Vapouround magazine ISSUE 15 | Page 148

EVENTS BY PATRICK GRIFFIN MOSCOW VAPEXPO2017. SOKOLNIKI EXHIBITION AND CONVENTION CENTRE - DECEMBER 8-10 This was my first visit to Moscow and the last thing I expected was to have a bottle of Russian vodka confiscated from me at the checkout of the supermarket opposite my hotel. A very stern looking checkout operator looked at the vodka, added disapproval to her facial expression and wagged a finger at me as she placed the offending bottle out of sight under the till. (I later learned that I had missed the 10pm cut off point for spirits sales.) The other thing which surprised me was that the weather was relatively mild, just a couple of degrees below freezing on arrival but no bitingly chilly winds that I had been led to expect. It was positively t-shirt and light jacket weather for the duration of the trip. I was also expecting long queues at the airport and an inefficient arrivals process but nothing could have been further from the truth. Clearing immigration, baggage reclaim and customs was all done within minutes and we were soon in a taxi for the 90 minute journey to the hotel. We bumped into our friends Mo and Imran from The Doozy Vape Co in the hotel lobby and soon saw a couple of other friendly faces so we had clearly chosen a hotel which was convenient for the expo. As we set out in search of food later that evening both I and colleague Dave Turner were careful not to trip on the icy pavements and roads. While our ultra slow walking pace kept us from falling flat on our backs, it was a little embarrassing to see little old ladies overtaking us with carefree abandon. 148 | VM15 The expo itself turned out to be in a wonderful snow-covered forest and this was about as perfect a winter setting as one could hope to see. It was held over three days and followed the conventional format for these events; a business day on day one, followed by two days which were open to the public. Full marks for organisers