Article prepared for a newsletter - My trip to Moscow
As some of you may already know, I went to my home country for a few days for my little sister's wedding a few weeks ago. The event was quite unexpected and caused some significant doubts from my side as to if my sister was actually sane. Anyways, as there was only one way to figure out if she was OK, I approved my leave, booked the flights, packed the bags, bought the presents, and went to Moscow.
I left Sydney on Friday morning. Landed in Moscow on Saturday at 6pm Moscow time. Moscow welcomed me in the nicest possible way with an extremely quick pass through customs and passport control, my mom and my sister waiting for me at the airport’s exit and great hot (+27) weather... My sis and I headed to her hens' night which I managed to survive only till 3 am... Anna (this is my sis's name) and her friends were not so soft and continued till 7 am... Well, I have an excuse - I was suffering from jet lag (not true but goes well as a good excuse. The truth is - I am just getting older). I woke up at 7 am that day (anyone who had 4 hrs sleep after a big night out will understand how I felt), and it so happened that my brother in law (future brother in law at that moment of time whom I have never met before) just got home after his bucks' as well. That was the moment of truth. I think we understood each other quite well right away. The kick off meeting was really very productive and delivered great results: the guy was completely approved from my side as my future brother in law. (Please, note that such positive outcomes of our first meeting were only attributable to the glorious morning in Moscow and personal treats of character, and have nothing to do with the quantity of alcohol consumed by the two parties independently from each other the night before).
Leaving out some details on what was done during the hens’ night and the day after, I did a bit of walking in the Moscow centre and on old Moscow streets. Usually very busy, the city was relatively quiet. It was a Sunday; all people were either on holidays or at their "dacha" (Russian name for a country house). Almost no traffic, no people in Moscow Metro (Moscow Underground). Moscow has not changed much during this year. Only all sidewalks were opened up and being reconstructed - a new improvement by the new Moscow Mayor - to switch from an asphalt cover to concrete tiles produced at the new Mayor wife's factory. =) I love quiet Moscow with all my heart, but it feels that you are in a wrong place - Moscow cannot be quiet. This point was proven the day after. Monday - all people got back to the city - and here it all started... Traffic jams, long queues, business people appearing here and there, etc... This sense of "busyness" may get you tired, but this is what nowadays Moscow is. In addition to the fact that it is beautiful and very historical.
For those who wonder - Moscow has about 15 mln of people working there (and about 10 mln people living there permanently), and Moscow's area is much smaller then greater Sydney. So you can just imagine how busy it gets when all holidays are over and people are back to the city.
My Monday started with unexpected problems - I could not connect to Internet, and (!) could not find a European charger for my Ozzi laptop. Had to go a few rounds in order to get it all fixed. On Tuesday the problems were finally solved.
I managed to catch up with a number of friends, spent lots of time with my mom who was really stressed about the upcoming wedding.
And oh, a disaster - on Thursday my parents' apartment got flooded! The pipe that was joining the house's hot water pipes and the apartment’s hot water pipe got disconnected so hot water was flowing down! 2 days before the wedding! We live on the 5th floor, and the stream of this hot water was so strong that the apartment underneath us got flooded as well. Well, the true fighters are never afraid, so my mom and I called very special people to fix all this, which they did with no hesitation upon a receipt of a certain amount of money. So if anyone from Team Worley was wondering why I was not answering my emails from 7 pm Sydney time to 10 pm Sydney time on Thursday that week - now you know why - I was jumping there in very hot water trying to minimise the losses.
Finally the wedding day has come. We all woke up quite early to finish up the preparations. The wedding started at noon with a process that is called "vykup" - a very Russian tradition coming from ancient times, when the groom has to get to his bride though her friends and a number of challenges organised by them. Usually if a groom cannot do a challenge he's got to pay money. After Vykup is over, collected money is given to the newlyweds. After vykup there were some champagne and canapés, and then we headed to Kolomeskoye (a while back - a summer resort of Russian Tsars, now - just a beautiful park with churches and palaces) to have a walk and make some nice pictures. Then we proceeded to the registration agency where Anna and her husband got married, and then went to the restaurant. The food at the restaurant was great, my sis and my brother in law invited a signer and a guy who gave us a master class on salsa, and at the end - we had a fire show! I loved every single minute of that day and kept really good memories. I would love to forget though that I cried when I was doing a wedding tost (but my sister said it was funny). (Yet again - I am pretty sure I had a great excuse.)
Now I am really looking forward to the wedding pictures which are not quite ready yet.
And that was it. I left Moscow on Monday, arrived to Sydney on Wednesday.
Notes to self (as a conclusion from this trip):
1. Want to go to Russia - make sure you have at least 2 weeks.
2. Never take leave during busy season ever again.
3. Trust your sister with a choice of boyfriends . To some extent.
4. Moscow is beautiful.
5. I bought a really nice dress for the wedding.
I left Sydney on Friday morning. Landed in Moscow on Saturday at 6pm Moscow time. Moscow welcomed me in the nicest possible way with an extremely quick pass through customs and passport control, my mom and my sister waiting for me at the airport’s exit and great hot (+27) weather... My sis and I headed to her hens' night which I managed to survive only till 3 am... Anna (this is my sis's name) and her friends were not so soft and continued till 7 am... Well, I have an excuse - I was suffering from jet lag (not true but goes well as a good excuse. The truth is - I am just getting older). I woke up at 7 am that day (anyone who had 4 hrs sleep after a big night out will understand how I felt), and it so happened that my brother in law (future brother in law at that moment of time whom I have never met before) just got home after his bucks' as well. That was the moment of truth. I think we understood each other quite well right away. The kick off meeting was really very productive and delivered great results: the guy was completely approved from my side as my future brother in law. (Please, note that such positive outcomes of our first meeting were only attributable to the glorious morning in Moscow and personal treats of character, and have nothing to do with the quantity of alcohol consumed by the two parties independently from each other the night before).
Leaving out some details on what was done during the hens’ night and the day after, I did a bit of walking in the Moscow centre and on old Moscow streets. Usually very busy, the city was relatively quiet. It was a Sunday; all people were either on holidays or at their "dacha" (Russian name for a country house). Almost no traffic, no people in Moscow Metro (Moscow Underground). Moscow has not changed much during this year. Only all sidewalks were opened up and being reconstructed - a new improvement by the new Moscow Mayor - to switch from an asphalt cover to concrete tiles produced at the new Mayor wife's factory. =) I love quiet Moscow with all my heart, but it feels that you are in a wrong place - Moscow cannot be quiet. This point was proven the day after. Monday - all people got back to the city - and here it all started... Traffic jams, long queues, business people appearing here and there, etc... This sense of "busyness" may get you tired, but this is what nowadays Moscow is. In addition to the fact that it is beautiful and very historical.
For those who wonder - Moscow has about 15 mln of people working there (and about 10 mln people living there permanently), and Moscow's area is much smaller then greater Sydney. So you can just imagine how busy it gets when all holidays are over and people are back to the city.
My Monday started with unexpected problems - I could not connect to Internet, and (!) could not find a European charger for my Ozzi laptop. Had to go a few rounds in order to get it all fixed. On Tuesday the problems were finally solved.
I managed to catch up with a number of friends, spent lots of time with my mom who was really stressed about the upcoming wedding.
And oh, a disaster - on Thursday my parents' apartment got flooded! The pipe that was joining the house's hot water pipes and the apartment’s hot water pipe got disconnected so hot water was flowing down! 2 days before the wedding! We live on the 5th floor, and the stream of this hot water was so strong that the apartment underneath us got flooded as well. Well, the true fighters are never afraid, so my mom and I called very special people to fix all this, which they did with no hesitation upon a receipt of a certain amount of money. So if anyone from Team Worley was wondering why I was not answering my emails from 7 pm Sydney time to 10 pm Sydney time on Thursday that week - now you know why - I was jumping there in very hot water trying to minimise the losses.
Finally the wedding day has come. We all woke up quite early to finish up the preparations. The wedding started at noon with a process that is called "vykup" - a very Russian tradition coming from ancient times, when the groom has to get to his bride though her friends and a number of challenges organised by them. Usually if a groom cannot do a challenge he's got to pay money. After Vykup is over, collected money is given to the newlyweds. After vykup there were some champagne and canapés, and then we headed to Kolomeskoye (a while back - a summer resort of Russian Tsars, now - just a beautiful park with churches and palaces) to have a walk and make some nice pictures. Then we proceeded to the registration agency where Anna and her husband got married, and then went to the restaurant. The food at the restaurant was great, my sis and my brother in law invited a signer and a guy who gave us a master class on salsa, and at the end - we had a fire show! I loved every single minute of that day and kept really good memories. I would love to forget though that I cried when I was doing a wedding tost (but my sister said it was funny). (Yet again - I am pretty sure I had a great excuse.)
Now I am really looking forward to the wedding pictures which are not quite ready yet.
And that was it. I left Moscow on Monday, arrived to Sydney on Wednesday.
Notes to self (as a conclusion from this trip):
1. Want to go to Russia - make sure you have at least 2 weeks.
2. Never take leave during busy season ever again.
3. Trust your sister with a choice of boyfriends . To some extent.
4. Moscow is beautiful.
5. I bought a really nice dress for the wedding.