Friday, August 27, 2010
Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa! I know many of you who get the blog via email were perhaps a bit perturped as your system crashed from trying to download 12mb of photos. I can’t for the life of me understand how the one photo turned out to be 3+ mb, and how it got into the attachment box three times is just a mystery. From now on I’ll only place photos in the online version, which is much easier on everyone.
Speaking of Latin, I began my wandering yesterday with a visit to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Roman Catholic Church in Moscow. This church was built in 1911, closed in 1937 and re-opened in 1996. One of only two neo-Gothic churches in Europe, this tall building underwent a very complicated restoration process as it had been completely re-shaped both inside and out while used successively as a place to store vegetables, a hostel and office space! Stalin didn’t much care for religion! The final restoration was completed in 1999. You can see from these photos, a link, not a download, that it is marvelous from the outside with a rather stark interior. I stayed for a bit, said a prayer for my mother, and was off to get lost once again.
My objective was to head down to the river and wander around to get a better perspective on downtown Moscow. Rather than take the easy direct path, I meandered all around the place wandering through neighborhoods and business areas, and taking lots of underground passages to cross major streets. There is almost no way to cross streets without going underground. They simply don’t want to stop traffic, which as you know is already out of control, so people just go through the passages. There is a whole world underground, a thriving economy based on tiny, really tiny, little stores that are no more that five feet wide and three feet deep. You can get anything and everything. Sometimes when you go down, you can smell fresh bread or pastries, other times you smell urine, it all depends. The folks that run these little shops are usually open for about 12 hours a day and they sit in these claustrophobic places all day long. I would go nuts.
After strolling about for ninety minutes, I finally took a street that headed downhill, assuming correctly that it must end at the river. The Moscow River curls around the city in strange ways. On the way to the airport you might go over the river six times. Moscow, surprisingly, is also known as the Port of Five Seas. With the completion of the Moscow Canal in 1939, which connects the river to the Volga River, Moscow has access to the White, Baltic, Caspian, Black and Sea of Azov. There is a lot more shipping that goes on here than I would have ever suspected.
There is a lovely walkway along the river and once I found a passageway under the busy street, I was free to walk for miles, with no streets to cross or cars to dodge. This walk affords spectacular views of Moscow and I’m really looking forward to taking a cruise on the river. There are scores of boats of all sizes that take tourists on cruises, dinner cruises, night cruises, etc. Very much like Paris, these are modern glass-enclosed boats, some with open decks, others sealed against the elements. One of the favorite starting points is at the former Hotel Ukrainia, which is now a Radisson Hotel. This was one of the Seven Sisters and until 1975 it was the tallest hotel in the world. It is an Art Deco marvel and it took Radisson three years to clean it up and get it ready for opening this past April. You can take a quick look at it here:
For the next hour or so I just enjoyed the sights and sounds of the river and the city and found myself near the Kremlin, which meant I had gone too far since my objective had been the embassy. I then crossed over the highway and headed back, passing lovely old buildings facing the river. Occasionally a gate would open for a car to enter or leave and I could see the ornate courtyards with their private park-like setting and great fountains. I finally reached the embassy and I was soaking wet from sweat. The day was cool and breezy but I only have an emergency Tote Coat, the kind that folds into itself. They are great if you are caught in a rainstorm but they do not breathe. I did some very quick shopping and headed back to the apartment the fast way, since I had some frozen food products and the SDSU bag was really heavy. Got back about three and a half hours after I had started and felt like I had learned just a little bit more about Moscow. I also realized that this week I have walked more in Moscow that I did for a full year in Bahrain.
Speaking of Bahrain, things seem to have gone to hell in a hand-basket since we left:
As promised, I spent a little more time and energy on dinner last night, just to see what I could do with limited utensils. Some of the frozen stuff I got at the embassy was to be dinner, yellow-fin tuna fillets and brussel sprouts to be specific. Cindy had been working very hard and I knew she would be a bit tense the night before her big presentation, so I wanted to make a special meal that would distract her and force all of her attention on food. I first cut up some tomatoes into wedges and let them sit in a dressing I made, similar to Caesar dressing, but with more garlic, balsamic and herbs. After it had sat for about an hour, I placed it over a bed of arugula and served it with hot French bread. Dinner with baked Tuna Oreganato, a Sicilian dish that we both love. Normally the tuna is covered with an herbed breadcrumb crust, but I went down and dirty and simple using just lemon juice to hold the oregano and garlic on the fillets. These only take about six minutes in a hot oven. To accompany the fish I made garlic couscous and parboiled Brussels sprouts finished in a frying pan with butter and garlic until they got all brown and tasty. It was nice to know I could do a proper hot meal with what is in the kitchen, but I still wish our shipment would get here.
With all the rain and cold weather we have been having, the quality of the air has gotten noticeably better, so much so that I was able to put away our facemasks that have been hanging by the door. Sleeping has been a delight what with cold fresh air perfumed by the heavy rains; just wish we could sleep longer. This 5:30 am stuff ain’t what I thought retirement would be all about!
From CC: It’s over – the presentation, that is. It went well, mostly thanks to my Titans of Technology, as Wm is calling my Russian tech team. I think everyone was impressed when the PowerPoint went directly to the videos without more than a few seconds’ pause – no muss, no fuss. I can’t take credit for that but I’m sure glad someone knew how to do it. I got lots of nice comments afterwards, and the best part was that those who had specific comments got the message, that this was meant to get them excited about technology and to give them good ideas. Even one of the gym teachers stopped me in the hallway this afternoon to say he had already taken two ideas from the presentation and incorporated them into the curriculum.
Needless to say I had a rather relaxed afternoon where I even had time to sort out some of the piles of information on my long-neglected desk. I also took time to choose some more furniture for my office – before you know it I’ll be settled!
PPS: I seldom will PS Cindy but she is being her usual modest self. Two people have stopped me in the compound to tell me what a great presentation it was and how poised and gifted Cindy is as a public speaker. My heart was bursting with pride!
Happy Friday, Cindy the Orator and wm
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| Same Cell Phone, different light |
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