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Going to McDonald’s in Russia was almost and afterthought for us.  We spent our first week or so in St. Petersburg without stopping by one, and then, a day or two before we were set to hop on a train to Irkutsk, we realized that we might not get another chance.  I wasn’t sure there was a McDonald’s in Irkutsk, but I knew for sure there wasn’t going to be on on Kamchatka.  We’d already eaten at a Russian McDonald’s in 2006, so it wasn’t like missing it this time would bother me.  Still, we weren’t making videos back then…

So, while we were on our way to buy a new pair of hard drives, we decided to stop off for lunch.  I remembered to bring the video camera, but it turns out I forgot to bring a battery for the microphone.  The on camera mic did well enough, even if it did pick up a bit too much traffic noise.

Couple notes about the video:  I guess we finally found an acceptable answer for why all the McDonald’s managers have been so adamant about us not taking photos.  Copyright infringement, which I think is a pretty silly excuse in this case, is a party line I could see the franchise enforcing.  At least it’s an answer; we usually don’t even get that.

We never did go seeking the rumored “fake McDonald’s of Russia.  Would have been fun to order a Big Mec, or whatever, and see how close it was to the real deal.  Next time!  Also, as you may have figured out from watching the video, we didn’t “get” the Chicken Shake because we didn’t find the curry powder until after we’d finished eating.  I guess you’re supposed to pour that in the bag with the chicken and shake it all around.  Maybe they even have different flavors.