Group Study Exchange lands in Siberia!

Thursday, the Rotary District 6960 Group Study Exchange Team left for Siberia. We began our trip out of Fort Myers, FL traveling to North Carolina, followed by Washington DC, then on to Moscow where we spent the day. Today during our 12 hour layover, we meet with the local Rotar-Act members to tour the city. We left the airport by train on a 40 minute ride through a beautiful birch forest as we made our way into downtown Moscow. There we caught a few metros (subway) that lead us to a hilltop platform overlooking the Red Square. For the next several hours we walked to Lenin’s Tomb, St. Basil’s Cathedral, Christ’s Church, Alexander Park, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and enjoyed the amazing flower gardens surrounding each of them. We finished our day with apple and cherry stuffed crepes...a la mode! Last night, we caught an 11pm flight to Omsk, arriving at 5am to a very warm welcome. Several Rotarians, Rotar-Act members and host families greeted us with flowers, banners and enthusiastic smiles. We spent our first day in a lovely hotel to get adjusted to the time difference. We’ve already seen so many rich cultural sites and we haven’t even began our district tour yet!

We are looking forward to updating our blog frequently so we can share this special experience with you. On behalf of our team, Mark Casper, Andrew Somerville, Nikki Heil and team leader Joe Boggs, we want to express our sincerest thanks to our Rotary District 6960 and our host families for this wonderful opportunity. Stay tuned for another update on our amazing adventure!