Well it's about 5 am Russian time on Wednesday morning, November 24, 2004, as I write this. We arrived here at the hotel in Nizhniy Novgorod last night at 11 pm after a pretty interesting 30 hour journey to say the least. I should be really tired right now and I tried to get some sleep but I guess I'm too nervous as I was only able to doze off for a couple of hours. At 9am this morning we meet with the ministry of education to get the formal child proposal. I've been told this will take only minutes then we will be off to the orphanage to meet the little boy. I guess this is it...the big day has finally arrived!!
Our trip started on an interesting note Monday morning when I awoke to hear that Moscow was digging out from the largest snowfall in 70 years!! I started to panic a bit and tried to contact the airline to see if my flight was delayed. When my sister Carol arrived I informed her of the situation and she said "that's funny, we checked the weather channel a few days ago and everything looked fine." I went online and sure enough everything looked like clear sailing. Not sure if I dreamed that weather report or somebody associated with Team 1200 was having a little fun with old Johnny....if so, you got me hook line and sinker.
I drove to Toronto and we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We checked in without issue and were the first ones at the gate. A few hours later as the area around the gate began to fill up we started to notice something very strange: all the other passengers on the flight were East Indian, and I mean virtually all of them! At one point Carol and I looked at each other and said: "are we at the right gate?" I guess they can fly to Dehli via Moscow. Most seemed to be travelling in large families. The real strange thing is that they were all carrying an inordinate amount of carry-on luggage. And I don't mean your regular airplane carry-on...I'm talking duffle bag after duffle bag, some of them the size of a fully equipped hockey bag!
The real fun started when the Aeroflot people arrived and brought in one of those metal frames they use to test the size of you carry-ons...if your bag cannot fit inside the opening then it's too large to be considered carry-on luggage. One by one the passengers would walk up to this thing with a bag that was obviously twice the size of a regulation piece and start trying to stuff the bag inside the testing frame. Every once in a while someone would actually get it to fit, then they would spend 5 minutes trying to get the bag out of the thing. One lady had to start emptying her bag while it was still in the frame in order to get it out. After a while the whole absurdity of the situation gave me the giggles and I started losing it each time someone walked up to give it a shot.
Carol and I just sat there and watched the show. It took about an hour for the commotion to clear and by the time we were ready to board I said to Carol: "What are the odds that are seats are not occupied?". Sure enough when we got on the plane there was someone in our seats. We had a good laugh about that and got them to move. As it turns out none of the other passengers even looked at their ticket, they all just took any seat they wanted. Once again it was complete chaos as the flight crew tried to get people seated and all the carry-on luggage stowed safely in an overhead compartment or beneath the seat in front of you....By the time we took off we were over 2 hours late. The flight was actually quite nice, great service, good food. I never did venture back to the washrooms...I could hear the chickens and goats getting restless back there.
As I said, we arrived over two hours late in Moscow and were greeted by an interpreter and our driver. We only had two hours to make it to the train station and according to the interpreter it was gonna be tight. We went outside and were picked up by our driver in a Chrysler Caravan who took us on a two hour trek through the streets of Moscow that you had to see to believe. The traffic in Moscow is truly beyond description. We probably only travelled about 20 miles but it was an absolute miracle that we didn't get into an accident....at least from my perspective. The driver however didn't seem too concerned. We made it to the train station with 5 minutes to spare and were met by Olga from the agency who had luckily pre-purchased our tickets. We hopped on and were off to Nizhniy Novgorod, about a 5 hour train ride. We had our own sleeper compartment so we were able to finally lay down and get a little shut eye.
We arrived in Nizhniy about 10:30 and were greeted by Evgeny from the agency and Natalia, our translator. They took us over to the hotel and, after dealing with the lineup at the check-in counter, we were finally safe and sound in our room.
Well that's about it, just your run of the mill 30 hour trek to get from Ottawa to Nizhniy Novgorod. I can only imagine what today has in store.
I think this is the point where I'm supposed to say....that's all I got, I'm out!
JK
Russia Log 2: We finally meet Egor
It's Wednesday evening November 24, 2004, 10:13pm Russian time. I just woke up after a good 4 hour sleep, the first real sleep I've had on the trip. It's been a very emotional day as we finally got to meet Egor (pronounced Yea-gor).
We started the day by visiting with the Ministry of Education at 9am. This meeting was a formality that lasted all of about 10 minutes. The lady from the Ministry was very friendly and presented us with a verbal invite to visit Egor at the orphanage. She described for us the requirements of the adoption under international law....things like the requirement to have post placement assessments performed. I signed some papers, we had our passports and visas photocopied and that was about it. We then departed directly for the orphanage which was about an hour drive away in another town.
The drive to the town where the orphanage resides was quite pretty; lots of pine forests along the highway. The landscape here in Russia is almost identical to that of Canada. The town where the orphanage resides is a fair size; large enough to force us to stop about 30 times for directions. We eventually found the orphanage located on a small, well-hidden lane. The area immediately surrounding the orphanage seemed to be quite poverty stricken and the orphanage itself was not much to look at from the outside.
We entered the orphanage and had to wait around for about 20 minutes to meet with the director who was to present us with information about the child. Although we could not enter the area where the children lived both Carol and I were quite impressed with the level of care that seemed to be provided to the children. There was a large staff of caregivers, a doctor on site and the general cleanliness and level of care seemed to be quite high. At one point, the care givers bundled up a number of the older children, about 2 to 3 years old I guess, to take them out for some fresh air. As the children left their main nursery area to come outside they walked by us and by their behaviour it was quite evident that they knew what was going on. They were all smiling and giggling as they made eye contact with us and one little boy even came running toward us with his arms outstretched as if to say: "take me, take me!". It was an adorable scene as these children marched outside like a bunch of Weebles yet it was very sad at the same time.Shortly thereafter we met with the Orphanage director and he gave us some background on the circumstances regarding Egor's birth. Apparently he was born of a married couple who already have two children. His birth date is May 21, 2004. The birth mother is a housewife and the father a factory worker. There was no official reason as to why the boy was signed over for adoption but the suspicion was that they did not have the economic means to support him. In all other aspects it seemed to be a normal birth. The parents have no record of alcohol or drug problems or institutionalization.
The director then invited the orphanage doctor to visit with us to discuss the medical aspects. As Egor was only admitted to the orphanage on Monday, she did not have very much first hand historical information so she quoted mainly from the hospital reports. Egor had lived in the hospital until just a few days ago because there was no room at the orphanage for another child. The doctor went through in detail the medical history of the child. There were a number of issues raised but none seemed to indicate any grave problems. As I learned before coming over to Russia, you have to take Russian medical diagnoses with a grain of salt to some extent. Tomorrow Dr Downing, a North American trained doctor living in Moscow will be here to examine the child. He is an expert in the field and will hopefully be able to tie some of the loose ends together.
Then came the moment of truth. Once the doctor was finished and she had answered all of our questions she asked me if I would like to see the child. I replied "da". About 10 very nervous minutes later she returned with the most beautiful little boy! He is an absolute angel. Trying to hold him I was a little bit scared since he is so small and fragile and he also likes to squirm around a lot. Carol gave me some pointers on how to hold him and support his head which he is still too small to do on his own. We spent about an hour with Egor before they took him away for his nap. I brought along a toy that lights up and makes sounds so we had fun playing with that. He seemed very alert and coordinated. He made eye contact with all of us and responded well to the sounds and sites in the room. He also seemed to be quite happy and smiled several times. Unfortunately they would not allow us to take any pictures at the orphanage. They said that perhaps tomorrow, after the doctor's examination I will be able to take pictures once I sign the official forms to commit to the adoption. I'm just praying that everything goes well tomorrow.
We left the orphanage and spent the rest of the day sight seeing back in Nizhniy Novgorod. The city center is quite beautiful and includes a pedestrian area similar to the Sparks Street mall as well as a Kremlin (fortress) along the river Volga. We visited for several hours fighting the extremely cold temperatures.
Tomorrow afternoon Dr. Downing arrives for the examination and hopefully a relatively clean bill of health.
That's all for today....I'm out.
JK
Russia Log 3: I have some absolutely wonderful news!!
Rogers Cable has just announced that they are adding another 100 college basketball games to their Super Sports Pak lineup for this season!! You can imagine how excited I am; I've waited so long for this day!
Thanks to SK for the inspiration for that zinger....Seriously, I do have some wonderful news, Dr Downing examined Egor today and said it was one of the easiest he's done....in his opinion absolutely nothing to worry about!! It is now Thursday November 25, 2004 just before 7pm. We have just returned from a celebratory dinner at an authentic Russian Tex-Mex joint. It was very North American and very good. We drank authentic Russian beer and Evgeny and I split a beaker of Russian Vodka. That's right, I said a beaker, that's how they served it! I did my best to hold my own against Evgeny until the last shot when he accidentally poured himself a larger shot. Nevertheless, I think I did Canada proud as I'm still coherent enough to write this email. For all you kids out there it just goes to show what 20 years of intense training can do for you....ok...22 years.
We were able to sleep in today as Dr. Downing flew in from Moscow around noon so we didn't meet at the orphanage until about 1pm. This Dr. Downing is quite a character....he walks into the room where Carol and I were waiting and says: "Are you Mr. Kennedy? Where's the baby? I don't see a baby here!!" He initially reminded me of the Moyle on Seinfeld...a real piece of work. As it turns out he was a great guy. He went downstairs to get a synopsis from the orphanage doctor then came back up to examine Egor. He poked and prodded at him for about a half an hour before telling me that this was a perfectly normal six month old child. He did lack a bit of muscular development causing him not to be able to sit up on his own. He said that that was caused by being in the hospital and not having anyone picking him up and playing with him everyday, exercising those particular muscles. Other than that everything appeared to be normal and he suggested that I had no reason not to go forward with this adoption.
Once Dr downing had left, the Agency folks inquired as to how I wanted to proceed. They did not put any pressure on me to make an immediate decision. I guess in every person's life at one point one has to take a leap of faith. This was the moment for me. I am almost 100% convinced that this little guy is an extremely healthy child and will thrive once he is back home in Canada with the proper nutrition, environment and care. I guess there is always the chance that something has been missed and there are future health complications but I am confident that together we will be able to handle whatever life has to offer. I informed the agency that I will be going forward with the adoption and will be signing the papers to make things final tomorrow.
The more I get to know the Russian people here in Nizhniy Novgorod the more sad I feel about taking one of their children from them and moving him to Canada. The people here have been wonderful to us and it seems like such a shame that the economic conditions dictate that so many of their children go without a proper home. I guess deep down I know that the most certain future for Egor is back in Canada in spite of the nonsense he may have to endure along the way living with me. I made some quick calculations and I figure that by the age of 10 he will have endured, among other things: 500+ college basketball games, 400+ Ottawa Senator games (including pregame shows), 9 Buffalo Bills tailgate parties and approximately 8000 bad "Ruskie" jokes from Kirkham and Mulligan!!
We will meet Egor again tomorrow morning at 10am where we will have more time to play and get to know each other. There are still a few of my own tests that I want to put him through before I sign. Nothing out of the ordinary, you know, bench press, squat, vertical jump, broad jump, those types of things. I went on to the NHL prospects site and got some data of where he has to be at 6 months in order to be a big time prospect. I'll put him though his paces and see how he stacks up. No time to waste....only 17 and a half years 'till draft day!!!
I will follow this email with additional emails including some pics. In Pic 1 you will see the starting shooting guard for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, class of 2025. Pic 2 shows the starting shooting guard for Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, class of 2005, with Auntie Carol and the proud papa who, truth be told, couldn't really play a lick! Pic 3 and 4 are two more solo shots of young Egor. As you can see I wasn't kidding...he is a beautiful little boy....an immediate tip off that this is not my biological son!!
It will still be some time until Egor is back in Canada. It looks like the process leading to a court date may take up to 2 months to complete. Therefore, the best I think I can hope for is to get Egor home for sometime in January. I'm sure Egor is really looking forward to getting to his new home and meeting the crazy family and group of great friends that I have surrounded myself with. Great times lie ahead! Life is beautiful!
JK
Russia Log 4: Signed, sealed and almost delivered.
It's 10pm Russian time, Thursday November 26, 2004. I have just awoken from a 2 hour nap as I was literally falling asleep at the dinner table tonight. I really did not sleep a wink last night. Not sure if it was the stress from the adoption or the headache from the Vodka or a little of both. My apologies for not being able to send the remainder of the pictures but I am dialing up back to Ottawa and it's costing me an arm and a leg. I will send all the pictures when I get back to Canada.
Today I signed the required papers at the orphanage to formally commit to bringing Egor back to Canada. After spending another couple of hours with Egor today, we visited a Notary in downtown Nizhniy Novgorod to sign another set of documents. As part of the paperwork I had to provide a legal name for Egor. My choice was: "Carson Yeager Kennedy". The "Yeager" is not exactly a perfect phonetic translation of Egor but it does the trick and should limit the amount of school yard teasing he has to endure. Anyways, I'm sure I'll still be calling him Egor or Egorushka (as Natalia calls him) as a nickname for years to come. By the way the name "Egor" is the Russian version of "George" and means "farmer" or "tiller of the soil".
So our work here is basically complete for this trip and we must now sit back and wait for the wheels of the bureaucracy to begin to turn. We will visit Egor/Carson again tomorrow then we leave for Moscow by train early Sunday morning. I have managed to change our flight home (I think) so we will hopefully be flying back to Canada on Monday afternoon.
Again today Egor was in fine spirits. He seems to be a very happy and content little guy and rarely fusses about anything...unless you accidentally scrape the back of his head with your watchband that is, which I found out. I am still having some trouble getting used to handling the little guy. He is just so small and appears so fragile that I'm constantly worried about hurting him when moving him around, or worse, fumbling him!! I think he can sense how stiff and nervous I am with him but I'm sure it won't take long before we get the hang of each other. He's a real sweetie.
They seem to be taking good care of Egor at the orphanage as they do all the children. Whenever we get him he has been freshly bathed and is wearing a nice, clean outfit. Today he all was dressed in yellow with socks that looked like running shoes. I obviously do no feel great about having to leave Egor here for 2 months while the paperwork gets completed but I really believe that he is in good hands at the orphanage. They seem to do an amazing job given their lack of resources and Natalia is constantly praising the orphanage director for his dedication in creating what she believes is the best orphanage in the region.
After our visit to the orphanage we had a chance to explore N. Novgorod and do some shopping before meeting with the Notary. We stopped at a grocery store where we had to pick up some of the famous Russian chocolates. Natalia says this chocolate is as good as it gets. I'm eating some of it now as I write this and I must say that she's not far off. We are also watching "A Night at the Roxbury" on Russian TV and I'm cracking up. It's true what they say: the "true classics" transcend all language barriers!!
As we did a lot of driving around town today I finally took the opportunity to sit back and absorb the city. The first thing that strikes you as odd in N. Novgorod as a North American is the total lack of single family homes. Everyone here lives in apartment buildings, most of which appear to be in complete disrepair. By North American standards a majority of these apartment complexes would be considered slums. Alla, the interpreter we had on the first day, said that the average income in this area is approximately 200 US dollars per month. It is an industrial area and the unemployment rate is extremely high. Natalia says that contrary to back home, the closer you get to downtown the more relatively affluent and safe the neighborhoods become. As you move out into the suburbs conditions get more and more desperate and dangerous. Interestingly, Natalia also indicated that every Russian family, no matter what their social or financial status, owns what they call a "summer home". We passed by a series of summer homes on the outskirts of town this morning on the way to the orphanage. They are very small wooden cottages packed tightly together with a plot of land for each unit. Russians love to grow their own fresh vegetables and thus they use these homes to plant a garden each summer.
There is an interesting mix of vehicles on the road here. Lots of Russian made cars such as Volga and Lada. Also there are lots of Japanese and German cars as well as the odd American vehicle. The people here are always commenting on the lack of quality in their Russian made cars; it seems to be a running joke. The Russian cars are very cheap however, the only thing many people can afford. Our driver for the week, Kyril, drives a Volga. I don't think it is of the highest quality but so far it seems to be getting the job done.
Kyril has done a great job driving us around all week. It is difficult to describe what driving is like here in Russia; there seems to be constant chaos yet we've seen very few accidents. To make matters worse it is always snowing so the road conditions are not great. Kyril is a university student in his last year of his Business Administration degree. He does the driving gig to pick up a little extra cash while he's studying. He does not speak much english at all so we really haven't had a chance to get well acquainted with him. On the drive home tonight however he brought his best buddy Vladimir along who does happen to speak english quite well....a little bit broken but not bad at all. We had a really good time on the way back to the hotel talking to Vladimir and to Kyril through Vladimir. At one point Vladimir asked us what we think of these Russian made cars. I replied that in Canada we have a saying about Ladas: "They're a Lada trouble"! He laughed and translated for Kyril. They even introduced us to Russian Rap music. Not bad as far as Rap goes. Kyril is a big music fan and has been blasting the tunes in the car all week, everything from Elton John to Bryan Adams to Eminem with a little mix of more traditional Russian music in there. It has actually been quite nice to have the music playing each day on our drives to Dzerginsk, the town where the orphanage is located. Kyril and Vladimir graciously offered to show us around town tonight but we were just dead on our feet so we opted to return to the hotel.
That's it for today....I'm out.
JK
Russia Log 5: One last visit
It's 7pm on Saturday November 27, 2004 and we just got back from an afternoon of shopping with Kyril, our driver, and his best buddy from college Vladimir. We had a blast! In the morning we went to the orphanage one last time to visit Carson then followed that up with lunch at "The Russian Lion", a restaurant of some repute.
The visit with Carson went extremely well today, extremely well, and I think we are really starting to connect. He was smiling and giggling the whole time we were together and never seems to put up a fuss about anything. He has a wonderful disposition not unlike his future old man.
Little Egor was so adorable in his little blue hat (see pic 5A) and it was so hard having to leave him today. Look at me! I've already become the prototypical gushing, doting parent that has been annoying mankind for centuries! Do me a favour, if it ever gets to the point where you hear me say...."he's gifted"....give me a good kick in the ass to snap me out of it!!! He is a cutie though (see pic 5b)!It is now 2:30 am on Sunday November 28, 2004 and I'm picking up where I left off. I dozed off after that last paragraph and have been lying awake in bed for the last 3 hours. We leave for Moscow in about 3 hours. I have not slept for more than 4 consecutive hours since we arrived here. My mind is just too active with thoughts about Carson and all the logistics of the trip.
Now where was I? After our visit to the orphanage today we ventured to the Russian Lion restaurant and had lunch. Great meal! The waiter did not speak a word of english and it was just Carol and I so we had a bit of a problem ordering, even though the menu was in english. They had an entrée called "Chicken Hussar" which we were not familiar with so we asked the waiter to explain. He made a lot of circular and cutting motions with his hands...."ahhh OK, that was helpful"! Carol, the brave soul, went ahead and ordered it and it ends up it was a pork chop. So remember, if you are ever in Russia and are in the mood for chicken, order the "Pork Chop Hassar". Actually, there was also a small chicken leg on the plate so technically I guess it was chicken. I ordered the traditional Russian Fish Soup (sturgeon, pike and trout) followed by the almond encrusted chicken and it was great. We both had a shrimp appetizer in tomato sauce that was out of this world.
After lunch Kyril, as always, was waiting with the car nice and warm. Again today his buddy Vladimir was with him and they offered to take us to the "Trade Center" which I assumed meant shopping center, which it did. We went in to this department store in the lower part of the city and it was jammed tight, sort of like hitting the liquor store in Canada on noon of new years eve. They had lots of merchandise in the store but everything is packed tightly together. If you stop to look at something you immediately get run over from the crowd behind you. It was an interesting experience.
They then took us to a shopping mall in the upper part of town, which is the more affluent area, and the mall was very close to what we're used to in Canada. We visited a large sports shop, an electronics shop and various other little stores. Most of the merchandise was of the same brand names as those we find in Canada although there were a few names that I didn't recognize. Most of these were from either German or Chinese companies.
We spent a good two hours or more running around these shopping malls with Kyril and Vladimir and had a wonderful time seeing all the merchandise, learning Russian words and just generally joking around. Carol especially had a blast. While in the sports shop they had some table hockey games on display so Vladimir asked the sales girl for a puck and he took me on. Sudden death, first goal wins. I guess he did not realize that in Canada we grow up with these things and that my skills, although a bit rusty, were honed through years of endless battles with a table hockey legend, my cousin Mike Raymond. We got so good back then we started playing with a marble instead of a puck to speed the game up. I applied about 5 minutes of constant pressure to Vladimir, keeping the puck down low before finally putting one in by jamming the net. Good old Canadian style hockey! It wasn't exactly Paul Henderson but it was quite fun nonetheless.
We had a great afternoon and thanked the guys profusely for their wonderful hospitality. It's funny when I think back to the beginning of the week when we arrived, how terrified and intimidated we were by this whole environment. Now, just a few days later we're out running around, acting silly, having a great old time. It's funny how things go. In North America we often depict Russians as very stoic and stern but I must say that Kyril and Vladimir are two of the finest and friendliest young men you'll ever want to meet.
It's just past 3 am now and there is a group of 4 or 5 kids in the hotel parking lot huddled around their car with the dance tunes blasting. They're all bundled up out dancing on the frozen lot and I think they might also be putting back a bit of hooch!! I wonder if they have any extra? I guess people are basically the same, it's just the circumstances and customs that are different.
That's all for tonight. Better get a bit of shut eye before the train ride to Moscow.
Johnny
Russia Log 6: Back to Moscow
It's 10:36 pm, Sunday November 28, 2004. Once again I am just waking up from a quick cat nap. This one lasted 6 hours. I am writing this email from the 7th floor of the "Hotel Ukraina" in Moscow, overlooking the Russian house of parliament called "The White House". It's a great view and, as always, it's snowing. The Hotel is huge and beautiful, and is actually much cheaper than the hotel we stayed at in Nizhniy Novgorod. Our translator here in Moscow, Olga, says that they get a large discount here for their clients.
Our day started by catching the train to Moscow at 6am. The train ride was quite comfortable and we had a chance this time to see the countryside once the sun came up. Lots of snow covered evergreen forests between Nizhniy and Moscow made for a relaxing ride. We would occasionally come across clusters of "Summer Homes" that Natalia had described. As we got closer to Moscow we were able to observe bland apartment buildings, factories and plants in various states of disrepair, a byproduct of the Soviet regime. As I looked at the state of the city I could not help but be reminded of the immortal words of my great and good friend Paul Newbigging who said, when asked his impressions of his one and only trip to Europe: "EVERYTHING'S OLD"! That sort of attitude really limits your sightseeing options in Europe! Remember, this was from the guy who complained that there was nowhere to pick up a pint and a sandwich when visiting the Pyramids in Egypt.
When we arrived in Moscow we were immediately driven to the home of Albert and Galina Grabovchtchiner which was only a few minutes away from the train station. Albert and Galina are the parents of Iouri, a computer specialists who works for Carol at IBM in Ottawa. Iouri's parents were gracious enough to invite us to their apartment for a traditional Russian lunch. The apartment is not a typical Russian dwelling. It is in a new building in a private courtyard very similar to new lofts that are popping up in downtown areas in North America. The inside of the apartment was gorgeous and included 10 foot ceilings, a spacious and modern Kitchen, living and dining areas, a master bedroom, an office and 2 washrooms. Just over 100 square meters which I calculate as about 1000 square feet. The bookshelves in the office as well as the entertainment center in the living room were made out of Cherry wood and were just amazing! The interior doors were also made of this Cherry wood with a decorative design etched in black. The nicest doors I've ever seen in a house; Albert said that they are Italian made. If I ever finally get to build my own home I will definitely make sure I get my hands on doors like these.
Albert and Galina have a second child in Canada who lives in Quebec City so their english is pretty good. We had a great visit. They put out a spread of multiple dishes and beverages and we ate like Vikings for about 2 hours. It was delicious. By the time we were finished there was still enough food left over to feed two or three more people. In spite of the language barrier we had a nice conversation. Albert worked all his life as an engineer in the Russian space program, is friends with many of the Russian Cosmonauts and has lived an interesting life. We compared our respective cultures and I was interested in hearing how life has changed for them, and all Russians, since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Simple things like being able to buy a selection of fresh foods has increased the quality of life greatly. Albert said that during Soviet times, the shelves in the stores in Nizhniy Novgorod were completely bare. Residents would have to take the train to Moscow each week to pickup staples such as fruits, vegetables and cheeses.
Albert and Galina presented us with gifts after dinner, a traditional scarf for Carol and a bottle of Russian Vodka for me! How did they know? Galina asked me to share this with friends when I return to Canada, which I will indeed over the holidays. We reciprocated with gifts of our own. The exchange of gifts is a very important part of Russian culture.
Olga picked us up after lunch and took us to Red Square for a quick visit. Because it's Sunday the traffic was actually not bad at all but the Red Square area was very busy with tourists. We had a nice walk through Red Square even though it was quite cold. I learned in my Russian language class earlier this year that the term "Red Square" is not an accurate translation of the meaning of the Russian term and the "Red" has nothing to do with the Soviet Communist regime. The real meaning of the name in old Russian is "Beautiful Square".
From Red Square we came directly to the hotel and checked in, at which time I immediately hit the sack. Tomorrow we catch our flight home at 2:30 pm. It's been a great experience here in Russia, but as with any trip, it's always nice to go home.
I'm out....
JK
