No, the seats are not the spacious ones the sheikhs, sultans, and oil magnates get on Emirates Air -- in fact my seat is pretty dinky, but the seat next to me was miraculously unoccupied so I managed to ball myself up like a yogi and get several solid hours of sleep.
With the exception of my first year in Russia (1995) when I flew Czech air -- let's not talk about that since it involves a mysterious emergency landing in Riga -- I've always flown on Finnair and they've always been a delightful airline. Even though an enormous percentage of their passengers are Russians heading home to the Motherland, the Finns have scarcely lifted a finger to make those passengers feel welcome. It starts with the announcements on the plane -- all are made in English, Finnish, and Swedish, (but no Russian) and continues on in the distinct reluctance to include any Russian text in their in-flight magazine. And what they do print is typeset as poorly as possible, including odd line breaks between words. I'm sure that the acrimony toward the Russians is due in no small part to years of abuse from their gargantuan neighbor, the Soviet Union as well as from several wars and skirmishes.
I managed to take a picture of the super moon out my window, but the superness is hard to make out since it's just the moon off the wing of a plane.
The reason for this trip to Russia is to act as a sort of chaperone and assistant to the program director for the Duke in Russia summer program. I've done this same job for the same group many times in the past and I thoroughly enjoy seeing Russia for the first time through the student's eyes. It is quite a country -- like nothing you're likely to find elsewhere. It is the Wild West.
After a short layover in Helskinki, we will make the 40 minute flight across the Gulf of Finland into St. Pete. It's hard to describe the contrast between Russia and the rest of Europe. The shock is something like walking from the crisp cleanliness of your house into your teenager's bedroom. There's no order; the gifts you gave them for christmas or birthdays are broken, dented, and stuck to the carpet by something unrecognizable. The first thought that comes to mind is, "How can people live like this?!" But teenagers do, and so do the Russians.
It has been 7 years since I was last in Russia (Moscow) and 8 years since I was in Saint Petersburg. I'm really excited to see what has changed over those years.I'm sure there will be many surprises, which I will share with you here.
