Return Visitor to Moscow

I know I only spent a week here last time, but everything feels so much more familiar and comfortable.  I don't have that deer in headlight feeling that I did last time.  The language is not such a shocker, in that I had more realistic expectations, and retained all the headway I made last time.
What surprised me, frankly, is that my mother, who was completely freaked out about coming here (most likely because she read this blog and how freaked out I was last time:), felt immediately comfortable.  Obviously, the whole Eastern European feel of this city was not a shocker to her, she can also read and speak some Russian, and she comes from a big city, so the crowds, the harried pace was not unusual for her.  It was kind of cool to be with someone who could appreciate the many similarities with Budapest, the subway cars, the ads and billboards, style of apartment buildings etc. etc.  We also complemented each others' Russian vocabulary, and could almost communicate with people.