Today I got into a plane in Munich Airport.
An hour and a heart shaped piece of chocolate later I had to find the check-in counter in Berlin-Tegel.

The lines were long and Russian, and I was made to go through security twice, but eventually I got onto another plane that took me to Moscow-Domodedovo:

Wow, Russia…

But since this was not my ultimate destination, I was told to fetch my luggage and check in again. When I was almost next in line at the check-in counter, a middle-aged dude and his wife appeared. The dude was having a hard time standing up. It looked like he was on a rolling ship in an imaginary thunderstorm, and at first I thought he was terribly ill, but then the guy in front of me held up an imaginary cup and said: “This is Russia.”

Oh.

I decided to let the old drunk and his wife check in before me, and when they were finally done I gathered all my Russian skills and said to the check-in lady: “Hello, I go Vladivostok, excuse me, but I want not near them!” The lady looked at me and laughed: “But they are going to Yekaterinburg!”

The next flight was just terrible. The food wasn’t great, there was no TV, and I was in the first row between all the families with little children. Babies usually don’t enjoy the pressure changes a lot because it makes their ears hurt, and they like to make sure everyone else knows about it. The mother sitting next to me had a baby that kind of looked like my uncle, and she was so fat that she occupied one and a half seats.

I was very happy when I finally made it to Vladivostok Airport:

And I had learned another thing: in Russia, everyone applauds when a pilot has successfully landed an airplane.

So now I am really here…

Vladivostok show on larger map

Very tired and very excited at the same time.

I’ll write more one of these days!

Soundtrack: Big Daddy Kane – “That’s How I Did ‘Em”