Traveling

I'm flying back to Atlanta this weekend for a family function. For those unaware, parts of the Blue Line leading to O'Hare run in between the Kennedy Expressway, and this includes the platforms. I was standing on the platform waiting for my train and watched the cars fly by in both directions. This is a rarity on the Kennedy as it can logjam at any time of day simply because somebody in Idaho sneezed.  It was rather exhilarating to see and hear the cars zooming by in both directions. People moving into the city, going out of the city. All at 80mph. Either it really was that cool, or I was just awake and at it way too flippin' early this morning.  

Adventures in flying...

No matter what anybody says, nothing prepares you for getting up to use the lavatory on the plane, and finding the person in front of you breast feeding. Nothing.

Miami it looks like...

So, for those not in the know, in January we have twelve weeks in either Miami, Saginaw, or back here (why why oh why). The majority go to Miami. Saginaw, by word-of-mouth, is the "better" of the two programs in the states. I would personally prefer Saginaw simply because it's not Florida. I'm not a fan of Florida. Either way, given I do not have a STELLAR GPA, a good, solid one, but not a stellar one, and all of the people who do have the stellar GPAs AND say that they want to go to Michigan are people I find incredibly obnoxious, I put in for Miami. That is not to say that everybody I know who wants to go to Michigan is obnoxious...but rather that it seems everyone I FIND obnoxious is going. Verstehst du? Now, that would require a place to LIVE for twelve weeks.

When I came to Dominica, I had no idea where my apartment was when I signed for it. Simply that it was well rated and within walking distance. I am not taking such chances with Miami!!! I want to know where I'm living, how far away it is from campus, and all sorts of other things!! That and I need a break. My trip to Puerto Rico in July did wonders for my sanity. So I booked my flights.

Because I'm just that lucky, American Airlines was booked solid out of Dominica on my outbound leg, so I had to get a little creative. Luckily, I'm an airplane/travel geek and know pretty much all of the routes and major operators everywhere in the world. Thus, one can deduce I'm familiar with the same in the Caribbean. That's all well and good until one considers that there are only four nonstop destinations served out of Dominica: Antigua, Barbados, San Juan, and St. Maarten. St. Maarten immediately got the axe because the nonstops are operated by Winair and their ten-seater planes. No thank you. San Juan was eliminated on the outbound due to American Airlines being booked. (Thankfully, American Airlines DID have open seats to Dominica on my return leg). That left Antigua or Barbados for the outbound plane--cue Suzy Bogguss.  This was pretty much perfect, as it meant one less flight on LIAT, an airline I abhor. Had I not taken American on on the return, it would have  LIAT out of Antigua or Barbados and a tight (Antigua) or next day (Barbados) connection, . Neither of those was acceptable. All in all, I would rather do a short connection in San Juan and I get to avoid Antigua--an airport I abhor, see the trend here--completely.  I do, however, have a rather lengthy 8am-240pm layover in Barbados during which I can read and study.

I made all my flight arrangements, paid for it, then looked over it. I discovered I was an idiot and booked the return flight for one day early...BONK! Thankfully I just called up American Airlines and they changed it no charge. This was literally minutes after I'd made the initial booking. My opinion of American Airlines is SLIGHTLY raised. They still have a year's worth of flight schedule-related aggravation to overcome. I'm currently debating whether or not to put this and any future American Airlines flights on my Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account. The AS account gets much more use as it is attached to a credit card.

Some Days the Force Just Ain't With You...

The title says it all. What a blah day. Possibly because yesterday was a long day that required me to be on top of a lot of things. Eight (EIGHT!) hours of lecture, a meeting in a room with no air conditioner, and the realization that crunch time is pretty much here...lord, it adds up! Throw in the fact that I really want to see my friends back home and talk about/do things that are completely unrelated to medical school and you have the makings of a BLAH day.

On the bright side I was able to plan my trip to Arizona/California during the August break. Five days with Steele (and no med school!) should be amazing. Lately I've had the most awkward travel schedule: Chicago in January and Arizona in August. Actually this will be the third year in a row I'll be in Arizona in August/September. But we're going to San Diego for a nice chunk of it, so the heat shouldn't be TOO oppressive :P What is really funny to me is that it will cost me $1 less to fly to Phoenix and back (both flights non-stop) than it was to fly to Chicago. Coming back from Chicago we stopped in Detroit to knock $100 off the price of the ticket! Chicago is 606 miles by air. Phoenix is 1,587. Perhaps the weather in August doesn't exactly attract snowbirds? Either way, Delta deposited a 1500 mile bonus in my SkyMiles account, which is always nice! Delta has been incredibly accommodating as of late, as I've had to change my flights twice thanks to American Airlines' shenanigans, and neither time did they charge me a change fee! Either way, I still get to go on a little vacation and see some friends I haven't seen in over a year. Friends for the win!

I think in April my mom and I are taking my Grandmama to Pennsylvania to see her sister, my great aunt. I haven't been to Pennsylvania before, so it should be fun. I really hope we get to go to Philadelphia, because the history dork in me would like to see the cheesy things like the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall :P Gettysburg for the same reason.

Who willingly goes to Chicago in January... I DO!

After a fantastic New Year's (though the last 90 minutes I would have happily traded for sleep!) it was time to head to the airport. I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking when I scheduled a 10 am flight on New Year's Day. That, of course, means BEING at the airport around 8. Add in that I live an hour away from the airport and chose to spend New Year's Eve an hour or so away from home... do the math. I got to bed at 3, only to have to drag my tired tuchus out of bed at 6:35, and left the house at almost seven. Yeesh! Note to self, do NOT get SO caught up in medical school that you lose your ability to add two and two...

So, with all that, I got to Redd's place around 7:10, she was outside waiting for me, so we spent about five minutes getting the car loaded, doing one last check for the tickets and we were on our a way. A quick hop down 316 to merge with 85 and we were dropping our bags off at curbside around 8:15. All in all it was rather painless. Security was annoying because they didn't have enough lanes open, and the schmuck who said my laptop had to go through again wouldn't let me take my glasses out of the bin. I can't see bozo and you won't let me pull JUST my glasses out of the bin, ahhhhhhhh rant!

After security we trained our way down to the B Concourse, where we had about an hour before boarding began, so we decided eating some breakfast would be a very good. Our gate was B24, so logically we looked for something breakfast near there. Unfortunately there isn't a Paschal's in B concourse, so we moseyed over to Cafe Intermezzo. The waiter, though thorough, probably isn't best suited to working in an airport where people are on the go. He took five minutes just to greet us and take our DRINK order. He then took three steps to a table one away from us a literally spent at least twelve minutes (after at least five when I started to count) bumpin' his gums with that tables' occupants. He then came back and prattled on and on and on and on... Really pal, I just wanted my French toast... I got the feeling that he wasn't yammering just to be friendly, but rather that he was BORED and felt that if he had to endure such a lousy existence he was going to make his customers' experience as excruciating as his own. Anyway, the French toast came as did my Coke, and they were both satisfactory. While we were eating Mr. Short-for-Words-but-not-for-Yarns found another victim at another table and we overheard him saying how Concourse B is the "gem of airport terminals for shopping." Now, I'm not sure if he was comparing it only to ATL's concourses, or airports in general, but still, I thought what an idiotic thing to say!. Atlanta isn't an airport in BFE or anything, but it certainly isn't Dubai or Singapore...Some people you just have to shake your head and laugh at!

We meandered over to the gate and boarding started shortly afterward around 9:35. This flight was on an MD-90, a first for me. In reality, it's just like the dozen MD-88's I've flown, but the geek in me gets excited by the two-number differentiation! Unfortunately there was no window to snap an image of the little gem. Well Scheisse!
The flight was full to the gills, which makes one wonder how many other idiots like us were flying this early on New Year's Day. We had to sit at the gate area for a few minutes because the first fifty or so passengers who boarded took up all the overhead bin space with their small steamer trunks. I realize $20 bag fees can be annoying and nobody wants to pay MORE money, but when you're trying to cram a week's worth of two changes a day into one bag, you're going to be stymied. Delta has (smartly) extended the bins on most of their aircraft, so this usually isn't a huge deal, but the MD-90's had the nonextended bins (you could tell just be looking at them). As a result, most of the rolley bags had to go in sideways, as opposed to long ways. This means that where you could before put up to three bags, now only one will fit. Something had to give, and the passengers who boarded later weren't even permitted to bring their rolling suitcases on board. They were checked at the gate, much to their annoyance I'm sure. Redd and I had checked our bags because I knew mine was shaped oddly and wouldn't fit without severe squishing. I had a suit in the bag so this was a non-option. Redd being a woman...let's just say cramming everything into a carry-on is also a non-option ;). The manner in which they got the bags from the gate to the baggage hold was pretty cool, I thought. They drove a belt loader over to the jetway and placed the bags onto the belt, then drove the loader over to the plane. Pretty clever!
We pushed back and taxied to the North runways, where we waited for about ten minutes in line. We took off and I grabbed a few minutes of shut eye, though it was more a ten minute power nap than anything else. We were sitting in seats 11A and B, the pair of two on the left side of the aircraft. Being in the front we got "refreshments'' rather early. The Flight Attendant serving our row had a pretty good sense of humor. He asked Redd what she wanted to drink. She said "I'll have a Coke." On cue, the FA said "Please?" You might have had to be there, but it was hysterical. Of course, when it comes my turn I had to ham it up. "I'll have a Coke, PLEASE." The FA of course rubbed it in. Why am I always called upon to make people feel like an ass??lol I'm the perfect accomplice!

The remainder of the flight was uneventful. We approached over Lake Michigan, North of Downtown, and flew just over Wrigley Field. Much different than my other two times landing at O'Hare where we came in from the West. We landed and turned off the runway almost at our gate, E12. We deboarded fairly quickly and made our way to the baggage claim. Terminal 2 (where Concourse E is) doesn't look that large on a diagram, but my grief! it's a walk from the end of E to the baggage claim! We still had to wait twenty minutes for our bags. After gathering our bags we made our way to the CTA where we took the Blue Line into the city. The main reason for using the Blue Line other than cost savings was that we landed at 11:30, and our hotel wouldn't be ready for some time, why not kill some time absorbing "local culture" on the subway. On the platform at the airport I brilliantly managed to break the handle on my suitcase. This meant that I would have to carry the thing. UGH! The train ride was uneventful. We changed lines, but genius me remembered the stop incorrectly, and we got off too early. Down the street I saw the Arts center at Millennium Park, which meant, that OOPS! we had gotten off on the OTHER SIDE of the river from where our hotel was (I had stayed at the hotel before so I knew the area well enough to know that we weren't around the corner). Once that was established we hailed a cab. We probably could have found the hotel, as we were only about ten blocks away (not even a mile) but it was too cold and I didn't want to carry that blasted bag or run the risk of getting turned around. Oh well, it was a five minute diversion that apparently annoyed me more than it did Redd. After examining the CTA map, we got off one stop too soon, oh well. Live and learn.

We get to the hotel and our room isn't ready. Apparently New Year's partiers trashed the place. Instead of waiting around we went out and grabbed a DELICIOUS hotdog at Portillo's. And did some shopping on the Magnificent Mile, about two blocks away from the Hampton Inn and Suites where we were staying. About 4:30 we got back and our room was ready. In a strange twist of fate our room was the same room I stayed in when i was in Chicago in March 2007, although the room had been remodeled. We had a two room suite. Though there was only two of us, I've learned a long time ago that extra space is well worth it no matter what, as long as the price isn't ridiculous. For an extra $20 a night the extra space was a no brainer. The bathroom was bigger, we had two sinks (which is huge when you're trying to get more than one person dressed for a wedding or conference, etc.) and we had plenty of space to dump our crap such as our huge coats and my suit bag. These items would have cluttered up a conventional room, though of course we would have managed. It was nice to be able to spread out, and having two TVs was also good.

We chilled (actually warmed) for a little while before getting ready for dinner. Redd asked for a cab to dinner as she was wearing a dress and had just done her hair. A reasonable request. So, we went out front to hail a cab. One taxi had almost driven by the hotel but I stuck my hand out anyway. The cab stopped RIGHT THEN AND THERE. Of course, another cab ran into his rear bumper. He paid it no attention and asked us "are you coming??" So we got into the cab and made our way to David Burke's Primehouse. The food was delicious! I had a 55 day aged ribeye, and paired it with a nice Shiraz. We had asparagus, "mac and cheese", and basil mashed potatoes with our steaks. Fantastic! You have to eat steak when you go to Chicago...I mean really. Afterward, it was about nine, and we decided to try and find a nice place to hear some music. We had passed a place called Red Headed Piano Bar earlier, and knew it was three blocks away on the same street, so we decided to give it a try. It wasn't too bad. The crowd was a little older, but the music was still good. We stayed a little while and as sleep was catching up to us we decided to head back and relax in the hotel and then get some sleep.

The next morning we got up and moving about 8:30 and had had breakfast and were moving by 9:30. Redd wanted to do ice skating, just for novelty of it, so we bought a day pass and went back to Millennium Park (remember we inadvertently started our trip there...). We got skates and did our perfunctory laps and after about ten minutes decided that the novelty had worn off. It was indeed fun, but I was quickly rendered a fish on a bicycle as Martha Washington was doing triple Lutz's and Figure 8's all around me...plus, I could feel a spot on my foot that would undoubtedly have a blister if I kept this up. So we decided to move on. At least I did not fall!!

After our adventures in the Ice Capades we headed North for Wrigley Field. We walked around it, took the cool pictures and grabbed some food nearby. I had a gryo, it was pretty good.

After Wrigley we went further North to check out the Baha'i House of Worship. I heard about it as Nasty, a former colleague, had mentioned it when talking about her ex-husband. Since it was relatively convenient we checked it out. It was a beautiful building, ornate and decorated. I did think, however, that having a Star of David interlinked with a Swastika is questionable, even if the faith stresses understanding and a world government.
After Baha'i it was time to head back to the hotel. It was about 2, and we were going to a wedding, so we needed to get back. I nodded off a little bit on the train ride, but it was a long ride!! Baha'i is at the end of the line and we were staying downtown. The ride back took about thirty minutes. We got ready and then grabbed a cab to the wedding. It was located about a half hour from the hotel. At first we weren't quite sure if this was the place, but a sighting of a Georgia plate with Lowndes County (deep south Georgia, near Valdosta) quickly confirmed we were in the right place. Spotting two other Georgia plates was even better...

The wedding was organized differently than any other wedding I've ever been to, in that the reception was held first. We arrived about 30 minutes after the stated start time, and the wedding party was seated. After that there was an open mic where all the friends and relatives came up and offered a little story or piece of wisdom. Then the ceremony began. The ceremony had a few elements that I'd never seen at a wedding before either, such as a mime to the song "Your Love" (NOT the "Josie's on a vacation far away" song). We left after the cake with most of the guests around 8pm. I would like to take this brief moment to thank our wedding hosts for hosting their Chicago wedding in January, when it's only -12 windchill as opposed to February...when it's regularly -20...

Finding a taxi in that part of the city proved to be a little bit of a challenge! Unlike downtown where you waited three minutes tops there weren't any around. We had asked the people we were sitting with the best place to catch one, and they advised that we walk up a block or so, and they also gave us a number of a service. Well after that block we were FREEZING, so we decided to go into a 7/11 on the corner and call the service. Well lo-and-behold if there wasn't a cab with his light on sitting right in front of the 7/11!! We gratefully jumped in and were whisked back to downtown. Score!

We decided to grab a small dinner at OYSY, where I'd had my first taste of sushi almost three years before. In a sense of nostalgia I also ordered the first roll I'd ordered from there. Yes, I realize I'm a huge dork, but I don't care! After the sushi we asked our waiter where we should go for good jazz music. He directed to a place called Up Close 2. Ok, well, technically he directed us to "Clarke and Congress, but I don't remember the name"... Ok, so we were taking a little bit of a leap of faith! We get there and the first thing I see is a "men only" hotel. Great, he sends us to the seedy side of town was my first reaction. However, just beyond the signage of sin was indeed a sign that said "Jazz." We head in, deciding to check it out, and the band was REALLY good. They also had good martinis which Redd partook of, though I stuck with my ritual gin and tonic and a glass of pinot noir. Ahhh, can't get much better than that! Redd's martini was about a foot tall! Use the wine glass as a size comparison!
We thoroughly enjoyed the jazz! I'm not a huge jazz person -- my repertoire goes about as far as knowing who Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday are -- but I enjoy good music, and this was good music. We unfortunately had to head about about 11:45 because we were PLANNING to get up around six to be at the airport between seven and seven thirty for our 9:00am flight. Ugh, too many early mornings.

We get back to the hotel and promptly fall asleep pretty quickly. Thankfully we packed before we went to sleep. I have preset alarms on my phone, and I turned on the 5:45. Genius me, however, forgot that those were "Weekday" alarms. Of course, this being Sunday, it wasn't going to go off! So I roll over and it's 7:01...nominally the time we should have already been at the airport. BONK! Insert picture of Mr. and Mrs. McCallister going "We slept in! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" here Somehow we both managed to shower, get downstairs, and check out by 7:29. We were going to hail a cab when the bellhop informed us that we could simply take the hotel's Town Car. I asked how much it was -- it was $7 more than a cab would have been (we had already priced out a cab the night before as to make sure we had enough cash). SOLD! Seven extra bucks for a much more comfortable car that didn't have that felon shield, that I didn't have to hail and watch get rear ended. DUH!

We get to the airport and through security about twenty minutes before boarding is due to start. Another first: my first DC-9! In this case a DC-9-50 bound for Detroit. Ok, airplane geek go away. Why, you ask, were we going through Detroit to get to Atlanta? The answer is -- $$$$$$ It was about $100 cheaper to fly through Detroit -- two evenings meals/entertainment. We sat down for about fifteen minutes before boarding began, a very short time for me, I'm usually through security at least an hour early -- which gives me enough time to eat! Well that didn't happen today!

Upon boarding the two unaccompanied minors immediately caught my attention. After all the hoopla about Delta losing an 8 year old how could it not be?? The flight was pretty much uneventful with two exceptions. 1) One of the Flight Attendants wore more eyeliner than Elvira, and 2) something about this aircraft/flight made my stomach flip flop -- a lot. I usually have a rock solid stomach on airplanes minus those delightful incidences whereby the plane just decides to hit a pocket of air and drops fifty feet...bit I digress. All throughout the flight the way the plane would turn or ascend, the angles were just bizarre. I was glad when we finally descended and landed in Detroit. We decided that since we had two (as it turned out three) hours before our flight to Atlanta that grabbing a bite to eat was probably in our best interests. It was around 11, so why not. Finding a place to eat in the Detroit airport proved a little more difficult...the blasted terminal is THREE MILES LONG! And people gripe about Atlanta being too big...

We finally settled on a place near our gate A34 and I hate some sort of salad with a lot of fruit on it. Mental note: apples + cranberries is too much tang. After lunch we acted like dorks oohing and ahhing at the tram that ran overhead. Just to solidify our DORK status we rode the bloody thing from one end of the concourse to the other. Then we had had our fill of that we sat down at the gate. The 777 that was supposed to leave at 1:30 was apparently still being cleaned... FYI it was ship #7006. Apparently the passengers from either Shanghai or Seoul had TRASHED the airplane...who knew, eh?

So we finally get on the plane and then sit around as the dead heads bicker about who gets to sit in first class...I mean really...how lame. We also had to wait while they called no less than fifteen names three times...apparently all of those individuals decided they didn't want to take that flight. I know one name was called at least six times from the time we sat down at the gate area until pushback. AHHHHHHHHH!

Once we FINALLY took off the airplane was creaking overhead. The FA seated in the jump seat across from us said it was normal for the 777. This was ship 7006 for anybody who cares. We struck up a conversation with the FA for a few minutes while she was seated. We talked about where we had travelled (though mostly where I had travelled) and she just as pleasant as she could be. She was a Dallas-based crew member, and that was her only segment of the day. When beverage service began she said "Happy hour is on me guys" to me and Redd. Woohoo! She gave me two bottles of wine. I only drank one of them while playing Trivia. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we landed without incident and deboarded at Gate E26. Again, our bags took FOREVER to get to the belt, and this after was had to come from Concourse E. Once we retrieved our bags we went to the car, where I had to jump start somebody (strangely enough I would have to do it again two days later at Moe's). Then we were on our way. Thankfully traffic on the roads wasn't nearly as hectic as traffic at ATL!

Moscow

This is about a week-long trip I took with Dr. R to Moscow in July 2008 to attend and present the 5th International Conference on Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines (say that five times fast). I'll let you know now that the travel details may be a bit much, but this is basically a copy and paste from a travel forum I blog on, with extra details added in the middle.

Living near Atlanta the most convenient option was Delta. I was excited to try out their 767-400ER having flown the 767-300ER several times.

4 July 2008
I arrived at ATL around 130 for my 330 flight. I checked in and was through security in approximately five minutes. The airport wasn't very busy which surprised me considering it was Friday afternoon, maybe it had something to do with it being July 4th? As usual I walked to my gate. Is it just me or do people need to learn to GET OUT OF THE WAY of other people who are trying to move?? My flight left out of gate E33 so I headed there initially and nabbed an exit row (30A I believe). Since there was nothing going on down at that end of the concourse (and no windows to view the other concourses to boot) I walked the length of the concourse. The KLM A332 to Amsterdam was there waiting at its usual gate E22. The Lufthansa A340 was sitting pretty a few doors down, though I was thrilled NOT to be on it after my trek from Charlotte to Munich in December '07. I saw all the various DL flights on the FID, though I think the only one other than mine that was actually boarding was DL to Dakar and then on to one of the South African Destinations. Eventually it came time to board. I looked around and noticed there were A LOT of children on this flight, all under the age of ten. Oh goody.

Once on board I was lucky to have the seat next to me empty. Don't take row 30 on the 764, the armrests don't move due to the personal tvs being stowed in them. We sat at the gate for at least another half hour due to a malfunction with the AVOD system. It never got fixed so we left the gate with no distraction for the next 11 hours! A FA sat in the jumpseat across from me and we struck up a brief conversation as we lifted into the hot skies over a rain-deprived Georgia.



A meal service followed about two hours after takeoff. As usual I took the pasta over the chicken offering with the granite-for-bread substitute and the complimentary wine. I definitely don't consider myself a wine connoisseur but I'm not a huge fan of DL's wine offering. After dinner I tried to settle down and catch a little bit of sleep but I could not get comfortable. I have difficulty sleeping upright. Being on the exit row I curled up in the floor and was about to fall asleep when the FA told me that I couldn't do that...........
After I got settled back into my seat all of the kids on the plane decided they'd had enough sitting, and seemingly all at once started sprinting up and down the aisles, which would have been fine except for the thumping those little feet made on the floor! I managed to get two hours or so before the plane woke up.

The FAs on this leg were mostly good. There were three or four Russians, and they all wore the red dress uniform. The one who had my aisle was dutiful, but a little to brusque, though compared to some of the people we encountered later she was downright friendly. I had the usual DL breakfast of a banana, granola bar, and tea. We landed smoothly in Moscow a few minutes behind schedule. I had been talking with the FA for a few minutes again before landing and she gave me a few tips. Another Delta flight from JFK flight had beat us as we were late.

I had heard immigration at Moscow's Sheremetyevo (yup, that's the name, say it without spitting and I'll give you a cookie) could be rough, however I had no problems. While we were in line a Russian and an American who had apparently exchanged words and bad feelings let everyone else in line see their little display. It was rather humorous, as the Russian carried on for at least five minutes before the immigration officials escorted him to the front of the line just to shut him up. I was through in less than ten minutes, where I waited on a ride.

The ride took a while. Thankfully the ICPP people organized buses/taxis from the airport to the various conference-sponsored hotels, otherwise it probably would've been an astronomical cab fare. NO WAY was I braving the transportation system in a country that a) I didn't speak the language, b) said language has a totally different alphabet, and c) there was absolutely no indication of where my hotel was in relation to the city and how to get there on the second busiest metro system on the planet. As it turns out that was probably the wisest decision, as, come to find, it would've involved a bus, a train ride that involved at least TWO transfers and then ANOTHER bus. Sheisse! The thought of all that with two bags does not sound appealing at all! As it was it took almost two hours to get to the hotel. Moscow traffic is horrendous, and was the entire time we were there. I wondered for a minute if I was in LA by mistake.

The hotel itself, called Hotel Youzhny, was not fancy by any imagination. I would barely call it comfortable! It was in an old Soviet block, and there basically clusters of four rooms sharing one bathroom. Dr. R actually had an apartment just down the hall as they had Br. and By. with them, made sense.

The city

The first day I guess I got to the hotel around noon, and then crashed for a few hours before heading out into the city to learn my way around. Let me say the metro at first is not foreigner friendly. Whereas in most places the metro merely has multiple lines running through one station, in Moscow, oh no, they have to be special. Each line has its own name for the station. The way the maps are laid it it initially looked like they could actually not be near each other. Anyway, after one time of getting it wrong it clicked, and basically you learned to follow colors first, then as my proficiency with the Cyrillic alphabet developed follow colors and then look for our station. We didn't get lost again! The metro rides are very long in between stops, but it's not as though there is a shortage of stops. And the Metro itself, wow. The Soviets did a lot of terrible things and my opinion is that their ideas of economics were flawed (I guess history supports my ideas, haha) but they did a fantastic job designing many of their metro stations in Moscow, especially those closer in. Aside from the initial difficulties transferring lines it's a very easy system to use. Note: if you're going to be using the Moscow Metro alone...LEARN THE CYRILLIC ALPHABET. Are there English maps available...yes, but not in the stations or on the trains themselves, so they're really kinda pointless. Something that is useful is an English/Russian map, but unless you get it in size 72 font it's not much help because the words are so freakin' long. The system is for the Muscovites and their Russian-speaking brethren. Others are more than welcome to use it, but get out of the way because they couldn't care less if you get it or not!

The little blue circle at the bottom left is the station we had to get off on, and THEN take a twenty minute bus ride!
Buying tickets could also be very interesting! Bus tickets had to be bought on the bus, I wasn't made aware (not like I could read about it or anything...) of any other option. I had my numbers down pretty good actually, and would usually buy tickets in packs of four. Once or twice I didn't have a bill small enough and wasn't sure that's what the driver was trying to tell me. After one round of that she got a little testy. That also happened at the train station once. I was trying to buy tickets and the ticket agent was an old woman. Probably miserable in her old existence having to schlep train tickets to pay her rent. Anyway, the simple "dva" and holding up two fingers didn't do the trick this time. She asked me a question and when I hesitated she screamed the question at me. If I had been able to I would've said "Lady, I'm not retarded, but I do not speak your inexplicably convoluted and unnecessarily complicated language. I want two tickets, and I'm in the metro station...how difficult is that...give me any tickets that will let me get on the train..." She screamed again. I looked at the guy behind me with a look that was half "help me, please, I'm desperate" and half "If-you-have-any-prayer-of-getting-out-of-this-line-get-your-ass-to-the-window". Thankfully he (very nicely) handled the situation, asked me what I needed, and I gave him my money and profusely thanked him in Russian and English. Note: if you're traveling to Moscow and need help, ask the young folks. They are almost always willing to help even if their English and your Russian isn't great. Older people are hit or miss, though frankly I ran into more misses. I guess it's not too upsetting considering the whole tourism thing and contact with Westerners is still a relatively new thing to them, but yeesh it can be frustrating!

I explored Red Square a little, and just randomly walked around hoping that I wouldn't find myself in a precarious situation! The hotel was not near a metro station, so getting there involved either a long walk on Leninski Prospekt or a (just as long sometimes!) bus ride. I headed back to the hotel and got some well needed sleep.

Dr. R and company arrived the next day, and I happened to be returning to the hotel (where I had gone I don't remember now) as they were checking in. By. and Br. were conked out and the adults were looking zonked as well. They settled down and I helped watch By. so the adults could sleep. Br. as usual was a ball of energy. and By. a mess, lol. Br. and Mrs. R and I grabbed some food at a Georgian restaurant. We had absolutely no idea what we were ordering, but it turns out I ordered dolmades and they got some sort of chicken. It was pretty good.

We did the whole conference thing, which was exciting and interesting. At the same time it was difficult because a lot of the presenters were Russian, shock right? Some of their English could've been better, and the jetlag made you very sleepy. Once or twice I fell asleep in the middle of a talk. Dr. R did as well, several times (and I must say, she snored). Nothin' but love Doc! We met two girls from Ireland one day at lunch. One was a researcher, and the other an accompanying friend. We ran into each other several times over the course of the conference, and enjoyed chatting and exchanging out stories of getting lost on the Metro. Presenting at the conference honestly wasn't a big deal. It was just like any other two hour poster session I'd done several times at the ACS, except now these were porphyrin specialists. I must say, I was thrilled to have the chance, but if they didn't like it, oh well. Honestly, if they thought I was unqualified or shouldn't have been there, well, maybe they're right, haha! The way I looked at it was it was a learning experience and more than likely I wasn't going into research (a year later that's confirmed) then no harm no foul, I got to present my work (which I worked very hard for I might add, whatever that's worth).

The conference had also organized a tour of the city, which was a lot of fun. We went all around the city, and I must say, I'd already experienced it, but I was reminded of just how BIG Moscow is. Unsurprising I guess as Moscow is the center of the Russophile world, but still, it's just so MASSIVE. That night Dr. R, her husband, and I went to a grocery store just down the street from our hotel. On the way we passed a group of kids that had gotten into an ugly fight. I would say they were in their early/mid teens. Several of them were bloodied up and the cops had been called. We went on our way and found our way into the grocery store. We were there, frankly, to buy vodka. I mean really, you can't go to Russia and not come home without some Russian vodka! Incidentally I also had a bottle of cognac from the banquet. I don't think it's been opened but it's there nonetheless, lol. Anyway, it didn't take long to find the vodka because the vodka section was an entire freakin' wall! The hard part came in choosing which kind to buy! The only one I recognized was Smirnoff, and I sure wasn't going to buy being that when I could get it at home! Anyway, after about ten minutes of walking up and down the WALL trying to figure out what kind of vodka we wanted to buy, a local observed our difficulty, and started talking to us, in Russian of course but his intent was rather clear. We bantered by pointing for a minute, and I pointed to one bottle and his shook his head vigorously and pointed to his head indicating that choosing said brand would result in an unpleasant morning. He then pointed to a brand (which was quite well stocked incidentally. We promptly between the three of us bought forty bottles! It was absolutely hilarious when we got up to the check out counter and the cashier saw us with a buggy full of mostly vodka. Her eyes got so big, and I couldn't help but laugh. She spoke no English and I tried to convey that these were not just for us!

The conference banquet was cool as well. It was held in a palace on the outskirts (by outskirts I mean like Atlanta halfway to Athens) that was built by Catherine the Great. It was apparently a small palace, but it was definitely opulent. The food was pretty good. I definitely took advantage of the free wine, haha.

One afternoon Dr. R and I just went walking through the city. I honestly have no idea where we were as we just started walking "that way". Somehow we ended up near a train station after like two hours of just wandering (Beloruskaya Station IIRC this far removed from it). We walked through a part of Moscow that was very old and compact. It was very pretty. We had hoped to stumble across a church or two that we had seen on our tour, but alas, the city proved just too big! I like walks like that because you see the most interesting and unexpected things. Honestly, I don't think I would've seen the statue of Catherine the Great cut into six or seven pieces or a group of teenagers carrying an "Apteka" sign in front of the Polish embassy had we not done that walk. I do remember Doc saying "Oh Jay, we've gotta get you married!" Um, thanks for the interest Doc, but I'm perfectly happy being single right now!

12 July 2008.
After a week in Moscow it was time to head home. I had arrived alone but we were traveling back together so that made the cab fare much cheaper, though it was still approximately RUB4000 (or about US$200). We arrived for our 1040 flight at 800, just as the check-in counters were opening. I believed we used counter 1-3. We were lucky to arrive when we did because we were among the first ten people in line and soon after the line got very long. I was sent to the BizElite counter to check in. Both of my bags had been well under weight when I left ATL, however 10L of Russian souvenirs had weighed one of them down a little The check-in agent must have been in a good mood since it was still early because she let me through. Incidentally the baggage searcher winked at me as she came across my souvenirs! After clearing immigration we mosied through SVO airside which is an unimpressive string of duty free shops. I found a spot upstairs to watch the array of Aeroflot jets come and go, and watch the KLM 744F land. We weren't initially permitted into the waiting area, but once we were we were all exhausted after the week so we just relaxed. Again there were going to be a large number of young children on this flight. Both the ATL and JFK flights were waiting in this lounge.

The plane in this picture is the actual plane that we flew from Moscow to Atlanta and was taken THE day we were leaving Moscow. Judging by the angle the plane is flying I must assume it's landing, so unfortunately I cannot say I'm in the picture! I didn't take the picture but was able to track it down at www.airliners.net. Boarding was finally called and I made my way to 27F. I noticed that no headphones had been placed on the seats contrary to custom. I asked the FA if they were going to pass them out because if they weren't I still had mine from the last flight. She said they were running short and that if I could use my own that would really help them out. The only reason I asked at this point is because they were buried in the bottom of my carry-on and I didn't want to disturb my seat-mate once I was situated. This particular FA would serve my section most of the flight, she was fun. Most of the FAs on this flight were very jovial and carried on conversation with all the passengers. We settled in and pushed back only a minute or two late and proceeded straight to the runway and lifted off into the sky. At this point the Captain came on and gave a rather long winded talk. As most of us had already booted up the PTVs this was rather annoying as they not only went on standby when he spoke, then the FAs came on translated what he said, then came on AGAIN. It was a very chatty first hour!

The food service came around and I chose the pasta, I remember this time it had spinach in it! The PTV system on DL is very user friendly and had enough choices to satisfy me, though my seatmate brought his own. He watched what appeared to be old Soviet movies that seemed to take place during the time of Ivan the Terrible? Just a guess. Looked like rather cheesy acting to me but I wasn't following it that closely. I watched on my trendy PTV Charlie Wilson's War, Stop Lossed (good movie!), a few episodes of Bill Engvall and I started Fool's Gold. I didn't finish that one as it was predictable after the first thirty minutes. It reminded me of Sahara and National Treasures 1 and 2 all over again, and I didn't care too much for those movies to begin with. After that much TV I couldn't focus on the TV anymore (I don't watch that much TV at home) and listened to music and read for the rest of the way. The FAs were very attentive and per usual came by with a veggie-cheese pita and ice cream (vanilla Yuck!). Plenty of drinks also followed. Two hours in the kids got tired of sitting. I tried to be less irritated at this point but there were plenty of parents who were keeping their kids from running and screaming down the aisles. I understand its difficult for a child to sit still that long but my grief!

Once over South Carolina and Georgia I had fun picking out some local landmarks. For the local folks I flew over Lakes Hartwell and Lanier, the Mall of Georgia, Stone Mountain, and around the southeast end of Downtown. We landed on the North Side of the airport. I was one of the first ones off and hauled ass down to immigration to avoid the line. I got stuck behind some Lufty FAs who were oblivious to the fact that I was behind them and wanted to go around (in case you haven't noticed that's a big pet peeve of mine, get out of the way of someone behind you!)

The line for American citizens was very short and I was through in no time. The line for non-American citizens was a little longer than the last time I had flown though this may have been because I arrived earlier this time and the LH, KL, and an AF flight had all arrived along with DL flights from AMS. BRU, and MAN, as well as our own SVO. Baggage claim was interesting because a customs beagle named Button was standing at the end of the belt. This was the first time I had seen that so it was interesting to watch. I claimed my bag, then proceeded through customs blah blah blah. Put the bag back through and proceeded back through security. This time I was too tired to walk back and wanted to get home so we took the train back down to baggage check. For the first time ever the bags took FOREVER to arrive on the claim. I had two so I had to wait even longer. Eventually they both came and didn't reek of distilled beverage so all was good!
I would definitely recommend a trip to Moscow. It's a BIG city so plan a head and don't even think about trying to walk very far. The streets aren't exactly laid out in a logical fashion, but the Metro is fantastic and thorough.
Hope you enjoyed!

Mini Eurotrip

Background
I was browsing the internet at work one day (oh the shame! *Wink* in late June/early July and came across an email from Delta advertising some pretty good fares to Europe, and in particular Budapest. Now, Budapest is a city that I had wanted to visit for quite some time, partially because for Americans it's not necessarily a well-traveled destination and I got to put another country on my list. What I found was a very enjoyable, colorful city. I had also wanted to visit Prague when I was in Europe for two months in the summer of 2007, but never made it out there. SO, I played around with some dates and found a fare for about half of what one would expect to pay for a transatlantic fare in the summer. Considering I would be starting medical school at the end of August (have since started) I pounced, not knowing if I would even get the chance to go back any time in the next three or four years AND with a bargain that good. The bargain allowed me to splurge a little more on the hotel side too Smile The end result was flying into Budapest, and out of Prague.

Booking the ticket was a little bit of a challenge because every time I tried to book a particular itinerary it would come up unavailable. I called Delta and they were incredibly helpful and in a nutshell told me to book through Northwest, because the identical itinerary was available through them. In a nutshell I wanted a PTV for the overnight to distract me from the inevitable lack of sleep. For the return I knew a good book would suffice, because, well duh, I was supposed be awake Wink So, in the end I booked a flight through AMS on KLM, connecting to Malev. Interestingly enough, after booking with NW, I transferred the flight over to my DL SkyMiles account (I'm stackin in miles for somebody's who 23, haha) and when I checked my itineraries I noticed that a SECOND itinerary (routed through CDG) was posted. After spontaneously emptying the entire contents of my GI tract I promptly called the friendly folks at Delta, prepared to battle this one down. Nothing had shown up on my credit card statement (the NW one had, so I knew it should've). My thought was if worst came to worse my dad could always accompany me (I'm a Jr.), haha. As it turns out, I never had to get ugly because even though it was posted in my itineraries, it was "On Hold" so I was told, and no payment had been received. Apparently the incredibly helpful agent I spoke to at the onset of purchasing the ticket had put a placehold on it for me should I want that routing. There were plenty of routings through CDG when I was trying to book, but I wanted the KLM flight, as mentioned, specifically for the PTV. So, after about three minutes that was cleared up and the itinerary removed. It wasn't that big of a deal, I understand they're still getting all their ducks in a row from the merger.

NOW, having rambled on and on with that soliloquy, let's get to the flying part!

17 August 2009
I arrived at the airport just after 1400 for the 1640 departure from ATL. It was very hot that day. I had checked in online and was going to just walk on through and present my passport at the gate. I was not checking any bags. However, when I got there, there were a grand total of three people in line at the KLM counter, so I went ahead and had my passport scanned. I proceeded through the T-Gate security in a slugish four minutes and meandered my way down to the E-Concourse. I splurged and treated myself to a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc and some sushi while the KLM A332 was prettied up at it's usual home of E-22. I exchanged some money into Hungarian Forints, which incidentally thicken up your wallet as it's approxmately 200 to 1! The name of the A330 was the Plaza de Something Madrid. An odd name for any aircraft, I thought, much less a Dutch one... but I digress.

Boarding started an entire hour prior to scheduled departure, which I thought was rather odd. I had a window seat toward the back (sorry don't remember which one) and settled in. We sat there in the aircraft for approximately 45 minutes before FINALLY pushing back and meandering toward the Southern runway and lifted off.

A note, KLM's economy seats I find recline more than their Delta, Austrian, and Lufty counterparts, but their lumbar is just in an awkward place for me. In order to be comfortable I had to stuff two pillows under my neck despite the presence of the adjustable headrest. Delta wins the seat competition for me.

The PTV system was fine, a sufficient number for the flight at hand. Over the course of the flight I wanted, though not necessarily entirely, Star Trek, 101 Dalmations, Memoires of a Geisha and Changling. The interface was very user friendly, though getting the blasted controller in and out of its place could be a bit of a challenge if you aren't thin as a cotton swab because your hip/thigh significantly impedes your access and work room since the bloody thing has to be tilted for removal. I would put it an infinitesimal notch below Delta since Delta's is a touch screen and I don't have to fumble with the controller and above Austrian's for being AVOD (only two carriers I've flown with PTVs).

The dinner service was just bad, but that was mostly personal preference. I fail to comprehend how black olive and green beans mix with penne rigate and some unidentifiable cheese. YUCK! Our attractive blond frequently came by with water, wine, and any other libation that struck our fancy. The breakfast service was excellent. We received, IIRC, a ham, egg, and cheese hot sandwich and a box that had IIRC some granola, cheese, and a few other goodies. Much better than Delta and Lufty (the only other two carriers I've flown on overnights).

The flight itself was uneventful, which is what you want. There were no screaming babies *bounces up and down* and the crew were friendly. The movies and drinks were plentiful, and I just rode out the flight with maybe forty-five minutes of sporadic sleep. Made for a fine flight, but an unpleasant morning, as we shall see.

We landed around 7am in Amsterdam on what could only have been the infamous Polderbaan as we taxied forever. I thought we had landed in Rotterdam and were taking the road the rest of the way... We deboarded in the E concourse. I went through immigration and made my way over to the C Concourse, which is a much less pleasant environment than the E Concourse I must say! It was a very easy connection though. I stopped by the bathroom to brush my teeth and freshen up as best I could before my two hour layover. Annoyingly, my gate, C10 was situated right at the end of a moving sidewalk that bleeped "MIND YOUR STEP" every time somebody got to the end. I mean really, airports all over the world have these things and people manage to not spontaneously impale themselves on the end without having to be told to watch your step... In a nutshell, it got old very quickly. Thankfully I had my iPod and cranked it up while I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (I'm behind on the times) until boarding time came. By this point I was hitting a wall. It was approximately the time I would have normally been going to bed (I had just spent two weeks in Mountain and Pacific Time) and was starting to have to fight sleep, something I do not normally do. It made for a slow two hours.

The Malev 738 strolled up to the gate and about forty-five minutes later (and twenty minutes late) we boarded. I had seat 9A, a windowless seat, bah! Oh well, I just pulled out my book and cranked the iPod again. The FAs came by with a drink service and offered a ham or cheese sandwich, which was nothing special. I was taking all the Coca Cola though that they offered me in a vain attempt to stay awake Smile This flight was even more uneventful than the KLM flight. The Malev seats were comfortable, but rather flimsy, I doubt they would survive being used in a long haul operation.

Being a Schengen flight and me not having checked any bags I saw very little of BUD-2. I bolted for the taxi line in the hopes of getting my happy ass to my hotel so I could grab two or three hours of much needed nap time. Normally when traveling in Europe I take public transportation to/from airports BUT, in both Budapest and Prague the airports aren't well connected enough and my proficiency in Hungarian and Czech is nonexistant, so I decided paying more for the taxi was worth not getting lost and not being able to decipher where the hell I was and needed to go. The same went for later in the week when I wanted to go to Memento Park, there was no metro, so I took a taxi. Had I been in France or a German speaking country a) the transit links would've been much better, and b) I would be able to make myself understand and understand enough to get my happy ass in the right direction Smile That is by no means a slight on Hungarians or Czechs, merely me being self aware of my deficiencies!

I stayed at the Hilton West End, very nice hotel in a good location for anyone who may be planning a trip to Budapest. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Budapest. And by some chance of fate, or I'm just that lucky, I was there on August 20, Hungarian independence day! I found Budapest a very friendly and open city, and it was very easy to meet people. One day I spent the day with a German and two Swedes. One of the Swedes had actually lived in my hometown while studying at UGA (bizarrely small world). The German, amusingly to me and the Swede, grossly extrapolated the correlation between Borat and American society. The four of us met on a river cruise of the Duna (Danube in English). A tried and true trick of mine when traveling in Europe is to search out people speaking English with accents -- 9/10 times they're single/double travelers just wandering around looking to meet people such as yourself. I also did a bus tour of the city to get familiar with it.
Some of the highlights included Memento Park and just meeting the random people. On Hungarian Independence Day (August 20) I spent the day with a Hungarian and some Belgians. I had a very good time. They enjoyed racing up and down random stairs that faced buildings. The fireworks display that night was amazing, with Buda Castle in the background it was just breathtaking. It lasted about half an hour. The bridges were lit up and there were air races during the day!

The next day it was time leave Budapest :( and head to Prague. The train ride was LONG. I didn't get much sleep the night before. My first seat mates were Spanish ladies, and they were very nice. After they left the train in Bratislava a mother and son got on. They have to be quite possibly the most obnoxious pair of people I have ever had the pleasure of sharing a space with...The kid felt it was ok to put his feet everywhere, the mother apparently felt no need to correct him. I would have been quickly reprimanded for that (even now come to think of it). After they got off (thankfully) in Brno, a younger couple got on. I thought this would be interesting, but no. The guy smelled like the salami sandwich that he was eating (which reeked by itself with no assistance). Compared to Hungarians the Czechs didn't smile nearly as much. I wonder if that's a Slavic thing? Russians never smile either. The train arrived in Prague late, and I took the metro two stops down to my hotel (carefully chosen for its proximity to the metro line). I checked in and explored a little bit of Old Town before bedding down for the night.

Overall my impression of Prague was that it is overrated. It had a DisneyWorld feel to it. It was much harder to meet people and it was much more crowded than Budapest (as in suffocating). The buildings were gorgeous from an aesthetic standpoint, but honestly, it's just too much. Paris even yields its prettiness. Turns out Prague was a trophy city/money dump for the Hapsburgs and as such EVERYWHERE you go is insanely beautiful that it's a little off putting. Plus, add again that Prague is a huge tourist city (and not much else in August).

24 August 2009
It came time to leave, and honestly I was ready to go. I didn't enjoy Prague as much as I had anticipated, though I think some of that was anticipation of moving in the coming five days. Anyways, to ensure a quick ride to the airport I took a cab to the airport. The cab driver must have thought it amusing because I was swaying and jerked all over the place during the ride. I had to look down at my feet as he sped at sixty kmh through tiny side streets barely big enough for the car, all the while revving the engine!

We arrived at PRG, which is a very nice airport, very clean, modern. It reminded me of Munich's aiport. Delta uses Terminal 1. I had a little scuffle with the check-in agent, though. He was of the opinion that my small carry on was fine, but that my backpack was too large to fit into the overhead bin. Never mind that people were carrying bags on the plane that were still larger than my two put together...admittedly it was a bulky book bag but that was mainly because there were three Harry Potter books in them and they had all slid on top of each other -- in other words easily adjustable. I argued with him and then the supervisor for a minute or two and said, "I'll happily put it under my seat, there's no need for this bag to be checked." She finally relented either realizing that the check-in agent was being overzealous or she realized I was going to be stubborn. Either way the two bags fit very nicely on top of each other in the overhead bin, hardly taking up any space...

I watched the flight from either ATL or JFK (dunno which) arrive. Its first officer was a woman, I think the first I had seen for an international flight, though that's not a HUGE number to pull from. I waited about an hour before seeing a really long line at my gate, B8, and panicked thinking it was mine. Turns out it was the one for B9, but a few others had panicked like me and a short line was forming, so I joined it and chatted with the people around me.

Soon we were through security (I hate individual gate security in the EU, drives me nuts) and then milled around the gate area for about twenty minutes before boarding started. I made my way to 36J and got settled. Before completely getting settled I went to the lavatory and I noticed there and on the way back that this aircraft had not been cleaned very well, perhaps something to do with unions at PRG? I've flown Delta quite a bit over the Atlantic and this aircraft was frankly not up to par. It was mostly the bathrooms, and it was mostly trash, not filth, but nonetheless...

The movies on this flight were the Soloist (couldn't get into it) and Monsters vs. Aliens (I watched just to kill time). The meal was an interesting chicken dish, better than the KLM pissy-pasta, though nothing special. The FAs came by frequently enough to be satisfactory, but this was another mundane flight across the ocean that did what it needed to do.

I must mention however that there were about fifteen YOUNG kids in my section, and two or three of them were allowed to holler and scream at will for the entire flight. One of them had this obnoxious "ehhhhhhhhhhhhh" every time he didn't get something he wanted...which was apparently often. We flew over Canada and down through Michigan. On approach into Atlanta we basically flew down I-85, over my house incidentally, the Mall of Georgia, and a few other local landmarks. For the last hour of the flight the girl sitting directly behind me talked as though she were giving dictation. I discreetly looked back and listened, though I couldn't understand a word of her Czech, and I swear hear seatmate just sat there with this glazed over petrified look on her face, every ten minutes or so mutter a "oh" while this girl seriously JUST KEPT TALKING, it was kinda funny, but seriously, how do some people talk that much....

We landed on the North runways with little incident. I proceeded through Passport control, didn't have to wait for baggage check!! and then went through customs and security, and hopped on the train back down to the South Concourse where I was picked up.

I must say I enjoyed the trip, in retrospect incredibly glad I did it, though I don't know if I would make Prague a destination again! Any comments are welcome, though again, I chose to include more of the rest of the trip than most people do. Thanks!