An unwelcome adventure

Here it is ten days before Christmas and we decided to do our Christmas shopping for each other at the Mitina Mall. It was too cold to walk so we took a bus. We enjoyed shopping, listening to Christmas carols in English, had a nice lunch there and then headed home. A beautiful sunny day here but bitterly cold. On our way back, we missed our stop. The bus driver had stopped in a different place and we expected to get off at our usual place except that he didn't stop. We rounded the corner GOING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF OUR HOME!! We got off at the first stop and walked home. Problem - well, there was only a sidewalk for a short ways and then we entered the construction site of the new Mitina metro stop.I can only imagine what drivers whizzing past us were thinking. Oh, those must be crazy Americans who missed their bus stop.  Here we are, icy winds blowing in our faces as we tread carefully over frozen mud and uneven snow-covered ground trying to reach the street which will take us home. It was a freeze-your-face- in -two- seconds cold and the wind was unrelenting. It is actually a balmy 5 degrees without the chill factor which was well be low zero. We were happy to reach the warmth of our apartment. It is going to be a LOOOOONG winter, especially if we keep missing our bus stops.