Today, as I sit at my desk looking out the window at a “cold” California “winter day” (warmer than almost any day I had in Russia) the fact that less than 4 days ago I was in Russia just seems absurd. And yet it did happen, and I have the pictures and passport stamps to prove it!
My final morning in Russia, Saturday December 11th, was spent packing, cleaning and reminiscing about all the good times we had in Russia and then at noon the long journey home began. An uneventful bus ride to the airport lead me to believe leaving Russia would be a breeze, but boy was I wrong!
We arrived at the airport 3.5 hours before our flight was set to leave and we all thought this was absurdly early and initial we were correct. Pulkovo airport is the worst designed and most inefficient airport I have ever had the misfortune to fly out of. Firstly, we were unable to check in for our flights until about 2 or 1.5 hours before departure, so it was necessary to kill time in the initial waiting area outside of security checkpoint #1. I say number one because there are 2 levels of security at the airport, one before you are able to check in and check your bags, and then on before you get on the plane.
About 2 hours before our flight’s scheduled departure we were allowed to proceed through the gate and to check in. First I said goodbye (or so I thought) to our resident director and her assistances and thanked them for all their assistance. Then we proceeded through the first security checkpoint, and in a first for me did it will all of our baggage including checked bags.
After waiting in the normal check in line, and after being told my bag was overweight (which I expected) I got a bit of a surprise. Instead of being able to pay at the check in desk like is normally allowed, I had to go outside of the security checkpoint #1 to a tiny office and pay the fee. In that office they could only process one fee at a time and had to process the cards manually. It was frustratingly slow and inefficient but I was more lucky then the 30 or so other behind me with the same problems.
With about 45 min left before departure, I was able to finally pay my overweight baggage fees clear security checkpoint #1 again and proceed through the rest of the airport. I had to clear passport control and then I finally was in the airport terminal proper. At this point it was almost time to depart and I had yet another security checkpoint to clear right before the gate. Thankfully by this time, I was used to the bureaucracy and inefficiency of Russian official institutions but this whole process was very stressful and unfortunately did not give me a favorable last impression of Russia.
The flight to London was uneventful, as was our arrival to the London hotel. I spent a last night having dinner and hanging out in the hotel pub with my friends from the group and saying goodbye before we all departed the next morning. Leaving London was not difficult, and the transatlantic flight uneventfully but of course long.
And then I was home, the adventure completed but never to be forgotten.
Matthew (no longer of the North)
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