This trip wasn't well thought out. I used my air miles and ended up in the wrong part of Moscow for my cheap flight to Volgograd. So after landing in Domodedovo it took nearly 4 hours to get across Moscow to Sheremetyevo. Luckily I had booked hotels on either side or else I would have missed my flight. I nearly missed it anyway as I forgot all about daylight saving time. They don't have it in Russia but tell that to my cell phone which changed my clock. I thought I had plenty of time and even had a leisurely breakfast. When I enquired about the next shuttle to the airport if it was at 7am, the receptionist said you mean 8am. I said what! My flight was at 8.45am. My heart sank as I knew I wouldn't make it but boy did I try. I ran up and got my stuff and was down in the lobby for the next shuttle all in 5 minutes. It took another 10 minutes to get to the airport. It is now 8.15am. Then I had to run to the domestic terminal and then through security. Finally found my gate all the while thinking what to do if I didn't make it. At 8.35am I was at my gate ready to board...sweating my arse off. I was so relieved when I got on the plane. I guess that was the highlight of the trip really. Volgograd may be steeped in history but I found it boring. Don't get me wrong as I always wanted to see Stalingrad (old name of the city) because of what I learned in history lessons. The memorial park was awesome and the giant statue, Mamayev Kurgan was pretty impressive. I guess October is a pretty grey time to visit Volgograd. I stayed downtown in the swanky Radisson Park Hotel and I pretty much could walk to most places. The town itself is quite small. I decided to take a tour on one day with Sputnik. At least this way I got to see some places which were farther away and got to hear about some of the historical events that took place at the Battle of Stalingrad. This was a very short trip and it really wasn't worth the hassle of all that travelling across Moscow twice and nearly missing my flight. I only did it because I already had the visa for a year so I wanted to make the most of it. I should have gone back to St Petersburg which is my favourite Russian city.
