It was our first night in the apartment and although the bed was not very comfortable we had a good night’s rest. I love the central heating in the apartment. I was a cold night but with the heating we did not even need a blanket. In fact it got so hot during the night that we opened the balcony door a little.
I love the bathroom. The bath is one of those old Victorian baths. I filled it almost to the rim and soaked in it for ages!
We first visited my mother-in-law and stayed for lunch. I love visiting with her. She is really a kind and good hearted person. She reminded me so much of my belated grandmother whom I loved dearly. I just wanted to hug her all the time.
This afternoon we had to take care of some formalities. First on the list was registering my visa. It is strange how things work here in Russia. It is the first country that I travel to where you have to register your visa after arrival. Your visa has to be registered within 72 hours after entering the country. Today was the 2nd day and it had to be done soon.
Neither Andrey nor I had any idea how to do it. We read some place on the internet that the visa can be registered at the local post office. So that is where we went. We were standing in the line for some time and when we got to the front and this woman had no idea what was required. They called another person and she gave us the necessary forms and information. It was relatively easy apart from the fact that everything had to be done in Russian. (See review). 2 Hours later the documents were in an envelope and ready to be posted to Moscow. Will it ever get to Moscow? I am not sure. In fact we never received any communication from Moscow after we had posted it. I am not sure what they do with the information.Hmmm, makes you wonder!
Andrey wanted to buy a pre-paid sim card to use for the time that we are in Russia. But after trying at several places he was told that he couldn’t buy a card. He could get a free sim card if he bought a phone. We did not need another phone. The reason they gave us was that he is not living in Russia permanently. We had to ask Ilona to help us again. She filled out paperwork and registered the sim card in her name. Now we were mobile and friends soon started to phone to make arrangements to see us. It was not easy to see them during the week because everyone is working. So we got invited to supper with friends on Saturday evening. They are old school friends of Andrey’s and he was very excited to see them all together.
Both Andrey and I love anything that has to do with technology specifically computers and cell phones. So we started to browse the shops. I loved it. They had a couple of Jewelry shops that caught my eye, especially the ones with the terling silver jewelry. A stunnign sterling silver bracelet was calling my name. Andrey was just shaking his head.
I couldn’t believe how cheap the things were especially when you compare it to prices in Argentina. Andrey’s birthday was also coming up soon and he really wanted a palmtop with a GPS all-in-one. Andrey and I are very different when it comes to buying things. If I like something, have the money and it is available then I buy it. Andrey will browse all the shops, compare prices, search the internet for comments, compare specifications and think again. Some days I could really tear my hair out and eventually I just tagged along! Secretly I have to admit I also enjoyed looking at everything!
