Some pictures - including a teaser

so this one is a view of Moscow from the hill near Moscow University.

I had to post this little park off the Moscow River. It looks like nothing but it is actully quite famous. All of you know it as Gorky Park.



This is Moscow University. It is the highest building in Moscow due to its height and location on the only real hill in Moscow I think. The picture does not do this school justice.


And lastly, a little teaser. We can not post any pictures with classifying characteristics. So instead I give you a very happy and cold mom with her daughter.

Day three

Another mostly good day with one tough spot. First Katerina slept through the night which was nice. Hopefully she will do that at home, when I too will be able to sleep through the night.

Day started with me leaving Kelly and Katerina at the hotel while I went to pick up Katerina's passport and drop off documents at American Embassy. This was easy enough although I felt a bit guilty at the Embassy. The adoption people are able to just walk by the locals waiting in line for visas to visit the states.

After completing this, our driver Victor (really nice and kind man who I found out was an officer in the Soviet Navy during the Cold War) took us to a beautiful tourist site. At Moscow University, an amazing school, we got a great view of the entire city. I will post some pictures in a post in a bit. It was cold and windy but worth it for the view of the school and the city. we then went to the free market where we be bought the remaining gifts and souvenirs we needed to get.

Then came the tough spot. We had suspected the past day that Katerina may be constipated. Well this afternoon she finally had her go. We were finally able to take care of that and her demeanor afterwards was amazing. She has been happy since we got her but the change was an even happier little gal and ready to play like crazy. We will be keeping an eye on this going forward but hopefully, now that the toughest part is done, she will be fine moving forward.

Tomorrow is the big day. Once we have our meeting at the Embassy, we will have the green light to bring her into the USA and have her become an American citizen. We will post more after that.

Pictures to come soon of the sights. And Katerina in the next couple of days.

Will also add, I was on hold with Aeroflot trying to get Katerina a ticket for about 45 minutes when I got disconnected. That was annoying.

Another Travel Problem

The extremely high winds at JFK canceled are flight last night. It is currently scheduled to depart this evening between 8 and 9 pm. So we will arrive in Moscow Monday afternoon sometime.

We have been informed that the day late arrival will not delay us once we are in Moscow. We will still be able to get all needed things done. by the end of business Friday. Our return home with Katerina will not be delayed. It may delay our pick up of Katerina by one day. We hope it does not. But if it does, our biggest concern is just making sure we can get her home on Saturday. She deserve to sleep in her own bedroom as soon as possible; to get to her new home as soon as possible; to get on with the rest of her life, her new life in a loving family. Her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents are all anxiously awaiting Katerina's arrival home.

Moscow Trip 2 Coming Quick

We are just a few days away from traveling back to Moscow for our Court date. Hopefully we will be able to see Katerina after the court hearing because it is her first birthday and that would be sweet. We will get to spend time with her the day before her birthday. But with the Court date being on her birthday, I do not know if we will have time to see her on her birthday.

This time we are taking a direct flight from JFK to Moscow. There will be no stops in the country that I shall not name (Ukraine :) ). Just take off from NY and land in Moscow.

Still a few things we have to do prior to leaving but we will take care of those things this weekend and be ready to go for Monday.

For the second time, Katerina here we come.

Travel Nightmare

So here is how it went down for Kelly and me.

At 7:30 am, local Moscow time, on December 25th, we get in a car to go to the airport for a 10:30 flight to Kiev, Ukraine where we would then take a 2:00 pm (local Kiev time) flight to JFK in NYC. At the Moscow airport, I asked why we were not getting a boarding pass for the NY portion of the trip and the rep said we would get it in Kiev. This is not what happened on the flight over. I guess my spidey senses were up already.

At about 11:15 am (local Kiev time 1 hour behind Moscow) we land in Kiev, Ukraine. We quickly find out that there is a problem and that there were people already waiting 24 hours for their flight to NYC, one of whom is Garrett. Trying to speak with the Aerosvit representatives was impossible. They were rude, and always tried to speak to Ukrainians and Russians first. Many would not form a line of any sense and just cut you off when you tried to speak with the reps. Quite rude to be honest.

By about 2 pm (Kiev time), we knew we were in trouble and started trying to find ways to get out of that airport that day no matter the cost. By 3:30 pm, we were trying desperately to get on to either a flight to Amsterdam or Paris and spend the night in either airport to catch a flight to the USA in the morning. Unfortunately, this left us with requiring a rep to escort us past security to buy the tickets because they departed within a couple of hours. The Aerosvit representative were nowhere to be found and pretty much useless in all ways imaginable. Needless to say this did not happen.

So now it is becoming late in the day and we are being told that our plane will leave at midnight. So I go about trying to make certain we will be on that plane when it leaves. This was a chore and it was not until about 9 pm that I am told we will be on that flight when it departs. Of course, it has now been moved back to a 2:00 am (on the 26th) departure. We originally thought this was a second flight rather than the same flight from earlier which was delayed because it was being fixed. I finally get a rep to admit that this is the case, but that we would be on it when it left.

Every time a rep came in to say something, the locals would get in an uproar. At this point, many had been there near two days. One of the passengers punched the rep because he did not like the information the rep was providing. I was walking around at this time but Kelly saw it happen.

At around midnight, we once again decide we have to try and find another way out of this airport. When the flight was pushed back from 2 am to 4 am, it was official. We would find another airline that could get us out of the Ukraine, no matter the cost. There were options but because we were now within four hours of early departures, we could not get tickets on Travelocity, Expedia or Orbitz. So I purchased two tickets on British Airways leaving at 2:00 pm that afternoon (26th). They were more expensive and got us in later than the others we looked at but had no way of getting anything earlier.

Then a woman using my laptop says she got something on Lufthansa's website and may be able to buy them for a 6:50 am flight. It was about 4:20 am at the time. Garrett goes first and actually gets confirmation. I ask Kelly and she says, "do it!!! Get me out of here." So I buy us two tickets and decide I will deal with the British Airways tickets later. We are now scheduled to fly out Kiev at 6:50 am to Munich, Germany. From Munich we will fly to Newark and land at 6:40 pm (local Eastern time).

Again, we have to get a rep to get us through customs. This time we have little problem. The reps during the night were much better and more helpful than those during the day. Some others who have been waiting were already given tickets for later flights out of Kiev and had grabbed their luggage. Garrett, Kelly and I, escorted by the Rep who was punched earlier, head through security and down to get our luggage. I grab a red suitcase that looks like Kelly's before realizing it is not hers. We search for hers but it is not there. Someone else already grabbed it. Probably the person who owned the luggage I grabbed because they were so similar in color. In essence, Kelly's luggage is lost. It included gifts although luckily only a few small ones. It also had all of her clothes and some books we had for Katerina. (We are currently trying to recover it but suspect it will not happen.)

Kelly and I must now get our boarding passes and get back upstairs to the waiting area. With Garrett's help translating at times, we get through passport control and back up to the waiting area about five minutes before boarding time for our flight to Munich. We fly to Munich with no problem although Garrett learns that he must check alcohol because the European Union, nor the USA, will allow it to be carried on to the airplane.

The Munich airport is absolutely the nicest I have ever been in. Although based on our experiences in Kiev, it would not have taken much. It reminds me of Eddie Murphy's bit about even crackers tasting great after not eating for days. We had some great food and then waited for 6 hours until the Newark flight departed at 3:00 pm (local Munich time). While we ate breakfast, I used Garrett's Skype account to contact Travelocity who reimbursesus in full for our British airways tickets. First really good thing to happen in the last day and a half. Kelly reads on her nook, while Garrett and I sleep on chairs. They actually offered cot rentals if you wanted. After the rudeness we encountered in Kiev, the Germans were incredibly nice. Everyone we dealt with, no matter why, was very courteous at the Munich airport.

The flight departs with no problem. A Spaniard is nice enough to switch seats with me so Kelly and I can sit next to each other. The plane was huge and we each got to watch a movie of our choice out of 12 or so. The screens were on the chairs in front of us. My screen was a bit beat but Kelly's had a very good image. I watched 500 days of Summer and then Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I tried to sleep as much as possible so I could drive a rental car home from Newark. Kelly watched a few movies. An hour outside of Newark, we are told new travel rules in the USA (thanks to the idiot who tried to blow up the plane in Detroit) required all carry ons to be stored in the above containers. We had no problem with it but apparently some people were not happy about it.

The Captain puts on the seat belt sign as we approach Newark because of turbulence from the storm on the East Coast. We break through the cloud and fog and can now see land as we approach the runway. The turbulence is jostling the plane left and right and up and down. At probably 25-50 feet above ground, the plane is still being jostled by the turbulence. It is the worst turbulence I have ever landed in. It was scary and all I wanted to do was be on American land at this point.

Happy to finally get through passport and customs, Kelly and I head to rent a car and figure to be home by about 9 pm. All Five car rental agencies are all sold out of cars. I felt like screaming. How could it get any worse at this point? We end up catching a cab to Grand Central Station to take a train to Bridgeport. Second good thing to happen to us occurs here. We beat the train departure by ten minutes. And it was was nearly a direct (only 2 stops instead of about 12-14) before our stop.

Once in Bridgeport, we take a cab home. We get into our house at 10:30 pm eastern time which was about 47 hours after we left the Hotel in Moscow. Happy to make sure the cats were all well, the fish tanks still standing, and the rabbit still hopping around. We showered and went to bed.

So in a nutshell, It was supposed to be a Moscow to Kieve to JFK and then a van home. It ended up as Moscow to Kiev to Munich to Newark to a cab to Grand Central Station to a train to Bridgeport and then finally a cab home to Monroe, CT. And boy was it great to finally get there.

A story we will some day explain to Katerina to help her understand everything we went through to get her home. I laugh now because there is not much else you can do with such a situation. We have decided we will always buy direct flights to Moscow after this nightmare.

First my Rants

I had to say a few things about today before getting to the news of the day.

1. Despite the snow everyday, our room is so dry that my sinuses just shrivel up.
2. The traffic in Moscow is like none I have ever seen. It seriously makes New York or Boston look like a walk in the park. It took us an hour to go what a map says is 300 meters. So about half a mile.
3. Way too many smokers here which still amazes.
4. When we are driving, with windows up or down, there is just so much exhaust fumes. It can be overbearing.

Probably are more that I am just not remembering.

We are here

We arrived late this afternoon after the worst drive in the world. For an airport that is 16. something kilometers from the hotel it took us about an hour to drive here. The traffic is atrocious. The combination of bad traffic and no sleep for me really has me feeling blah. But we are here and tomorrow we see the Kremlin.

It is cold although could be worse. My understanding is the east coast is about to get hammered by a large storm. We landed in snow in Kiev where it was -14 C which is about 7 F with a lot of wind. Our arriving flight docked to a tarmac where we walked right into the airport. The departing flight we actually took a bus out to the plane and had to walk up the stairs. I thought only foreign dignitaries used those so thy could wave to everybody. I just wanted to get out of the snow.

Well heading back upstairs so I can go to bed and get a good 12 hours of sleep or more to make up for the near no sleep I got in the past 28 hours. More to come tomorrow after we see parts of the city.

Also one day closer to starting the process and getting to see our gal!!!

The Time Has Come

We are all packed and just waiting for tomorrow. We are now just days away from seeing our little girl. I think about it and it brings a big smile and near tears to my eyes. The time is really here.

Please keep an eye on the blog as we will be updating it from Moscow when we get a chance. We will be unable to post any of the many pictures we take of our little gal but we will be posting other pictures, from all over Moscow, when we get a chance.

Merry Christmas to all those who we will not get to speak to in the next week. But we could think of no better way to spend the time leading up to Christmas than with Katerina.

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

12 hours of flying to get to Katerina and Moscow....Here we come!!!!

A Few Days Since My Last Post

Had Christmas at my mom's with my siblings today. Yesterday, we were shopping to get things we need for the upcoming trip.

Tomorrow is the big day. We have a telephone conference scheduled to discuss our itinerary in Moscow. I also meet with a gal from the Vet to discuss taking care of our cats, fish and rabbit while we are gone. A lot of responsibility there. Both to the gal taking care of them and to me. Kelly would be quite upset if something happened to them.

Will have a longer post tomorrow night I suspect. We are still excited about seeing Moscow around Christmas time. We will be braving the cold to see red Square at Christmas time.

Travel Plans

Travel plans are set. Now I am getting nervous that we will not be able to make the connection flight with an hour and 10 minutes between landing and take off. Hopefully there is a tailwind across the Atlantic Ocean. Well, even if miss it, I suppose they have regular flights between Kiev and Moscow. They are only about an hour and half away by plan.

Starting to plan what we are bringing. What we can carry on and what must go in the checked baggage. All electronics will be on us: Camera, camcorder, lap top, Kelly's Nook, and cell phones. As well as all media needed for these.

On the next trip which will be a short stay, we hope to maybe do Paris or London for a couple of days but who knows about that. We will see when we get there. Most importantly is taking care of this trip and meeting our little girl.

Reservations Booked

We have hotel and airline tickets booked. The flight has a one stop each way but at this point it made more sense for us to do it this way than spend an astronomical amount on a direct flight. We will take a direct flight home when we have Kat with us but for now, we can do this as it is just the two of us. We are staying at Hotel that is not even a mile from Red Square and the Kremlin.

We are really looking forward to seeing our little girl and then as an after thought seeing some of the things that Moscow has to offer. It is an old city with impressive architecture as well as many other things to see. All of which is an after thought to our little girl. A bonus shall we say.

We also forwarded our documents to a contact in Washington DC in order to get our Russian Visas. Hopefully have those by the end of next week.

Weather in Moscow

Just checked the long term weather for Moscow. While it only goes as far as the 17th, it is going to be quite cold. Right now the weather for the 17th is 12 degree and snow and 7 degrees for a low that night. That is cold. I am going to have to purchase one of those big hats to keep my head warm.

IT'S OFFICIAL - WE ARE TRAVELING TO RUSSIA THIS MONTH

We have our first dates in Russia. Our first meeting is December 22, 2009. The first time we see our little girl. I had chills when I thought about it after speaking with Kelly. We are so excited and now have so much to do to get ready for this.

To see her just before Christmas is the best present we could ask for. To see Moscow at Christmas time will be very cool. Although the celebrate the Christian Orthodox Christmas which is later than ours (around the new year), the Kremlin and Red Square will still be decked out I hear.

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE KAT!!!!!!!!!!

Seeing our little girl on Christmas

It is still up in the air but there is a decent chance we will be in Moscow seeing our little girl on Christmas. What a great present for us! We had to finagle to find coverage for Kelly but it worked out in the end. Now let's hope our agency can make it happen.

First Family Viewing

For the first time members of our family were able to see pictures of our little girl. Unfortunately I was unable to get the DVD to work on their computers. I am not sure if it is lack of software, bad disk or just a weird file type.

This of course is not the important part. What is important is that they all thought she was adorable. We had about 6 screen print pictures from the video which we could show them. She is such a beautiful little girl. We are quite lucky to have been given this referral.

We are so excited to get to travel to Moscow soon to meet her for the first time in the next month to month and a half.