Into The Blizzard

That. Was. Awesome.

Rusfurrence is probably the best con I've ever been to. Everyone was really friendly, they wanted to help us overcome the language barrier and we were almost treated like guests of honour being two of only four westerners there. The con was large enough to be interesting but small enough to ensure you frequently bumped into people regularly, meaning there was always someone to see and things to do. We attended countless room parties - including an inflatable party with over 20 different items to enjoy - and we shared shish and alcohol with many new friends. The hotel was compact, in a breathtakingly beautiful setting and the food was gorgeous albeit perhaps a tad expensive. A free buffet breakfast meant we negated the need for lunch by filling up on food, thus meaning we only had to pay for a buffet dinner. Maybe we could have more of the free 6pm ham sandwiches in future. The hotel operated a bizarre credit system so we utilised the furry bar instead here shots and beer were cheap and payable in cash.

Thursday I'll admit I over imbibed, causing me to be really sick in the early hours of Friday morning. It was all going well until 3am when I started correcting English grammar for people before embarking on a vodka drinking competition with cranberry flavoured vodka. Every shot was followed by orange juice, which makes my stomach hurt at the best of times, so illness did ensue. Alex Vance stamped my head with a stamp and apparently I beat the Russians at vodka drinking, which was a talking point the next day.

Friday I was delicate so woke up at 4pm just in time for Alex's event on English language pronunciation, to which I contributed, before realizing my pronunciation wasn't the best. I learned a fair bit from this event to be honest but Alex and I educated each other as there were words he didn't know and vice versa. Can't believe I buggered up the pronunciation of threepence though.

After this, was our inflatable party, which was a largely sober affair due to me being ill from the night before. Earlier on Thursday, we had wandered into the nearby village of Lishichevo to visit the one and only shop there to get beer. There was a huge selection (apparently they had been forewarned about furries and drink) but I had to conduct the conversation in Russian. The owner of the 'Shop of Products' (it's serious name) was delighted he knew the word 'one' though. However a fun time was had and on Saturday I was back on song for the final party.

We started Saturday going around to Jar's room to look at his collection of WWII ordinance and minerals he had found with his metal detector. The Eastern Front was close to Moscow and he showed us grenades, knives and belt buckles from all parties that he had discovered over the last five years. In terms of minerals, he showed us some radioactive samples before giving us a few inert ones to take home with us. He also let us look at photographs of him and some of his furry friends on some stunning scenic holidays and times when his posse scoured abandoned mines. He even showed us a dragon sandcastle replete with cock that he had sculpted. It turned out that he has run the Geological panel earlier in the week, one of the more obtuse ideas which also included a mini-Tesla show which was so crowded it was difficult to see what was going on.

We sat in at the draw off contest, which was very much like the old TV show 'Win, Lose or Draw'. Each team was given a character, then a place, then a scenario and had 20 seconds to amend their characters accordingly. The audience then had to vote for their favourite from each round. There were four rounds and the language barrier wasn't a huge issue here, largely due to the drawing aspect but largely due to the basic Russian I had already learned.

Another place where learning became useful was the art auction. At the art show, we had bid on a few pieces and actually won one, which we picked up before the auction started. It was a picture of a derpy husky with his tongue lolling. During the auction, some pieces went for silly money, which is often the way, but some were very tempting to bid on. We resisted.

Afterwards, was the video presentation section of the evening. There is a challenge to make a video during the five days of the con, which is then aired just before the closing ceremony. Five entries were submitted, all rather amateur considering the time and location constraints, but still fascinating to watch, even though understanding them proved to be difficult. I have a few ideas to do a film of my own on our next attendance at Rusfurrence, possibly with Russian subtitles. I'll give it some thought.

The closing ceremony dished out the awards for the winners of the various competitions, including the Fursuit games and art show, before a final address from the GoH and con staff. Winners were handed out medals and cute purple dragons before the con was officially closed and the dancing could begin.

Throughout the convention, I had been waiting for my new Fursuit, which had been built by the wonderfully talented Taffka. She had to finish the hand and feet paws during the con but as she was chairman, I didn't want to pressure her. However, she also wanted pictures of the suit so we agreed that I would wear the suit at whatever state it was at during the final dance. As it turned out, the feet and one hand glove needed finishing but the glove was wearable so the suit could be debuted. So just after midnight on Sunday 10 February, my fourth Fursuit and my first fully custom suit hit the dancefloor.

It had to be done really as many UK and Russian furs had requested continually to see it. I was astonished by the number of kind tweets and comments my new suit received that night and I'm glad it went down well. Wearing Lupe for the first time was beyond fantastic and I am madly in love with him, he's my sweet pink baby. The sparkle pink hair, a genuine surprise, was a true delight.

I stopped suiting around 3am and headed to the bar, where I got many free drinks and complimentary pizza too. Serie was even using his chocolate fountain to make delicious runny chocolate for dipping, while I was often caught trying to steal his buttons. We also had a balloon popping orgy, tearing down the decoration in preparation of going home. It was a perfect end to a perfect con as we went to bed after 5am.

Saying goodbye to everyone the next day was tough. Many Russian furs really want to see us again and I was very touched by their kindness and hospitality. Even on the furbus on the way back to Moscow, we were sharing stories and drinking vodka but then that is the Russian way.

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My Top And My Tail!

Wolfie was feeling a little delicate on Sunday on account of some orange juice he had had - much like the orange juice had tipped me over the edge on Thursday. Consequently, once we had arrived at Strogino Metro station on the outskirts of Moscow, we headed downtown and straight to our hotel. It was surprising to see streets covered by snow on Monday now completely bare aside from some hazardous sheets of ice which almost caught us off-guard a few times. The week we were in Moscow was unseasonably mild, around zero degrees so much the same as what the UK experienced the other week. This was a tad disappointing really as I wanted to feel -20C but alas it wasn't to be.

After dropping our baggage off, we headed to the city centre to check out the imperious Kremlin, National Library and Red Square. Lenin's Mausoleum was coveted by a giant white inflatable dome for some reason while a kiddies' ice skating rink has now been set up in the middle of the square. It was great being back here in the February drizzle, seeing world famous sights and being attacked by a man in a giant robotic Santa contraption that Wolfie tried to stare down.

We also went to ГУМ, Russia's most famous department store opposite the Kremlin. It has a beautiful ornate structure - think Victoria Quarter in Leeds - and was famous for chic in Soviet times. It's much the same now except the stores are high end affairs of the kind you'd find on Bond Street. Indeed many are the exact names you'd find on Bond Street such is the way of globalisation.

Before this, we had looked around for a Crapdogs van but alas our favourite near the Bolshoy Ballet has since been towed away. However, we did find one in an offshoot of the underground labyrinth around there so we were soon enjoying a delicious hotdog with ketchup and cheese sauce while an old man kept saying the word два to us repeatedly for an unfathomable reason.

Considering noms, we also tried McDonald's spicy beef roll and the delicious Крошка Картошка, a baked potato chain of restaurants that has only been going since 1997. The potatoes they serve are gorgeous, with butter and cheese mashed into the potato before it is baked again. You can then choose toppings such as the freshest cream cheese I have ever tasted and they also serve beer. Truly heavenly, so much so I am thinking of asking the CEO of the company about UK marketing plans.

Fully filled, we headed back to the hotel to check in to our flight online, grab a beer and a shower (not simultaneously) and head to bed to endure a poor night's sleep on the lumpiest pillows ever while dreaming of young children being run over by juggernauts and furs harboring criminals. Not pleasant.

Monday saw us have half a day in Moscow ahead of our flight home. Taffka had still to give me the feet paws and one hand paw as yet uncompleted. She had taken them home after the con and delivered them to us at our hotel at lunchtime. She came with Llanowar and the duo gave us a nice Rusfurrence luggage tag before guiding us to our station from which our train to the airport departed.

With an hour to kill, they took us to a local cafe bar, a remake on the Soviet style canteens where we enjoyed delicious pelmeni while watching Tom and Jerry and discussing the con. We congratulated them both on a job well done and vowed to return amidst the bright orange decor of the restaurant. It was better and far cheaper than the station one and more lively too, which was fantastic.

At the airport itself our flight was half an hour delayed so we enjoyed another delicious potato curtesy of Крошка Картошка before avoiding the expensive bars, favouring a wander instead. Then we boarded our flight during which I experienced the best airline food I've ever had while watching the acceptable movie 'ted' as we headed back to the UK.

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