temple, with a giant Buddha in front, and small cushions the monks sit on while praying.

We took the bus back down the hill, mostly because it was a steep hill, which would've wrecked our legs, not because it was all that far. Near the train station we tried to find the railroad history museum, but that didn't seem to exist anymore. There was a spot with a locomotive on display, looking the same as other Soviet trains.

While trying to find this museum we stumbled upon another Lenin statue. This one was full body, but not nearly as big as the head in the city center.

After resting up in the flat for a while we went back to the city center to find more to see. We found the city history museum, which wasn't big. Just three small rooms, all on the same floor. Even so, we liked the photos, items, and descriptions exhibited. It's always neat to see what people used in daily life 100 years ago.

We walked all the way to the end of the main street, as we could see a church down there. 

Only the bottom half of the church was open, I wonder what the 'main' sanctuary looks like, or if it is used at all now.

A couple blocks away from the church we found the memorial to the victims of repression. It's a dramatic memorial, including barbed wire, and a wall with names. To get there we passed the original 'mansions' of many of the city's merchants. They had historical/informational signs in front, but weren't open for visitors.

More walking brought us to the central market. Set up like the central markets of a lot of towns, there was a meat section, dairy section, produce section, pickled food section, etc... 

I got some dried fruit, and wanted kimchi but couldn't figure out whether I'd be able to take it with me on the plane or not.

Park Pobedy was the main park of the city, and there were heaps of people out having fun with friends and family. There was a giant fountain in the middle, also running. Of the fountain we'd seen in the snow and this one, one of them is called the musical fountain, but we didn't hear music around either of them.

At the back side of the park there was a giant set of stairs, at the top of which was a WW2 memorial, complete with tanks, wreaths, and plaques with 3D profiles of soldiers. There was also an eternal flame, one level above the whole thing.

We had dinner at a random restaurant in town. We got to look at menus in both English and Russian, it was interesting to compare the two. Not all items were listed on both items, and the English translations were entertaining at times.

On the way back to our flat we picked up Subway sandwiches for breakfast the next day, since our flight left in early morning. 

I used this walk to find a moment of no traffic near the Victory Arch, and stand in the middle of the street to take the photo I wanted.

We'd twice checked with our landlady about leaving early in the morning, as we knew she had to travel an hour to get there. We wrote the time in 24 hour time, so there was no question about when we were leaving. Despite this, she didn't show up when she said she would. We called over and over again, waking her up, argh. We used texting to figure out where we could leave the key; she returned our deposit by bank card, so it wasn't a huge issue but it was still annoying.

Fortunately it only took about 20 minutes to get to the airport, the rest of our journey was easy enough. We were on a budget airline, and boarding started an hour early because they checked the carryon bags of everyone. If your bag didn't fit, you had to check it, and they were on it. Since we'd paid for checking a bag, we were happy to see this happening.

I can't wait to get back to the eastern half of Russia.