Then her mood changes. She called home to tell her parents what train she was to travel on, but she didn't know which of several Moscow stations it would arrive at. Maybe her mother would be waiting for her at the wrong station. Earlier, Xenia said she is a descendant of the noble family that killed the infamous Rasputin. The older women beam at Xenia and add for my benefit details about her well-known ingenious and persistent ancestors.
People put on fresh clothes for their arrival in Moscow.
They are surprised that I don't want to change as well. The only place that affords privacy is the bathroom. I look down at my tee shirt and cotton slacks and decide they will do. I will stay two nights with Alla and her daughter before riding another slow train back to Riga, Latvia, to catch my return flight to New York. We pull into a train station of blue and white stucco with several barrel arches flanking a large vaulted entrance.