Mother Russia

I got off to a rough start by picking up a bug my last day in Cairo which I endured on the overnight flight to Moscow (left at 2am). I must say the Aeroflot flight was nice though. Despite the fact that they allowed very small children to sit in the exit rows and the flight attendants literally layed down and went to sleep on the plane, I was able to go to the back and stretch out.

I told the flight attendants that I was too weak to make it through customs and transfer to my flight to St. Petersburg, and they took care of everything. I was whisked in a wheelchair through baggage claim, customs, and transferred to the domestic airport in a private van. Then I was taken to a doctor in the domestic terminal. He was very sweet and gave me powder to drink, pills to take and told me to always drink whiskey before eating anything in Cairo! I got the same royal treatment in the domestic airport. I was even taken straight to the plane in an ambulance!

I was so glad to arrive in St. Petersburg and crawl in bed. I just felt better driving into the city and seeing the fantastic architecture and familiar sites. It was like my history text books coming to life! Then I walked into the best of all the hostels I've stayed in. The Nord Hostel (www.nordhostel.com) is 25 steps from the Winter Place (the Hermitage)and is simply lovely. The staff, especially Marsha who I have been emailing with, are very friendly and I was snuggled up in bed in no time.

When I woke up I visited with my two great roommates, a girl from Madrid and one from Frankfurt for the rest of the evening. It feels like home here already!