Robin posting about Moscow May 16

Our whole team experienced a rough 24 hours.

Yesterday we woke up very early in Vladimir to catch the early train to Moscow. We arrived there at about 10 am. We were going to stay in another place, but there was a plumbing problem there so we were taken to a youth hostel. Some of the characters are a little sketchy, but we agreed to stick together for safety in the common areas.

Jen, Sarah and I were in one room and the guys in another. There is two bathrooms (a toilet only) and two showers with a sink. Another sink is in the hallway. I am SOOOO glad I brought my shower shoes. We had about 30 min to change our clothes and get ready to leave to a tour of St. Basil's cathederal, the Kremlin, and Red Square. We also saw numerous churches. I will say that was very impressive. The tour guide was wonderful, but it was a 5 hour straight tour.
While we were at one of the museums which was so amazing, Jen broke one of her heels on her shoes. The girls were laughing and the guys were so concerned with what Jen was going to do.
Well, being the trooper she is, she had Mike break off the other heel and was able to walk for the next 5 hours because we could not go back to the hostel.

All we could do was laugh because it was so awful. We had nothing to eat since about 5:30 am. We went to the Moscow International Rotary Club which has to have some of the highest movers and shakers in the world (seriously). We sat in the corner b/c we got there a bit early and ate every hor d'ourve we could possibly eat beacause that was our lunch and dinner. The presentation went very well. There are several German members and one of them went
to the same Gymnasium (high school) I visited with Evelyn. What a small world.


This morning we were informed that we now all have to stay in the same room (guys and girls). We had to leave by 10:30 and were unable to move our luggage. We had to trust the people running the place to move everything. We left our room and started our day. Our guide was Judith, a Rotary ambassadorial scholar from Auburn, Alabama, studying engineering here.
She plans to be an astronaut some day. We saw another beautiful church and then the Pushkin museum. It has one of the best examples of Egyptian artifacts in the world.

We did get to eat lunch today and went to another Rotary Club meeting.
On the way, we had to use the subway. We were warned about how dangerous it is. The door opens and you are literally shoved into the car and packed body to body. It was rush hour and we had to really try to hurry to get to the meeting. When we got on our connecting train, a group of men tried to surround Sarah and John and were successful with Mike. They stole his wallet. He started to yell at them and they of course acted like they didn't know what was happening. He wanted to call out for the police, but our guide said not to because he would be taken to a police station and have to stay there for hours and still not get his wallet back.

As a group we have had a bonding experience. We are trying to take in all of the good things and are now getting ready to drink to forget the fact that we are getting ready to sleep together.
The group just played cards and now it is midnight and so Mike said as group leader, it is a new day and we have to drink to it.

Robin Lee