1. I board the plane happy and relaxed...
2. ...to land in the Domodyedovo airport and marvel at the sheer size of the traffic outside.
3. I find out nobody speaks English here and my Russian is...basic at best.
4. I order Uber using wifi inside the airport building but then the driver can't find me because I have no internet inside.
5. I end up taking the train and observe Russians don't actually check your ticket on the train but you do need it to get out of the station at destination. Interesting. However, there's wifi on the train!
6. I find subway underpasses and corridors to be vaguely reminiscent of communist era Warsaw complete with snack stands, grumpy ticket ladies and wild crowds.
7. I buy a neat SIM card from an Armenian guy Odil who speaks perfect English because he lived in London. Whew! Internet is cheap but pretty slow.
8. I find that Lenin is everywhere on the subway: murals, paintings, statues, you name it. Revolution never dies!!!