Cities We "Saw".....

A few of you have asked what our route to Russia looked like. There are no direct flights to St Petersburg, Russia...even from Dulles. So we got to "see" lots of airports in Europe.

Where we flew through, in order:

Dulles to Franfurt to St Petersburg Russia (Lufstansa),

St Petersburg to Munich to Dulles,

Dulles to Paris to St Petersburg (Air France),

St Petersburg to Paris to Dulles,

Dulles to Copenhagen to St Petersburg (Swiss Air),

St Petersburg to Moscow (Aeroflat-yikes!),

Moscow to Dulles (our only direct flight!).

It was somewhat excruciating to be "so close yet so far away" to all these AMAZING places!

Thankfully, I had seen Paris a couple of times in my college and younger days. Sadly, we had dear friends just one hour from Frankfurt but our transfer there was so fast that we sprinted through the whole airport and nearly missed our connecting flight. Each trip we only had about a week's notice so we grabbed whatever flight we could get within reason. We travelled light every trip...never checking any luggage until the last leg with Ana.

The worst airport to travel through was Charles DeGualle in Paris...we had hours before our connection but the security set up was so poor that we almost missed a flight there too. Every airport required us to go through security again and again- even though we were getting off one international flight and onto another. Matt stopped wearing belts and we wore slip on shoes.

The cleanest and most "secure" feeling airport was Munich. It was sparkling. We had a 6 hour layover there which felt REALLY LONG with the time changes, etc. Too tired to read, too uncomfortable to sleep on the leather and steel chairs. Munich was rather hyper about security. Our passports must have been checked a dozen times each....even once we were in the gate. At one point I made the "mistake" of walking 50 feet to the restroom without mine. I explained to the guard that my husband had it and even pointed to him across the way, but I was "escorted" back to the gate to show it. You even had to show your passport to buy a cup of coffee both in Germany and in Moscow.

Because St Petersburg is up so high (60 degree latitude), Copenhagen was the most direct route...just 7 hours from Dulles and only 2 more to St Petersburg.

What a whirlwind!

A photo of Kirsten- taking a "nap" in Charles DeGualle Airport