New York, New York, United States11:51 moscow airport
It was a long, frustrating day.
Hotel Tchaikovsky: I woke up before 5 am.
When I went downstairs with my bags, I asked about a taxi, but the reception person was the evil witch to last night's good witch. She had no idea I had ordered a taxi, no idea that the hotel had offered to give me a boxed breakfast. She called for a taxi, but I had no idea whether it would come. But it finally came at
exactly 6 am. - - as ordered last night. I arrived at the airport c. 6:30 am. I checked in at Aeroflot and requested
window seats and the person nodded. She offered to have my bag sent
through to JFK.
I needed to use up my last Russian
roubles, so at 6:56 am, I had a cappuccino and sirnicki – the Russian cheese
pancakes at the bar khamovniki before going through security. I couldn't believe it - I had an evil waitress. 710 p;
Arrived in MoscowSheremetrova around noon; went from terminal B to terminal D; went through customs and immigration with some abruptness. I bought a chocolate bar 350 p. I found my way to gate 22 where there
really were no seats left in the small waiting area – for a flight
to JFK which I assumed would be large. I waited at a different gate
and came back more than a half hour before boarding, only to find a
long line. I was standing next to a woman from Long Island and we
watched as the line grew fatter and fatter and longer too. There is
no system for boarding – people just arrive and take positions as
close to the front as they can get. It wasn't so much of a mad
scramble as a slow edging out of original position.
I got on only to
find myself very near the back of the plane – in a middle seat.
Luckily, or not really so luckily, a woman behind me begged me to
trade with her husband so he could be near her and their children.
He was in a middle seat in row 22 – so why not help them out? We
managed to buck the boarding passengers and get me installed in the
seat. A few seconds later, a young man asks me if I speak English.
He wants to get his wife up with him and he says she has a really
good seat. That was debatable, but I switched again leaving my
daypack above row 22 and went back to the high 30's in a front seat.
Advantages: left room, ability to get up when you want;
disadvantages – you have to put your hand luggage in the overhead
bin and it is hard to manage your stuff without seat pockets in front
of you. A middle seat is a middle seat. I was lucky that it was a
daytime flight and not an overnight. I did sleep some, but was not
worried I would miss a whole night's sleep.
My arms were jammed next
to me – why can't they give a middle seat at least one armrest for
its own?
When we finally arrived at JFK –
after about 10 tortuous hours – I had a very short line once I
figured out where to put my passport on the Global Entry kiosk. Then
I couldn't find out where to go from there – finally a woman told
me to follow the green line. I went through immigration – all
without incident. I got to the baggage claim as the bags came
trickling down. I waited. A woman next to me was worried about
getting her bag in time to make her connection. After a long wait,
her bag came through. I kept seeing the same reddish bags that
resembled mine every time the carousel came around. I waited. The
bags stopped coming. Their were few people left. I asked a
staffperson if this was still the Moscow flight and he said not to
worry that more bags were coming. I waited and looked. More red
bags – none mine. And then finally, my bag. Went through customs
without incident.
Then I began the trip to Penn Station.
First the Air Train. I thought I put $10 on my Metro Card, but it
didn't have enough so I had to get $5 card to get out. Then I had to
negotiate a machine to get my LIRR ticket. Somehow I managed. I had
to carry my bag down steps to get to the track but made the waiting
train. Then I had to try to find a seat...with my bag. Before Penn
Station, I got up so I wouldn't be blocking the aisle with me bag as
I was exiting. It kept hitting the seats. Then I had to carry my
bag up a set of steps to get into the station. I found signs for the
exit to 7th avenue and I had to carry my bag up another set
of steps. A man helped with the last 6 or so. Nice man. Then
before I got out to the street – another set of steps. I was
thoroughly wrecked by this point. A very nice middle-aged woman
helped me carry my heavy bag up most of these steps. Nice woman!
The frustrations of the day weren't quite over. I had decided to
book a hotel near Penn Station rather than catching a late train to
Albany so I booked a room at Hotel Pennsylvania across the street
from Penn Station. I get there only to find a longish line in front
of the reception desk. For some incomprehensible reason, the line
hardly moved. It seemed to take each set of regestrants 15 minutes
to check-in and there weren't that many clerks – maybe 4. One went
into a door and neverr came back as I approached the front of the
line. I called Kara and left a message and told her if she called
back within 15 minutes I would still be there. She called and we
chatted until I got to the front of the line. I was checked in within 5
minutes or so and then the clerk went off to get my key and that took
maybe another 5 minutes. He gave me breakfast and complimentary
drink coupons and the wifi code. It used email address so I haven't
used it. I did go back to Penn Station for some pizza. I ordered two
slices but should only have ordered one because they were huge. I
ate half the second and put it in the refrigeration. This hotel –
for the expense of my bargain room – is a dump, but it is close to
Penn Station.
I woke up a bit before 3 am and was
mostly awake until I got up around 5 am. It is now 6 am and I will
repack a little, change clothes – I don't want to shower here –
and then go to try to redeem my coupons for a continental breakfast.
With pizza take=away.
2025-05-22