New to the board, but sort of an "old salt" to this endeavor TR

[Chris59]

Gentlemen,

   Thank you for the warm reception! Yes, I'm somewhat anxious to make another trip.

Did someone say they wanted to learn more about my story? Ok, I'm game, as a lot of my story actually goes back probably before many of you decided to get into this endeavor.

Sometime back in the late 1990's, I picked up a copy of the Tampa Tribune newspaper. In the upper corner of the front page was a small photo of a blond woman. This woman caught my eye, as her photo was a lead to a story inside titled, "Point, Click, Matrimony". It was an article about the internet-based company, "Loveme.com". This woman was beautiful, but in a reserved sort of way. I'm the kind of guy who really doesn't care for "supermodel types". I'm more of a "Maryann" kinda guy, and could really care less about "Ginger". (my favorite analogy).

(I still have a photos of this blond woman, and was tempted to post the exact photo here. Would that have been considered distasteful, and/or a TOS violation?)

The story was about this company that posted profiles of eastern european ladies online, and sold their addresses to interested men. I knew of the "mail-order bride" concept, as many call it, but I was more infatuated with this particular photograph of the blond lady. Turns out, her name was "Irina" from Kiev, Ukraine. She was 29, and I was about 37 at the time, so the age difference did not concern me. Her photograph in the newspaper showed her site ID#, which I gleefully looked up at "Loveme.com". I checked out many other ladies, but had a keen eye for "Irina".

I should've prefaced this story by stating that I have always noticed something a little cute about Russian girls. This goes as far back as the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, when Olga Korbut was making a name for herself. Well, it wasn't Olga who caught my eye, but a teammate of hers named "LudmillaTourischeva". I knew she had this foreign look about her that I greatly admired. Let's just say that I've been a fan of the Russian ladies gymnasts ever since. 

Another company that had a major internet presence was Atlanta-based "European Connections". They even had these full glossy monthy catalogs that you could subscribe to. So, I decided to order a couple catalogs, as they made great eye candy. Turns out, "European Connections" even offered these escorted tours to the major cities of the FSU, and they even provided a VHS video for sale. I decided to order one of these videos, which pretty much was filmed at an actual "social" held in Moscow. These videos now gave the viewer the opportunity to not only see some of these gals in full color, full motion VHS video, they also interviewed a good number of them, who in their best attempt to speak English, told the camera what their goals in life were, and why they were interested in western men for dating and marriage. While watching this video, I almost had a heart attack, because the very lady from Kiev, "Irina" was in attendance at this social, and they interviewed her for about 2 minutes. Her English was surprisingly good, but obviously with a heavy accent, which I thought was just the cutest I had ever heard. That's it,....I was hooked, and I just had to learn more about Irina. Well, it turns out that Irina actually worked with "European Connections" as an intrepreter for their socials in Kiev.

Eventually, in early 2001, I decided to order several addresses, which included Irina's, and another lady named "Julia" from St. Petersburg, Russia. I had a basic introduction letter translated into Russian, and I snail mailed it to both Irina and Julia. Well, I never did hear from Irina, but surprisingly, I got a snail-mail letter from Julia about a month later, with several beautiful photographs of her, and a pleasant introduction letter. She actually lived outside St. Petersburg, but only about 45 minutes by train away.

So, now that I had actually introduced myself to a nice lady in St. Petersburg, I started to research some discussion websites, like this one. I started to save some money in anticipation of eventually making a trip to Russia. I read the discussion boards with great interest, and paid particular attention to the other guys' trip reports. I would read with great interest about how well this guy did, and how horrible things turned out for that guy. I was determined to eventually make my own trip, but since I didn't know any of the language, or anybody there (except Julia),....I wasn't certain just how I was going to pull this off.

........... To Be Continued...........

[Chris59]

  .......... Continued .........


   Before I continue, I would like to mention that I am not going to bore you guys with one long boring trip report (unless of course, you insist on it!). I'm good at writing those too,...but I'm just going to be somewhat detailed about how I got started, and I'll throw a few more details in from my 1st trip. That was the trip that offered me the most culture shock.

   Ok, so I'm reading everything I can read from the various discussion boards, and company web sites about this process. After reading a number of trip reports from other guys, I decide that St. Petersburg is going to be my most likely first city to visit. One fellow from the RWGuide boards mentioned something about a Russian lady he knew in St. Petersburg, who he felt was very honest, and she could be contacted to deliver flowers to other ladies in the St. Petersburg area, much cheaper than those online flower services. He had used her services before, and said that she was absolutely trustworthy. He gave me her e-mail address, and for the sake of this story, her name was "Nina R.". (I am using her last initial because the second lady I met was named "Nina" too, but I will call her "Nina S." ---- Nina R. replied to my e-mail, and was very happy to deliver flowers to Julia, who lived about a 45 minute train ride outside the city. When Julia wrote to me, she explained that she had recently contracted cancer, and was recovering in the hospital from chemotherapy treatments. She said that she would understand if I chose not to write to her anymore. I thought, "bunk",....there's no way that I'm NOT going to do something to try and make Julia feel better, so I promptly ordered an odd number of red roses, and asked Nina R. to make the delivery. Within a day or so, Nina R. wrote back and said that she visited Julia in the hospital in her small hometown. She said that Julia had a lot less hair than in the photographs I sent her. Also, Julia had put on considerable weight while undergoing cancer treatments. This was in April of 2001.

   By this time, I knew that I had to make an "exploratory" trip to St. Petersburg. One reason was to check out the ladies to see if they were as adorable in person as their photographs revealed. Another reason was to visit another part of the world, that I had never visited before. As a caucasion male, eastern europe is ideal, as you can "sort of" blend in with the local population. If you dress appropriately, you will not standout like a sore thumb, unless somebody scrutinizes you closely, and that will happen. (I've since traveled to the Phillippines several times on company business, and believe me, in metro Manila, they can spot a foreigner a block away, and they are literally waiting for you when you get to them, with their hands extended, looking for a handout).

   In 2001, I was still in college (I finally went to college at 40), and I knew that I had an extended summer break at the end of August,...so I set my sights on August as the time to plan my first visit.


   ............ To Be Continued .................

[Chris59]

 ........... Continued ..............

   So, I knew I had about 5 months until my probable trip to Russia. I quickly researched what was the best way to learn as much of the language as I could. In addition to several language websites, that greatly assisted me with learning the Cyrillic alphabet, I listened to a trial version of Dr. Pimsleur's Russian language audio courses. These were available mostly by CD, so I bought a used version on eBay. Each "lesson" is about 30 minutes long, and is mostly "listen and repeat" common phrases that would be helpful in everyday life. At that time, I had a job that kept me in my car for most of the day, and many times I could drive for 30 minutes uninterrupted between stops. It was the perfect learning environment for me. I would usually repeat each lesson every day for about a week or two, before moving on to a subsequent lesson. I noticed that every other lesson seemed to be more difficult than the lessons that were not that difficult. I think they might've intentionally designed it that way. There are 90 lessons in all, in Pimsleur 1-2-3. Within a few months, I was up to about Lesson 20. I found that it just gave me some basics that I could use to make myself understood. For the most part, Pimsleur just has you "parrot" phrases, so that you can speak them. I would eventually learn that Russian people would want to speak back to you in their native language speed, and comprehending spoken Russian was another matter altogether. In the end, I came to realize that Pimsleur, or most any other language lesson will only take you so far. You really need to get immersed into the culture and language to reinforce what you had previously learned. Overall though, I would highly recommend Pimsleur courses as a way to get started learning the language. (I recently ordered a trial of the RosettaStone course, and for the most part, I really didn't care for it that much. I could be wrong, but the approach to learning vs. Pimsleur was quite different. If one could master BOTH courses, then I'm certain that you would be quite advanced in your language skills).

During my e-mails to Nina R., I had often expressed a bit of anxiety about traveling to Russia. She stated that there is nothing to worry about if I wanted to travel to Russia. She said she would pick me up at the airport, have a rental apartment that I could stay in, and she'd take me by the hand and show me St. Petersburg if I wanted. All this and she would also help me go see Julia, if and when I arrived. That was all I needed to hear! Going to St. Petersburg would only be as difficult as getting there, and the rest I could rely on Nina R. to help me. I even called Nina R., and she confirmed everything on the phone,....I decided to take the step, and go to St. Petersburg. Ludmilla Teresheva, where are you?

The next item on my agenda, was to obtain a good price on airfare to St. Petersburg. I live in the Tampa Bay area, so I was initially pricing fares r/t from my local airports. I found that pricing fares from my local airports to Russia was not quite cost-effective. Someone on one of the boards gave me a tip that LOT Polish Airlines was running a special "Summer Sale",...so I checked out their website, and sure enough, they had fare sales from JFK (NY) to Pulkovo in St. Petersburg, Russia for less than $600 r/t taxes included. Flying r/t from Sarasota to JFK was about $200. I went ahead and booked the LOT Polish Airlines' portion on their website, many months in advance. A couple months later, I booked r/t from Sarasota to JFK via Atlanta. I left these (2) itineraries completely separate, as my flight from Atlanta was supposed to arrive at JFK about 2-3:00pm, and my departing flight on LOT Polish was supposed to leave at 6:20pm. Plenty of time you'd think, right!? Nooooooooooooo !!! Stay tuned for more details on that fiasco!

With airline tickets in hand, or at least booked electronically, I was all set to go to Russia. Later I would learn that the nice Russian lady, Nina R., had an American boyfriend who had traveled to Russia a couple times recently, but was still in the States, for the time being. I would learn that his name was "Phil", and I was given his e-mail address by one of the board members. I decided to write to Phil to introduce myself, and sort of commraderize with him about going to Russia. He sent back a cordial reply, and mentioned that he would not be in St. Petersburg when I was going to be there, but we agreed that we'd keep in touch.

On departure day, invariably, Delta Airlines had a 3+ hour delay in Atlanta, that caused my flight to arrive into JFK right about 6:00pm. If any of you know JFK,...my Delta flight arrived at Terminal 2, and my departing flight on LOT Polish was leaving from Terminal 8. By the time Delta released their "hostages", I grabbed a cab and asked the guy to haul-ass over to Terminal 8. By the time I navigated Terminal 8, and ran to the departure gate, the flight was "closed", even though it was still parked at the gate. They had given my seat away, and they stated that it wasn't their problem, and I should take up my complaint with Delta.

It was Friday night, and I was stuck in New York City, and my LOT Polish Airlines flight was going to Russia without me! I spent 4-5 hours argueing back and forth between LOT Polish Airlines (it really wasn't their fault) and Delta Airlines. After 4-5 hours of not getting anywhere with either airline, I booked a hotel room near JFK and would take-up my argument via telephone. Somehow though, I had to get word to Nina R., NOT to go to the airport on Saturday morning, because I wouldn't be arriving.


 ................. To Be Continued ..................

[Chris59]

...Before I continue, I'd like to let everyone know that I'm aware that this report is starting to get a bit lengthy. Maybe I should've started it under the Trip Reports section. No one has told be to cease and desist yet,....who knows, maybe I'm boring everyone to sleep, or everyone here has committed hari kari reading my story. Just a couple more episodes, and I should be through. I'll not elaborate on each and every detail, and certainly not on all subsequent trips, but in the end, not only will there be a quiz, but I'll have a few more pointers to make.


 ............... Continued...............


   Earlier in this report, I mentioned that I had met another lady named "Nina S.". Thus there were (2) "Nina's" in my story. Well, about the time I secured my first airline ticket, I was browsing a Russian personals website, "Omen.ru", I think it was. This is pretty much like a "Match.com" site, but in Russian. I picked out a very attractive blond lady, and since her e-mail address was listed in the profile, it was quite easy to fire off a message to her e-mail address. The very next morning I had a nice response from her. I had told her that I had planned a visit to St. Petersburg in August, and she stated that it gave us plenty of time to get to know each other. "Nina S." and I exchanged e-mail almost everyday for several months. She even sent me other photos of her, including a cute baby picture.

   So, by the time I was heading to St. Petersburg, I had secured communications with both Julia (I had her address and phone number, as she had no computer at that time), and Nina S. who I communicated with almost daily. Even though my original intention was to go visit Julia, turns out that Nina S. and I got to know each other much better than Julia and I did. I even told Nina S about Julia, and that she was recovering from cancer, and I intended to keep my promise of paying a visit to her. Believe it or not, Nina S. understood my position, and thought it was very noble of me to visit a sick gal that I had never met before. While Julia lived in the suburbs, Nina S. actually lived in St. Petersburg, and told me that she knew where my apartment was, and that it wasn't a problem for her to visit when I got there. All I had to do now, was get there......

   Meanwhile, back in NYC, our hero is still stranded at JFK with no reservations to go to Russia, and a return trip booked on Delta a week from now to go home. The lesson I learned about booking (2) separate airline itineraries was that if something happened to me on one airline, the other didn't have to assume any responsibility. I fly Delta a lot, as it's the only major airline to fly out of Sarasota, but I was not happy with the treatment I was getting with Delta personnel at JFK. I had met several people that previous night at JFK who were also on that ill-fated, 3+ hour delayed flight from Atlanta. An asian looking lady named "Nelly" told me that she got re-booked on Finnair to St. Petersburg, and told me that I should ask them if they would accept me on their flight. The agent at their gate stated that she couldn't, but said that LOT Polish should IF I could provide them with a "FIM" (Flight Interruption Manifest). Delta did eventually give me a "Military Excuse Card" which explained that their flight from Atlanta arrived over 3+ hours late. Bottom line is, LOT Polish agreed to fly me "stand-by" on their Saturday night flight, or would give me a guaranteed seat on Sunday night's flight. So, one way or the other, I was going to be on my way to St. Petersburg. On the Saturday night flight, it appeared to be booked solid,.....however, I was the very last to board, when the gate agents motioned me over to the desk. They allowed me to fly, and told me to "work out the details when you get to Warsaw".

   Sunday morning, I arrived in Warsaw, and once again, I had to explain to the people in Poland why I missed their Friday night flight. I had to go upstairs in the airport to their executive offices and wait while I explained the situation, and they conferred between themselves in Polish on what to do with gringo-boy, here! They agreed to let me fly on to St. Petersburg, but the next flight did not leave until Monday, the next day. So, I had to get a hotel about a mile or so down the road from the airport. The street car ran outside from the airport, and I was told to stay on it until about the 2nd or 3rd stop, I can't remember. The hotel room was tiny by western standards, but I just hit the rack early, and was back at Warsaw Int'l Airport at about 8:00am, for a noon flight,.....I wasn't taking any chances. I managed to call both Nina's and explain the situation, and that it appeared as if I would be arriving on Monday afternoon.

   I haven't even seen my luggage since Friday, and it's already Monday, and I'm still wearing the same clothes since Friday. Fortunately, the airport in Warsaw has a few cute little shops with some decent apparel that can be purchased. I bought a new dress shirt, and ditched my smelly old one into the cleaning ladies push-buggy garbage. I had washed out my underwear and socks in the hotel bathroom sink the night before. Even though I had not shaved in a few days, I wasn't going to arrive into St. Petersburg stinkin'! Once I was aboard the Lot Polish flight from Warsaw to St. Petersburg, I saw them loading my luggage just down below me. I felt some relief, as now I knew that my luggage would arrive when I finally did.


 ............. To Be Continued (again) .............

[Gator]

Chris,

Good story.  If you reside in Tampa, you should know that Simoni, Rivardco and I are neighbors.  There are some single RW here.

[groovlstk]

I'm enjoying your account Chris, please continue.

[myrddin]

....who knows, maybe I'm boring everyone to sleep, or everyone here has committed hari kari reading my story.

No, but you are distracting me from work!

Keep it comin'.   

Oh, and welcome!

[SANDRO43]

...Before I continue, I'd like to let everyone know that I'm aware that this report is starting to get a bit lengthy. Maybe I should've started it under the Trip Reports section.

No great problem Chris, the resident Moderator may well move it to the T/R board anytime, if necessary .

[Chris59]

SANDRO43, groovlstk, & myrddin,....
Thanks for allowing me to continue. I suspect that a report like this is of more interest to the newer fellas, who maybe haven't made a trip yet. Hopefully, this will encourage a few on the fence, to make the trip. I'm relieved to see that I haven't totally aggravated everybody yet, with my incessant, detailed writings.


Gator,...actually, I live in Sarasota, which is close enough. I have already exchanged pleasantries with "Simoni". I look forward to meeting you and Rivardco, if you're up for it. You say there's single RW's up your way?,........(long pause),.....I'll be right over!!!

[Faux Pas]

   I haven't even seen my luggage since Friday, and it's already Monday, and I'm still wearing the same clothes since Friday. Fortunately, the airport in Warsaw has a few cute little shops with some decent apparel that can be purchased. I bought a new dress shirt, and ditched my smelly old one into the cleaning ladies push-buggy garbage. I had washed out my underwear and socks in the hotel bathroom sink the night before. Even though I had not shaved in a few days, I wasn't going to arrive into St. Petersburg stinkin'! Once I was aboard the Lot Polish flight from Warsaw to St. Petersburg, I saw them loading my luggage just down below me. I felt some relief, as now I knew that my luggage would arrive when I finally did.


 ............. To Be Continued (again) .............

Welcome Chris!

Knock on wood, luckily I've had no problems during my trips to Russia but I am ohhh so familiar with the "Airport Hell" you are experiencing here from other trips. One was a flight diversion from a hurricane. Probably the worse 3 days of my life 

[Chris59]

 ...................Continued ...................


 Well, after a VERY eventful 4 days courtesy of Delta & LOT Polish Airlines, I arrived at Pulkovo Int’l. Airport to a warm greeting from Nina R. and Slava. They quickly & efficiently whisked me away towards my apartment near Ligovsky Prospekt Metro station. Phil had warned me that the apartment building may not look tremendously beautiful from the outside, but that the 5th floor apartment was quite clean, cozy, modern, and more importantly, a big bargain compared to others I’d seen advertised on the internet for 2-3X  the price. Phil was absolutely correct in his assessment. Having lived in San Francisco for 5 years during my youth, the sight of rather large inner-city apartment buildings was no surprise. Nadya, the apartment owner was there to greet me, and I found her to be very pleasant, attractive, and informal in her business dealings. After paying the previously-agreed upon price for the apartment, Nadya, Nina R. & Slava decided to part company, thus leaving me only one HUGE item on my mind to take care of. That was get cleaned-up, and call Nina S. to inform her of my arrival, and prepare for meeting a woman that I already had a great affection for, even though we had not yet personally met.


  A couple weeks prior to my departure for Russia, I decided it’s only proper to give each of these three ladies a personal phone call (just to ensure that I really haven’t been corresponding with “Fat Yuri”). A call to Nina R. reveals that she indeed does have a virtually fluent command of the English language. My next call to Nina S. reveals that she’s quite amused at my attempt to speak Russian, as she mostly just giggles & says “ahh, vedy goood” when I converse in Russian. Nina S. has a very soft & lovely voice , & is able to converse a little bit to me in English too, although in a slow & deliberate manner of speech. 

   A subsequent call to Julia reveals that she has virtually no command of the English language, a slightly harder voice, and any meeting with her will require an intermediary, to which Nina R. gladly accepts the responsibility. Julia tells me in her letters that she enjoys BBQ’s, and making homemade wine, which she tells me she hopes we can enjoy on my visit.

   Since I had communicated much more with Nina S. than I had Julia, and that she was such a close distance from my apartment, it made perfect sense to me that this was the woman that I definitely wished to see first, and barring any disasters upon meeting, would probably choose to spend the majority of my time with while in Piter. Nina S. had agreed to sit by her phone & wait for me to call her, when Nina R. & the driver Slava had delivered me to my apartment. Nina S. had inquired if I liked pastry, and stated to me that she would need 60-90 minutes after I called her, to give her time to negotiate the Metro, get to her favorite confectionary shop, and arrive to my apartment.



 ..................To Be Continued ........................

[Chris59]

 ...................More ..........................


About 5:00pm I call Nina S. and inform her in my best Russian “ye zdyes sech-ahs” (I’m here now), to which she informs me in decent English that “I go to you”, but she needs 1 ½ hours. This is good I think, as it gives me time to unpack, shave 4 days of beard off my face, shower & get into the best suit that I had packed. Since there was no apartment doorbell down on the street, only a large, heavy door which required a code for access, we agreed that I would be downstairs waiting for her on the street. About 6:20pm, I head downstairs to the sidewalk where I immediately feel way over dressed compared to the passers-by. I quickly grow tired of craning my neck one way down the street, and then 180 degrees in the other direction. I notice a little café directly across the street where several men dressed in suits are conversing in Russian. I decide to cross the street & innocently stand around near the other well-dressed men, to kinda blend-in, as I want to be the first to get a good look at her, and not the other way around. From here it was also much easier to survey both directions of the street.

    I know I’m looking for a blonde woman who’s somewhat on the slender side. I wasn’t even sure how tall she was going to be, but I just guessed she’d be somewhere about 5’5” or 5’6”. Unbeknownst to her, I saw her internet ad only the one time I sent her my first letter. I had to ask her to re-send her photo because I never downloaded it off the internet site. I found her once, and never did find it again to recheck her vital statistics. She has an 18 year old son “Alexey” who lives with her, and appears quite tall in the 1 photo I have of him.

   Ok, it’s now exactly 6:30pm, and there’s still no one on the block that closely resembles her. A couple of blondes have passed by, but none that closely enough resemble the lady I’m looking for. Suddenly, way down on the next block, walking in this direction from the same side of the street, is a blonde woman who is carrying 2 boxes tied together in her right hand. My eyes are on her all the way to the corner, where she crosses the street and proceeds to approach the apartment building from the other side. This time, I’m sure it’s her, as she’s still walking almost directly across the street from me now. I step-out from beside the crowd in front of the café, and emerge into the street, where we both make eye contact. After she studies me for a second, we both exchange big smiles. As I approach her, she’s taller than I had imagined, maybe 5’8” or 5’9” and far, FAR more beautiful than anticipated. For a woman of 40, she could easily pass for 30, and I repeatedly inquired to her over the course of my stay, if she wasn’t really 25, and how could she possibly have a son who’s 18.

   I invited her up to the apartment, where upon entrance she gave me an almost seemingly obligatory peck on the lips. Nothing overpowering, mind you, but I did have fantasies prior to my arrival of giving her a huge full-body bear hug, and slow gentle kisses up & down her neck upon meeting. I showed her the apartment, and we proceeded to share tea & pastry for almost an hour while we chatted. She had brought 2 each, of 3 different pastries.  It was here that I realized that her English was far better than I had expected. I thought that my Russian was good enough to converse with, but her English skills were far better than I could’ve hoped for. Nina R. had previously told me that Nina S. had purchased a book entitled “English in 3 days”. If that was the case, I want the “Russian in 3 days” English version. I had also packed an Ectaco electronic Russian-English dictionary. I honestly thought that this was going to be our primary means of communication, but quickly found out that we weren’t going to need it much. In all, I think we referred to it maybe a dozen times, and just to look up the odd, complicated single word that we needed to get the full point across.


 ............................. More Coming Soon ...........................

[Chris59]

 ................ More ....................

We finished our tea & pastry and we proceeded to take a walk towards the heart of the city, that we had mutually agreed-upon via e-mail prior to my arrival. When we got into the heart of Nevsky Prospekt, I’m experiencing a bit of culture shock, as the sidewalks are in noticeably poor state of repair. The drivers making turns on the street almost seem to be daring you to cross in front of their vehicles. There are a number of banners strewn across the street advertising what I’m guessing to be some sort of festival or celebration. Probably the biggest thing that I notice is that a good majority of the population is obviously, and in an open manner, consuming these ½ liter bottles of beer, right out in public. Maybe this is how it is in Russia, but I’m not quite accustomed to seeing such blatant displays of public alcohol consumption. I also notice that a good percentage of the population looks to be of somewhat questionable character. I mean that I have this personal theory, that most people ARE who they look like, and most of the men I've seen don't outwardly appear to be the most upstanding citizens I've ever seen. As we negotiate Nevsky Prospekt, I’m trying to keep her from out in front of crazy drivers. We’re also approached several times by people obviously soliciting for spare change. I responded with my most convincing “ne se-chas” (not now) in Russian, which brought giggles from Nina S.

   We walked all the way down Nevsky Prospekt, over the Fontanka River, past Gostinyy Dvor, Kazan Cathedral, through Palace Square, and on to the Neva River overlooking the Hermitage Museum. During this entire stroll, we are hand-in-hand, walking, laughing, making jokes, and just conversing as if we were long lost buddies who’ve found each other after years of absence. I’m of the opinion, that we are extremely comfortable with each other, and during the entire course of the evening, I haven’t seen anyone that in my opinion is more beautiful than she is. I noticed a lot of men and women alike eyeing her as we strolled throughout the city. I felt very, very lucky indeed to be in her company. She did not seem like a stranger to me at all.

   By now, it’s almost 10:00pm, and it’s still a bit light out. I tell her that I realize that “White Nights” is mostly in June, but since in Florida it’s mostly dark these days by 8:45pm, that this is plenty close enough for me. The rest of the evening would consist of my first Metro ride, and she escorted me back to the apartment for another cup of tea before I escorted her to Ligovsky Metro, and she made her way home for the evening.

         --- To be continued ---

[Chris59]

It looks like I lied to you nice folks. Turns out I located the original trip report text I saved on a spare computer. Therefore, the last couple segments were "copy and paste" from the original document. That accounts why I have such a vivid memory of a trip to Russia, that happened 8 years ago. I still remember each and every day like it was yesterday, and yes, my first trip to Russia left quite an impression on me. I gotta tell ya, re-reading even my own trip report makes me want to jump on a plane and go right back over. Therefore, unless I get overwhelmed with requests to stop, I'll continue in detail for this trip report. To those who are bored to tears, or border on commiting hari kari, unfortunately, we are just getting warmed up, and there are still several days to go in my trip. So, sit back, grab a cold one and some popcorn, and take a journey to Russia, with me!


Dear Mr. Moderator,....I apologize for this incredibly long "Introductions and Ice-Breaker" report. If you'd like me to continue this under the Trip Reports section, I will happily oblige. Otherwise, I will continue here, and hope that it's not too big of an inconvenience.

[Chris59]

 ..............Now, we resume our regularly scheduled program ..............


--- Tuesday 8/21/01 ---

   Nina S. arrived to my apartment at approx. 10:00am as agreed upon. Our first order of the day was to proceed via Metro to station Baltyskaya for the short walk to the Hotel Sovetskaya, where on the 11th floor is the office I was to visit to have my visa registered. After a brief walk about a kilometer or so, we arrived at this office. I was instructed to pay the $35.00 registration fee, and told I could pick up my stamped visa on Thursday. What a pain in the arse I’m thinking this is. Essentially, I’m just paying someone else to register my visa for me. It wasn’t the cost that concerned me, it was the fact that I would now have to return to the Hotel Sovetskaya, and would not be in possession of my actual visa in the event that I was ever asked for it. I had photocopies inside my travel wallet, but fortunately I was never questioned by any authority figures.

   After a quick view of the city from the top floor of Hotel Sovetskaya, Nina S. and I had agreed that today we would do the Hermitage Museum. By the time we arrived via Metro towards that part of the city, it was already early afternoon. The line for the Hermitage Museum was quite long, and I jokingly inquired to Nina S. if she knew about the discount “Militsia Special” that I have previously read about in other trip reports. She claimed to not know what I was talking about. We were waiting in line for about 5 minutes, sipping on some mineral water, when she told me that she thought it might be at least an hour before we could get inside. She told me that she was going to go up to the front & see how much it costs, and ask about how long the wait would be. When she returned, she told me that for me (a foreigner) it would cost 300 rubles, and for her 20 rubles. If this was agreeable, we could go right inside. I gave her kind of a sly look, as I knew now what she was up to. I agreed, and we proceeded to the front of the line, where she exchanged some verbal dialogue (in Russian) with one of the policemen standing behind the crowd control barricades. The policeman moved the barricades aside, allowed only us to pass, and handed her some kind of pass or ticket. Upon presenting this to the Babushka ticket-taker, the Babushka grumbled something to us in Russian, and motioned us on inside. About 30 or 40 paces inside, we were accompanied by the same policeman who let us pass, and Nina S. instructed me to give him 300 rubles (about $10.00 U.S). I thanked the policeman in Russian, and we proceeded to enter the Hermitage Museum. I inquired to Nina S. why she claimed to not know what I was talking about earlier, and she chuckled when she told me that “it’s not legal”. Well, legal or not, if the policemen aren’t going to arrest us,… gee, do the Babushka’s have some kind of lock-up somewhere? We easily spent the next 4 to 5 hours roaming around the halls of the Hermitage Museum. I knew we were lost inside when we kept wandering some of the same halls 2 and 3 times over again. We both were growing somewhat tired, and found ourselves sitting down every so often.

   Earlier, Nina S. had purchased several tangerines from a fruit stand, and thus far during the course of the entire day, we had split 2 maybe 3 tangerines the whole day. Aside from that, we had not had anything else to eat or drink except for the bottle of mineral water that we had split earlier. At this point, I was virtually starving, and while walking back, I repeatedly asked her if she wanted to stop at a café, have some ice cream from one of the vendors, a drink, anything!! She responded by telling me she’s on a diet. Here’s a woman about 5’8 and probably about 115 lbs. soaking wet, and she’s on a diet.

   We walked in the general direction of my apartment back up Nevsky Prospekt. I kept pleading with her that she needed to eat something. What I really meant was I needed to eat something. I didn’t want to just eat something and not have her eat too, so I decided to wait. As we were walking, for the first time in my short visit, Nina S. had become somewhat silent, and non-talkative. I assumed, and hoped it was just fatigue, and not that she was growing tired of me. We strolled down Kanala Griboedova towards the Church of the Resurrection. After admiring the church for a few minutes, we found ourselves plopped-down on some benches in the park right next to the church. Here we sat for about an hour watching children slide down a slide & swinging. We discussed our family situation, where she told me that her mother had passed away several years prior. She would’ve been 67 if still living, ironically the same age of my still-living mother. Her father divorced her mother when she was a child, much like my parents did, and he now lives outside the city, near Dibuny, oddly enough, where Julia lives. She has no sisters or brothers. We continued to make small talk, and I showed her some photos of my mother, and 20-year old nephew, who lives with her.

After a short walk back to Nevsky Prospekt, a Metro ride uptown, we now found ourselves directly outside the small café across the street from my apartment building. It was after 8:30pm already, and I insistently told her that I was now having something to eat. She finally agreed it was time to have a bite to eat. This café has very little ambience, as you order at the counter, have a seat, and wait to be served. We both decided to have the sautéed chicken breast dinner, served with a number of side dishes such as shredded beets, coleslaw, sliced pickles, bread, and something else I can’t remember. Nina S. had a glass of white wine, and I had a .5 liter of “Boykapeb” beer (boychkarev is the best pronunciation I can give). Her son Alexi recommended this beer over Baltica that I had read about here. The total bill for both our dinners & drinks came to a whopping 140 rubles (about $5.00 total). I was relieved to see that she would finish 90% of her dinner, and naturally I didn’t leave a scrap left on my plate.

   Nina S. accompanied me upstairs to the apartment, where we had tea and chatted more at the kitchen coffee table. During the course of our conversation, I decided to move my sitting stool around from the other side of the table, and sit directly beside her while we sipped tea & chatted. We watched a bit of Russian TV, which humorously enough was showing a Bill Murray movie dubbed-over in Russian. I didn’t recognize the movie, but Bill Murray had this elephant with him for most of the entire flick. I found it particularly amusing to watch the black actors (a sheriff or deputy) speaking in Russian. Nina S. knew of Bill Murray and told me that she has “Caddyshack” dubbed in Russian on video.

   At this point, I’m still uncertain of how Nina S. may actually feel about me. Is she just going through the obligatory motions of overseeing my stay, or does she feel somewhat like I do, like we might be a good connection together? It’s almost 11:00pm now, and I’m aware that the Metro closes in 30+ minutes. Since it’s almost a 5-10 minute walk to the station, I suspect that Nina S. will be preparing to leave momentarily. While watching TV on the sofa, I’ve been gently massaging her arms, back, and shoulders. I finally lean into her to give her the biggest kiss that we’ve shared since my arrival. We continue to kiss & embrace for several minutes. I’m very much enjoying the moment, but am also conscience of the time, as I know the Metro closes soon. It’s 11:15 and we’re still fairly passionately embracing. I’m concerned for her safety late at night, and I’m equally concerned what her son will think if she’s not home soon. It’s after 11:20pm, and she doesn’t appear ready to leave anytime soon. She had inquired a bit earlier, and I told her that she’s welcome to stay, but I want it to be her decision. I also want her son to know that she’s ok. She calls her son to inform him that she’s ok. At 11:30pm, it is now quite apparent that she’s not intent on leaving, and I should now expect to entertain an overnight guest.

--- To be continued ---


--- Fast Forward  (sorry, :::shrug: ---

[Chris59]

 ........ We again resume our regularly scheduled broadcast ...........


--- Wednesday 8/22/01 ---


   It’s a couple minutes after 10:00am, and we’ve both only been awake for several minutes. Suddenly, the phone rang, it’s Phil calling from Minnesota wishing me a happy arrival, and inquiring as to my liking of the apartment & everything. I responded that everything is just wonderful, and we only chat for a couple more minutes. In the apartment that morning, for whatever reason, the water was not running. Nadya had explained to me upon arrival that since the apartment is located close to the oldest part of the city, that the water may be erratic at times. Ok, so on this day, neither Nina S. nor I will be showering this morning.

   In the meantime, we had agreed via e-mail that I would allow Nina S. the opportunity to take me to Peterhof, as this is her most favorite place directly outside the city. Since it is Wednesday, and I am due to leave on Saturday, I must make arrangements to visit Julia, and determine what day would be good for Nina R., as she has agreed to accompany me on the suburban train to Dibuny (“da-boonies”).

Note: In my letters to both Julia & Nina S., I had informed each of them about the other. I am not one to attempt to hide the truth, and if these women are intelligent, they won’t expect a gentleman to travel half-way around the globe just to see them without any contingency arrangements. Both women seemed to have understood this, and Nina S. particularly admires my compassion for the ill-fallen Julia. In one of her previous e-mails, she admitted to a bit of “jealousy”, but understands & admires my position.

   Therefore, Nina R. determines that Thursday would be a good day, and I call both Nina R. & Julia to confirm that I will travel to Dibuny via suburban train to visit her with Nina R. on Thursday. Having done this, Nina S. & I set out towards the Baltyskaya Metro station to board a bus for Peterhof. She tells me that she would like to take the bus out & the hydrofoil boat back from Peterhof. Not having showered this morning, I don’t feel like my absolute best. Nina S. is still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. However, she looks just as incredibly beautiful as I’ve ever seen her. She one of those Russian women that is always continually checking herself out in her compact mirror, and applying make-up & lipstick at seemingly every street corner. Ahhh, at last someone who takes pride in her appearance!

   As the bus approaches Peterhof, Nina S. tells me to be on the lookout for an incredibly beautiful church that is coming up on the left. When she said beautiful, I didn’t think she meant that it would be a clone of the Church of the Resurrection in St. Petersburg. We were allowed to pay 20 rubles each and climb the stairs to the top of this church. There wasn’t a whole lot to see, but it was an interesting church just the same. Outside, there was an older woman with a cup out for donations. I put 10 rubles into her cup as a goodwill gesture.

    At the grounds of Peterhof, we purchased our entry tickets, and decided to grab a bite before going in. Nina S. & I each had a hamburger (not a western-type hamburger, but a hamburger with a slice of ham, and funky Russian ketchup). Having spent 4 or 5 hours the previous day at the Hermitage, we decided to forego actually going inside the  Peterhof Palace, and instead opted for viewing the magical-like water fountains, and walking the beautiful park-like grounds. We strolled the grounds all the way to the small hill that overlooks the beach, and walked down to the hydrofoil ticket window to inquire about the price, check the schedule, and purchase return trip tickets if necessary. I read somewhere that it’s advisable to purchase tickets in advance. Today however, the last boat leaves at 5:00pm for whatever reason, and it’s already 3:30pm, and we’ve only just explored half of this place. We decided to forget the return by boat, and would catch the bus on the main street instead later. Feeling a bit hungry again, and in need of using the facilities, we come across a small restaurant/ café that had some rather tempting looking desserts on display. One of them was quite large, and Nina S. & I agree to split it, and she has tea & I a Heineken. On our way out of the park, we come across a group of souvenir vendors and I proceeded to purchase a couple of Russian lacquer boxes, and a Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s Matryoshka doll. I particularly enjoyed haggling a lower price in Russian with the vendor. We make our way out to the street to await the city bus which arrives in just about 2 minutes. There’s only a small crowd of people awaiting the rear door to open, but when it does, we experience pushing & shoving as if they’re attempting to exit the sinking Titanic. I remember distinctly hearing a thick accent behind me saying “poosh”. Upon arrival at the bus stop, I noticed a couple of those unsavory-type looking guys that I had mentioned earlier. I suspect that they may have been pick-pockets, trying to cause a commotion with the crowd entering the bus. Who knows, it may have ME that they were targeting. During my entire visit to Piter, I kept a “dummy” wallet in my rear pants pocket. Even though it was just a bogus wallet, I kept a hand on it, while entering the rear door of the bus.  In my opinion, there was really no need to create such havoc getting aboard the bus, UNLESS they were trying to create some diversion to grab somebody’s wallet. One lady began giving those mugs behind us a piece of her mind about the seemingly needless pushing. It was no big deal I thought, but just an observation, and they never did get my wallet, assuming that’s what they were after.

   The city bus ride was a bit on the quiet side for Nina S. & me. We hardly conversed at all the whole way back. The bus was fairly crowded, and standing room only, but we had seats. Again, I was hoping it was just a bit of fatigue, and not that she was getting tired of being with me. We found the ever-familiar Baltyskaya Metro station and headed for home only several stops down the line. The emotions of Nina S. though, are starting to concern me, because I really cannot tell if she is into me, or just being the obligatory good hostess, even though we enjoyed an incredible night together, just last night.

   While riding the Metro, we virtually never had seats, and I always had one arm firmly around her waist to keep her on balance. Honestly, this is her city, and she rides the Metro every day. You guys don’t really believe that I think she needs to be stabilized while onboard the Metro? However, this was just another opportunity to show my affection for her, by wrapping my arm around her waist every time we’re onboard the Metro. Sometimes she would even grab my hand, and pull it around her waist in approval. I thoroughly enjoyed being close to her while onboard the Metro.

    We arrived back at my apartment prior to 8:00pm, and we were both very tired. We each had very little sleep the night before (heh-heh-heh), so we decided to call it an early day, and at this point, we did not make any tentative plans to see each other on Thursday, the following day. To the best of my knowledge, Nina R. & I were going to travel to “Da-boonies” to visit with Julia & her parents. I still had the visa to be picked-up in the morning, and Nina S. thought that Nina R. would probably help me retrieve it. Tentatively, we were scheduled to arrive at Julia’s residence between 2:00pm & 3:00pm, which would’ve required about a 1 hour earlier departure from the Finlandia Railway Station. That evening, alone in my apartment, I started to feel somewhat solemn, as I knew I only had a couple days left, and to this point, Nina S. had been someone very special to me, and I didn’t look forward to having to say goodbye to her on Saturday. Fortunately, that day was still a couple of days away.

--- To be continued ---

[Doll]

Застрелиться!

[Chris59]

Doll,...только еще 3 дня, чтобы пойти!  

   


   Это мог бы быть  ...., но я имею ваше внимание, да?

[Chris59]

Застрелиться!

Ok board, judging by another board members comment, and my elementary knowledge of Russian, I sense that I have a reader that's borderline suicidal,  ...or maybe homicidal, but I hope not. If for any of you, this story is getting too cheesy, I suggest you change the channel. I would hate to think I'm responsible for someone else's suicidal tendancies. Otherwise, our saga continues:

=========================================================================

   About 9:00pm or so, Nina S. departs for home. I used this time to give Nina R. a call to confirm our plans for tomorrow. Nina R. then told me that she had spoken to Julia earlier in the day, and that she was now expecting us about 4:00pm. Nina R. inquired if I knew where Metro station Lenina Ploshad was, and I told her that I did. To this point, I have yet to negotiate the Metro by myself, but Nina R. tells me that she will be outside the Metro station about 3:00pm. I told Nina R. that I had planned on retrieving my visa from the Hotel Sovetskaya in the morning prior to my arrival at Lenina Ploshad. She inquired if she thought I could get to station Baltyskaya by myself, which I assured her that I could, but in reality I was lying a bit. Guys, if you haven’t mastered reading Cyrillic yet (like I haven’t), riding the Metro in St. Petersburg can be somewhat of a daunting task. Since I had been riding with Nina S. on every Metro ride, I usually just relied on her to get us through the transfer points, etc., and headed in the right direction. I’ll admit, at that time, I could read & understand about half of the Cyrillic alphabet, the other half still remained a mystery. If I was to negotiate the Metro by myself tomorrow, I wasn’t really looking forward to it, to be quite honest.

   Ok, since I wasn’t to meet Nina R. until 3:00pm the next day, this would give me more time to spend with Nina S. in the early part of the day. I called Nina S. and told her of my 3:00pm meeting time with Nina R. and she then asked about how I was going to get to the Hotel Sovetskaya to retrieve my visa. I slyly told her that I had planned on going over by myself in the morning, and it wouldn’t be a problem. Well, Nina S. fell right into my trap, she asserted that I probably couldn’t get there by myself, so she insisted to come over at 10:00am the next morning, and we could spend a few hours together, prior to me heading towards “Da-boonies” to meet Julia.

--- Thursday 8/23/01 ---

   Nina S. arrived the next morning punctual as usual after her customary phone call 30 minutes prior to let me know she was leaving. After our usual morning coffee, we departed for station Baltyskaya, where the Hotel was only about a kilometer walk or so. We retrieved my visa, and she told me that she would like to visit the Summer Garden in the heart of the city, which is one of her most favorite places in the city. Since it’s already early afternoon, Nina S. told me it would be quicker to hail a passing motorist. Well, I had read plenty about riding in the so-called “gypsy taxi’s”, so what would a trip to St. Petersburg be like, if we didn’t hail a passing motorist for a ride. I knew enough to let Nina S. do the bargaining, and she proceeded to stick her hand out towards passing motorists. The 3rd vehicle stopped, and Nina S. negotiated a price of 60 rubles (about $2.00) to take us all the way across town to the Summer Garden. A seemingly nice gentleman in his 30’s or so gave us a nice ride along the Fontanka River, where I saw my first group of obvious Gypsy women sitting on the sidewalk as we passed. While in traffic, children approached some of the surrounding, wealthier looking cars looking for a hand-out. None approached our vehicle.

   Today was probably the nicest day weather-wise since my arrival on Monday. Most days were partly sunny, but today was mostly all sunny & warm. A nice day to stroll through the park, I thought. We hung-out in the park for about an hour, and Nina S. kept up with the time, and about 2:15pm she told me that we needed to make our way towards the Metro & Station Lenina Ploschad. Nina S. had agreed to escort me there, and knew that Nina R. wanted to chat with her for a few minutes. Nina S. & Nina R. have become somewhat good friends by now, and chat periodically by telephone. This helps reassure my opinion of Nina S., as I understand from Phil that Nina R. is a keen judge of character.

   We arrived outside of Lenina Ploshad a few minutes before 3:00pm. This is the exit that Nina R. had instructed me to wait, overlooking the statue of Lenin in the small park across the street. Nina S. recommended to me that I take some flowers to Julia, which I agreed to do. A couple minutes past 3:00pm, Nina R. makes her way through the crowd and greets the both of us. These two women are chatting with each other in Russian as if they’re long-lost sisters just reunited. Around the corner there is a flower stand, and both women helped pick Julia some nice, beautiful, long-stem orange-ish roses. They’re nicely wrapped and all set for presentation.  Both Nina’s & I enter Finlandsky Vokzal Railway Station and she  purchased a round trip ticket for me. I don’t remember how much it was, but it wasn’t very much! Nina R. has a pass of some type. Nina S. now departs , and she asks me to call her when I return home in the evening. I tell her I will, but not after midnight, as I respect their privacy, and the possibility that Alexey may be sleeping.

   Nina R. and I boarded the train headed for the suburbs, and she told me that it’s about a 40 minute ride. We’re able to get seats, but the train quickly fills up after about 2 stops, and its sardine time for the passengers who weren’t lucky enough to get seats. During the course of the train ride, I have some time to reflect upon what I’m about to do. Julia had been the first woman that I had established correspondence with. However, due to her lack of direct e-mail access, we never really established a firm bond, the way I felt Nina S. & I had. To be perfectly honest, and this might seem a bit cold, but I was heading up to see Julia only half-heartedly. I would’ve been happier just to spend the rest of my time with Nina S., but I made a promise to go see that lady, and I was going to make good on that promise. I was determined to have a good time, and show it. Julia’s photos that she sent me and those in her internet profile were stunningly beautiful in my opinion. I had told her in Russian on the phone how beautiful I thought she was. She seemed a bit contradictory about that, but I was very soon to find out.

--- To be continued ---

[Doll]

Ok board, judging by another board members comment, and my elementary knowledge of Russian, I sense that I have a reader that's borderline suicidal,

No, it's something else
Ok- sorry

[Chris59]

No, it's something else
Ok- sorry

Doll,...no need to apologize. I realize now that I have been posting my extended version of this trip, it may seem a bit cheesy. I even gave a copy to a (Russian) lady that I work with, and she said it was like a sappy love story. Ok, so maybe it is. Originally, I didn't intend to make this such a long story, but since I've gone this far, I might as well continue. Sorry I mis-understood your comment. I thought you were sarcastically saying you were going to shoot yourself,....or me maybe! 

One thing I've noticed about a lot of you guys is,...that most everyone I have communicated with has been to Russia equally as much as I have, if not more. Many of you are even married. So, you veteran travelers to the FSU might not get much out of my report. I remember years ago, when I frequented other boards, it seemed like there were only a few veteran travelers, and most everybody else was a newbie, dreaming about going. I haven't seen many newbies here since I came aboard last weekend. I used to love reading the trip reports, and really admired the writing styles of guys who could keep us on the edge of our seats. I just hope that somebody out there is enjoying this report.

[Simoni]

One thing I've noticed about a lot of you guys is,...that most everyone I have communicated with has been to Russia equally as much as I have, if not more. Many of you are even married. So, you veteran travelers to the FSU might not get much out of my report. I remember years ago, when I frequented other boards, it seemed like there were only a few veteran travelers, and most everybody else was a newbie, dreaming about going.

I think you have something, Chris.  A number of us here went through the quest together, and are now at 3 years together with our girls.  As I recall, there were very few OMB around back when we were looking. But I always admired them a lot and respected their opinions.

But hey-- we are all getting a lot out of your trip report! It brings back great memories :-)  Keep it going...

[Chris59]

But hey-- we are all getting a lot out of your trip report! It brings back great memories :-)  Keep it going...

Simoni, Thanks very much for the reassurance. Maybe I'm too overly sensitive to the length of my own story.

  ------------continued -------------------


Nina R. informed me that it’s only about a 1kilometer walk to Julia’s house from the train station. I have the address, but Nina R. had apparently got directions from Julia earlier. Remember, Nina R. has been my go-between, between Julia & myself. Nina R. is probably now better friends with Julia, then she is with Nina S. Nina R. and Julia have spoken on the phone many times, but they haven’t seen each other in about 3 months, since I instructed Nina R. to hand-deliver roses to Julia, while she was in the hospital.

   About 6 or 7 stops down the line, we forced our way through the crowded train and disembarked at Dibuny. Talk about “Da-boonies”, the train station was something like out of an old western movie. I don’t even recall seeing a building there. It was just a concrete platform to stop the train. All I saw of the surrounding area was a shack or two, and nothing but trees. There was a small road that led up into the trees, and this was the direction that I assumed we would have to travel. Upon descending a few stairs, there’s a woman leaning on her driver side car door. Nina R. exchanged a greeting with her. It’s Julia, who had driven the 1 kilometer from her home to give us a lift. I immediately had not recognized her, except for her smile, which was definitely the lady in the photos I had been writing.  Julia & I exchanged a brief hug, handshake & “Ochen Priyatna’s” (very pleasant). From Julia’s appearance, it was obvious that she had been undergoing treatments for cancer. Her hair was extremely short, and from the middle of the back of her head on down, there was virtually no hair at all. The front & sides kinda resembled that of “Moe” on the “Three Stooges.”
I do not describe her here as such to make fun of her, but I’m just trying to paint an accurate picture for my readers. She’s also slightly on the shorter side (about 5’3”), and later according to Nina R. had admitted to putting on a few extra kilograms. So, in contrast to where Nina S. looked much better than expected, Julia apparently wasn’t looking her absolute best, which in reality isn’t really too much fault of her own.

   Upon arriving to her home on a tree-lined dirt country road, we are greeted by her Mother “Oksana” and  step-father (sorry, his name slips my mind). I present “Dad” with a bottle of California Merlot. Nina R. and I presented Julia the roses, which she seemed very appreciative. I also had a Beanie Buddy Teddy Bear with a heart on its chest, that I also presented to Julia. We exchanged small talk with much help from Nina R. We went outside where in the back was a picnic-type table under a cover of some sorts. Julia also had the flames going for the upcoming BBQ of which she was in the process of skewing marinated chicken with onions. Having several years of culinary experience myself, I helped her skew the chicken & onions (after washing my hands of course). Probably 90% of the dialogue between Julia &me had to be interpreted by Nina R. Julia & Nina R. seemed to carry a lot of the conversation themselves, as they’ve become good friends over the several months I’d been corresponding.

   Well, today would be a very special treat for most everyone involved. In Julia’s letters, she often told me about her life-long best friend “Natalia” who had married an attorney from Alaska, and had been living there for 3 years now. It turned out that Natalia & her husband were in Dibuny visiting Natalia’s parents, and everyone was going to be over later to partake in the chicken BBQ. About an hour or so later, they all arrived, and we enjoyed a nice BBQ, wine, tomato & cucumbers, & bread etc. Now, Natalia is a very attractive blonde girl, in her early 30’s, I guess, with long hair, a pretty face, and speaks fluent English. Her husband is mid to late 50’s. Again, just painting the picture for you.

    During the course of the dinner, I took the opportunity to present to Julia a Swarovski crystal & gold heart brooch, with an arrow through it. It looked far more elegant & expensive than it really was, and Julia seemed to like it very much. After dinner, I happily helped clear the dishes, and Natalia’s side of the family left for home. Inside the house, Julia showed us videos of her birthday party about 5 years prior. In the video, Julia was the stunningly beautiful woman that I had found on the internet, and at this party, she seems bubbly, full of life, and worthy of everyone’s attention. Afterwards, she unveiled several large photo albums that contained many, many photos of her, both professional & amateur. In every one of these photos, I am just in awe of her beauty. It's apparent that her illness had taken a toll on her appearance.


   After a while Oksana offered me some more chicken & salad. I continued to be a gracious guest, and ate. Afterwards we took a walk down the country road & back again. Most of the conversation was between Nina R. and Julia, but I’m able to understand some of the conversation. Apparently, a lot of “New Russians” are building big beautiful homes in Dibuny, that would rival most anything built today in America. I inquired about the prices, and Julia told me she thought the homes cost an equivalent of several hundred thousand dollars. Oh well, there goes my thought of living in Russia in a mansion on a US pensioners budget.

   It’s now close to 10:00pm, and we were scheduled to catch the next train back to St. Petersburg. Much to my delight, Julia showed me her new computer, and we exchanged e-mail addresses. She also asked me to show her where I found her internet advertisement. I searched the site a couple of times, but was unable to find her. I had forgotten to write her ID # down before I left home.

   Julia drove us back to the train,….uhh, platform, and escorted us up to where the train will stop. I’m exchanged brief, friendly hugs with her, when I decided to make good on my promise to take Julia to dinner, if she’s up for it. I invited her to dinner the next evening at 7:00pm, to which she readily accepted. She’s given instructions on how to find my apartment building, and I tell her I will be down on the street by 7:00pm on Friday evening. I know that communication between us will be awkward at best, but I now sensed that Julia & I are already somewhat acquainted, thus I’m hoping for the best.

--- To be continued --- 

[myrddin]

  Thanks very much for the reassurance. Maybe I'm too overly sensitive to the length of my own story.

Yeah, don't worry about it.  Wordcount limits were made to be broken!  Oh, there aren't any here anyway! 

(I'm guessing a lot of people are reading and not commenting.)

[Phil dAmore]

Every bit as good as the first time I read it!

Damn, I remember being able to get a satisfying meal for two in those little cafe's for around $5.00 U.S.