The content of this post is an adaptation of an original text written by Guy Laliberté.

May 9, 2009: Departed from Montreal at around 23H00 on my way to Moscow. The adrenalin flowing through my body makes it hard to sleep, but I manage to grab a few hours.

May 10, 2009: Touchdown in Moscow at around 15H00. A beautiful sunny afternoon welcomes us as we are greeted by a Space Adventures-Russia employee who’s there to help us through customs. Not a small feat considering all our film equipment! That first step taken, we board a minibus with all our luggage and arrive at Star City after having spent almost two hours on the road.

When we arrive, other members of Space Adventures-Russia are there to help us get settled in. My room looks like it’s straight out of the ‘70s. It’s not very big, but it’ll do!

Star City is only about thirty kilometres from Moscow but with the extremely dense traffic around here, it can take up to three hours to drive there. In Star City, there are a lot of green spaces including small lakes where swans glide along in the water: it’s very relaxing. It’s quite apparent that the buildings of this ‘city’ were built in the ‘60s. There are modern houses, here and there. However, they’re not generally representative of the local decor…

The lifestyle, here, is peaceful. It seems like the ‘city’ is in full bloom with all these baby strollers around! The people are very warm and welcoming and our attempts to babble a few words in Russian make them smile.

It is relatively easy to find what we need (food, toiletries, etc.) but, once again, the buildings appear to be from another time! Makeshift tables covered in fruits and vegetables for sale sit by the side of the road; small trailers serve as dépanneurs (i.e. convenience stores)…

May 11, 2009: We take advantage of a national holiday in Russia (celebrating Victory Day 1945) to get settled in once and for all. The sun is still with us.