Расшифровка записи
Lucy: Hi Jack! Good to see you! How did you spend your summer vacation?
Jack: Oh, I had a fantastic time! You know how much I like soccer…
Lucy: Don’t tell me you went to Moscow to the World Cup!
Jack: I sure did. And it was amazing!
Lucy: It must have cost you a fortune!
Jack: Well, the tickets were really expensive, but then everything else wasn’t that bad. And guess what! If you had a ticket to the game in another city, the train ride was free.
Lucy: Wow! What other cities did you go to?
Jack: Just St. Petersburg. But that was enough. I didn’t have time to see everything. That would have taken months. There’s just so much to see and explore there.
Lucy: How did you manage to get around? You don’t speak a word of Russian!
Jack: I didn’t need to. Everyone that I talked to spoke decent English. There were lots of English-speaking volunteers around to help out if you had any troubles. And there were fans from all over the world, and most of them spoke English too.
Lucy: That’s so cool! So what did you think of Russia? Did it turn out to be any different from what you had expected?
Jack: Yes, it was completely different. I didn’t know that Russia was so modern. And I didn’t expect the people to be so friendly. I had always heard that Russians were gloomy and depressed. But everyone was smiling and happy and curious about us foreigners.
Lucy: What about Russian food? Did you like it?
Jack: Absolutely! That was the best part. I especially enjoyed eating piroshky.
Lucy: What’s that?
Jack: They are these delicious stuffed pies filled with things like cabbage, potatoes, mushrooms or meat. They are a kind of street food that you can find sold everywhere. They can also be sweet.
Lucy: That sounds yummy! Did you have time to do anything besides eating and watching the games?
Jack: I did. I visited 2 museums: the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. I didn’t know anything about Russian art before, but now I understand I was missing out.
Lucy: I’m really envious. Isn’t it really hard to get a Russian visa?
Jack: Normally it is and can take a lot of time. But it was not required at all for those who wanted to visit the World Cup. All you had to get was a Fan ID, and that was incredibly fast and easy if you had a ticket to the games.
Lucy: No way!
Jack: I know, right? And guess what! I can visit Russia without a visa again till the end of this year using the same Fan ID card. In fact, I’m thinking about going to celebrate New Year’s Eve there. They say it’s the biggest holiday in Russia, even bigger than Christmas.
Lucy: That sounds like fun! But aren’t you afraid of the winter?
Jack: Not at all. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a white Christmas. In fact, I’ve made some Russian friends who promised to take me ice-skating and skiing.
Lucy: Hey, if I started now, I’m sure I could get a Russian visa by December. Could we go together?
Jack: That sounds like a great idea!
Lucy: Where would we stay?
Jack: There are a lot of small hotels which are not that expensive. We’ll check them out on the Internet. Prices should be cheaper than during the World Cup.
Lucy: Oh, I’m so excited!
Jack: Me too! It’s a plan then!