Nov
26
Long Flight to Moscow
November 26, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Well, we made it. It’s amazing how quickly you forget just how L O N G the flight is from Atlanta to Moscow. 11 hours. Sitting straight up. No sleep. Then of course there was the russian “diplomat” who had claimed our 3 center aisle seats as his own and then begged us to sit elsewhere because he needed the room for his “broken knee”. It was a pure joy to watch him stretch out across the seats in blissful slumber almost from take-off. Oh, but there was the occasional “potty-break” that caused him to awake from his sweet dreams and jog down the aisle to the restroom and a quick snack (I’m guessing that this must have been Dr’s orders – you know, rehabilitation for his knee – and from the looks of things it seemed to be working as he showed no signs of discomfort). I had to bite my lip several times to avoid confronting him about it but the reality was that it wouldn’t have made much difference where we sat. We wouldn’t have been able to sleep there either. But, hey! We made it!
We checked 7 pieces of luggage. That’s right, 7. All pretty large pieces too. And as of writing this we are in possession of 6 pieces. That’s right, 6. They managed to lose 1 piece and, as luck would have it, that was the piece that we had packed all of Sasha’s clothes, toys, etc in. The airport wasn’t too busy at all but then again it was 11AM Monday morning in Moscow. The whole process including deplaning and passport control went off without a hitch until we got to baggage claim. We loaded up the bags that did make it and I took Stacy and the girls through customs to meet our driver (Dima). We told him what had happened and once we determined which bag was missing (based on the claim checks) I headed back into the concourse to “lost-and-found”. They had me fill out several lengthy forms. 2 of which required my passport # and flight information which, of course, I had left with Stacy in the other part of the Airport. One of the young ladies working there quickly volunteered to go and retrieve the necessary items/information from Stacy from which she promptly returned triumphant! Everyone at the lost-and-found desk was EXTREMELY friendly and helpful and although the process took about 30 minutes (with Stacy and the girls wondering if I had been abducted) we are confident that the missing piece of luggage will be delivered to Marina’s flat tomorrow before we leave for the train station in the evening. According to Marina (our Russian facilitator and host) this is very common and “Delta is very responsive in these situations”. – Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Our luggage did arrive on the same flight the following day and was delivered as promosed to Marina’s flat about 2 hours before we had to leave for the train station!
