My backpack and me

When travelling, I'm always astonished by how much you can do in just one day. On the 10th of February, I said goodbye to my parents, my little sister and one of my best friends, who all came to the airport to see me off. My airplane left Dutch ground around 11:40 - I left a grey and cloudy Holland and for almost 3 hours, got a sunny and clear sky above the clouds in return. I love these beautiful, always changing cloudscapes, but as we reached Moscow, we had to go through the thick layer of clouds once again to reveal a snowy Russia. Sheremetyevo airport lies quite remote – from the plane I saw just as much woods as I saw city. After quite a bumpy landing, my first visit to Russia and my great adventure had officially begun!

I had to wait a long time to get through passport controls, but after that my backpack appeared within seconds at the baggage claim. Being on my own was still a bit unreal, since travelling alone is a first for me. Visiting Russia, China, sleeping on a train, going away from

home so long: all firsts!

I remained for a while at a waiting area on the first floor of the airport, where you could only find a closed Subway and a few vending machines. I decided this was just the way a Russian airport was, and headed to the aero express – a train leaving every half hour with a major metro station as its only stop. I followed the signs to the second floor, where I discovered an abundance of shops, cafes and even a burger king! Turns out Russian airports are not so different after all.
At the entrance of the train platform we were carefully shooed out of the way by strict station staff. We soon found out why: as soon as the train arrived, a stream of people entered the airport, and they were all, without exception, in a mighty hurry. I would discover soon enough this wasn't strange: everyone walks quickly, no slacking or idling about. This was even more so as soon as I reached the metro station. I felt myself just being hurried along.

The escalators down to the metro station were so long and steep it was almost scary (too scary to take pictures!), especially downwards. The weight of my backpack meant I was slightly leaning forwards and on the escalator it felt like was going to fall on my face – or worse, all the way down! I had to find my way through the labyrinth down there, with only the name of my destination memorised. Now my effort to learn the Cyrillic alphabet paid off. Meanwhile, I was detracted by the beauty of the metro station, with its great chandeliers, mosaics and many wall and ceiling carvings. I tried to take pictures as discreetly as I could without attracting too much attention. Eventually I managed to find the right metro and within minutes I was at the train station. The station was, however, not as I expected. It wasn’t so much a building as just a lot of tracks, no roof.

I sought refuge in a small cafe close by, next to a tiny supermarket. Outside, there was no snow, but it was a chilly 3 degrees. Despite that it a busy coming and going of travellers, both at the station and in the cafe. I still had to wait some four hours, until my train would depart. I was quite surprised by the number of people out and about and that on what was a regular Wednesday evening.

My train was the last of the evening, leaving at 00:35, and when it finally arrived, we still had to wait outside our carriage before we could board the train. I was shaking more from how tired I was than from cold. But at last we could board and there it finally was, my narrow bunk in the tiny, almost closet sized compartment: I couldn't be happier. I stayed awake long enough to see the train depart and start its way through Moscow, but after that there was nothing stopping me from going to bed.