1st day in Russia

Completely knackered when we boarded aeroflots hard leather seats. Possibly even more knackered when we got to the other end an hour early due to daylight saving. No pickup but managed to rustle up intourist agent and get the first of many scary cabs for the day. Makes driving in india seem safe. hotel is very grand in a used way. Breakfast room has 3 gaudy chandeliers and a large assortment of food ranging from cucumber to saveloys for breakfast. M has a meringue cake as well, most unlike him. We go back to our single beds (not our choice but we're too tired to care).

Did the intourist tour with sergei and now know the history of every “yellowish building to the left” as every building seems to have a historic past...though they could be making it up and we'd never know.Got the giude to tell us a good place for dinner and thawed out over mulled wine. M had 'tabbacco chicken' which looked like road kill flattened out on his plate, but tasted like peking duck. He could hardly cut into it but had backup dumplings to fill him up. Did the usual trick of getting posh hotel to get taxi back to ours as everyone has been warning us not to use the private cabs and we really do look like tourists. Maybe we should buy and light some ciggies to walk around with, to blend in.

Now hanging in the lobby bar having a 'gasser' local beer...any lighter and it could be called 'bud' (sorry americans) watching a couple of hookers waiting for the lift (it is a safe hotel really) as my mum would say, they'll catch they're death of cold dressed like that. The other interesting sight today is watching a well dressed woman at the airport put out her cigarette by spitting onto a piece of paper, stubbing it out in the spittle before folding it all up and carefully putting the whole lot in her pocket!

last day

Up at 5:00 to get the cleaning finished
last day at work
feels like another day with huge amount to do..feeling very guilty about all the things I haven't done, trying not to get upset about it
Reuters team and Katie gave me a nice bottle of champagne to say thank you, very thoughtful...couple of other people popped by to wish me well
Think M got a bit of a leaving do..nice they think so much of him
no time left, have to get back to work
later gator

Almost there...We've made it to Thursday

The movers have taken everything off in a giant orange 40ft container. Too late now to worry if we've packed anything we might need for the next 6 weeks.
Onto the cleaning, and finger crossing to get the bond back.
Not much time today to post as I got to work late due to the large amount of things that had to be done this morning...you know you''ve got too much in your suitcase when you have to sit on it to close it.
The nice Kiwi bloke I spoke to on the phone today (just remembered to cancel the car insurance!) asked for my favorite travel tips, so I thought I would post them today for you all:

1. http://www.priceline.com/ is the site to bid for hotel room, try being as cheeky as you can (we stayed in a 4 star in Zurich for £40 for 2 per night)
2. http://www.smoothhound.co.uk is the best site I've found for B&B's in the UK and sometimes overseas...huge variety and price
3. http://www.highways.gov.uk/trafficinfo/ if you're planning on traveling anywhere in the UK and don't know what the traffic is like...useful for bank holidays and trying to get to the airport or ferry on time!. Check if your mobile phone provider offers a road news service or tune into 1152am (traffic updates every 10 minutes in the morning that will help you on that hell trip around the M25)...so NOT going to miss the words 'experiencing severe delays on the Heathrow stretch...'
4. http://www.regentpalacehotel.co.uk/ for a cheapo hotel (for London) if you want to have the night out and don't want to train home (or have lots of whanau wanting to visit) - it's not flash (I think they hide their two stars under a pile of laundry) but it's handy
5. Go to Germany/France/Switzerland etc in winter as they have cool Christmas markets, and the Gluwien helps keep the cold away
6. If you're flying sleazy jet or lyin air (easy or ryan), booking cars through the site usually works out the best price but plan for one person picking up the bags and the other nipping through to get to the front of the queue, particularly in teeny-tiny airports to some obscure place, where the whole flight needs a hire car. ALWAYS ask where the nearest fill up petrol station is on the map, AND if they are open on Sunday (can you tell we've been caught out and had to pay exorbitant petrol fees!)
7. Look for a European hotel through easyjet(they're not bad) then look for the hotel itself online and see if you can book direct, it's sometimes cheaper, so is ringing them (but get a fax confirmation)
8. Any food product with a reindeer picture in Scandanavia is not showing their national symbol (like a kiwi or bulldog)...you really are eating Rudolf made into salami...but it's quite tasty!

4 days to go

The house is a halfpacked bombsite..the NTL people have not turned up to pick up the cable boxes and we're knackered - not bad for a Tuesday!. I think we've spent about 4 hours on hold to NTL so far. They were supposed to pick it up yesterday morning at 8 and when I finally go through to someone they suggested a new appointment next week...um NO...we'll be in Russia...well how about leaving it with a neighbour...um NO, we wouldn't dream of asking them to stay around waiting for your guys to NOT turn up, and besides most of them work...so how about sending it to us...let me think about that for a moment...two heavy cable boxes and wires to that we pay to post to Scotland...um NO WAY. They can't tell us a depot to drop them off at and they can't tell us when someone can come and they don't seem keen on us leaving them outside the front door in a plastic bag...today it's M's day to call them, just checked with him and he says the supervisor is going to ring him back. He told them that if she didn't by 5pm that he would ring the president of the company. Hokey dokey...you'll have to wait for tomorrow for the next exciting installment of the NTL saga.
Need a mental break from looking at the spreadsheet I'm working on so went to look at the hotel we're staying in Moscow for 2 days...holy cow, I think the words 'it looks like a wedding cake' spring to mind.
Tommorow I'm sending this link out to all with our new address...hope no one gives me too much of a hard time!

The Weavers are leaver - part 1...el tapas

ohhhhhhh...the hangovers are finally wearing off...we had the bestest leaving do, in conjuction with Gills birthday. Managed to scrape together 17 of our nearest and dearest living in the UK (would say British but the Welsh, Irish and Shi Lanka contingent will be offended)and trundled off to our favorite tapas bar Los Hermanos in Sutton. What better way to say farewell to old blighty by drinking sangria and singing Delilah with the entire restaurant...all together now...WHY WHY WHY DELIAH LAH LAH LAH MY MY MY DELILAH... Those that had never been before thought we were joking about the singing bit, but we've always had a fab time and weren't disappointed. There was dancing, there was singing, there were flaming B52s (and I SWORE I was never going to drink on of those foul concoctions after last time) and the old classic 'oops upside your face' which somehow involves everyone sitting on the floor pretending to row.
I think I remember doing my version of salsa with one of the chefs when I went to pay the bill and eventually they kicked us out at 1:00. Staggered off home propping my drunken sot of a husband (it doesn't happen very often but it's awfully funny when it does!) and remebered to take on an alka seltzer and take of my earrings, so must have had some command of faculties after all.
M was so hangover the next morning he let Dylan (V's monster cat) lick his face..I swear that cat thinks its a dog somedays...lots of water and a greenfaced drive home, then it's back to the packing.

Finally ready for the packers at about 11:30 last night (NEVER try inventoring your household contents late at night on a hangover...how much is a drawer of sleepwear really worth!)I know I've moved 22 times in the last 18 years, but I think from this day forth the only packers I ever want to hear about are the sort that run around in a stadium in Greenbay

so five sleeps left to go...we move into the motel tonight...just spoken to M (he's on 'packer shift' today and there are four of them in the house.

Geoff and Amy get hitched

Thursday Midnight
Get through new fingerprint and eyeball camera shot stuff at airport, find shuttle to car rental, breathe in warm air and smile about leaving cold England.
Fire up in car mobile phone sat navigation system and gasp at paying $3.00 toll to LEAVE airport...This must be how they are still paying for the 'Big Dig'.
Get hopelessly lost at roadworks following sat nav instructions and having to press reroute button, yell at each other (cos that always make things better - yeah - right!), turn off sat nav, pull out paper instructions and get there in 10 minutes. M collapses into bed and I pull out lap-top to finish ghastly uncompleted work. Pad downstairs to fax stuff to UK at 4:00am and make friends with night manager whilst waiting. Crawl into bed too wired to fall asleep easily.
Friday
Lovely sunny day (27 degrees) and Boston is having autumn while UK missed it entirely. Go to cafe for breakfast (spinach/mushroom/feta omelette - definitely not the full English), wander into town after checking with stressed bridal party for tonight's arrangements and spend morning puttering around Quincy Square and Fanueil hall behaving like tourists (well we are!)

M has to buy shorts and polo shirt it's so hot..Soak up the sun and head to the Prudential Tower to look at the view...360 degrees of Boston and very entertaining audio tour, favorite part being the tidal wave of treacle that killed 13 people (you'd think they'd be able to get away from a wave of TREACLE)
Catch Ross about to quality assess 'house of cheesecake' product though he denies this and says he's only buying a coffee to get a seat whilst waiting for us.
Go home, nap and watch TV marveling at advertising standards...You can actually advertise a drug by slagging off what a similar drug can't do!
Catch up with Sara, meet new in-laws and reassure stressed bridal couple that everything will be alright on the day...Feel small amount of satisfaction that stress is not own from own wedding.
Out to dinner at nice Italian restaurant in the middle of renovation with very not-so-calm bridegroom, ply him with wine and all head home under strict instructions not to be late. Remind brother to iron his new shirt or be disowned.
Saturday
Go to scary old lady hair salon in basement of hotel, get crispy curls put in, learn Massachusetts is home of Dunkin Donuts when making suggestion that Krispy Kreme were the best donuts in the world when Husband comes by to flaunt breakfast in face before proceeding to room. Smile nicely when older salon owner suggests that I get a 'set' next time as the curls will last longer, whilst thinking how much i will miss my glamorous UK hairdresser.
Scare husband with large hair, gulp down donuts and go off to do The Duck (amphibious vehicle) tour of Boston. Can highly recommend this, very entertaining, fun to be out on the water and even more fun making 'quack quack' noises to every small child who quacks at us. Even more fun making 'silent quacking' sounds with hands in the posh neighborhoods.
Scary curls have settled down now thanks to surprisingly fast amphibious vehicle, get glammed up and attempt to use sat nav to ceremony (it works this time)
The ceremony
Amy has just sent a link with some photo's from the wedding
pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pluton74/album?.dir=/8872&.src=ph&.tok=phxOA5BBMdElIbDc
She had quite an unusual dress in that it was quite classical and she looked very cute in it. it had 3 diamond shaped cutouts in a vertical row down the back, with a bow joining each one together. Sara stepped down a step funny an hour before the ceremony and twisted her ankle, but 2 ibuprofen, an ice pack and an elastic bandage later she managed to carefully walk up the aisle, slip her shoes off under her long dress (thank goodness) and discretely walk back down the aisle with bare feet...no one noticed as everyone was looking at Amy and Geoff, until we had to retrieve her shoes and prop her foot up.
It was a very informal and personal wedding and very suited to both of them. I read out a message from Yvonne and Allen (Geoff's mum and dad), and phoned them after the ceremony to let them know their baby boy was married.
The reserve was lovely and the house very grand, but in need of a family to love it, I think it's now just used as a meeting space etc. We then drove back to the hotel (Geoff and Amy wanted us to bring back some stuff from the ceremony), had a wee bit of a nap and then went to the Chinese restaurant for dinner. Amy changed into this beautiful pink/gold brocade gown made from fabric that had belonged to her grandmother...a real mix of cultures as we were all going'''ohhhh, that's a lovely idea', and to the Chinese, to use something old like that is a sign of being poor!, She wanted to wear something of her grandmothers, so i think her western side won out.
We managed to be at the vegetarian table, which meant some interesting things to eat, they even had one dish where the noodles were tied into knots like skeins of wool, no idea how they did that. Had some wonderful dishes though, got to see the tea ceremony where the bride and groom serve tea to all the older relatives and they give gifts of money, and listen to Geoff give a speech in cantonese...having been coached by his father in law. There were some strange expressions on the Chinese people when he said the words, so hopefully he didn't call his mother-in-law a fat red horse or anything.
We all went to a club for dancing afterwards (and a much needed cocktail) and crawled home at 1:30...ready to get up to take Sarah to the airport at 5:30...Sunday seemed like a very long day after that (had brunch with Geoff and Amy, Ross and Geoff's friend Greg from NZ) and I think I was still tired when we crawled off the plane at 6:00am.