achoo! dusting off my travel journals from 2003

achoo! dusting off my travel journals from 2003

 With this BLOG I am posting travel journals from my 2003 Trip Completely Around the Globe.

The journal starts with the post that this link will take you to

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Wanderingalansjourneys/conversations/messages/4

I left Athens, GA to travel to Philadelphia for the 2003 American Creativity Association Conference. On March 17th I was in Osaka, Japan.  My trip then took around the globe to:

Japan
South Korean
Taiwan
China (10 days had to be cancelled due to SARS outbreak)
Italy
Thailand
Russia
Austria
Europe
UK
and back home after 84 days.


If you are interested to read the complete 84 day journal from the beginning in order go to this Yahoo.com Group Page I set up for that trip.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Wanderingalansjourneys/conversations/messages/4

Hello Folks

I arrived in Moscow around 6:00 pm there time and it is now about 9:00 and I have already found a gigantic email cafe...cafemax with hundreds of flat screen, broadband Samsung hookups, just like those I have used in London and Paris.

Along with that I found a Metro entrance so that I can begin to figure out what I will do the next two days if my initial contacts do not pan out.

My hotel, Rossia Hotel is an enormous hotel, size of the pentagon, just square is located directly across from the Kremilin near the KGB headquarters and Red Sqaure.

I have been ahead of Spring in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and partially in Italy and into deep heat of Summer for Bangkok.  Now I am into the last of Winter here in Moscow.  There is still some old piles of snow in the shadows.

Certainly glad I did the splurge on the last night hotel, 5 star, in Bangkok.  The one here is comfortable, quiet and warm just not fancy and it is European size sight 5 star.

The ride in from the International Airport was long and mildly slow.  Not many traffic lights in central Moscow that cross the main street in. 

In the rural area I could have been in any old rural area of the US or Europe...old farm houses. 

Then the high-rise apartment building projects began.  The architecture ranges through all styles and obvious what are various types of Russian architecture.

Mac Donald's.  I have seen 3 or 4 already. 

They have a popular pizza delivery service that uses an  Italian flag graphic similar to S'barro's in the U.S.

My driver is a very attractive youngish blond woman, who speaks a dozen English words to my 6 Russian. 

The entrance process had me concerned. 

It was a snap. 

Makes we wonder what I may have done wrong already.

I didn't have to check baggage I walked right to the left to the "Nothing to Declare" green gate and out the exit to see my name on a sign in her hands.

It is so nice to see your name in print in situations like those.

We did manage to communicate a couple messages with our limited overlapping vocabularies.

Mercedes, BMWs, Audis, Hondas, VW of various types, Japanese, Korean cars and a sprinkling of Russian cars filled the roads we traveled on.  My driver's car was a Mercedes.

Off to sleep and then enjoy my 1st complete today in Moscow tomorrow.

Here is a photo that a Moscow citizen took for me in front of my hotel the Rossia to the right out of the photo.  Behind me is of course the Kremlin that I will visit tomorrow.

Wandering Alan