Trippin in St Pete

[2tallbill]

[2tallbill]

Here is the church where the water blessing took place

[2tallbill]

Here is the internet cafe with the first member of the 2tallbill fan club Voronezh chapter

[2tallbill]

I was trying to figure out how to catch a ballet or something to learn a little
more about Russian culture.

[2tallbill]

More January Voronezh photos

[2tallbill]

Some very hardy fishermen fishing in the Voronezh River





I'm more of a fair weather fisherman myself

[2tallbill]

Voronezh was awarded a medal for their efforts and sacrifice in WWII
January photo

[2tallbill]

I don't know what this is but you don't walk by something like this without
taking a photo

[2tallbill]

January photo

At the busiest streets they have an underground for crossing.
This is where the pan handlers hang out. I got rid of all my
excess airline peanuts (and a few rubles) this way

[2tallbill]

Mayonnaise comes in these squeeze bags in Russia. Much more handy than the jars we
use here. Another thing is that they have entire isles of mayonnaise. If you read from the
beginning I tell you about all the different types, but I haven't been able to taste the difference
between one type and another. I like Russian mayonnaise.

[2tallbill]

January video near the Center




Walking around through a crowded bar

[2tallbill]

The Stadium in Voronezh local football team is FC Fakel (Vinny told me)




January photos of some slippery walking

[2tallbill]

Angel Eyes (AE) and I spent almost every moment together talking about
everything under the sun. The days flew by, we went to parks and the
center and historical sites.

I bought tickets to cinema and we watched Oblivion with Tom Cruise.
When you go to a cinema you select your seats and your tickets are
issued for those seats. The very front row has great legroom but I usually
sit in the center seats about halfway up. Most movies were filmed to be
viewed from that spot and I can sit in a bed of nail for the short time a
movie lasts, it's nothing compared to an international flight and the
theater has a lot more leg room.

Anyway I watched the movie, maybe I understood about half of it.
I thought it was just as interesting to watch AE while she watched
the movie. That girl has the most expressive eyes I have ever seen.

The days went by too fast. The realization that I was going to leave
this amazing girl behind and go back to Norf Dekody started sinking
in. I was definitely becoming more and more smitten and more and
more sure that this was the girl that I had been looking for all these
years.

I couldn't find a flight out of Voronezh on Monday morning in time to
catch my Moscow flight, so I jumped on a bus Sunday evening and
arrived 6-7 hours later at DME in Moscow. The bus dropped me
(and a few others) in a spot where I have to climb over a short barrier
(slightly less than a meter tall) and walk to the airport.

I stay up all night, head bobbing in an uncomfortable airport lounge
chair and flew out in the morning, I arrive in Washington DC only to find
that we landed too late due to the air traffic controllers being furloughed.
The customer disservice woman did not give a flying f#ck that we missed
our connecting flights. I strongly dislike that woman.

So I spend a night in a hotel staring at the ceiling before falling to sleep wishing
I was with Angel Eyes. I woke up the next day and flew the American leg of the
journey back.

[2tallbill]

So I was back in the Bakken oil fields, selling building materials to house
the multitude of oil field workers that crammed into Norf Dekody.

AE and I were exchanging letters, Skype and phone calls every day. Both
AE and Smiley Girl were taking English lessons. We plan for a trip to Barcelona.
AE and SG get Schengen visas and then the one of those curve balls that life throws
us from time to time happens.

I've been working for a company for 17 months and in that time we've gone through
6 managers. The Manager decides that the sales staff is making too much money
and we are all jobless within a week.

It put a damper on going to Spain and I spend the next few weeks getting a much
better job making more money as do all the other sales people.

The manager who made the decision was fired within a month and
now they have manager number 7 (number 9 as I am writing this today).
I have absolutely no animosity with the old company or manager. They made
a business decision nothing personal was involved. I even put together a list
of key projects, accounts and pending sales that needed to be followed up on.
I don't believe in burning bridges behind me.

In the end I had a much better job, more flexibility, stability and it's been
considerably more fun. I made a point before accepting their offer that I would
be needing to visit AE on a fairly regular basis and they agreed.

So I buy tickets to Moscow, AE buys my e ticket to Voronezh and I cram myself
in an airline seat again.

More to follow............

[2tallbill]

Smiley Girl collects little refrigerator magnets, which sounds like a harmless
enough hobby to me and she quizzed me repeatedly wanting to know if they
have such things in America and a dozen other magnet related questions. Until
that time I had very close to zero interest in refrigerator magnets. So close to
zero that I didn't remember seeing any in years.

I went down to the little local history museum that might get 5 customers per
day to walk through it. I imagined that maybe I might find a book or two about
North Dakota that might make it seem not quite so barren, desolate and treeless.

I had almost made my way to the book rack when I got rushed by a little old lady
asking "can I help you?" there was another little old lady who wasn't as quick was
only a few steps behind her ready to be very helpful as well. So I told them that
I was traveling to Russia to visit friends and I wanted to show them a nice picture
book of North Dakota.

I could have walked in with Cary Grant and gathered less attention and hubbub.
They proceeded to show me every book with photos in the museum from which I
selected three of them and this pleased them to no end. The not quite as fast
little old lady asked would you like anything else?

"Well as a matter of fact there is" I said that, "there is a young Russian girl who
collects refrigerator magnets and she would absolutely love to have one with
North Dakota on it."

Imagine walking in with Cary Grant, Jimmy Stuart, Spencer Tracy and the entire
cast of Gone with the Wind, the Little old lady was clearly experiencing something
very close to pure joy. Breathless they rushed over to show me a small collection
of Magnets. I selected several of them.

One was the shape of North Dakota with a thermometer on it in both Celsius and
Fahrenheit, one was a Buffalo shaped one. They had some syrup made from the
berries of trees native to North Dakota so I bought some of that.   

I was leaving North Dakota by the way of Denver, Newark, Zurich and Moscow and
each airport had a magnet or two. I bought one from each airport and put it in my
backpack away from my cell phone and credit cards.  I had also brought marshmallows,
chocolate, peanut butter and Mrs Butterworths syrup.

I arrive in Voronezh my bag appears on the carousel I go through the doors and
there is Angel Eyes waiting to greet me. You can't imagine how glad I was to see her.

More to follow.........

[2tallbill]

AE has a taxi waiting to whisk us off to an apartment that she has found for us.
She tells me it's on the 10th floor and that I will get accustomed to the stairs
very quickly. 

She tells me later that there is a lift so that I don't actually have to use the
stairs.

When I open my suitcase she takes the magnet with the thermometer and
places it outside the window so we can see the temperature outside. AE had
already purchased some provisions so that we didn't need to go shopping on
my first evening.

I have eleven days to spend with AE and each moment I become more and
more convinced that I have finally found the girl for me.

The days fly by, Angel Eyes and I walk during the day in parks and visit
museums.

I throw my dirty clothes into the corner of my closet. They magically disappear
and become washed, dried, pressed. folded and put away the next day.

I explained to AE that she did not need to iron my t shirts since I wore them
under my shirt. Angel Eyes just shook her head looking at me as if saying
poor bachelor Beel doesn't even know that his t shirts must be ironed.

[2tallbill]

One day we go to a water park. It has a hot tubs, a giant pool, a banya,
water slides and some kind of bubbling area that a group of Babushka's
monopolize completely.

Smiley Girl and I go up to the top of the park and Smiley Girl jumps on one of 
the slides and disappears, I count off something like 20 seconds and jump on
the slide after her.

I have no idea how I did this, but as I go around the last bend I see Smiley Girl
plop down in the water immediately in front of me. How did she go down so slowly?
how did I gain 20 seconds on her? 

I throw my arms against the sides of the slide and remove some skin from each
elbow slowing me just enough that Smiley Girl barely paddles away just before I
crash into the spot she just vacated. I am considerably twice the size of Smiley Girl
and it would have ruined the day.

We are paddling back and I noticed one of the Babuskas have temporarily vacated
her bubbling spot I point it out and SG and I take off like banshees before the
Babushka rotation takes place. Angel eyes arrives and can't believe we secured a bubble
spot. I spend a few moments in the bubbles and don't see anything particularly special
about them.

One of the Babushka's is glaring at us while three of us are using a bubble spot that
usually only one babushka occupies. I don't see anything particularly special about the
bubbles or the bubble area.

[2tallbill]

If I told a story somewhat weather related one of them would run over to
the thermometer magnet which had both Celsius and Fahrenheit on it and
announce the temperature in both. 

A short time after I left both could tell you fairly accurately the temperature
was in Fahrenheit. Only when it was very cold would they check first to make
sure.

Angel Eyes and I went to the cinema and watch Gravity in 3D with glasses and
everything. You buy tickets to actual seats locations in Russia. Angel Eyes always
worries about my legs. The truth is that I can sit in any size chair for a movie, it's
sitting 9 hours on a flight in seats made for midgets that causes me grief.

Sandra Bullocks performance was spell-bounding, not to mention that she looks
exceptional in shorts (her lesbian haircut excepted).

[2tallbill]

Way before I want the days to end they come to an end. Angel Eyes, Smiley Girl 
and I meet with Sally and her son for lunch. Sally is always fun, warm and bubbly 
and her son is always very polite and a gentleman. We say goodbye to Sally and
walk around Voronezh looking for a couple hats for myself. I want one of those
Russian fur hats and maybe a beanie too.

I bought a Russian fur hat which is very toasty warm, as a matter of fact if the
temperature is above zero Fahrenheit the hat feels too warm. I found a Russian
beanie and I wear it quite often. 

This being my last day I walk around in a funk. I want to be upbeat and enjoy my
last moments with AE, I always get into a funk the day before I leave and AE always
the day I leave, luckily we don't both do it on the same day.

The days are gone, now I have to get back on a plane leaving Angel Eyes behind.
It's more difficult every single time . Every step is like walking upwind in a storm
with weighted legs.

AE goes with me to the airport, a few kisses and hugs and off I go. I look back
a while later and AE is still standing there looking at me with sad eyes. I put on
the brave face, wave and smile.

[2tallbill]

I arrive in North Dakota with an endless supply of work.
I check the internet every couple of days for deals on 
flights.

I find one with Delta for an excellent price and I am able
to use some of my miles too.

The flight leaves Dickinson goes to Minneapolis to Amsterdam to
Moscow SVO. The problem is that I have to get from SVO to DME
in order to fly to Voronezh. The traffic can be terrible and there
isn't a direct train/bus/subway etc to get there.

The dates of my trip are leaving December 26th arriving in SVO at
6:00 pm. I need to get to DME in about 3 1/2 hours so that I can
get on my 10:20 pm flight to Voronezh arriving at 11:20 pm

This will be my 4th trip to see AE in the year that we met.

[2tallbill]

December 22nd
Living the dream in Norf Dekody

It's -19F outside (-28C). I roll down my window to ask a guy a
question. The window rolls all the way down and now it won't roll up.
I wiggle the switch and it breaks off in my hand. GRRRRRRRRRRR 

I mess with it for about an hour and decide it's not going to work, but
I have managed to cause most of my body below my knees to turn numb
from the cold.

It's Sunday at 7:00 pm in Watford City. It might as well be 3:00 am
I walk into the store and start sweet talking the store manager. I
finally convince them to give me a roll of shrink wrap. Putting shrink
wrap on something that cold is difficult to do. It doesn't want to stick
to anything including itself.

However I finally get it wrapped up and drive home. Wind is blowing
through the window at 45 mph (and now 23 below zero) but I didn't
die. I will warm up and figure out how to fix it tomorrow.

The next day I work on it but it seems that the entire panel of switches
must be replaced.



I am driving my car with shrink wrap around where the window would be if it
were rolled up. The flapping nearly makes you deaf at speeds over 40 mph.

It's Christmas eve and I leave to Russia on the 26th. There is one barber where
I live, but he and his wife has decided to take off for a month.

My back has been giving me problems and lately my neck and shoulder are acting
up as well.

I have a cousin who lives an hour and a half away, we will spend Christmas eve
and part of Christmas together. As I drive through Williston on the way through
I pull over at Walmart to pick up a few supplies. I am nearly deaf in my left ear
from the flapping noise. 

The place is ALWAYS a zoo, today was no different. They have two barbers in
Walmart and I sign up for the last haircut for the day. Don't worry we will rush
it for you is their motto. The lady asks how do I want it? I said the same but
shorter. Twenty seconds later and far too late to complain most of my hair is
less than 3/8" long (.9 CM) and a few minutes later my hair is shorter than it's
been at any time in my entire adult life.

There is nothing I can do now, it will most likely grow back eventually.



I go to my cousins and we eat a feast that can't be beat and I go to
sleep on a mattress that can't be more than 5 feet long on the floor.
I wake up in pain, my back and neck are killing me. I pop several aspirins
and drink several liters of water. 

Guess what? my cousins kids happened to be good enough that year for
Santa to reward them with all kinds of loot and booty.



My cousin and I get his electrical testing stuff and figure out how to roll
up the window without the switch. (actually he figures it out, saying that
I helped would be vastly overstating my importance)  So, I order a new
switch on Amazon.

My son and I drive home in relative silence with a closed window. We bring
home enough left overs to stuff ourselves again and hit the sack because we
will be heading to the airport at Oh so dark thirty on December 26th.

more to follow...................

[2tallbill]

The alarm goes off way too soon and I pack up and head to the airport
which is an hour and a half drive or more depending on the weather.

The weather is typical North Dakota weather, snowy, windy, and the darkest
dark outside. You can't see the center line or any lines on the road but you
can see grooves that the semis have worn into the road. The grooves are wider
than the wheels of any car so you are either in one groove or the other or you
are transitioning between grooves, which is a bit hairy on snow and icy roads.

My flight plan is as follows. I fly out of Dickinson North Dakota at 5:55 am
then layover in Minneapolis until 3:25 pm then arrive in Amsterdam at 6:35 am
and have a 5 hour layover before landing in SVO in Moscow.

Then I must get from SVO to DME to fly to Voronezh.

I had inquired about how to get from one airport to the next online
I printed out the entire thread along with instructions/maps. Angel
Eyes sent me instructions written in Russian and translated to English.

I arrive in Minneapolis with a sore neck and back with the expectations
of spending several hours waiting. I called Delta customer service and
they tell me that I can upgrade to an exit row for more money. I say
GREAT and agree to pay.

However they told me that they can't actually give me the seats and that
I must wait until one hour before the flight and then get the seats from the
flight people at the airport.

I walk around the airport and see a masseuse and decide to get a tune up.
45 minutes later, I think that he found every knot in my back and neck and
used a hammer and pry bar to pound out each knot. I do feel considerably
better.
 
I am the first person at the desk when the flight opens but they are very sorry
because they can't let me sit in the exit row regardless of how much money I
offer them.

So I fly to Amsterdam and I am able to convince the polite and professional
people there that they should take 30 Euros of my money and exchange it for
an exit row seat.

I get on the flight to SVO and decide this is a good time to change my sim card
from USA to my Russian megaphone version. I take out my Russian sim card, then
the flight attendants make an announcement and I look down and my Russian sim
card is gone. I search, I check my cuffs, I crawl around on the floor I look everywhere
for it. It's gone, it was zapped into a parallel universe where another Beel needed it
more than I did.

I read the instructions on how to get between airports another 25 times at least.
None of the instructions explain where you find the ticket counter or ticket machine.
You are expected to know this already.

I arrive in SVO, my bag is there, I don't have any drama from passport control.
Things are going smooth.

[2tallbill]

While waiting for my bag to hit the carousel I review the instructions one more time
on how to get from SVO to DME. I keep thinking that it should have more information
about where to go to get the tickets.

I go through passport control and I cut through the gypsy cab drivers and start to
follow the signs to AeroExpress, no of course the signs don't say AeroExpress why
would they use the same name as the directions? However this is the only train so it
must be the train.

I am making my way towards AeroExpress and see a slim, beautiful girl with laserbeam
eyes and a dazzling smile.

Angel Eyes was standing in front of me !!!

Her company had their office party the night before and she plied her boss with plenty of
drinks. Somewhere along the way she got him to realize that nobody would be able to work
the next day as planned because of the hangovers. Once he agreed, she shot off like a rocket
before he changed his mind and jumped on a train to Moscow packing nothing.

She had only arrived minutes before I had, however she had purchased most of the tickets
to get to DME.

I was glad to see Angel Eyes, it was a great surprise. Dragging a huge suit case filled mostly
with presents and my laptop and backpack (also filled with presents) through the maze to DME
was a MAJOR pain in the @ss. I have learned not to pack many clothes, Angel Eyes washes them
the moment they touch the floor and so I have more room for presents and stuff that I won't
need to haul back with me.

Handling bags on the 45 degree slope escalators before the subway
with people pushing behind me was a pain. A lighter person than
myself who hasn't traded elbows with 6' 10" power forwards might
have tumbled down a few hundred stairs.

We took the circle (brown? I am colorblind) subway route which
is the shortest, and it got us to the next leg of the journey. From
that point there are still tickets to buy and crowds to navigate and
stairs to go up and down with heavy bags.

Lesson learned today don't fly into SVO if you need to fly out of DME
the same day.

We weave through the confusing maze to DME and sit next to each other
on the short flightto Voronezh. Angel Eyes brother picks us up and then
the trouble begins.

More to follow.

[2tallbill]

The trouble begins..........................

We collect my bags from the baggage claim exit and find Angel Eyes brother waiting for us.
AE opens her phone to find that it's completely dead. NOTE: this is very very common for
Angel Eyes. My phone is never dead, because I charge it when it gets low, I always know
the battery condition of my cell phone. AE has 974 great things about her but having her
cell phone in working order is not one of them.

AE is on very close to zero sleep and not making a lot of sense as she tosses out instructions
in Russian at 280 kph which is way too fast for me to comprehend.

Here are the problems as I see them.
1. AE has a dead phone

2. The apartment manager is supposed to meet us at the apartment
since she hasn't been paid yet.

3. I sent AE the money to pay for the apartment and AE put it into her
bank account. Which makes sense a small single girl wouldn't want to
carry large amounts of cash in her purse.

4. The only contact number for the apartment manager is on AE's dead phone.

5. It's past midnight and both of us are sleepy and AE has not eaten all day.

6. I was standing in line with our bags and gave AE a wad of cash from my
pocket with instructions to buy something to eat while I waited in line from
a kiosk. She came back just when we needed to leave to get on the plane
with nothing to eat because the prices were too high. I didn't care if they
wanted $25 for a muffin, I wanted her to have a little fuel inside her so that
her brain would work with no food and no sleep, but AE doesn't pay airport
prices for food.

7. AE's brothers newly pregnant wife is suffering from all the time sickness
which is similar to morning sickness but she is nauseous ALL of the time and
calling the brother every 15 minutes (so far he has the patience of Job)

AE wants to go to the ATM and retrieve the money then hopefully meet the apartment
manager at the apartment. This seems relatively reasonable however, I am fairly dubious
regarding the manager actually waiting on us at the apartment at midnight between Friday
night and Saturday morning without a follow up phone call and lastly, I think that AE needs
to get some food. I know what would happen if I had gone all day without eating until midnight
it wouldn't be pretty.

However, like my cell phone always being charged I always keep my stomach charged
too.

AE's brother drives us to 4 different ATMs before we find ONE that will turn over the
cash required to rent the apartment.

We arrive at the apartment and the apartment manager is not there. I am not surprised
That's when AE's becomes confused and begins arguing with her brother. Her brother
is still showing an extreme amount of patience.

I explain that we need to
1. Get some food for Angel Eyes and charge her phone at the same time.
2. We can take our bags into a nearby restaurant and AE's brother can go home
and comfort his poor sick wife and eliminate that entire factor from the equation.
3. We can call the manager and arrange a time to meet at the apartment
4. We can take a taxi to the apartment no need for AE's brother to stay awake all night
driving us around while he has a sick pregnant wife that needs him.

They all seem to agree but when AE and I step outside her brothers car he zooms off
into the night.  :laugh:  100% of my advice was ignored.

AE explains that her brother will be back in 30 minutes.

I need to explain that 30 minutes for AE is sort of a relative measurement of time.
Kind of like carbon dating in that it's not very precise when you break it into minutes
hours or days.

So we go into the restaurant and get seated. AE is all about reading the menu so I
remind her that the phone could be charging while we read the menu, order, wait
for our food, then eat it. She agrees and disappears.

Behind where we are seated are a group of young very drunk Russian men seated
at a table across from some young drunk chain smoking Russian girls. AE comes
back but forgot the menu which she eventually explains that she decided to order
and pay for both of us.

I'm not very picky about food, I can eat anything and I am not particularly hungry
so I don't mind at all. The waiter arrives with some water for me and tea for AE and
leaves.

The young drunks behind us however decide that they need to punch each other
while standing only inches away from me. The girls at the table seem to be somehow
involved and I stand up and step aside watching the two young drunk men fight which
is pretty comical in that they are moving almost in slow motion.

The waiters arrive and break up the slow motion fighting, our food arrives and I have
a couple of salads in front of me something with fish and something Greek. AE digs in
and explains that the girls at the next table were egging the drunk boys on and
testosterone mixed with alcohol did the rest.

When the food is finished AE gets her phone and calls the manager who will meet us at
the restaurant in 15 minutes. We have been at the restaurant for well over an hour and
I am steadfastly ignoring all time estimates or when I might see my bags again. I have
spent the last 35+ hours wearing the clothes on my back and I was considering whether
they should be washed or would burning them be more appropriate?

The apartment manager arrives maybe 45 minutes later and AE says "Beel wait two minutes"
and jumps into the car with the manager. I look in the windows and can see there is only
room for AE and the manager and nothing else. If we had our bags they would not fit and
certainly I wouldn't fit in the car.

So, I go back inside and order some water with gas and a drunk Russian man comes up
to me and decides that his life long goal was to be my best friend forever. I make polite
small talk, finish my bottle of water and excuse myself to go to the mens room.

The toilet is a complete mess, I use it, zip up and wash up and come outside to find that
my future best friend forever hasn't given up this easily. I buy another water with gas
and he invites me over and introduces me to everyone that he can interrupt which included
most of the people in the restaurant.

I haven't slept in ages, it's been at least two bottles of water with gas since AE jumped
into the managers car and I excuse myself from the drunk to explain that my girlfriend
desperately needs my attention and that I better go see what she wants.

I knock on the window to which AE looks at me like two minutes have not yet elapsed.
I explain that my new best friend forever (nbff) has offered to let me sleep on his couch
and has invited us inside to have some drinks.
 
AE finally extracts herself from the manager and we go walking down the street with nbff
tailing along. I explain that we are done partying and will not need any further help.

AE says something in Russian that causes him to stop, stand up straight, turn around and
go back to the restaurant without a further comment. I'm not sure what she said but it
was very effective. Then she turns to me and gives me her beaming smile.

We are only a couple miles from the apartment and begin walking towards it. I ask about
my bags and only then does AE decide to call her brother to meet us there. There is more,
it took hours and eventually at about 5:00 am we drift off to sleep.

more to follow .....................

[Wayne]

The photo you posted on post 682 shows many icons of the various Saints in the Russian Orthodox Church. Most Russian people have a given name corresponding to a Saint, and there will be an icon for this person.

We have copies of certain icons on the walls. You also should have certain ones in your car. You should have them in your suit case.