We arrived in St. Petersburg, Monday, the 17th around 8 a.m. on the Midnight train from Moscow. The train trip was uneventful besides getting used to sleeping on a sliver of a seat and hearing the toilet flush periodically through the night. :-)
The weather is quite cold (which we didn't expect) and so our little tour in Moscow was brief just because we weren't dressed for it. We did get to walk Red Square however, see the Kremlin, and even placed a coin in the grotto behind the Kremlin that promises our return ... hopefully, next week with our Lily along!
Our most difficult moments actually happened at the Moscow airport. We stood in line at Passport Control for about two hours. A group of Pakistani men in front of us had big problems with their passports. I felt badly for them, really, since it was clearly a racial issue. About an hour into our wait, another planeload arrived (from Italy, I think) and that group turned a simple line into a crowd and somehow, we got pushed back even further. Sigh. Then, when we finally found our way to our luggage... you know the story... one of our bags was missing.... and who's? Mine, of course. So, we filled out the paperwork and they promised our bag will be delivered here to St. Petersburg... but not yet. I may have an excuse to go shopping!
Our rep will be going to the camp tomorrow (Tuesday) to pick up Lily and to bring her to us here at the hotel to spend the night since the court time is early on Wednesday. We have been given a long "cheat sheet" of things to remember to say (and not say)... please do pray for us.
It is very strange to be back in St. Petersburg... we were so cavalier tonight as we went out to find our favorite restaurant that we didn't even bother carrying a map. It's supposed to be cold and rainy here the rest of the week. This may be yet another excuse to go shopping. Ha!
3 comments:
Thinking of you, praying for you! Hope that court is smooth and uneventful tomorrow!
Cheryl and Jim Basile
Hi Irmgarde & Mike! We are thinking of you and looking forward to hearing about you finally getting to see Lily tomorrow and about your court date. It is an unnerving process but hey, you've been unnerved before, right? You guys will be great and Lily will make it all worthwhile. We'll keep following your blog. My niece, Sarah, sends her best and can't wait to see Lily! Give her our love and best wishes to all!
Nancy
Thanks to everyone who is reading and following our journey. We really appreciate your messages. They are very encouraging!
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