A Russian Affair

Russia was an interesting country to visit. Their museums were world class.

St. Petersburg is known as “the Venice of the North”. It was the former imperial capital of Russia. I went on an evening canal cruise after dinner and sailed along the Neva River and its canals. Our tour rented this private boat, it came with an accordion player dressed in Russian costumes while our local guide Natasha provided all the commentaries. Vodka, Champagne and orange juice were served. I braced the chill and went up on the deck to enjoy the surrounding scenery. After dark, I got to enjoy the same scenery illuminated. It was beautiful.  St. Petersburg is the former city of the Russian Tsars, lined with world class architecture. It looked very European, reminded me of Vienna, and nothing like a communist place. St. Petersburg was mesmerizing.

Daryl came introduced himself and sat down next to me. He told me he worked for the government and lived in Korea. Daryl told me he had 3 ex-wives and there would be a 4^th one. He was traveling with his sister on this trip.  I noticed his “sister” turned around briefly to look at us and she looked mad. She never said a word nor introduced herself on that cruise. (I introduced myself later after the cruise.) Someone offered me a shot glass of vodka+champagne drink. It took me a couple of minutes to swallow that mouthful. Vodka is a strong drink.

So what was the adventure in this encounter?  Well, one day when we were leaving the hotel for our morning sightseeing, someone mentioned the “brother-and-sister” was nowhere to be found, should we wait for them before we took off? Veronica, our tour director, looked puzzled. She asked what “brother-and-sister” we were referring to. She had no clue what we were talking about. It was then that we learned Daryl and Vicki were friends who met once a year outside the country; they were not brother and sister like they introduced themselves to the rest of the group. Well, that did it for us. The rest of the tour group started having these private jokes among ourselves like “yo, we spotted the brother and sister holding hands while shopping at the supermarket across the hotel”, etc. Daryl and Vicki continued to “pretend” they were siblings, not knowing we found out from our tour guide about their “sibling relationships”. Some people just like to make things complicated. Had they just introduced themselves as friends traveling together, nobody would have paid any attention and the tour must go on. Nevertheless it gave the rest of the tour group a good chuckle.  Morals of the story, don’t lie, it always backfire J

Serendipity

Allow me to share with you my case file of “You never know who you run into……..”

[Case File #1] You never know who you run into, especially in a foreign country…. I ran into the tour director from my 2006 tour to Finland and Russia, in Riga, Latvia during my 2012 visit to the Baltic. Veronica from The Hague, Netherlands, speaks Dutch, fluent Russian, fluent English and who knows what other languages she is fluent in.

A tour bus was pulling into our hotel as our tour bus was leaving for a Church Organ Concert at the Riga Dome Cathedral on a dark and stormy Wednesday evening. I noticed the logo on the incoming bus and saw the lady with the microphone speaking at the front of that bus and thought to myself, that looked exactly like Veronica from my 2006 Russian tour. No way, no how, it can't be.......I was in disbelief.......

I was hoping to run into Veronica since obviously we were staying at the same hotel in Riga. Well, if and only if all my wishes came true this easy.  I sat down for breakfast the next morning and guess who took the table next to mine?  I introduced myself and asked if she remembered me (yeah right, that was 6 years ago and several thousand tourists since !!!). Veronica stared at me for about 2 seconds, a big smile spread across her face, she said “I remembered the face and I remembered the voice….”.  We spent breakfast catching up!!! I reminded her of all the “questionable” characters on that Russian tour. We had a good laugh reminiscing.  It was incredible to run into the same tour guide so so far away from home. Just what are the chances, but it happened.

[Case File #2] You never know who you run into, especially in a foreign country….I met Osman back in 2002 during my visit to Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. He was our tour director, young, tall, dark and handsome, spoke 5 languages. I was lucky to have met up with that group of tourists back in 2002. It was Thanksgiving time. Christmas markets were everywhere, Budapest, Prague, Munich, Nuremburg, Salzsburg, Vienna, the atmosphere was festive, it was magical. Everybody was so much fun, slightly crazy with great sense of humor, and all got along so well, despite of the constant showers and less-than-desirable temperature, we had a great time and named our memorable tour “Budapest 2002”, the best tour ever. Osman told us we were the best-est and the fun-est group of tourists he ever led. It was from Osman I learned of the country Slovenia, his home. Osman and I hit it off, we enjoyed each other’s companion, and we danced the night away in Budapest. But all good things come to an end. He had other tours to lead. I left Munich and came home for Christmas. We wrote a few times but life goes on, we move on.

Fast forward to 2011, 9 years later.  I went on a vacation to see Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. I asked myself what are the chances of running into Osman at his home country? Sure, Slovenia only has 2 million residents; surely I will run into Osman on the streets, the shopping malls or the grocery stores (I am being sarcastic!). I stepped off the plane at Ljubljana Airport, walked through passport control and out the gate into the arrival lounge. I looked up and met his eyes. Standing 15 feet away in front of me was the one and only, Osman. He was the tour director for my Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia tour. He was there to pick us up. I was in disbelief. Osman said he recognized me immediately. We greeted each other with astonishment, just what were the chances of running into him at his home turf or anywhere on planet earth after 9 years of separation??? He did not know I was coming. I did not know he would be my tour guide once again. Osman told me he was not scheduled to lead this tour but the tour company made a last minute change and there he was, and that it was the last tour for his 2011 tour season. After this tour, he would return to be a ski instructor on the Julian Alps until the new tour season began the following spring. He was heavier than he was 9 years ago and I have certainly aged much since we last met but it was good to see him again, my old friend J