We had almost 4-hours until our connecting flight on KLM, so headed directly to their Crown Lounge. It was a bit of a walk, but entertaining with giant tulip charging stations (see man in lower left) and "Delft" teacup and teapot cafe (with man seated in the cup).
The airport here is rather dated, but the modern lounge is exceptionally spacious and inviting. The entrance leads up an escalator and it is lined on both sides with their signature little Delft buildings filled with liquor. We asked how you get one and learned passengers in business class are given them, but only on over-ocean KLM flights. We have two at home already purchased at garage sales—one full and one empty--but no new ones for us today.
We checked in and found a comfortable spot to relax, recharge electronics, and review cruise literature. I wandered around a bit.
The lounge covered two floors, had a full bar, varied seating areas including this television viewing spot. A FOX international news channel was showing.
Food looked excellent here. There were multiple hot and cold buffets, so no crowding around one area like in Detroit. We weren't hungry, but spotted the fancy coffee-making machines that we enjoyed in Italy, so we helped ourselves to several cappuccinos. China was blue and white Delft, the real thing here.
Lots of art and antiques to view, too. One was a little miniature artist's loft (very cool as I am into miniatures these days). Another was a wall mural of Delft tiles with an airline safety review theme.
The airport here is rather dated, but the modern lounge is exceptionally spacious and inviting. The entrance leads up an escalator and it is lined on both sides with their signature little Delft buildings filled with liquor. We asked how you get one and learned passengers in business class are given them, but only on over-ocean KLM flights. We have two at home already purchased at garage sales—one full and one empty--but no new ones for us today.
The lounge covered two floors, had a full bar, varied seating areas including this television viewing spot. A FOX international news channel was showing.
Lots of art and antiques to view, too. One was a little miniature artist's loft (very cool as I am into miniatures these days). Another was a wall mural of Delft tiles with an airline safety review theme.
The connection flight was on a Boeing 737-900. Inside it looked a bit older, but maybe just well-used. We were surprised to see 3-3 seats across in biz class, instead of the usual 2-2 with wider seats. To make up for that situation, the middle seat was not occupied and there was a little more leg room. So you could spread out even though the actual seats were coach width. No TV screens or Internet. “Live action” safety preview instead of a video.The flight was only from 11:50 to 16:05 with one-hour time change, so not bad.
Again we weren't hungry, so we indulged in a small treat of coffee and apple tarts. I loved the coffee swizzler (lower right) used in place of a spoon.
Over Denmark we continuously saw what looked like yellow flowers. It was past tulip blooming time, so wonder what they were. Mustard plant?
Was trying to figure out where Russia started from the air. Maybe this river?
What I think was Russia looked like mostly forest. But every once in a while in the middle of nowhere there would be a very neat clear-cut area of houses. Couldn't see roads going in or out or any industry. When we did see a freeway, it looked modern with a good amount of cars.
Flying into Moscow we could see these tall block buildings. Seemed like hundreds. I had not pictured this city as a high-rise kind of place. We also saw several of what looked like nuclear power plants within city limits. Yikes!!!
Upon landing it took an extra 20 minutes to taxi to the gate. Once there we had to wait another 10 minutes. Turns out the airplane could only taxi to within 6 meters (a little more than 6 yards) to its final parking spot. We had to wait for a tug to pull us those last 6 meters.
The airport was a mix of old and new. Old beige building in the background. The orange and red buildings on the modern side.
Going through Customs and Immigration was fairly easy with one glitch. At the Customs window the agent asked me a question in Russian and became a little frustrated that I did not understand. Someone finally yelled from the waiting line, that they wanted to see my boarding pass. Luckily it was handy and I quickly got through after that. I gave Mike the heads up to have his ready.
Also, you must sign a duplicate form. One copy they keep and one you keep to surrender as you leave the country. Nothing to declare, so on to baggage.
After collecting our bags, we met a Viking agent outside the secured area. We and 17 other couples who unbeknownst to us were also on our flight gathered there. They had all come from different areas of the world (New Zealand, Australia, Malta, England, Ireland, Wales, and various places in the US including Sterling Heights, Michigan and Powell, Ohio) to Amsterdam and shared our flight from there to Moscow.
They thankfully handled our luggage from here to our cruise ship room. The group hopped on the bus. We got bottled water branded Elbrus, water of centenarians (or for 100-year olds). I felt that old long about now.
The bus ride to our ship was over an hour long and traffic was VERY heavy all the way. We didn't anticipate it, but this would be the norm for all traffic in Moscow. It was a delicate dance between the varied size vehicles and motorcycles vying for position.
The first commercial spot we saw was this burger place. It was fun to compare burger in English vs. Cyrillic.
Then all along our route to the ship were lines of buildings like these. It turns out this is typical housing in Moscow. There really are no houses or traditional neighborhoods like we are used to in the US, just apartment building after apartment building. I can't imagine how many units are in each building. Also, Uber is big here, too. See these three.
Near our ship dock they were refurbishing this beautiful old building. This was just a glimpse of the interesting architecture we would see in Moscow.
And finally our ship, the Akun (in English).
Again we weren't hungry, so we indulged in a small treat of coffee and apple tarts. I loved the coffee swizzler (lower right) used in place of a spoon.
Was trying to figure out where Russia started from the air. Maybe this river?
What I think was Russia looked like mostly forest. But every once in a while in the middle of nowhere there would be a very neat clear-cut area of houses. Couldn't see roads going in or out or any industry. When we did see a freeway, it looked modern with a good amount of cars.
Flying into Moscow we could see these tall block buildings. Seemed like hundreds. I had not pictured this city as a high-rise kind of place. We also saw several of what looked like nuclear power plants within city limits. Yikes!!!
Upon landing it took an extra 20 minutes to taxi to the gate. Once there we had to wait another 10 minutes. Turns out the airplane could only taxi to within 6 meters (a little more than 6 yards) to its final parking spot. We had to wait for a tug to pull us those last 6 meters.
The airport was a mix of old and new. Old beige building in the background. The orange and red buildings on the modern side.
Going through Customs and Immigration was fairly easy with one glitch. At the Customs window the agent asked me a question in Russian and became a little frustrated that I did not understand. Someone finally yelled from the waiting line, that they wanted to see my boarding pass. Luckily it was handy and I quickly got through after that. I gave Mike the heads up to have his ready.
Also, you must sign a duplicate form. One copy they keep and one you keep to surrender as you leave the country. Nothing to declare, so on to baggage.
After collecting our bags, we met a Viking agent outside the secured area. We and 17 other couples who unbeknownst to us were also on our flight gathered there. They had all come from different areas of the world (New Zealand, Australia, Malta, England, Ireland, Wales, and various places in the US including Sterling Heights, Michigan and Powell, Ohio) to Amsterdam and shared our flight from there to Moscow.
The bus ride to our ship was over an hour long and traffic was VERY heavy all the way. We didn't anticipate it, but this would be the norm for all traffic in Moscow. It was a delicate dance between the varied size vehicles and motorcycles vying for position.
The first commercial spot we saw was this burger place. It was fun to compare burger in English vs. Cyrillic.
Then all along our route to the ship were lines of buildings like these. It turns out this is typical housing in Moscow. There really are no houses or traditional neighborhoods like we are used to in the US, just apartment building after apartment building. I can't imagine how many units are in each building. Also, Uber is big here, too. See these three.
Near our ship dock they were refurbishing this beautiful old building. This was just a glimpse of the interesting architecture we would see in Moscow.
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