Our first full day in Russia! We arrived last night after 15 hours on planes, first from Seattle to Washington DC, then on to Moscow. The road that led us away from the airport gave us our first taste of the Russian countryside. Trees lined the highway, and billboards flashed ads from either side. Twenty story condo-blocks towered over the streets. Industry seems widely spread, instead of concentrated in districts as it is in the States.  Smokestacks towered every few blocks. I was reminded that communism, like the capitalism that has largely supplanted it here, is an industrial way of life.

We made our way to the “Hotel-Like Structure,” our lodging for the night – a tenement block much like the others, but spruced up for our occupation. The cafeteria downstairs served us meatball and potato soup and much more – tasty food!

The trees here are just slightly different – recognizable, but subtly different. 100-foot oaks spread their limbs wide outside the door. A small bird with white and black striped head hovered and swooped, gathering materials for its nest.

We, on the other hand, left our huge bags behind and traipsed off to Red Square, the iconic center of Moscow that is home to monuments such as the Kremlin and Lenin’s mausoleum. We toured inside St. Basil’s Cathedral, decorated with 14th century mosaics and topped by technocolor onion domes. A quartet sang in errie latin that echoed around the cavernous chamber.

After a much-deserved 10 hours of sleep, we packed up, threw our bags in a bus and took off for the airport, where we are now. A seven hour flight, and we will be in Yakustk – one step closer to Cherskiy, the barge, and our home for the next 3 months weeks.