The day started in Moscow with a wakeup call that was uncharacteristic for two reasons. First, it was early by about ten minutes. Fortunately, I was already up, and in any event, I'm not going to make a fuss about something like this, but in fact, most places won't wake you up early. Second, the wakeup call was delivered by a real, live person, as opposed to an automated voice messaging system (which is very common, especially in upper-end hotels). All in all, I prefer being awakened by a real person.
Breakfast at the hotel was the "buffet," which is like no buffet I've seen in the States. Your eggs (with incredibly orange yolks) are prepared to order by a chef. Side dishes include several kinds of breakfast meat, fried potatoes, broiled tomatoes with a cheese topping, fried mushrooms, a selection of fish (smoked salmon, sturgeon, kippered something-or-other, and so on) and other goodies, plus fruit (dry and fresh), fruit juice, a selection of breads, cereals, nuts... In short, you can really pack in the calories at this breakfast spread. Fortunately, the cost of breakfast (about $25) was part of my package.
In talking with Olga yesterday during the drive into Moscow, I noted a phenomenon I'm encountering consistently when grasping for a word in French: If I can't recall the word, the correct word in Russian invariably pops into my head. It's as if my mind recognizes that the "search" function must return a non-English value, even if in the wrong language.
What surprised me was Olga telling me that much the same thing happens to her, where a fruitless search brings up possibilities in her other non-native language (which happens to be English). Strange.
After two days of non-use, I find the Z required a significant amount of charging (at least 20 minutes). Given that I've not been able to use the unit for more than about 90 minutes in a sitting, that doesn't say much for the machine's battery capacity.
During yesterday's walk, I could not help but notice that the Intourist Hotel - on Tverskaya (aka Gorky Street) next door to the Nationale - is gone, and that made me feel kind of old. You see, some of the groups I escorted to the U.S.S.R. in the mid-70s were among the first to stay there.
The trip to the airport this morning was pleasant. We ended up flying to Baikonur on a Tupolev 134 belonging to Clintondale Air, with plenty of leg room for all. The flight to our destination took just about 3 hours and the food service was something I hadn't seen on an airplane for some time. The food was good and served in copious quantities; I even left some on my tray uneaten.
The airport at Yubileinyi is a landing strip made of square tiled concrete slabs measuring about 9 meters on a side. There are no taxiways, nor is there a tower. In fact, the tallest structure in the immediate area is a shed smaller than my office in Colorado, in which the customs formalities took place. While waiting my turn in line, I noticed a bird's mud nest embedded in a nook above an electrical distribution box.
We all got onto a bus and drove a short distance to our residential area, which is an island of green in a sea of brown sand and very parched vegetation.
I've only had one meal so far while here, and although the cuisine is not the Ritz, I'm one of those people who is perfectly satisfied with it (I wouldn't recognize Ritz food if it walked up to me on the street and slapped me in the face. I think.)
The next major goal is going to be to fall asleep shortly and get into the schedule around here. Tomorrow's assignment starts at 8 am.
Cheers...
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
