Harsh Travels!!!

After our peaceful yet disappointing trip to Saransk we made the hardest and longest travel that we have had to a city as far east in European Russia as you could go, Perm.  Perm is a city almost on the European-Asian border of Russia and in order to get there we had to utilize almost every type of transportation there is. We left our hotel in Saransk at 7PM on the 31 to board another night train from Saransk to Moscow.  I will say this one was the best night train we have rode on.  It was peaceful, quiet and didnt smell like body odor, whiskey or a toilet. We arrived in Moscow at 6 AM on the 1st... and this is where our journey got interesting...

We went from the Moscow train station to the metro on the public transportation busses where we then took the subway from the train station to the airport... yes, we literally took everything except maybe a boat. I have heard the public transportation in Moscow is ridiculous because of the amount of people who use it... we were lucky that our train arrived at 6AM because it would have been 10x worse than this....

 At the train station, even at 6AM people were moving so fast and pushing so hard to get through the picture is blurry, but you get the idea.  

After the train ride and waking up so early most of our team was not quite awake waiting for the subway... I caught Ximel sleeping standing up... she tried to hide it by wearing the glasses but I was not fooled... in fact, her swaying gave it away haha.

I enjoyed the subway... but I am much more of a morning person than most... 

We got to the Moscow airport at about 9 AM and boarded a flight at about 11 to fly 2 hours to Perm. To board a flight in Russia you check in at your gate, and give them your ticket, but then in stead of walking down the hall to board your flight you get on a bus that drives you out into the fairway where you board your plane. If my team wasnt on the bus I wouldnt have known where to go... so I tell you so that if you are ever flying in Russia, you will know what to do. There was a 2 hour time difference between Moscow and Perm.  We landed at the Perm airport which is the pictures below. The Perm airport was not quite as big as the Moscow airport... and when I say not quite as big I mean that there was 4 gates at the Perm airport, and I could literally stand at one end of the airport and read the small print on the posters on the other side of the airport... and I didnt have my contacts in.   

 Standing at one end of the Perm airport...

These are the 4 gates...

Well we landed in Perm and got to our hotel which was much nicer than our hotel in Saransk. And we went to the stadium to move our legs and prepare for our game the next day. And, unfortunately our game again didnt go so well... we lost our 4th game in a row. We lost to Perm 2-1.  They were a very good team.  I assisted our only goal and I thought I played really well.  I played center mid again and felt like I ran a lot.  The losses have taken a toll on our team and have hurt our team spirit and it will be difficult for us to pull out of it.  The 3rd and 4th place teams are approaching us quickly and that is stressing our coaches and our players.  So we will see our true character in the upcoming games as we get more pressure to win put on us.  Our game was at 7PM and didnt finish until about 9.  When it was over, we were all exhausted our spirits were hanging low.  But we didnt have time to think about it because we had to pack everything up and make the journey home.

The travel back to Voronezh was just as hard as the travel to Perm.  Our flight was at 7 AM so we left for the airport at 5 AM.  We took the bus back to the tiny airport where we boarded our flight only to find out it was delayed 2 hours.  So we sat on the tiny plane for 2 hours before we even took off.  Then once in the air we were stuck in an air traffic jam to land in Moscow for another hour... so 3 hours later we landed again in Moscow.  Then we boarded our FC Energy bus and drove from Moscow to Voronezh on that dreaded 10 hour bus ride. And to top it off, we got stuck again in traffic which made it a little over an 11 hour bus ride. So, needless to say my body felt swollen and sore everywhere. 

Traveling like that is so difficult on our bodies because they havent recovered from the game and we have to cram into tiny spaces for way too long.  When we finally get back to Voronezh I can never tell if my body needs to move and stretch and sweat all of the travel out or just stretch out and lay down in bed and go to sleep.  Not to mention your mind starts going crazy with a lack of things to do while you are on those busses.  There are only so many movies to watch, so many pages to read and so many songs to listen to before you just want to jump out of the plane or bus or what ever... 

Anyways, we got today off which was badly needed and so I took the day to jog until I felt satisfied with the amount of crap I had purged from my body.  We had the sauna and then spent the rest of the day by the water with some friends on the team.  It was an enjoyable free day! 

Tomorrow we will refocus for the remainder of the season and figure out how we are going to keep our 2nd place ranking, but for today, we need some distance from the game.  

I hope all is well back at home!! I miss everyone more and more as the days go by!!!

Cheers!

Dani