From February 4th of this year, until February 25th, I had the opportunity after 3 years of trials, and waiting, to see a country, that I had only read and watched about. I`m going to tell you a little bit about my trip, without going into too much personal detail about my trip. I believe that some things are left up to the people that I was with to remember, and are not to be shared on this page... sorry. But!.. I am going to tell you what I saw, what I did, and where to I went. I hope you like it!

I left from the United States on the afteroon of Saturday, February 3rd, from the Atlanta International Airport. From that airport, we( as in myself and the passengers on board) had a 9 hour flight which would cross 8 time zones going East, fly over the Eastern seaboard of the United States, pass over the tip of the Antartic, and travel down through the North Western part of Russia, until our plane would land at Sheremetyevo Airport NUMBER 2, at around 10:20AM in Moscow. Once off of the plane, all of us would travel trough the check points with our luggage, or passports and Entry Visa, through Customs Control, and on in through the Declaration of Items area. I did not have to declare anything, so, I went through the Green Area, which allowed me to get through baggage check with no problems. Despite the Russian speaking, I understood the airport personnel. Once through.. I met someone there..and her friend whom I already knew from last summer(the names I will not show here. I respect their privacy). The taxi driver took my stuff, and we went to the VOSHOD Hotel, where I gathered some of my things and we went into the central area of Moscow... I am going to skip around A BIT. While in Moscow.. I stayed there until February 15th.. While in Moscow... I was able to visit many many historical and architecturally acieved places... Red Square, Christ the Savior Cathedral, may shops, museums, restaurants, churches... so many things that I cannot even list here. But I do remember them all. And the company I had there(she knows who she is) was wonderful..

The night of February 14th, Valentines Night, I took a train trip to Kostroma, Russia. There I was met by someone very special to me. While in Kostroma, I visited her family, had the priviledge of seeing her moms apartment, her apartment, the cinemas and restaurants there. Many different places, interesting buildings. Market places, and the Pancake Festival took place while we were there, so... that was quite an interesting experience. While in Kostroma, I was able to go with her and her family to a near by city called Yaroslavl, one of the oldest and one of the first capitols of Russia.

Yaroslavl was interesting.. the churches there were very beautiful to me. There was snow everywhere during the whole time I was in Russia.. I was able to spend that time with someone... and it was great. I do not regret one moment of anything.

We eventually went to St. Peterburg by an over night train ride that took several hours.. I really could not sleep, even though it was a good thing to try to do, because of the dumpyness of the train.. its ok. We spent a week in St. Pete taking a guided tour by bus from a lady, going to all of the intereting and well known places in and around St. Pete. It was a great time for me... because.. I was able to celebrate her birthday. And her birthday and seeing her was my main reason for coming to Russia during February. Because I wanted to spend it with her. And I did... it was the day I was waiting for. (No details, sorry).

After our time in St. Pete, we took a train back to Moscow where we stayed one extra day, until I had to leave the next morning. My flight left before lunch on the 25th. It is a day that I will never forget... This is MY STORY.

Written and Copyrighted; Michael Davidson. 2007-08.

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