More Pictures

If you just can't get enough of Russia, here's more pictures I posted.

THURSDAY - Home

We both just got home on a snowy evening, much like the weather we left in. Martha and Ginger were happy to see us. We are happy to be home, but we also miss our friends and we will never forget our once in a lifetime trip to Moscow.

THURSDAY - Touchdown in Moline

Safely back and our driver's on the way.

THURSDAY - Back in the States

Landed in Atlanta a while ago after an uneventful 11 hour flight back and it looks like our flight to Moline departs on time!

While our bags were x-rayed three times and physically searched once leaving Moscow, the experience of the airport there was better than almost every US airport I've been in and very courteous. People flying through the Moscow airport we used were orderly and quiet, and that
might have a lot to do with it.

With luck, we'll be headed for Moline soon!

WEDNESDAY - Leaving tomorrow

We head out tomorrow for the long trip back to the states. We've had an amazing time in Moscow and successfully navigated a major international city better than I could have hoped. It really was easier to me to get around than I have found it in New York or Chicago.

The people of Moscow were very patient and polite, and I will miss the rhythm and the pace of life here. I can't express it well, but while there is much work going on here and people are very busy, they have never seemed to unnecessarily hurry. No one here rudely shoved their way past me; no one shot me a disapproving look.

With its high ratio of park lands, low buildings, efficient metro, great restaurants, northern climate, and wide sidewalks, Moscow is the first large urban landscape I've ever been comfortable in, the first that doesn't seem suffocating.

As we were finishing packing we both noted that this was a great first overseas trip for us, and that we're looking forward to our next! Stay tuned...

WEDNESDAY - Shokoladnitza Coffee Shop

Near Victory Park was the coffee shop I'd imagined existed in Moscow. Smokey, chic, and with very good coffee. We ordered chocolate blini and chocolate fondue to go with, mostly by pointing as we didn't have much Russian to go on. As the desserts are usually the most attractive things to take pictures of, that's pretty much what we had to point to. We both imagined our waitress thinking, "Fat Americans... no wonder... they only eat desserts.






It was fascinating to watch people here and see what could be ordered. This was not the hangout of the teens and twenty-somethings. It seemed that Russians with a little more money came here. It was interesting to see people order cigarettes and have them delivered to their table too.













My cappuccino was nice; Jeri ordered something that was like a cappuccino on top and then a big wad of melted chocolate on the bottom. She said it was fabuloskya.









My dessert was chocolate blini (think very thin pancake), something we'd looked for several times since arriving. It was wonderful and filled with melted milk chocolate mixed with dessicated coconut and plum sultanas. Yum!








Jeri ordered another item available for pointing, a HUGE plate of chocolate fondue, with strawberries, pineapple, bananas, and pound cake. It was delicious too and the fruit was perfect and very fresh.

Afterwards, we took the metro to Old Arbat, a picaresque, touristy area to shop around and walk back to the embassy while we watched the snow fall on our last evening in Moscow.

WEDNESDAY - Victory Park -- PICS AND MORE INFO ADDED

We went to Victory Park today, fully unattended this time. Jeri is doing a great job navigating the metro.

On the way, we came out of the metro station and found a great spot to take pics of the Triumphal Arch that sets between six lanes of extremely busy and fast traffic. The under pass walkway allowed us to come up into the median and take pictures. Jeri is that little speck under the arch to the right.

Jeri was going to take a picture of me under the arch, but just then, a man in very plain street clothes came up to me and said, "That's enough, no more photos! You've been here five minutes, enough!" We turned to go, very quickly, especially after hearing that police and soldiers sometimes confiscate cameras, especially if you happen to take one of them. I also removed the data card from the camera as we left, just in case.

We were both discussing the matter when Jeri noticed something very odd, and she realized why we were shooed away so abruptly. The busy traffic had suddenly disappeared. Six lanes lay in complete silence. We quickly descended into the underpass and came back up on the Victory Park side, where we were still being watched closely, this time by a different man. It remained silent at first, then, just as our friend Bill had described it, a small police call with a blue light came racing through, then another small black car, and then three identical black Mercedes SUVs. The men watching us were the equivalent of our Secret Service, protecting Vladimir Putin on his way to work. And we got to see it!

We toured Victory Park for the next hour, a large parade ground with impressive monuments to Soviet efforts in World War II, or The Great Patriotic War as it is know here.