Steed the Steer

Come, and go with me on a trip to Russia. Our first stop will be Moscow, next is St. Petersburg, and then we will visit a city, I’ve never heard of, called Yekaterinburg ( Ya ca teh rin burg). We will try some of the favorite Russian foods and we will attempt to speak their language. I have contacted a friend in Moscow, and her name is Egret the Eagle. She’ll be my host, as we fly around this beautiful vibrant country together.

When going on a trip, we have to make sure we carry the essentials. So, I will pack my toothbrush and new capes, etc. There are hotels, or hostels, that you can find. In my case, I will be staying with Egret at her nest in Moscow. Since I don’t know the language, Egret will be the one doing most of the talking.

I want to make sure I have enough money for my 3 days visit. You see, since I have no pockets, I have to know will my Credit Card will work while on my visit. Most importantly, checking the information on my passport and making sure it is not expired, as well as getting a visa, if need be.

You can’t just buy a ticket to travel, and you have to get these things in order. Since everything looks good, now it’s time to purchase my plane ticket (THIS is a must: you have to dance after you purchase your ticket). It is called a travel dance. Don’t forget that.

I know you are asking, “hey Steed, why are you using an airplane when you can fly?”. Staying in a little island in the Caribbean my cape can go only so far. So, I’ll pack light and be on my way to Russia. Since I am going in the summer, I don’t need to wear a winter jacket, although, Russia is beautiful in the winter. Next time I will make another trip. I would love to see the Ice Palace.

This Palace is an ice sculpture, just imagine all the ice you can put in your strawberry shake. Yum Yum.

Steed the steer is only ten years old, and he and his mom go on many adventures together, but Steed loves to tell his story about his travels. Please note; you need an adult when traveling, as it is safer for you and don’t forget to not wander off. Stay with your family at all times. There are grown folks who love to hurt children, and you are very important to your family. So, stay safe and stay close.

The day before my trip, I needed fabric to make a cape. So, I asked my mom to go with me to the mall. I do know I have capes in my closet, but I needed to have my mom make me a special cape to travel to Russia. I needed these colors, Red, White, and blue. These colors are very important to me. Also, with a big white star in the middle. When we got home, my mom got started on my cape. I can’t wait until she is finished, so I can wear it.

Now my cape is ready, and it looks beautiful. My mom asked, “Steed, did you pack any pants in your bag?”. I said, “No mom. No need, as I am only going with the pants I am traveling in, and thank you for reminding me though.” You see, since I am only going for 3 days, I only need to carry 3 capes, 4 underwear, a toothbrush, and a pair of sneakers when walking around. I do know I will be flying most of the time, but I will still love to speak to the people in Russia. I can’t speak to them if I am flying all day. Now my backpack is packed, but I can’t forget to put my passport in my bag, as well as my cell phone for pictures and emergencies.

It’s getting late, my flight is 5 am, and I need to get some rest. I have to be at the airport for 5 hours before my flight. I am getting sleepy, so am heading to bed. I am so excited, but I have to get some rest.

My alarm went off at 12:30 am, so I got up and took a shower, brushed my teeth, and changed my clothes. My mom was still sleeping. I was way too excited. After my mom’s alarm went off, she was still trying to get off her bed. “Come on mom we will be late”, I said. “Baby do you know we are only 10 minutes from the airport, so can you allow me to stretch my bones”, she replied.

We left the house at 1:20 am, and we reached the airport at 1:28 am. The taxi was driving fast, not fast enough to cause an accident, but fast enough so we can make it on time. Good thing there were no cars on the road too.

I walked up to the counter, and gave the attendant my passport. She looked at me and said “Steed the Steer”. I respond, “yes ma’am, that’s me”. “Do you have a bag to check in?”, she asked. “No, ma’am, only a carry-on.”, I replied. She smiled, gave me back my passport, and we proceeded to the gate.

There was an officer who took my passport and sent me over to another line. I wondered why, but it because the line he sent us over to had no one there except another officer. “Sir, could you tell me why we came to this line, and is there a problem?”, I asked. He replied, “No, there is no problem, but that line was getting full so we diverted some of the passengers to this new line.” He continued, “Aren’t you special, as you are first in this line.” I replied, “Yay, this is great. I’ve never come first in any line. Thank you, sir.”

Approaching the checkpoint, my mom took all my important documents and placed them in her bag. I then placed my bag on the machine and it grabbed it. Another officer was watching a monitor as my bag passed through, but I forgot to take out my cellphone. An officer stated, “Make sure you have no keys and cellphones in your pockets.”

After I placed it in a basket to go into the machine, that same officer said, “you have to go to this location to be scanned”. I got a little worried. So, I asked, “Why is that?” His response, in a harsh voice, was, “since you have a horn you can damage our machine.” I was really sad, because I looked different from everyone. My mom hugged me and said, “it’s okay to be different. If we were all the same, we would live in a boring world.” I know my mom was trying to make me happy, but I’ve heard children my age, and adults, say mean things to me all the time while living here. I hope, when we reach Russia, the people are much nicer than the people here.

My mom took me to get a shake to make me feel better, but that wasn’t helping at all. I couldn’t stop crying when I saw a family that looks like mine. The mom and dad asked me if am okay, and more tears started pouring, because I know others were looking at me. Their daughter came up to me and hugged me. “Hi”, she said, “my name is Peccary the Panther”.

I couldn’t believe my eyes, as Peccary has a shiny coat and she is beautiful. Peccary told me because of her four legs, her tail, and her coat color, she has no friends. She thought she was the only different one on this little island. We exchanged numbers, and Peccary told me she is going on a holiday just like me, with her family, but her family is taking a trip to Greenland.

I can’t wait to hear about her trip when they return. Wow, Greenland. Hmmm, I wonder if everything in that country is green. Like greenhouses and green people. I hope the people treat Peccary well, because she has a different color and looks very different.

Now it is time for us to board the plane. I gave my passport and ticket to the gate attendant. My eyes were still full of tears, and when I looked up, and she smiled at me. She told me everything will be ok. While she was talking to me, a very tall shadow was standing next to me. As I turned around, it was the pilot and he gave me a high five. “Hello, little one”, he said, “what’s your name?” I told him my name is Steed the Steer. He said, “nice to meet you. My name is Captain Gerbil, the Giraffe, and it is nice to see a very special person like you. Hey Steed, if the world looks the same, it will be boring. Go and enjoy the beauty of it and let no one make you feel ugly. Safe flight.” “Wow, he is cool”, I thought.

My mom hugged me and said, “you are truly a special boy, and don’t forget it. A special boy that is traveling to a beautiful country exploring new territory.” I replied., “Mom, guess what, I am an ex plooorrerrr.”

Now I know Peccary the Panther will be okay, as we are few but we are beautiful.

Looking inside this airplane, I see there are so many different and unique beings here. I wonder if the people see how beautiful this world is. There goes my seat, 10E, a window seat. Yes! My mom remembered.

The captain turned on the lights and he said we are 10 minutes from Moscow. More excitement took over me, then that excitement turned into worry, and now am truly scared.

Welcome to Sheremetyevo (sher re meh teh vo) international airport Local time in Moscow is 6:40 am. Wow, we only took an hour to reach here. My mom laughed and said, “no, remember we connected and have to change planes.” We were in Russia the next day. “I know mom, I was only playing.”

I wonder how the people in Moscow will treat me. Captain Gerbil said, over the system, “to all my special ones, if this world was the same it will be boring. Go and enjoy the beautiful country of Russia.”

When we were walking out the plane, Captain Gerbil was standing at the door way and he gave me a high five. “Steed, you will have a great adventure in Russia, enjoy it and have fun”, he said. I said thank you to the captain and ran after my mom. We walked to immigration and everyone looked different. I met an officer who is a bull like me. His name is Officer Lung Horn. Everyone looked happy and ready to start their adventures.

When we reached outside, my mom noticed how grand the airport is, with so many stores to shop, and so little time, as she sighed to herself. My mom got a chip for our phones and called our host. Where we will be staying, our host has a daughter and she will be hosting me around in all the cool spots for kids. Our moms will be close by, but we will be on our adventures together.

My mom and I saw our name on a white board as we walked out the doors. It was Egret and her mom. “Hey kiddo, how was your fight?”, Egret’s mom said. “It was ok”, I replied. Their English is funny, and I loved it. I asked Egret to speak to me in Russian. So my first word for hello is ‘Zdrastvujt’je( z dras vu e t’ je), ‘Zdrast’je, haj or Pri’vet this means hello. Egret said, “since we are children, we will say haj or pri’vet which is hi.” She said, “there’s many ways to say hello. Do you know there are different ways to greet an adult which is formal? They say ‘Zdrastvujt’je or ‘Zdrast’je.” That is so cool. Manners are very important here. Egret’s mom took us to their nest, so we can take showers and start with our adventures. Egret yelled out, “Steed, I can’t wait to show you our beautiful Moscow.”

I yelled back, “I cannnnn’t waiiiit either!”

Egret’s home is big. From the outside it looks so small, but there are 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and the living space in one room. There were so many spaces I got lost. I yelled out, “help, where is my mom?” Egret came flying in, and she is so cool. Her wings spread out and make her look like an angel. We asked our moms if we can fly while they walk, and they said they were ok with that. But we couldn’t go too high. They told us we don’t want to scream out our names. So, we agreed to hover over our moms.

“Egret, what’s the name of your district?”, I asked. She calls it Golyanovo near the Elk national park. She told me her mom wanted to stay near here, so she can spread wings and fly, most of all the air is great here. “We have three places I would love for you to see in Moscow”, Egret said.

“The first place will be Izmailovo Kremlin, which is the cultural center, as well as many museums, a workshop, and markets. The colors are bright, and there’s a bridge you walk over as you enter this beautiful place. Don’t be afraid, the people are very lovely when you get to know them, and everyone here looks different, but manners and respect are very important.”

“Also, the museum of bread is where you will find out different methods in which we make bread. You will see also see cool machineries. Who knows, we can even taste a Russian style bread. We wouldn’t spend much time here, because I want to show you a museum where you can make ceramic toys and you can paint it on your own. It is called Muzey Narodnoy Igrushki Zabavushka. I love going here with my mom.”

After these places, we will stop to try a Russian dish. Since we don’t eat meat, we had to go to a special restaurant that can take both my mom and Egret’s mom. I asked mom if we can picnic instead of sitting in a restaurant, and they both thought it was a great idea.

Egret mentioned Izmailovsky Park will be the best spot. “Mom, there is a place I saw on the map I would love to go before we head back to the nest”, I said. “We can do it after our lunch”, Mom replied. Egret asked, “So Steed, whats the name of this place?” I told her it is call Sokolniki Park. Egret said, “there is a cool museum I wanted to show you, which is our science museum called Inno Park, but we can go there after wards.” Our three places turned into more, but that’s okay because Moscow is beautiful.

We went to a local restaurant, and the restaurant hostess said, “Dobryy Den”. I asked, “what did that mean?” This place is big, beautiful, and wow. I know the pictures will look great. We ordered, and then we jumped in a cab to Izmailovsky park, so we can eat and walk around. We ate Blimi, a pancake style, Pelmeni with both fish and meat, dumplings, Borscht, a beetroot soup, and ponchiki. We bought these in portions, because we didn’t want to overfill ourselves. Egrets’ mom will be cooking for us tonight. YUM!

Her menu will be Shchi, pirozhki stuffed with veggies for us, and meat for Egret and her mom. And for breakfast, before going to St Petersburg, we will have Kasha, which is a porridge and is very traditional.

After a long day out, we went back to the nest. My mom and I took another shower and put on our jammies. Egret and I flew above the nest on top of a tree looking over the city, while our parents were cooking in the kitchen. We looked through all the photos I took throughout the day, and Egret told me about more cool places in Moscow to visit. I only wish we had planned to stay longer. After dinner, Egret and her mom said, “Spa-koy-nay No-chi”, which means have a calm night or dobray vet’cha.

Next Morning, well you could say early morning for some reason, it was still dark outside. I heard this tumbling out my bedroom door with a knock. “Dobroye Utro, dobroye utro” over and over. It was Egret flying down the hall. “Dobroye Utro Steed”. “What does that mean?”, I asked her. She said good morning. Oh! Steed you got to wake up, our parents are up already, and we have to have our breakfast before heading to St Petersburg. Oh yeah, I almost forgot we only have one more full day to visit after this one.

After breakfast, I showered, and we jumped into a taxi to get us to our train. We took a fast train. This train is really fast, as we got to St Petersburg in four hours. We had the whole day to sight see, and, although we were there early, only a few places were open but we still walked around. This place is just as bright and colorful as Moscow, and we checked in at our next hotel. It was a place for family, so we rented a house for the night because we will be going to Yekaterinburg, and take the train from there back to Moscow.

As we walked and flew around St Petersburg, better known as the City of the Czars, everyone looked different here, the people talked to me kindly, and I have learned a few words to make them smile.

Egret told me this is called the imperial capital. She said this is another cultural center in Russia, and her mom took us to look at the Baltic Sea. We walked and flew to a lot of historic sites. There was a bronze guy up on a horse, and it was a monument of ‘Peter the Great’. There was the palace square, Smolny Cathgedral, the Grand Cascade St. Petersbrug, which is vibrant with lots of museums at every corner, and the grand cathedral.

It’s nightfall, and it’s time to get something to eat for another full day. This time we ate at a local restaurant. Egret and I looked at the new sets of photos, and I couldn’t believe I am in this beautiful country and have new friends. I do know when the time comes to leave, I will be very sad.

We headed back to our hotel, and Egret and I shared the same bedroom and our moms shared another room. We were so tired from the day, that we all fell right asleep. The next morning Egret’s mom knocked on the door saying, “Dobrayy utro, its time to get breakfast so we can head out to the train”.

Next stop was Yekaterinburg. It is so dark outside. It seems we always leave when the night is changing over to day. The good thing is we are only less than 2 hours from St. Petersburg, so we can sight see some more.

This city is east in the Ural Mountains, and it is well known for the golden-domed church on the Blood. There was also the opera and ballet theater, which was just as beautiful, the presidential center, named after Boris Yeltsin, and my favorite building is Sevastyanov’s House. When you walk around, or even fly around, Yekaterinburg it is full of history, and even restaurants where you sit down to eat. Russia is truly a gem. I am happy I got a chance to visit Russia. I hope all who are reading this don’t be afraid ask your mom and dad to take a trip to a new territory and learn the language as well their culture.

Now it is time for me to head back to the USA, and I can’t wait to go on more adventures or just read more adventure books.

Until next time, bye for now, Steed!