Moscow metro

Came across this Russian blog featuring photos of the Moscow subway system taken with wide-angle lenses. Everything is written in the Cyrillic alphabet so I have no idea what the captions say. Some (like the one above) are quite ornate and others are more akin to modern day subway stations seen elsewhere. I've always wanted to pay a visit to Russia to soak in the Soviet architecture, take the epic 7 day trans-Siberian railway journey, and of course to visit its famed metro system. It's supposedly the second most heavily used rapid transit system after Tokyo, and some places run 86 meters or 276 feet below ground!

However, I'm guessing this trip I have conjured up in my head will have to stay there for a while given the unrest and violence in Russia these days. The metro has always been a target for suicide bombings and political protest. The most recent bombing was in March 2010 and killed around 40 people. To be honest, that wouldn't stop me from visiting, but the anti-racist attacks definitely make me think twice. Anyone who are not ethnically Russian are at risk, and there have been reports of acid attacks and stabbings to Muslims, Jews, Central Asians, Chinese, Africans, etc...

10 constants of air travel

I just read an article (again, on the Matador website) about the 10 constants of air travel. Not all of their comments I agree with, but all of them I've encountered.

1. The seat hogger: these people are everywhere; guaranteed to be on at least one of the legs of your flight. The worst one I encountered was actually a teenage girl who elbowed me *hard* in the ribs when I was sleeping.
2. The breakfast sausage: what can I say, I like airplane food - sausages included. Most of the time I'm just happy to be getting any kind of food at all!
3. The nasty flight attendant: "May I have a blanket?" "We're out"
4. The too-nice flight attendant: lots of "honey" and touching of the shoulder
5. The bathroom hogger: I once had to get up 5x for someone during a 3 hour flight.
6. The annoying child: 'tis the reason why invested in noise-cancelation headphones. For anyone who knows me, that's a huge investment.
7. The snorer: see #6
8. The movie you really want to see but can't hear: in my case it's the movie I really want to see but can't SEE. Yes, even as late as 2010, I took an international flight without the inflight entertainment system.
9. Faux orange juice: see #2
10. The bizarre neighbor: sure, sometimes they're bizarre and too chatty, but other times you can score the flight neighbor lottery. I met the most interesting girl once when I was 16 and on a flight to France. She was Greek, 22-ish, a naval architect, last one to board, and was in a huge faux/real fur coat. I still remember her name after 10 years.

For all you oenophiles

Matador's list of 15 epic wine regions to visit before you die.