We 've just finished the first leg off the trip and had an uneventful flight to Frankfort. We'll be leAving in about an hour and a half for Moscow. Will catch up with Brad and Leslie tomorrow morning.

Andi, Thanks for starting our new seamail thread. That long trip is now behind you and Doug. Get to Moscow and relax until the fun begins. Looking forward to more of your adventures!

Checking in from Heathrow. Fastest T3 to T5 we have ever experienced. 30 minutes from landing to through security

Less than an hour until our flight to Moscow so we should be going to the gate soon.

Going through London now has become pretty painless. We have to transit London constantly and have found a maximum of an hour is as long as it takes now to be from the plane in one terminal to the lounge in the next terminal. I love the BA club in T5 as well so London is okay with me now. Only drawback is the taxes.

We leave this morning and are spending one night in New York first. My daughter Cindy and her family will be there as well she is on her way to the Voyager boarding on August 9th. We will meet tomorrow for lunch before Ken and I fly out that night for London/Moscow.

This time we will be away a month - a long time for us I am hoping the email will work okay on the AMAKATATRINA have a lot going on right now.

Sounds like everyone is off to a great start. Not sure who all is on this, but looking foward to "River mail". Thanks for starting it Andi.

Nice people, nice itinerary. Wish we were there.

Have a fun, scenic, float.

Cheers! Ray & Penny

Well, Brad, Leslie, Doug and I are all at the Hyatt in Moscow and are accounted for and preparing for our first day of sightseeing tomorrow am. Doug and I arrived at the airport first at about 13:15. We got through customs and got our bags in and were in the Hyatt limo on our way in 25 minutes. Brad and Leslie arrived at 20:30 and it took them 90 minutes to get through security. The ride from the airport took 45 minutes for both of us, even though we were told to expect 90 minutes.

We were surprised at the amount of English signage, English speaking folks, pretty countryside, and displayed wealth.
Folks have been welcoming and warm and food and service has been excellent.

Flying in, you immediately become aware of huge McMansions and vast amounts of forestation. There are forests of birch trees along the road from the airport to
Moscow. We also passed extensive parklands and lakes. As you get closer to the city, high-rises dot the landscape and you see more variations in housing economies. I was quite surprised that almost 50% of autos seem to be luxury cars (Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Range Rovers) and most are full sized cars and SUVs.

Folks are attired liked New Yorkers and many women are bottle blondes. Our hotel is across from the GUM department store which I thought would be like a Macy's but it is much higher end, perhaps even higher than a Bergdorf Goodman. Everything you find in NYC can be found here--for a lot more money.

Our hotel is a typical Hyatt and is baroque on the outside but modern inside. We ate at Bolshoi tonight and the food was excellent but expensive. Doug had 2 courses and 2 glasses of wine and a small bottle of water. I had three courses, tea, juice and water and the price was over $300. This would have been about one half of the bill in NYC. Doug had a sorrel soup and osso busco and I had cold beet soup, beef stroganoff and cherry raviolis with sour cream ice cream. The beet soup wasn't sweet as in the US and was more tangy, with a sauerkraut like taste and was the best i have ever had. The stroganoff was good stroganoff, which I like a lot. It was served with potatoes-not noodles-and dill pickles. The dessert was both unusual and wonderful. Think traditional very light raviolis filled with tart cherries. .. Just so good. The restaurant was elegant and quiet. There were non- smoking and smoking areas and the smoking area definitely had more folks.

The weather which greeted us was sunnt, in the 70s today and it must have been in the 60s this evening.

As we entered downtown, we spotted some amazing architecture. When I asked what I was looking at, the driver said " the Kremlin." We are a couple of blocks from it and next to Red Square and plan to spend tomorrow just wandering and doing museums. Tonight, the four of us met on our hotel rooftop lounge for drinks and took in the lovely skyline all decked out in lights and gagged at the prices of our drinks.

It doesn't feel alien here at all. The baroque and italianite architecture is both pretty and well maintained and there are displays of vast wealth and westernism that belie my previous visions of the Soviet Union...right down to Nobu, Subway, Valentino, Dior, etc.

Oh well, must get to bed so I can wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed for the real first day of our adventure tomorrow.

So happy the 4 of you are there safely. Sounds great, albeit $$$. Andi, love your writing...you don't miss a thing ! :lct:

I am sure you are planning a visit to the Kremlin museum? I was quite stunned at the opulance and surprised that the Soviets had held onto these things (think: gem encrusted Bibles and massive solid gold carriages...) A city just so surprisingly contradictory to us when we were there in 2006.Enjoy!
-------------------
Helen

Boy what a difference your time of arrival makes! We landed at a bit before 8 pm, exited the plane and lugged our stuff down a series of steps. No escalators here. We then emerged into a totally chaotic scene at passport control - masses of people and no discernible line. We finally made it through after 1 1/2 hours, whereas Andi and Doug breezed through earlier. A word of advice - travel with a baby or pretend you are pregnant and you can cut the line!

Since our plane had landed so long ago we didn't really know where to look for our bag, but luckily we spotted it lying on the floor in the middle of the chaos and proceeded en masse through customs and found our driver. I was surprised he was still waiting! Then we had to lug everything down several flights of stairs to his car and off we went in a nice Mercedes for a 45 minute drive to the Park Hyatt. Andi has described the drive, but the city looks very grand, especially with all the buildings lit up at night.

Definitely sticker shock here. A basic small pour of a so-so Chilean chardonnay last night was 500 rubles. Just had 2
cups of coffee and the total was 580 rubles - about $20.

The four of us are winging it today and exploring Red Square and the Kremlin and things walkable from the hotel. Tomorrow the four of us have a private tour booked and then will be dropped at the boat for embarkation. We will have two more days of tours in Moscow with AMA so we should be fairly well versed in Moscow sightseeing.

I'm the resident night owl here from home to welcome you, Leslie!

And Andi, thank you so much for your very descriptive account of your day. Seems you must have enjoyed Moscow's finest restaurant at that price!

Leslie, your lugging of the luggage reminds me of many years ago in London, except my galpals and I were lugging it UP steps, I think from the tube we took from the airport. Are there simply no elevators there? I just couldn't do that now. I somehow remember my daughter and I doing it in Paris, too, going up steps from the Metro with luggage. There is obviously not an ADA act in Europe/Russia!

Enjoy your day tomorrow! I am so glad we have the lens lads Ken, Brad, and Doug aboard this cruise. For sure, with your and Andi's posts, and their pix, we of the landlocked world will surely be satisfied! An advance welcome to Ngaire and Ken as well!

What a treat.....seamail from Andi and Leslie. I know we're all going to love sharing this trip with you!

I am looking forward to Andi and Leslie's seamail. Their writing is so entertaining and descriptive!! And to have "the big guns" with their cameras - doesn't get better!

Can't wait to hear all the details and see all the photos from what I'm sure will be an amazing experience!

Olivia, I love your story about the Paris Metro. My daughter, my Mother and I did the exact same thing (trying to save a little money). In addition to going up and down all those flights of stairs, it took us forever to try to figure out how to get those huge suitcases through the turnstiles!

Thanks for checking in. I too am really looking forward to the pix and reports. You guys are sooo good about taking us along. We appreciate it!

Here i sit with Doug snoring away next to me. We just returned from a long day of wandering and sightseeing. We are a couple of blocks from Red Square and the Kremlin. Doug and Brad went off to find coffee less than $20 per cup and came back with a cup of tea, a small coffee and a Danish from the discount coffee shop for only $16 for all three. And we thought Sydney was expensive! Ha! Then Doug later tried to buy a new sport coat since he left his in NY. Not only were the prices two to three times that of NYC, but almost all of the sleeves were made for someone my height.

Back to this morning....the museums open at 10am, so we leisurely strolled over to the Kremlin passing lots of tourist kiosks filled with maroushka dolls of all sizes and shapes. The Kremlin is actually a series of buildings within a wall and Red Square is within these walls. I assume it is called Red Square because all the walls and buildings are red brick? I guess I'll find out on our tours later on this week. We took picture after picture of iconic sights. As you enter Red Square, to the left, looking very much like the Louvre, is the original Gum department store, which is now a mall. To the right are the yellow stucco, imperial styled government buildings and directly ahead, St. Basil's cathedral, which I thought was very beautiful from the outside but rather a hodgepodge from within. With no tour and most signs in Russian, we muddled through the place taking photos along the way. Then we went off to the Diamond Fund, filled with loads of raw platinum, gold and both raw and finished diamonds. Opened in 1967, the fund contains royal jewelry, precious jewelry  from the 18 th to 19 th century, and rare precious stones. There are 30,000 carats of rough diamonds from three Russian deposits,  900 large uncut natural diamonds, cut diamonds weighing up to 20 carats... You get the picture. Some remarkable items were a 260 carat sapphire, a 250 carat emerald, and an 88 carat diamond. Leslie and I chose our favorites. Of couse, I selected a tiara with a 13 carat pink diamond in the center. Leslie thought this too grand and selected a more simple headband version for casual Fridays and a diamond necklace.  Our brochure said that experts state this is one of only three world known collections in status, the other two being the crown jewels of Great Britain and the treasure of the former Shah of Iran. The gift area was lovely and well priced and Leslie picked up a lacquer box and I picked up some earrings. Then, crankiness set in so we went off to lunch and had mediocre pizza at an outside bistro. 

We took a comfort break, foregoing using the port o sans called "toi toi" which also charged for their use. Toilets are located in common WC areas and then you have to look carefully for indications of male or female stalls. These were noted with stilettos or men's shoes. Last night at the restaurant, we still don't know how they indicated male or female as Doug wandered into one and was told by a lady that the one he used was for women. This morning he and Brad were ever so careful to ensure they used the men's stalls and out came some women. Bathrooms continue to challenge us. Doug was attacked at at airport by a toilet that nudged him in the back and started to automatically disinfect the seat while making its normal oval seat contort and change its shape somehow. While not attacked, I, too, was mesmerized by this strange contraption.

After lunch, Doug being good at reading maps, led us to our final destination of the day. First, we ran up to our hotel rooms to get sweaters to find out that it had become hot in the ten minutes we went inside. Then, we went to the Museum of Cultural Revolution which was about a 30 minute walk each way. Yes, Ngaire, we have spared you from joining us on our museum haunts. We should have splurged for an English guide at the museum, because what we could understand, was interesting but limited in English signage, so we missed a lot.

We walked back to the hotel, so Brad could nap and Doug and I went to the mall in search of a jacket for him to no avail. So, back to the room to chill before dinner. Until later...

LOL about the toilet attack. It always amazes me when travelling in Europe at the wide variety of toilet designs. Going to the bathroom is an adventure every time. My husband also has gone in the women's bathroom many times and much to his embarressment. The worse though was in France once. He was using the urinal and in walked a lady with her elementary school age daughter as the bathroom was unisex. He was mortified. Of course, in the US, he would have been arrested.

Are the prices that high for everyone, or is it just because you are in an area frequented by tourists?

I don't know about the price structure... All I know the streets are filled with Mercedes and I have even seen Hummers and Bentleys. What I have seen from the airport (44 kilometers away) to the city center are a lot of upscale properties.

Going to try to get some photos uploaded since I assume the Internet here is as good as it is going to get. I am working on a little montage of car hood ornaments because the cars here are just unbelievable, but it will take a few days while I try to capture some of them sans chauffeurs, who might take exception to photos taken of their oligarch's cars. We are not in the USSR anymore.

The museum of modern history (formerly the museum of the Revolution) was fascinating but overwhelming. We need to commission a Russian history PHD candidate to work on the monumental task of making English signs and captions. Brad sprung for the 150 ruble camera pass and took some
interesting shots which I will post at some point.

St Basil's Cathedral inside and out:

Lenin's tomb: closed on Fridays



Run away!


Tomb of unknown soldier at the Kremlin



Still some military presence



She doesn't quite have the arm movement down

Great pics!

Especially the last pic of the stern looking soldier ;)

Ok, back from dinner and enjoying looking at Leslie's photos. We had a lovely meal tonight at a temporary summer restaurant in an historical building. This must have been an inner covered courtyard at one time. Now, the Moscovites open covered, but outdoor, lounges and restaurants in these spaces. The room was set out with tables bordered by deep, comfortable couches and lots of cushions. Very decadent. What was nice was they had lots of light offerings as well as full meals. I had gazpacho, babaganoush, and a tomato salad; Leslie and Brad split two different chicken schwarmas and a babaganoush. Doug had a wonderful, non cream based mushroom soup and miso cod. For a place known for
booze, they have loads of alcohol free cocktails at all of the restaurants we have visited, which I wish the US would do
more. But, to give you a flavor of how expensive stuff is, my
virgin cocktail was $20!

We finished dinner at 10 and Leslie and Brad went to their room and we walked to Red Square to look at the lights, which were lovely. We then sauntered back to our peaceful rooftop restaurant and had a drink and dessert. Now, we need to pack for our touring day tomorrow. We board the ship tomorrow night where we will be joined by Ngaire and Ken and Yvonne and Guy. The weather has turned beautiful and are having a wonderful time.

Here are two pictures from our walk in Red Square tonight. It is very beautiful all lit up!





Doug

At JFK in the admirals lounge waiting to board our flight to London and then onto Moscow where we will meet up with the happy but broke foursome. Pictures were great thanks Leslie I love the one of Andi marching! On my last visit to Moscow I loved the Kremlin area, I agree Andi the inside pf St. Basils is disappointing and the outside is so wonderful.

Those food prices are sound amazingingly high. I thought Sydney was high last November but not THAT high.

For contrast I will share our good fortune and food experiences in the last 24 hours. We had to change our flight to the small regional jets from DFW to New York with a stopover in Cincinnati. Boarding the plane we had row 12 - exit row. More room here than in a regular 737 or 757 exit row. VERY spacious, great drop down tables to house our computer to watch movies amd the seats reclined. The lovely stewardesses said you are Platinum not supposed to do this but would you like a drink.

On arrival in Cincinnati there was only one litle restaurant in the secured area. I try to avoid bread but there was no way and I was HUNGRY. We both ordered a basil and chicken panini for $6.99 with a free bag of chips and a fountain drink with unlimited refills. This was one of the tastiest things I have eaten in along time. Absolutely yummy the thought of flying through this airport again may made me giddy with glee.

Then we found two seats with a plug outlet in the wall somewhat separated from everyone else where we watched a movie without using our battery while we waited for our flight to JFK. The time just flew by.

We boarded the next plane and again the same seats. (Ken had booked these but we did not realise how good these commuter exit row seats were) These are GREAT seats, plus fewer people on these planes we were happy campers.

We were supposed to meet with my daughter for lunch but our appointment in New York took two hours longer than expected. We had plans to go to Chelsea Market and eat that I really wanted to do but it was not to be unfortunately. We simply ran out of time, and had to get back to the airport. We walked out of the office building and into the first little restaurant we could see for a very quick bite. They said Pizza would be the fastest thing so we ordered that. Cheese, basil, tomato, sausage and mushrooms. Ken and I took one bite and WOW again. Thinnest crust ever and extremely good, full of flavor. About $20 for the 16" pizza.

So we found our little adventure to make an unexpected appointment causing us to change from a nonstop first class flight to a connection in a commuter plane turned out very well. Plus the stopover provided me a wonderful sandwich I will remember for a LONG time and one of the best pizzas ever in New York. Wonderful food experiences at an amazingly low cost.

Our appointment in New York went well too. Everything is off to a great start.

Looking forward to the first leg of our trip in Russia and the pooch master Brad has all kinds of "adaptions" to pooch he wants me to try so that will be fun. Then onto Wines with another wonderful group of people.

As those tee shirts I wear all the time say
"LIFE IS GOOD".

Loving Andi's high step!! :D :D :hello1: :hello1:

Great posts all of you! Keep the info coming as you have time.

Marc and I were in Moscow about a year and a half ago for 3 days and I don't remember the prices being so high, but then I can't even remember what we ate!

Loved your pics Leslie!

Ngaire, Loved your post about the food. Isn't it grat when you are not expecting much and find something great?

Ngaire turned a lemon into limoncello- and a sandwich!

First time we were in Moscow, 1988, it was still Soviet Union and prices were LOW - bought Cathy an amber necklace for $80 - they wanted US dollars badly! Saw same necklace in Harrods for about $1000!

Guide took us to front of line to see Lenin - I think he gets a wax job every Friday.

I love TedC posts :) :) :) :)

Me too, Joanna!

Funny, Ted. That MUST be why it is closed on Fridays. We just saw Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi last winter and learned that every year they send him to Moscow for a touch up.

We sprung for room service coffee this morning. I shudder to think about the charge.

Our guide and driver are picking us up at 10:00. Today we are going to see a Cold War Nuclear bunker, built 200' below an unsuspecting apartment building, built to sustain communications in the event of war. Later we will go to the 16th century fortified Novodevichy Convent, the place where the czars stashed their unruly wives or other female relatives suspected of treachery, a small walled city described as
looking like a Russian fairytale. Gogol, Chekhov, composers
Prokofiev & Shostakovich and several Soviet leaders
including Molotov & Kruschev are buried there.

Then we are on to the boat for boarding. The boat stays docked in Moscow until Monday night and we will see more of the sights over two days of tours with AMA, so we have been trying to visit things we know are not on the schedule with them.

Good morning Leslie! Can't wait to hear about your day, and perhaps you and Andi will have more pictures to share of this Russian fairytale city that is Novodevichy Convent.

Loving all the "rivermail" and y'all aren't even on the boat yet! Looking forward to much more!

A few more from Red Square and the Kremlin

Kazan Cathedral-razed by Stalin but rebuilt in 1993





Resurrection Gate

One of the Kremlin gates


Brides like to pose everywhere in Russia


Nesting dolls everywhere



The cult of personality at the Museum of Modern History


Stalin's desk



Andi poses with Russia's first dog in space

Hi, Brad and Leslie were sweet this morning and hand delivered some croissants and a plum. What a windfall! What is interesting is that the room service menu iappears to be all inclusive and the same price as in the restaurants.

Even though things are so expensive, the quality is high. Folks are friendly and we have enjoyed our land time here. We had a great conversation with the young concierge and he told us that there are really just two classes in Moscow now--the haves and the have nots. One square meter now sells for $4000 USD. At least the amber is STOL affordable! I got a nice pair of earrings for $35. Ngaire's faberge egg pendants are stll affordable. So, all is not lost. Well, it's time to check out. Bye for now.

Now in Heathrow quick transit and only an hour to the next departure. Time to check the internet and go to the gate.

Leslie your picture of Stalin's desk reminds me of the picture of us kissing the wax figure of Stalin at his desk in Stalin's villa in Sochi. I swear the desk looks the same.

See you all soon, glad to hear the eggs are still affordable got some orders to fill for people.

Love all the stories and all the pix. As Arlene said, we loved Moscow last year. What she didn't remember is that we took advantage of executive floor in Hilton for a lot of our food. The Hilton is one of Stalin's "Four sisters" and is a fantastic building to walk through if you have the chance.

I am looking forward to your reports from the river on your way to St Pete; it sure will be easier way to leave Moscow than our mad dash via Metro and train to airport.

Have FUN!!!

All unpacked (kind of) on the Anna Katrina having arrived about 3:15. Out suite is about the same size as a Regent small suite with a shit and shower bath but very large balcony. Our room is decorated in soothing shades of toast, sunny yellow and gold. We have a corner table and chair for Doug, replete with an orchid. There is a large two person desk, 2 chairs  with a mirror and a flat screen tv. There is another mirror over the bed and a musical bit of artwork and hairdryer next to the bed. Sadly, no robe, slippers, walk in closet, but plenty of hangers and two bottles of water. Our luggage was quickly delivered to our room and we were offered a pinch of bread upon entering the ship. Check in
was quick and efficient and Brad, Leslie, Doug and I were hungry and went looking for food, which we quickly found on
our floor. We tucked into our animal crackers, goldfish, spam
sandwiches and cheese sandwiches, powdered hot
chocolate, tea and coffee. Tonight's menu includes
Mediterranean salad with tangy dressing, chicken consommé
or zucchini soup, chicken breast, Russian vegetables and ice
cream. Can't wait! After checking out the menu, we checked
out the ship. There are two exercise rooms, 2 dining rooms,
2 solariums and 2 lounges. Well, off to our briefing and to
find Ngaire, Ken, Yvonne and Guy. I'll post about our fascinating day later and I'm sure Leslie will post pics to show you what I'm talking about.