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.

Bill & Suzie

It has occurred to me that there has been all this talk about our friends Bill and Suzie, but you've yet to see them! Bill & Suzie are good friends of ours from college, are perfect hosts (tirelessly patient, gracious, and energetic!), and extremely well-traveled.

The two of them have lived lives most people will only ever dream of and they are very unassuming about this achievement. They also have the best, most-friendly dog in the world, a portuguese water dog named Higgins who has been a great pal to us.

We have been their fortunate guests for a week now and it seems, to us at least, that the time has been so short. We will miss them very much and I'm not sure how we'll ever repay the kindness they have shown to us here. What special friends!

TUESDAY - Quiet Day

TUESDAY - Today was chillier outside than it has been (about 15F) and we took today as a good recharge day after days of charging around the city seeing amazing stuff and having a good time. It was some much needed down time.

We ate lunch at the compound cafeteria, visited their gift shop, looked at an exhibit in the American Embassy on the anniversary of 200 years of diplomacy with Russia, and had a nice afternoon with Higgins. It was a good day for reading, writing, and coffee. Tomorrow is our last full day in Moscow.

MONDAY - Tea at the GUM

MONDAY - The GUM (pronounced "goom" and an acronym for State Universal Store) is located to one side of Red Square, just opposite the Kremlin. It's a shopping mall for the very wealthy in Russia. There are many American brands you'd recognize there like Gucci, Tiffany, and others.

We came into the GUM to warm up a bit after taking some good daytime pictures of Red Square. It seems like Red Square, one of the highest points in the city, is always especially cold when we've been there and usually pretty windy.

Any benches are conspicuously absent from the GUM to cut down on people loitering inside. We decided to look around and finally to get some hot tea at a restaurant there to warm up. This was our first time alone in Moscow and armed with little Russian.

I knew the word for tea: 'chai' and also I fumbled my way through ordering some 'shokoladnaya' (chocolates) from the waitress there. She was very patient and finally understood, any chocolates she brought would be good.

Russians seem to enjoy their tea very weak compared to Americans and remove the tea bag very quickly. Ours was served with lemon and sugar. The chocolates were delicious and included one that seemed to be filled with chambord and a cherry, another with hazelnut cream, and the third with a sort of peanut toffee.

We felt very proud of pulling this off along with some shopping in the other mall nearby. I was especially proud of the way Jeri seemed to navigate the metro with ease. The day was a real confidence-builder for us.

After tea, we browsed the GUM stores for a bit more and then as twilight descended, went out for one last time, to catch some perfect twilight pictures of Red Square and the beautifully lit red stars that top the steeples of the the Kremlin walls.

MONDAY - The Kremlin

MONDAY - We have been very excited to tour the Kremlin and today was the day! Our guide, Igor, came at 10am and took us for our personal tour. He started with a nice overview of the metro (Jeri's been working on understanding the metro and the stops so that we can get around the city on our own) and got us to the Kremlin quickly. (It's worth noting, no picture here really expresses how huge the Kremlin is, but this might).


The Kremlin borders one side of Red Square and as you might imagine, is heavily guarded outside and inside. For a 30-something who remembers the cold war as a kid, approaching and being inside the Kremlin walls is something that I could not have imagined as a child, and for my part, remained a bit intimidating to approach.



"Kremlin" means "fortress" and indeed it is. Sixty foot walls, 20 feet thick surround the entire compound. It sits high above the Moscow river and overlooks the entire city. It's also one of the oldest structures there, enduring many attacks and invasions through the centuries. It's sort of a large triangle shaped fortification with a beautiful clock tower with bells on one end.



The Kremlin is where Vladimir Putin works and his administration. Once inside, there was one modern looking administration building (not pictured) and many beautiful older administration buildings, all in a warm gold color that was beautiful against the gently falling snow.



There were also several orthodox churches most designed by Italian architects brought in by the czars. Some churches were for men only, some for women only. One was used for coronations, another for baptisms of czars, and another for their burial.

In the one for burial, many past czars lie in sarcophagi around the worship chamber. In this particular church, there were three men from a choir who sang while we were there.

The acoustics of the room were striking as the men's voices would ring in the chamber like bells long after they finished a note. They would often use this ringing sound to sing harmony against before the 'ring' of it died out entirely. Their singing would add new tones to start ringing against it. It was beautiful, hypnotic, and seemed over too quickly.



Just outside this particular church was an enormous bell cast by one of the czars (sorry, can't remember which just now), but damn... the thing's huge. Look at Jeri next to it. It weighs 200 tons and was cast on site.



We also visited the original patriarch's residence (what the catholic world would think of as a pope) and saw vestments of patriarchs dating back several centuries. Many were amazingly ornate, covered in pearls and woven or embroidered with gold thread.

We then toured the Armory, which sounds like a drab museum filled with guns and weapons. To our delight, it was filled with the treasures of state including a huge collection of the czars carriages, multiple heavy gospels (books) clad in gold and crusted with huge diamonds or emeralds as big as 50 cent pieces, coronation gowns of the czarinas in imaculate condition, the clothes of Peter the Great, diamond crusted swords, ornate guns, huge collections of massive gold and silver amusements or ornaments given to Russia from many countries, fraberge eggs gifted to the czarina, diamond encrusted thrones, and the crown jewels of Russia themselves...


Perhaps the most amazing item was a gift to the czarina of Alexander the Second: a silver dandelion, with delicate, tiny silver rods for the stem of each seed pod shaft, not much thicker than a hair. This shaft was tipped with the actual tuft of a dandelion seed around the end, and in the middle of the tuft was a single, tiny, cut diamond. All was exactly to the scale of a real dandelion in full, white bloom. As you slowly walked past or even turned your head, the sparkle of the tiny diamonds gave the impression of drops of dew glinting in the sunlight. It was something I couldn't have imagined was possible to create. Like the rest, it was incredible.

The enormity of treasure in this building was staggering.


Afterwards, we visited the eternal flame, dedicated to those who fought in the Great Patriotic War (World War II to us). Our tour guide had finished his day with us at this point and we were for the first time, free to roam unattended in Moscow. It was very fun and exciting to be managing in this enormous foreign city on our own.



We found our way through ordering a late lunch at a nearby shopping mall food court and did some shopping (yup, with non-english speakers), then took some good daytime pictures in Red Square and stopped into the GUM (pronounced 'goom') to see how the very wealthy in Moscow shopped. But that's another story.

SUNDAY - Public Toilets

SUNDAY - Admit it. You're dying to know about the public restrooms in Moscow. You've heard the horror stories about toilets in Europe and especially eastern Europe.

So Moscow? There are occassionally the port-o-potties Americans are familiar with on the street with an attendant taking admission, but how are most Moscow public toilet facilities? Disappointingly, boringly American.


In fact, (though I'm no connoisseur) I've seen some of the nicest public facilities here, including one with this ornate sink at one of the restaurants.











But, not one to disappoint, I did find a public restroom in a park near Novodevichy and for the pleasure of my readers was sure to snap some pictures. A curved stairwell led underground to a dark alcove (which was honestly a little scary) and a heavy iron door which opened into the mensroom.
















It smelled like a mensroom and the urinals were pretty unremarkable, but there behind the stall doors... the dreaded 'hole in the ground' Americans speak of with hushed tones.

I must admit, if I'd have had to execute number two on this morning, it would have elicited a gasp to see this upon opening the stall door, but this is the only one of these I've seen on the trip. And I've certainly smelled worse in the US.

SUNDAY - The Metro

SUNDAY - The Metros are the Moscow subways and are the fastest way to get around the city. The metro system is amazingly efficient and fast, with a new train arriving at each station every 45 seconds. The metros handle 9 million Moscow residents every day.

Though sometimes 200 feet below the surface (under the Moscow river and several underground rivers too), the stations of the metro are relatively clean and very beautiful. Retired citizens are issued permanent passes for free metro rides.

Built by the early communist party as a sort of palace of the working class, each station has its own architectural and artistic motif, usually celebrating the state, or a particular region of the former Soviet Union, and the Russian people.

SUNDAY - Kish Mish

SUNDAY - The Uzbek place we ate at the first night we were here was 'Koosh Moosh', this place was Azerbaijani and was called 'Kish Mish'.

We started with a wonderful bread I swear was right out of the oven. Very soft bread inside and crusty, crunchy crust, so wonderful!








After that Jeri's entree of Dolma arrived. (An interesting note, entrees don't arrive all at once for everyone at the table as we're used to in the States; Suzie told us that throughout Europe, it's normal for entrees to arrive when they're ready and for each person to start eating when theirs arrrives rather than waiting for everyone to get their entrees)

These were very like dolmates served in Greek restaurants in the States, but I have never really cared for them there. These were much smaller, patty-like in form, and not as vinegary or tough as I've had before. The tzatziki sauce was thinner than I've usually had and seemed just right to be grabbed by the creases in the grape leaves of these small dolma.


The 'risk' entree of the evening was a dish listed as 'Fried Suluguni.' Though Jeri and I were with Suzie on this trip, none of us had any idea what it was.

It was a little slice of heaven. Several slices in fact. Suluguni turned out to be fried wedges of a white Georgian cheese served with a sour cream dill sauce! Spongy-firm, salty, and a bit sour, I'd describe it as a juicy mozzarella, but spongy, not stringy. I think the best description I could give is this; if green olives were cheese, that's what they'd be like. It was outstanding.



I had a pork kebab served on a thin torilla with a yogurt sauce and sliced onion and tomato sprinkled with fresh chopped dill. Wonderfully prepared and delicious.

We finished with a beautiful tray of assorted sweets. Per usually, these were not actually very sweet at all. These were all sort of crosses between yeast and quick breads, usually infused with finely minced nuts, or apricot preserves, or spices like poppy seeds, or a mix of both.

The very best was the diamond shaped item, a piece of baklava that was so dense, different, and amazingly delicious than any I've had in a Greek restaurant in the States, what a wonderful treat!

SUNDAY - Novodevichy: Famous Russian Cemetary

SUNDAY - Novodevichy cemetary is the most famous in Russia, second only to the Kremlin wall burials. Suzie took Jeri and I to visit this graveyard today where dignitaries, cosmonauts, performers and heros of Russia are buried.






Most stones here are works of art, worthy of being museum pieces, and many are created in a strong modernist style. The whole time we were there, I kept thinking, "Dude... that would be a cool tombstone to have... oh wait! That one! .... no, that one!" It was my shopping instinct kicking in mixed with my natural morbid fascinations.

A famous Russian clown.

Yeltsin's grave, temporary location until they select a spot and a monument.

SATURDAY - Groceries at the Yeliseyevsky

SATURDAY - After coffee, Bill and I picked up stuff for me to make dinner back at their place. The grocery store was Yeliseyevsky and in soviet times was the place that pretty much only the politburo shopped. Today, most Russians are so poor, it remains out of reach. Inflation here is incredible.

As you can see in the picture, the place is amazing with crystal chandeliers, ornate cornices and windows... it's like a cathedral for groceries.

There was a nice selection of beer, soda in very small glass bottles, and all kinds of bottled water. The fresh vegetable selection was very small, but there was a lot of fruits and citrus. Most foods were in the realm of reason in price and the meat counter offered excellent selections of meats (I got a pork cutlets for us - they were very good quality) and cuts to choose from, each cut to your specification while you waited.

The cheese section... my god.... the cheeses... so many wonderful European cheeses in giant rounds and slabs staring from behind the counter. We got a nice slice of blue and a great piece of camembert.

There was a nice seafood selection too, and that brings me to inflation and one item I really wanted to enjoy in Russia, but could not: black caviar. The smallest jar, probably about an ounce, not much more, was $250. Bill told me that in the early 2000s, that $250 jar would have been only $40-$50. The tin size (a large flat tin that was approximately 12 ounces) that I had hoped to buy and enjoy with ice-cold vodka while I was there was about $2400. I just couldn't pull the trigger on even the smallest one.

As I held back my tears of culinary disappointment, Bill was kind enough to ask the woman behind the counter to take out a jar for me, so I could at least hold one in my hand. And until the Russian economy stabilizes or inflation goes down here, this will stay out of my reach. It's flying fish roe for me until then. *sigh*

SATURDAY - Coffee Shop

SATURDAY - On the way back from Ismaylovo, Bill and I headed to get some groceries and stopped for capuccinos on the way at a place called the Coffee Bean. It was surprising how much it was like an American coffee shop; the cappucinos were delicious.


















The desserts were interesting and different though. Both the items Bill and I ordered were made with layers of blini (very thin buckwheat pancakes). Mine was an apple and sultana layered with plain blinis.






Bill's was layers of chocolate blini with butter cream frosting between. Both, like most desserts here, were not very sweet, but rich and delicious.

SATURDAY - Market Day: Outdoor Dining in Winter! Yay!

SATURDAY - While in Ismaylovo shopping, we stopped to eat for a bit at these wonderful outdoor grilling places. What a terrific experience. I have always wanted to find somewhere that served food outdoors in the winter in the states, but have never found something like this where it's true outdoor dining, even the kitchen is outside. I also wonder why we don't embrace winter like this in states. This is really good fun!





The food was all grilled meats, fresh vegetables on the side if you like, and some grilled bread. Very simple and very delicious. They grill on skewers rather than grills (pretty smart) and the results are amazing. They also use a natural charcoal (you can see it was a branch or log or whatever before it was made into charcoal) and it creates a terrific heat and wonderful flavor. I watched them for a while as they started by searing the meat over a hot spot and then moving to a cooler area to slowly cook and take up all the smokiness of the charcoal.





I got the lamb and all of our entrees were served with a tangy chili sauce, a hot slab of grilled bread and fresh sliced pickles (sliced thick), onions, and tomato. I should mention at this point that often when sliced fresh onions are served as condiments like this, they're sprinkled with fresh chopped dill. Wonderful!





Jeri and Suzie seated nearby as Bill orders and I take pictures.











Everyone's pretty friendly in eating establishements and a fellow next to us was having lunch too right at our table. He was pretty super and allowed me to photograph his meal, which was really cool to me. Bill told me it was normal Russian fare for lunch that most workers would have during their lunch time. It was some fresh vegetables, pickles, some fragrant rye, a soda, and of course, vodka. Yup, that clear stuff in the bottle (about half the size of the soda bottle, 8oz maybe?) is vodka. Any one from work reading this, I say we all switch to this for lunch. As soon as I get back. Ok, now.

Oh and the chefs there asked if I'd like to take my picture with them. Of course I did! :)