Day 9 - Moscow & Home

Sunday, 11/30 -

I had to get moving if I wanted to visit the Martha & Mary Convent (Marfo-Mariinsky). This was firmly on my Moscow to do list. I visited the convent during Sunday service but not knowing the protocol of Russian Orthodoxy, hung back watching, not participating. The walk back was quicker (isn't always that way?) and I stopped to take more photos of Red Square. The streets were empty save for me and the stray dogs who seem to have the run of the city.

C, was up, having had a lay in and helped me to the metro station. Bless him. My suitcase weighed a ton. We saw each other off with a hug and a cheek kiss, setting off the turn style alarm. It wasn't until I got home that I realized I had some feelings for him, but then quickly brushed that idea off. I grabbed the airport express train at Pavlovskaya station, relaxed, and took in the Russian scenery.

Security at DME was insane. I chose this airport specifically because AA flies out of it and it's not all Soviet and crazy like at SVO. In addition to all the security questions and frisking they do when you arrive, you are also questioned and frisked when you reach your flight gate. Here, every single thing is taken out of your carry on, opened, and examined, even your shoes. I have never had that experience before at a flight gate. They also want to make sure that no one has approached you in the airport.

The flight was uneventful, and half empty. It was great to get a row all to myself and to sleep. Delays in Chicago and my 10PM arrival time in Newark turned into a 2AM arrival. There was no public transport so I had to wait over an hour in line at the taxi stand. Thankfully, I sat near two other people on the plane who lived in my neighborhood; we agreed to share a cab to cut costs. I didn't walk through my front door until 4AM.

Overall, my trip was fantastic. It was probably the best vacation I have ever taken to what is now my most favorite destination.

I learned a lot on this adventure and had to figure out many things and work with people who I felt were at times, against me. I met so many other travelers and learned so much about them and their reasons for being in the same place I happened to be. The exchange of information between us all is something I'll never forget. Just being told that I could buy my train ticket a short way away from the hostel instead of trekking down to the station saved me tons of time and allowed me to focus on the more important parts of the trip. Yes, I could've done without the blizzard in Tallinn, practically splitting my head open after falling on the ice in St Petersburg, or dealing with the frigid attitudes around Russia in general. But, everything happens for a reason, and I believe I gained something important out of the bad, along with the good.

If I hadn't been brave or adventurous, I would've blown my money on group tours and only seen things a short sighted package creator wanted me to see. I could've been safe and sound in a hired car, at a loss to my bank account, instead of learning the metro systems or flagging down a marshrutka and sitting next to real people. Throughout my travels, my moments of anxiety quickly calmed once I realized I was reaching my destinations, because in their own little way, Russians make sure you're going to be alright.

I walk away from this trip knowing that this was the one I learned the most from. Sure, I was brave to go it alone on the back roads of Taiwan. I know this. But Russia was different. No one smiles at strangers there. No one is eager to try out their English, or to accept that other people speak different languages. Unlike Taiwan, there is no shared understanding of differences. In Russia, it is what it is. So, when I go back, and I say that in the affirmative, I will be more prepared. Who knows, I might even show the locals a thing or two.