Heathrow to Sheremetovo

Day One, Sunday 30 December 2012. Am on the 10.05 train from Leeds to London. In possession of new luggage (Argos light weight), new Rough Guides to Moscow and St Petersburg, new puffer coat (Gig not speaking!), roubles, euros, pyjamas, iPod, iPad (I thought Walt said he was lending me it. He is now.), new and lovely old-fashioned Nokia mobile, and various cables to maintain their usefulness. 

Heathrow airport Terminals and 5 and back again. 

   I spent daylight hours in the subterranean depths that surround Heathrow, failing for quite some while to reach the hotel. So much much for spend the afternoon watching the planes taking off and on. I did see some that were parked.

Spent this evening in a small pub crawl of Longford, a little village on the old Bath road. Trying to drink off, in halves, the effects of a vegetable corma that was all too clearly not made in Leeds or Bradford.

And this little village is another little Purfleet, with some really old houses and pubs, some thatched. I walked along the Old Bath Road and I see in my mind, carriages and the weary travellers of Dickens world .

Hotel Heathrow Lodge with the lovely Rosina who did eventually direct me over the phone to her place, is cheap, clean, comfortable and convenient. Saw some planes take off this evening and none of them fell out of the sky.

Day Two, Monday 31 December 2012.  The Heathrow Lodge provides a complimentary shuttle service to airport, which They book for you. I am over-early and have to mill about the airport a lot even before checking in.

I check in, enter a small debate about not having a return flight. and now I know I am really going. Time to watch the planes come and go.

Sheremetovo Airport bus stops [with German sign!]

There's only fifteen passengers on this plane. We are nearly outnumbered by the crew. I do contemplate tears as we take off, but actually not running screaming off the plane. I tell myself that all the ones I watched got up okay. The vegetarian message didn't get through, but they found me nuts, cheese, buckwheat and fruit.

Belorusski Station [Voksal]

The landing was great, an hour earlier than I expected. Outside all the Aeroflots all parked up for the new year, and white topped with snow. The pristine and stylish terminal is deserted except for us fifteen. Reclaim the new Argos suitcase, do up coat and set off into the Russian night. Have studied Rough Guide what to do at the bus stop, find sign for Rechoy Voksal [means Riverbank Station], check it out with someone else waiting, bus comes, get off at same time as lady leaving at same place.  As per Rough Guide's advice continue to reject taxi advances, find Rechnoy and guess at station [Belorusski] to get off at. Wrongly.