Tuesday was our last day in Russia. It started with the normal breakfast in the hotel, getting all of our luggage down the scary elevators, and into a van with a driver who didn't speak English. We were trusting that he knew which airport we needed, so we got in and took off for about a 45 minute drive. The airport name matched what we had on our documents, so we piled out and into the terminal.
We were still plagued with signs that weren't in English, but sorted out where we should be and got our boarding passes. This time, it was Paul's passport that seemed to be causing a bit more hassle, but Alan and Joyce were through and had our luggage checked in no time.
Off to security and customs next...actually pretty easy as well. We were all a bit nervous if Alan's replacement documents would pass muster. The agent at the window seemed pretty confused as to why the passport didn't have any stamps, so she called a supervisor over. The supervisor took the passport and reappeared a couple of minutes later indicating that it was in order. The agent still seemed confused as to where to put her stamps, especially on the visa. She turned it over several times, sort of shrugged, and just started stamping. That was good enough for me, so we grabbed it and ran to the security station, which seemed easier than in the US...not exactly comforting.
Of course, we were at the gate with about 2 hours to spare, so we settled in and prepared to just wait.
The trip from Moscow to Frankfort was pretty uneventful, as was the two hour layover, and the flight from Frankfort to Chicago. We always seemed to be just ahead of the darkness, so we flew in the light all day long. The seats were extremely uncomfortable, and it only got worse as our travel day approached 20 hours. Finally, we were at O'Hare, made it through customs with some relatively friendly agents, and collected our luggage.
The parking people were called and told us they would be there in 10 minutes. Another call and 40 minutes later, we were collected, though not in a very charitable mood after the long day of travel and then the long wait. We got back to the van and loaded it for the 2 1/2 hour ride back to Mentone. Alan and Joyce elected to stay with her parents for the night rather than drive the nearly 2 hours back to Lafayette with little sleep in the wee hours of the morning.
We had a nice breakfast with the parents, and Jon and Sandi walked over from their house to join us. We were on the road again in good time and arrived back in Lafayette about 11:30, awake, with all our luggage and purchases, and ready for a break before tackling it all over again!
We were still plagued with signs that weren't in English, but sorted out where we should be and got our boarding passes. This time, it was Paul's passport that seemed to be causing a bit more hassle, but Alan and Joyce were through and had our luggage checked in no time.
Off to security and customs next...actually pretty easy as well. We were all a bit nervous if Alan's replacement documents would pass muster. The agent at the window seemed pretty confused as to why the passport didn't have any stamps, so she called a supervisor over. The supervisor took the passport and reappeared a couple of minutes later indicating that it was in order. The agent still seemed confused as to where to put her stamps, especially on the visa. She turned it over several times, sort of shrugged, and just started stamping. That was good enough for me, so we grabbed it and ran to the security station, which seemed easier than in the US...not exactly comforting.
Of course, we were at the gate with about 2 hours to spare, so we settled in and prepared to just wait.
The trip from Moscow to Frankfort was pretty uneventful, as was the two hour layover, and the flight from Frankfort to Chicago. We always seemed to be just ahead of the darkness, so we flew in the light all day long. The seats were extremely uncomfortable, and it only got worse as our travel day approached 20 hours. Finally, we were at O'Hare, made it through customs with some relatively friendly agents, and collected our luggage.
The parking people were called and told us they would be there in 10 minutes. Another call and 40 minutes later, we were collected, though not in a very charitable mood after the long day of travel and then the long wait. We got back to the van and loaded it for the 2 1/2 hour ride back to Mentone. Alan and Joyce elected to stay with her parents for the night rather than drive the nearly 2 hours back to Lafayette with little sleep in the wee hours of the morning.
We had a nice breakfast with the parents, and Jon and Sandi walked over from their house to join us. We were on the road again in good time and arrived back in Lafayette about 11:30, awake, with all our luggage and purchases, and ready for a break before tackling it all over again!
No comments:
Post a Comment