And so it begins….RWC Sevens 2013 v1 by David McPhail

YSC has an on the ground correspondent at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Championships. Dave McPhail will be giving us the inside look at the RWC 7s and will be sending scores along as well. Ruck on Dave!

Departed Houston on Friday afternoon on a rare direct flight to Moscow even though I am starting the RWC Journey in Saint Petersburg. Connecting back to SP seems a bit wasteful (at 3am HOU) when I flew over the city on the approach into Moscow.

Nonetheless the flight was uneventful, full and warm. Global warming is even effecting cross contenental flights. Who knew? I will give the unnamed carrier (Singapore Air) credit they did have a great entertainment selection for the 12 hour flight.

What wasn’t great was the rest of the selections. The glossy meal/snack menu provided pre -departure listed all sorts of options. Including Stout Beer. Beverage service came and went without me getting a stout. I asked, she cocked her head 3/4 turn and gave a quizzical look back at me. We exchanged this dating ritual a few times and I ended up with some never seen before beer from Denmark. Certainly not a stout. In fact it didn’t say what it was. For discussion purposes we will go with a Lager.

The guy in the window seat, a regular on the flight, ordered a Tiger beer. Thinking I would learn from the Trinidadian master with a Russian wife, I attempted to order a Tiger with dinner service. As before I asked, she looked at my like my dog often does when I ask, “who got in the trash?” After more courting she offered me a Budweiser. No disrespect to my good ole USA roots but dang. This is in an International journey and I get left with a Bud?

Next came the dinner selection. She states, “would you like chicken or fish?” To which I responded “Chicken”. Yet again after more fore play we fail to agree….as there is no Chicken. Now I am am the one with the turned 3/4 and looking stupefied. Five minutes later, she brings me Chicken. See guys, women everywhere are fickle!

Made it off the plane, got my bag, passed customs in record time and worked my way to domestic flights concourse for my connection to SP. This is where I got my first lambasting, in Russian, about my bag being two kilos over weight. I decided, incorrectly, to pay the overage fee. Of course, it’s down the hall around the corner and the service rep didn’t speak English but she knew how to get me for $7US / 200R. Now I have to cue back up with everyone once again. Joy!

Got a few minutes of peace and quiet. Not really. The down side of having multiple iPads is sharing the downloads with the family. First Ke$ha in my head then right now some teeny bopper, Cady Groves, is making me rethink my “shared” family plan.

Next step of the journey will be the “domestics flight” two hours back from which I came 4-5 hours ago. There should no customs issues, I hope. Need to work my way through the see of Taxi vendors that are sure to be greeting my exit as they did here in Moscow. Why take a taxi when good old civic bus service us the recommend mode of transport into town. Assuming I find the #39 Bus, make correct fare (uh oh), get off at the correct stop, find the Metro, get a three day pass (correct fare?), find the right tram line, going the right direction (the first time), exiting at the right stop and walking to my nameless Hotel….I will make a closing entry before I pass smooth out!

Looks like a gate change got snuck while I wasn’t looking in so I am off to track down this obvious attempt to deter me from SP and much needed sleep.

If you think I am a little winey about the language barriers… See photo above. I think the name literally translates to “Chili’s”. That’s what I am going with.

Okay. As noted in shorter, prior post, found the hotel no thanks to myself. Damn train stations have to many exits. Very confidently went out the main exit. Wrong! Ever been complexly lost but due to your expert planning had a good sense of where you were / weren’t? I did. Twice.

Finally found the road I needed and was several long blocks away. Checked in. Took a much needed shower and found the shortcut to the train station I was originally looking to find.

I am now hydrated and ready for day two. After about 8 hours sleep in without any darkness.

David McPhail