Lost in Russia continued....

Our last day in St. Petersburg was the 12th. We had a flight schedule to fly to Moscow that morning around 11:20am. So, we decided the best thing to do was to wake up super early to give ourselves plenty of time to get to the airport. Since we had had so much trouble getting from the airport to the city, we figured we would have as much trouble getting back to the airport. So, we asked our lovely host, Andre, and a few other people for directions of how to get back to the airport. We were really hoping they would tell us that we could just hop on a bus that would take us straight there, and that we wouldn't have to get on the metro. However, this was not the case. So, we got up super early and headed to the metro. We had it all planned out in my little notebook...the names of all the stops where we were supposed to transfer (written in English and Russian) and whether it was 1, 2 or 5 stops from our last transfer point (just in case we couldn't understand the announcements or see any signs.) We felt pretty prepared. Well, as you might have guessed already, that didn't work AT ALL!! It was on May 12th that we decided 2 things...1. We hate subways! and 2. St. Petersburg had the most confusing subway system on the face of the earth! We were not happy...and of course time was running out for us to get to the airport.

Well, to make a long story short, we finally made it to the stop where we were supposed to catch a bus , the bus came and we hopped on. When I say bus, though, I am exaggerating of course. It was more of a van, CRAMMED full of people. Poor Shane was forced to stand all hunched over the entire way to the airport, while I was seated and buried under our packs. We made it to the airport though, and evidently with plenty of time to spare, because the desk for our flight had not even opened yet.

Once we arrived in Moscow, we decided to try to be a bit more prepared for our hostel search this time. We found a subway map in the airport to look at and planned out our journey to the hostel. We wrote down every transfer we needed to make, how many stops it was from one to the next, and we wrote everything in English and Russian. We left the airport and found the "bus" (really a van) that we were supposed to take and hopped on with our packs. Well, this time, we had to pay extra for our packs cause they took up a seat in the van...opps. No worries though, we were happy to have made it this far and to have such detailed directions to follow. We felt super prepared for the task ahead. Still, being the skeptic I am, I decided to ask one of the friendly passengers in the van if our plan was, indeed, correct. I noticed that the man beside Shane had taken a keen interest in the directions I had written in my handy notebook. I also noticed that this man spoke maybe 3 words of English (this is only because he kept talking to us and expecting us to understand. He was really friendly, but we just couldn't understand a word he was saying. We eventually realized that we had communicated to him that we were from Spain and he loved it! We didn't bother to correct him.) So, I showed the man the directions I had written in Russian, and tried to ask him if they were correct. He took out his subway map and studied it in detail for forever, and finally came to the conclusion that I was right. He also decided at this point that it was his duty to get us to the subway. So, when the van stopped, he herded Shane and I with him to the subway station. (This is, of course, while he is also trying to juggle 3 pieces of awkward luggage out of the van, to the station, and down the stairs. He was one of those really awkward people who is a total spaz and you can tell always has accidents, runs into things, breaks things, never has on clean clothes because he has spilt something on it, and just generally goes through life looking really uncomfortable. But, he was super nice!) So, he kinda helped us get a ticket (although we are pretty sure we didn't buy the right one, since the gate closed on Shane halfway through.) When we got on the subway, he took out his subway map again, and looked at my directions, and kept looking and counting, and then trying to communicate things to me (I didn't understand any of it). After looking from his subway map to my directions more than a dozen times (really!), he got up and asked another passenger's opinion. This was after explaining to this other passenger that we were from Spain;) He then asked another group of kids and then went back to the other man, apparently not happy with what the kids said. So, then, he called me over and I started trying to communicate with 2 Russians and they were pointing at the subway map and talking....and on and on. Eventually, they just kind of pointed and yelled for us to GO! and so we did. We got off after tons of thank you's and realized we, once again, had no idea where we were. Apparently, my original directions were not right. Go figure! So, at this point, we are standing at a stop in the subway with no idea what to do next. To make another long story short, random people ended up pointing is in the right directions (this took about 30 mins. though) and we ended up at the right stop. Finding the hostel is another story all together, but I will spare you for now:)
We found Sweet Moscow hostel with the help of a really old Russian woman. It was quite small with one of the scariest elevators I have ever been in, but it was fine. All the people that stayed there were lovely and we made lots of new friends. There was a group of 5 boys from Utah that showed up and Shane hung out with them quite a bit. I encouraged this, because I felt like we had spent enough time just the 2 of us, and he needed some boy time. We also met a couple from Melborne, OZ named Paul and Anna who were quite nice.
While in Moscow, the one thing we both really wanted to see was the Red Square. So, on the day of our arrival, after getting to the hostel and showering (cause you KNOW we were sweaty and smelly), we took off to find the Red Square. When we found it, we realized it was closed. Naturally, we had no idea why, but we thought that since we were going to be there for 4 days, we would have plenty of time.

Well, each morning we were in Moscow, we woke up and went straight to the Red Square, and each morning, it was closed. We saw other sights like the Kremlin, the Stalinist buildings, the Red October chocolate factory, churches...the usual. But, we were really mad that we couldn't see the Red Square. That was the whole point in going there. Moscow is also really really big and since we had vowed never to get on the metro again, we couldn't really see a lot. However, on our last day, one of the guys that worked at the hostel suggested a boat trip down the river. He said it was cheap, great, and you could see all the major sites. So, we went on the boat trip. It as really nice. The day was nice and sunny, and we saw all kinds of stuff. And they took us really far up the river, so we felt like we really got our money's worth. However, once we got a few miles up the river, the boat stopped and they told us to get off. If we wanted to go back on the boat, we had to pay another fee. Gotta love Russia!:) So, we decided to walk. Our walk back included passing the Red Square, so we thought we would try one more time...and it was open! We didn't get to go into Lenin's tomb, but we did get to see everything else, so we were happy!

The one thing that we have found ourselves missing is Mexican food. So, pretty much every city we go to, we search out the one Mexican restaurant and eat there. In St. Petersburg, we found a really good one, so we had high hopes for Moscow. I really don't think we could have been prepared for the restaurant we found though. We recruiting an Aussie couple to join us for dinner one night and went to this little restaurant. In Russia, going to Mexican must be a big deal, because in both restaurants we went to, everyone was super dressed up (except us of course!) But, we got to this Mexican joint in Moscow and there was a live band playing classic American rock and even some oldies, tons of dressed up Russians dancing and singing along with the music...and then there was us, trying to take it all in. The food was pretty good, but the atmosphere was what made the night. Hearing a Russian singer belt out "I vant to break free!" was classic! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and so did the Aussies. (they had been a little unsure about going there.)

So, early in the morning of May 16th, we left our hostel, jumped into our cab that was waiting, and took off for the airport. We were heading for Prague, Czech Republic. (oh and as a side note...when we called to reserve our taxi for the early morning, they asked if we wanted a Russian brand car or and American brand car. The Russian taxi was cheaper, so we went with that one..strange though!)