Apparently they've got this new braking system on the TU-154s - all the seats slam forward upon landing. I actually was zonked out and had the Zune MP3 player cranked - I had no idea we were landing until we landed and the pilot stomped on the brakes.

A better shot of the same thing...

I'm really proud of myself this evening - rather than spending $100 USD on a car service to pick me up at the airport and drop me at the hotel, I took the #851 bus - which I picked up right outside of the airport. 25 minutes later it deposited me at the Rechnoy Vokzal metro station - where I was able to buy a 5-pass, jump on the train and get to Tverskaya St - which is "right around the corner" from my hotel... (more later)

It was easy enough to find the bus at the airport - it had "851c" on the front of the bus and the driver said "da" when I said "metro?"... Man, my Russian skills are coming along, aren't they? I meant to get a picture of the front of the bus, but forget. The nice thing, though, is that once you hop on the 851 bus, your stop is *THE FIRST STOP* - granted, 25 minues later, but still the first stop. Exit the bus and walk straight ahead. This picture is the view to your left and the next picture is the view to your right. The picture after that is the Rechnoy Vokzal metro station - the end of the green line. Kind of hard to screw up - count the stops - 8 stops to Tverskaya St.

oh yeah, how much? I thought the fare was 13 rubles but I gave the bus driver 20 and got nothing in return - so maybe it's 20 rubles. And, uh, those 7 rubles? About $0.26. So, all in all, 20 rubles? About $0.75. The metro? I paid 75 rubles for a 5-pass ticket. About $0.60 per ride. So... I paid $1.35 to get to the hotel. Not bad. Although I do want to watch my pennies on this trip, and have paid the $100 in the past, saving the coin wasn't the best part - the best part was figuring it out on my own.

Rechnoy Vokzal metro station

System Map in Rechnoy Vokzal metro station.

Well... I made great time into the city - but walked around for about an hour looking for my hotel. The hotel is just off of Tverskaya, but back a few blocks. I thought I knew where it was, but had to stop and ask a few folks. It's a relatively new hotel and most Moscovites wouldn't know where it was... damn. I called the hotel twice to get directions.

To put this in perspective, I was within 1/4 mile of the hotel from the time I got off the metro to when I found the hotel.

The last time I called the hotel they told me to look for the "red building" (City Hall) and then walk through the gateway for 600 meters.

The part they left out is that the gateway WAS CLOSED AND LOCKED!!!!!!! You had to know to walk down a few side streets. I was getting really steamed and finally stumbled upon the place. I asked a lot of young kids if they knew where it was as many of the younger generation speak English. What's a real bummer, though, is that I walked down this one street for about 500 meters and found a guy walking his dog in the park. He spoke a little english and I asked him if he knew where the hotel was and he didn't. Damn. I turned around and went back the other way - for another 1/2 hour. Turns out the hotel was just past the park where this guy was. Dang. Anyway, I'm here, I've had dinner, I'm resting. Did I mention that my bag didn't make the connection in Warsaw? Every time I've come to Russia my bag has followed one to four days later. I'm hoping like hell it gets here tomorrow because I get on the train on Tuesday night and will be way the heck out of here by then. I suppose, worst case, I could buy new stuff on Monday or Tuesday if my bag hasn't shown up. I'm optimistic, though, as there were two more flights from Warsaw to Moscow this evening - hopefully my bag is already here...

We'll see.

So... it's the next day. That big red building in the background? City Hall. Those huge gates? Those were the ones that were shut & locked last night. Funny, though, as they serve no real purpose because you easily take a side-street and bypass the gate. It's kind of like having a huge gate in your yard - but no fence. Oh well, now I know. 600 meters down this road is the Marriott Courtyard.

Tverskaya Street