It's all Cyrillic to me!

Even though we had my brother around most of the time, Brian and I would have been well-served to learn a bit more Russian than we did. Our Russian vocabulary consisted entirely of "please" (puzhalsta), "thank you" (spasiba), and a thumbs-up sign. :) Of course, one of the toughest parts is suddenly being faced with a completely foreign script. Street names, metro stops, menus... everything is in Cyrillic, especially in Moscow (St. Petersburg gets more tourists, so English is a little more common). Still, it was certainly easier to decipher than the Asian languages will be - a good warm up for Thai in January, haha.

We were able to pick up a few tips, which helped us to be able to read some signs and names - these may also help in deciphering some of our pictures. Some of the letters are similar to English: A, b, K, M, O, T - and a C is usually an "s" sound. Some are similar to Greek: Г = G (gamma), P = R (rho), П = P (pi), and Ф = F (phi). The rest mostly just require memorization - the few we learned were И=i, B=V, H=N, Л=L, and Д=d.

These are pics of some familiar US brands we came across; it's a pretty neat feeling to actually look up and comprehend a Cyrillic sign! Brian was SO excited when we saw the Cinnabon - we had been standing in a blizzard, waiting for Edward to pick up some visa paperwork, and it suddenly appeared to us across the street like a vision. AND - it had wireless internet! Best cinnamon bun we ever tasted. :)