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HOT News
May 12, 2008
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Note: Beginning of the story you can read here: "A case with wrong parking (Part I)".
… On May 4th about 5 PM, after seeing off my Austrian clients, Rupert, Alexandra, Victor and Jana, at Domodedovo airport, I was able to quickly get a ticket and catch the "AeroExpress" train which goes to Paveletsky railway station in the center of Moscow within 45 minutes. On the way to Moscow I was very upset about the situation with my car which caused unexpected trouble for my clients and ruined their happy mood at the end of their Moscow adventure. It was the first time in my life when my car was towed and impounded to a special parking "jail" by traffic police. It would not have been as bad if my client's luggage was not inside the trunk of my car and/or we had a bit more time to drive to the place where my car was moved to in order to get their bags. What a coincidence! I remembered the words of my clients when they tried to calm me down: "Don't worry Arthur, this is part of our Moscow adventure and even if this luggage is lost we can buy a new one". Of course, their statement and positive attitude in spite of the bad circumstances made me more determined to solve this problem within the next 30 hours.
When I arrived at the Paveletsky railway station and went into a metro station I was waiting in line about 20 minutes to buy a ticket and for the first time smiled at how one smart Russian entrepreneur (maybe more correctly to call him a speculator) was reselling tickets for 1,5 times the price...
Continue reading: "A case with wrong parking (Part II)".
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May 10, 2008
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With posting this picture of the Dworak family and me (taken by a passing tourist as we stood in Red Square in front of St. Basil's cathedral), I would like to tell you the story of their last day in Moscow and the big problem we were about to encounter. But, at this moment we were quite happy :-)…
After taking pictures on Red Square we went to GUM, the famous department store nearby, to drink something and relax a bit before going to the airport. When it was time to go, being a very punctual person, I became a little bit nervous that we should leave on time. After one last request to send postcards via the post to their home and friends I asked them to hurry. We were to take the metro back to our car which we had parked near the Kievsky railway station before taking a river cruise . The Metro is an amazing transportation system for a huge city like Moscow. It is fast, clean and has fascinating architecture, so my clients were happy to use it again. In 15-20 minutes we were at Europe Square and the new pedestrian bridge where we had parked our car at the beginning of the day…
Now, with a quavering voice, I will tell you about the unfortunate incident which took place next…
Continue reading: "A case with wrong parking (Part I)".
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May 09, 2008
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With the current hot news I would like to send greetings to our veterans, defenders of our Motherland and to all people in the World on the 63rd anniversary of Great Victory and finalizing the most terrible war in human history. During the Great Patriotic War 1941-1947 more than 27 million souls perished in the USSR… Health, Peace and love to all people in the World!!!
Each year on May 9th, we celebrate holiday in our country that makes our hearts both sad and proud: Victory Day. We mourn those who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom and give thanks for - the Day of the Great Victory over fascism and the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. This morning, from 10 till 11 am, Victory Parade passes Red Square. It was the first Parade during the last 17th years (after crash of USSR) where modern military hardware as like modern tanks, rockets and even aircraft were on displays. More than 100 units of motorized military equipment and 32 military aircrafts showcased modern defense technologies of Russia. The parade was finalized by our best pilots who flew breathtakingly low over Red Square (about 300 meters height) on strategic missile planes such as Tu-160 and Tu-195MS, military transport airplane, an An-124 Ruslan, 2 Il-78s, a bomber Tu-122, fighters Su-25 and-27 as well as Mi-8 helicopters.
Have a look on my new picture dedicated to the current hot news: "Commanders and Flags of Forces"
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May 05, 2008
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The general repetition of Victory Parade in honour of 63rd anniversary of the Great Victory (1945) passed on May 5th. In the military parade on May 9th (Victory Day) will participate about 7000 members of the armed forces plus 400 troopers in mechanized military motorcades, but also it will be brought into play 32 aircrafts of Air Forces of Russian Federation.
On May 9th 2008 it will be the first parade during the last 17 years (after Soviet times and crash of USSR), when during the military parade it will be used tanks, rockets and even aircrafts reestablishing military traditions of our country to commemorate more than 27 million soldiers and civilians, who died during the war 1941-1945, and glorify might of our nations who were able to stand and to win the war against Nazy Germany.
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April 27, 2008
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On April 24th, I met at the airport John Winter and his wife Donna from Wisconsin, USA. Back in March, they had requested my services for April 24-29. During the past month I had been corresponding with them many times in order to make and interesting itinerary for their stay in Moscow (I booked an apartment for rent, organized a long distance trip to Suzdal/Vladimir, made interesting plans for sightseeing in Moscow to include the popular sites based on their interests.… In the same time, my colleague in St. Petersburg, Olga, booked for them accommodations and made a sightseeing itinerary from April 30 to May 9th for St. Petersburg and Novgorod (ancient town, one of cultural centers of Medieval Russia).
On their way to Moscow from the U.S. John phoned Amsterdam during their layover and informed me that he just realized that the entry dates on their Russian VISA were only for 3 days-- from April 24 to 26. He had not checked the dates when he received the VISA via post from the Russian consulate in Seattle. While he was on the way from Amsterdam to Moscow, I made several phone calls to try to solve their problem. But after calling their hotel (Holiday Inn Lesnaya) in Moscow; the US Embassy; and also talking with experts from Russian VISA Online all of them said it is not possible to extend the current VISA once they have crossed the border into Russia. By law, they have to leave country according to the entry dates stamped on their VISAs and, if they still would like to continue their trip to Russia (St. Petersburg part), they have to go to the closest European county, for example Poland or Finland, and apply for new VISAs there...
You can continue to read the story here: "A case with Russian VISA"
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Moscow, Russia 
Contact Info: Arthur Lookyanov