To be or not to be??

I open the Internet and watch the schedule of the Biathlon World Cup. There is nothing left before the start of the season.

 

After reviewing several sites, I come across the right one. On the spot where Elena Kopylova (as it turned out, a rather famous journalist in biathlon) offers to become one with our biathlon team: to go to Kontiolahti for the Finnish stage of this sport. I calculated the euro and realized I could afford it. Until the stage is another 4 months, there is time to accumulate the missing amount.

 

On the portal, all the nuances of the trip were indicated in detail. But day and night I did not leave doubts: “Oh, well, the money will go a lot”, “I do not know the organizer of the trip”, “How do I go alone?”, “Is it not dangerous to send money to an unfamiliar girl!”, “How and where to make documents for a trip?”, “A trip abroad is so scary”, “I do not know English at all” and not only.

 

 

 

 

The whole trip was divided into three stages, the last of which fell on the shoulders of the organizer. I had to settle the issue of paperwork abroad, the plan of the trip to St. Petersburg (since the group started from St. Petersburg) and the financial side.

 

There were no problems in the trip: I had foreseen many of the nuances in advance, and the part for which Elena was responsible, she decided instantly at the first call.

 

The most important document for the trip I managed to draw up before the New Year, without leaving home. It's very easy!

 

If you have the Internet, you can apply for a passport from anywhere in the world. Waiting week and you bring the remaining documents to the nearest visa center (in my case, the regional capital of the Perm region). Another week and a "Voila!" passport on hand. By the way, I got the most beautiful photo of all the documents that I had in my life!

 

That's the countdown. New Year, a session where all thoughts are occupied with the upcoming trip. Since I studied at the Department of Tourism, it is not worth talking about the benefits of this trip!

 

 

 

 

 

In anticipation of the upcoming birthday, I completely forgot about the visa. Do I do it or will the organizer take care of it? Fortunately, Elena was always in touch and explained that in my case, the document is drawn up quickly and easily, but independently.

 

This birthday was different from many others. On this day, I listened not to congratulations, but endless questions: “How did you decide?”, “Not afraid of one?”, “And the money from where?”, “How much does it cost?”, “You will not have time, you need to make documents.”

 

Despite the warning of the visa center employees about the possible refusal, all documentary formalities were settled. Passport, visa, insurance - all the most important things to worry about.

 

The day of truth has come! The first stage of my adventure is a move from the village to Perm, from where the railway station the first stage smoothly flowed into the second. Polazna-Perm-Peter, this union of the three Ps was thought out in advance. Moving, accommodation, food, everything was under my control.

 

St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, the city on the Neva, Northern Palmyra, Hero City of Leningrad, Northern Venice, Northern Capital, Window to Europe, City of White Nights, Cultural Capital of Russia, the names of this city are endless, as well as accommodation and food in case you have to stay.

 

Days of stay in the Hero City flew unnoticed. Even before the trip, I successfully booked myself a bed in the hostel through Booking, a booking site, and here you can track the rating of the hotel, read reviews, see photos, and not make an advance payment, which will clearly save you from mistakes.

 

The hostel was a 10-minute walk from the gathering place, which was perfect for me, as was the cost per night. And the price of accommodation is a pleasant bonus and one of the most popular options for saving money on your trip.

 

Morning. Breakfast. And talking to the hostess, who was frightened that I might not be missed at the border.

10 minutes and I'm in place, then in a minibus that's filled with strangers. The long-awaited minutes of waiting, and here is Lena Kopylova herself! And we move.

 

The entire journey was approximately 7-8 hours. During this time, we passed the most fabulous landscapes of Karelia, crossed the border and visited a local Finnish store, where we bought the necessary products. By the way, food in supermarkets is another item on which you can reduce travel expenses.

 

 

 

 

The hostel in which we settled was located near the center, in a quiet area and was very spacious and cozy. Scouts' Youth Hostel is not an ordinary hostel. Here every week a group of young children (something like pioneers) gathered and sorted through the garbage, which we so badly sorted into barrels.

 

And it came: acquaintances, walks, common interests. The most active of us was Katyukha, this is a real fan, chasing athletes to the finish line, she became the one who dragged me into the wave of “sickness to loss of pulse”. The room of the guys was such a geographical diversity that it is simply impossible not to mention Sasha from Krasnoyarsk, Alexander from Tula, who drove all the way to Joenssu in his personal car and Artem from Nizhny New Year. Our organizer Lenochka is from Moscow, and Yulia, with whom we still maintain friendly relations, came from Volgograd. All Russians considered this foreign stage to be home, because it is close to Kontiolahti from St. Petersburg.

 

Exactly ten days lasted World Cup and exactly ten days was to get acquainted with this fabulous country. During the whole trip we had 3-4 days free from racing, during which we had time to enjoy hikes in museums, meetings with athletes and their coaches and just walks through the cute streets of Joenssu.

 

As for biathlon, the sporting event was organized at the highest level! Starting from the shuttles, which took fans absolutely free of charge from the city center to the stadium, ending with the musical accompaniment of the orchestra, volunteers who are ready to help at any moment and just any information support.

 

It is worth mentioning the sporting success of our team. At the 2015 World Cup in Kontiolakhti, Ekaterina Yurlova became the World Champion in the Individual Race, ahead of the Czech and Finnish athletes by 23 and 24 seconds, respectively.

 

And the leader of the men’s team Anton Shipulin became the second in the personal race of the mass start, losing to the champion from Germany only 17 seconds. That’s how fractions of seconds separated the winners of the extended podium from the pedestal, the winners of the pedestal from the championship and created the history of this championship.

 

 

 

 

After defending the extreme race of the championship and taking a “family” photo, we headed straight to the Finnish-Russian border in order to have time to cross it before 24:00, since my visa ended with this date – 15.03.2015, 24:00.

 

About three in the morning, half of our company left us at the Moscow railway station. Fortunately, in St. Petersburg there are round-the-clock dining rooms, in one of which we came to eat and pass the time. Waiting for dawn, we said goodbye to Artem and began an adventure through the streets of the Cultural Capital. All the central streets were explored back in 2012, when I took my first trip to St. Petersburg. So we just went and enjoyed the arrival of spring.

 

As time went on, I began counting down the "Union of the Three Ps," Peter-Perm-Polazna.

 

About 40 hours on the road, and I am in my hometown, in my apartment, and now there are only pleasant memories, photos and rare correspondence with Yulka.

 

 

 

 

My first trip abroad took place on "Hurrah". A good rest abroad and visit some event, meet with champions, discuss biathlon with the famous commentator Dmitry Guberniev and the head coach of the Russian national team dreams of almost every Russian. A nice bonus: we participated in two programs about biathlon.

 

All my experiences were in vain. Documents are issued in one click on the site, the language barrier disappears when communicating with foreigners, and in an unfamiliar company you can instantly make good friends. The most important thing is to believe in your dreams, and they will come true!

 

Text: Anna Drozdova

Photo: Anna Drozdova, partiotalo