Well, we are here. Actually, we’ve been in country for four days now. The weather has been … well … Russia in winter. Translation: it is freeeking cold! The flights over were uneventful and the trans-Atlantic flight in Iberia Airlines was particularly nice.

We spent the first few days of the tour in Sergiev Posad, a small but historically important town about two hours outside of Moscow. We stayed at the Abramcevo Hotel which, despite a slight resemblance to the hotel in “The Shining“, was a very nice place. While in Sergiev Posad, we toured a rustic Russian home, took a traditional sleigh ride and toured the nearby monastery and fortress. All of this touring took place during the two coldest days on record in the town so far … 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Luckily, we were all well prepared for the cold.

Yesterday, we packed up and headed into Moscow. So far, we have toured Red Square, the Kremlin and St. Basil Basilica. I have to say, the tour of Red Square was very surreal. As a high school student before the fall of the Soviet Union, I remember news of long breadlines, people regularly freezing to death in Russian winters, religious oppression and general despair in Moscow. Now, it is clear that capitalism has taken a firm foothold, churches of all sorts are flourishing and prosperity, if not already present, seems right around the corner. How times change! Kelly and I both feel most fortunate to be here.

I’ve some initial pictures, which I’ll post after this goes up. However, I am stuck on a dial-up connection at the moment, so check back from time to time for a link to the gallery. it will take a bit to upload the photos.

Doug

PS: Photos now up on my family site. Click here to view!

Kenpo makes an iPOD integrated jacket which is pretty frickin’ cool!

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Drew first hipped me to this really cool Christmas light display in my hometown of Cincinnati. Yep, that is all a legit light show, complete with synchronized music just like the WEBN fireworks! Queen City know-how at work.

Ever wonder about some of the awesome deals found on some Internet retailer sites? Ever gotten screwed hard by on online retailer? Ever wondered if the “blogosphere” has any real value in the “real” world? If so, look no further than Thomas Hawk and Don Wiss.

Hawks’ series of posts about the illegal/immoral practices of PriceRitePhoto.com brought the online retailer to it’s knees. It started with a simple post entitled PriceRitePhoto: Abusive Bait and Switch Camera Store, which was picked up over at digg.com. The DiggNation responded and the story broke big from there. For the most recent news on the evolving story, read PriceRitePhoto Update #21. This article references a photo essay by Don Wiss. The photo essay shows the storefronts of many of these “high-end” online camera retailers. For his trouble, Wiss received death threats from the retailers.

Keep up the good work gents! It is good to know others are out there keeping Internet retailers honest.

Want a good way to kill 5 minutes? Check out FLY GUY from Trevor Van Meter.