It felt great to arrive into Volgograd, and above all, to be with Natasha.  I had been traveling for 20 hours, although I was surprised I wasn’t tired.  It was cold in Volgograd, enough to make my shiver, but there was no snow on the ground.  The temperature change from the Middle East was dramatic, and my body was feeling it.

The taxi driver took us to Hotel Volgograd, where I registered, and informed them I would be staying somewhere else.  They took care of all the necessary paperwork.  For anyone interested in the hotel, and visa assistance, I suggest going through this hotel.  The hotel seemed really nice and the employees are extremely helpful in every aspect.  I would stay there anytime. 

Now that this was done, we headed to Natasha’s house in Volzhsky.  Driving through Volgograd was great.  I felt I had returned to civilization.  We drove by the Volgograd Train Station, which the architecture was amazing (Picture will be posted later in conjunction to a future blog), along with lots of other great sites.

We pulled into Volzhsky and we passed the Lenin Monument.  Every city in Russia has a Lenin Monument.  The Lenin Monument in Volzhsky has a secret it shares.  Perhaps I will share it with everyone later.

After arriving at Natasha’s house, I showered and got into more comfortable cloths.  The choice for wine was red or white.  Not a hard choice, I chose red to go with dinner, ha ha.  We toasted to my arrival and talked into the night.  The food at Natasha’s house was always great!  It was so nice to have a home cooked meal for a change.  We talked a bit about plans for the next day as well, and then we retired for the night.