I'm Dreaming of a White Halloween

The snow started at about 10:10 this morning. I know because I had been up for ten minutes.  I stupidly forgot to take a sleeping aid last night and at 1:30 am I was wide awake and trying to count slices of bread in Russian because I didn’t know how to say sheep; besides I can only really count up to ten so it was a lot of repetition.  I got back to sleep just as Cindy was getting up to go for a run and she once again took pity on me and let me sleep. It was blissful.

For a while I thought we would have a nice covering but by two this afternoon it was all gone and the snow had turned to a light drizzle.  However, the stage is now set for winter with all the trees bare and the ground getting harder and harder as the temperatures drop.

I took a little walk in the snow to test out my snow jacket and my ‘snow sneakers’ from L.L. Bean. They worked wonderfully.  I took a few pictures of the local farmers’ market before one of the vendors yelled at me for taking photos.  I suppose they thought I would send them to the authorities since I’m sure many of these vendors have no license to sell.  These vendors are so unlike others at other farmers’ markets around the world. They act like the customer is just one big pain in the butt, interrupting their conversations with one another. I’ve yet to see anyone smile, offer a sample and god forbid you should touch a piece of their produce; they will snarl and yell.  Is it any wonder that we haven’t purchased one thing from them in the three months we’ve been here?!

Dinner last night was a rushed affair since we had language lessons at 7:30.  Cocktails were denied, which didn’t make me any better at pronunciation I can assure you.  I made a big veggie omelet and we split a glass of wine and I had just enough time to clean up before we had to head out.  The lesson went well and the teacher is very nice and very patient. We shall break the group into two for the next lesson and the early one at 6:15 will be at our apartment.

I came home from my walk and started to make dinner for tonight, which will be far more relaxed.  I have been marinating two nice fillets of Mahi Mahi in lime juice and garlic for about six hours.  I brought back from WV a grill pan with the raised bumps that keep the fish or veggies from touching the entire pan and leave lovely grill marks. I’ll use that to grill the fish just before sitting down to dinner. My ratatouille is simmering nicely and I have a nice fresh baguette that I picked up at the bakery on my walk.  Might even splurge and open a decent bottle of wine to get our vacation off to a grand start.  I’ve been saving a lovely 2008 Petite Chablis and this seems like the right time to crack it open. I need to make sure that Cindy truly relaxes and enjoys her week off.  I’m hoping she’ll sleep eight or nine hours every night, but that is just me dreaming.

Our flight to Antalya is at eleven-tomorrow morning, which means we’ll have to catch the eight-thirty train to the airport.  I have no idea if we’ll have Internet access at our hotel but I’m sure we’ll bring the computer just in case. This is when I would like to have an iPad, which is light and can do most of the things I need to do on the road. 

I’ll post a lot of photos today on the webpage: www.embeesmoscow.blogspot.com

They are mostly of the last days of fall and the first few days of winter, all in October.

We hope you all have a lovely weekend, Cindy and Wm

I love this photo taken at the meeting in Deauville, France.  It is so indicative of what an un-united Europe has become.

Moe, Larry and Merkel

All around Moscow you will seen older women selling little things; homemade jams, lace, mittens, two tomatoes, a bag of potatoes, fresh herbs in season, any odds and ends they have just to get a few Rubles.

Private Enterprise

The last days of Autumn

Snowy Skoda

Fresh Fruits and Veggies

Blood Flavored Carp

Protected from the Elements

Grouchy Lady can be seen on the right

Monument to Georgian Writers, Location of the Market

Red Square in the Rain

Boy Scout In Moscow

I was able to get in a ninety-minute walk today before the weather turned nasty. It was sunny and a brisk 35 degrees, but it was great to get outside and move my body after having been sitting in various modes of transportation for twenty hours yesterday.  Last night Cindy taught me how to say, “May I” in Russian and I repeated it several times and today I couldn’t remember it for the life of me. While I was walking there was a spot were they are doing construction and there was an elderly lady having a lot of difficulty getting up on the ramp to the walkway detour.  Somewhere from out of my brain I came up with ‘May I Please’ in Russian as I offered her my arm. I was rewarded with three wonderful thank yous and a great big smile.  Well worth the effort to learn a few phrases.

Last night we headed out to dinner at about seven and it began to rain so we went to the Georgian restaurant instead of one that is a bit farther away.  We were a bit apprehensive when we walked in but our favorite waitress was there as well as the one we had a ‘discussion’ with over the wine prices on our last visit.  Our favorite came over and Cindy greeted her warmly in Russian and she gave us menus, smiles and walked away. A short time later, the other one came, we assume because she is fluent in English. Well, I don’t know if our favorite waitress told her to be nice or if she had decided that we were OK folks, but she was as friendly and helpful as possible. 

We ordered wine; I very specifically ordered it by name, and two soups and a Georgian cheese dish. The soups, cream of mushroom for Cindy and Borscht for me, were just wonderful.  Both came with sour cream and they were filled with lots of fresh herbs and you knew they had been simmering for a while. The cheese came in a clay bowl and was bubbling hot. We had some local bread with it and I loved it but it was far too salty for Cindy.  We split a plate of roasted veggies, a peeled and grilled tomato, eggplant and pepper.  It was just right for our dinner.  When the bill came, I examined it like a hawk and found that we must qualify for the house discount since she undercharged for our wine.  We gave her a nice tip and left feeling happy that we had recaptured our restaurant.

We got back relatively early and watched a bit of BBC news before we had to crash.  I slept like a baby waking only when I heard Cindy get up. I thought she was getting ready to run, but she had done all of that and was ready to head to school.  I felt terrible that I hadn’t gotten her breakfast but was ever so grateful for the extra sleep.

A Green Guy came today to hang a coat rack that I brought back from WV. We have pitifully little storage here for coats and clothes and now that we need to have heavy coats and things, we needed a remedy. We have already taken all of our summer stuff and stored it in a big suitcase that slides under the storage shelves.  This coat rack will let me hang all of my winter stuff freeing up the space Cindy needs in the closet.  I do hope that we’ll be moved to a larger apartment next year.

All of the leaves have departed for the season and we now have views that I’m not sure I like.  In the summer we couldn’t see anything outside our windows in the kitchen and living room except lovely green leafy trees, and no one could see in. Now we have a front row view of The 54 Club clubhouse. Despite the cold and wind, they seem to meet every morning for their ritual drinking sessions. They huddle closer now, for warmth I’m sure, and drink more, for warmth I’m sure.  I’ve also noted that there are two large apartment buildings that we couldn’t see all summer and fall. We have curtains that we closed for the first time since moving here; we need them for the privacy that the trees had provided.

From CC: I am so proud of Wm’s success with Russian!  It is not a language that sticks in your head and when you try to learn a word or phrase it’s more like memorizing nonsense syllables.   Our tutor comes tonight and we’ll get better, I’m sure.

Home At Last

Greetings from a grey, cold and wet Moscow. 

The trip to Dulles airport yesterday was just delightful. The fall colors were brilliant and the temperature in the low 70’s, which meant we could drive with the windows open and enjoy clean, fresh air before I hopped on the plane.  Dulles was deserted when I arrived. I walked right up to the check-in counter and was processed in minutes. No lines at security, really, no lines at all. I thought perhaps there had been a bomb scare and no one told me but I was assured it was just that I had hit things at the right time.

I had a lot of time to kill so rather than go to a lounge I walked around, which turned out to be a dumb idea.  I was wearing new shoes that I thought I had broken in, but the heel on one of them started to give me a blister. I couldn’t find any moleskin in any of the shops, so I had to improvise.  I took one of those brown things that insulates your coffee in a paper cup (I think he means a java jacket). One side is corrugated and the other smooth, so I tore it and made a little patch for my shoe, placing the corrugated side against the leather and the smooth side against my sock. Worked like a charm.

I got to the Red Carpet Club about forty-five minutes before boarding.  I expected them to give me drink coupons but they said that they now offered free standard beverages and you could pay for premium.  I went to the bar and asked if they still accepted drink coupons for premium drinks and the answer was yes, until November 1^st.  I had about twenty-five of these things that I had been saving to use when traveling with Cindy, and now I had to use them or lose them.  I started with a glass of Taittinger, which was ice cold and delicious, and now I only had twenty-three coupons. I could see I wasn’t going to make it so I started buying drinks for everyone at the bar; boy was I popular for the half hour it took to use up my coupons.

The flight was uneventful, which I suppose is the way most flights should be.  The video system on my side of the plane didn’t work so that was incentive enough for me to sleep for five of the nine hours.  We arrived twenty minutes early and I was though immigration and customs in no time.

That is where all speed records ended!  The taxi ride from the airport to the apartment took three hours and twenty minutes.  To suggest that the traffic in Moscow is horrible is an insult to the concept of horrible.  There was one part of the trip where it took us fifteen minutes to get past one building, much more stop than go.  The driver was a young man with great English and four phones.  One he used to stay connected to some Internet site that gives you traffic alerts for Moscow.  That sounds a lot like being a weather forecaster in San Diego, a no brainer.  Two of the phones he used for conversations and the other one just sat on the dashboard.  He seemed to know his way around Moscow pretty well, until we got close to the apartment.  He missed two turns and I had to take over from there. He wasn’t sure he should trust me, but I convinced him and he was surprised that the route I chose was so fast.

Amazing how you can travel 4500 miles in nine hours and then twelve miles in three hours and twenty minutes.  Had I not had so much luggage, I could have taken the train, which would have been just about an hour and fifteen from airport to the apartment.  I’m assuming that this was the last trip I needed to make with lots of stuff.

The good news is that I don’t have to hang around the apartment as long waiting for Cindy to come home.

From CC:  Best-laid plans gone awry – he had to wait for me longer than he should have!  I got up at 5:30 to run in the dark so that I could skip my after-school exercise class and get home early.  The normal 20-minute drive home took me an hour and 10 minutes!  It wasn’t raining and there was absolutely no visible cause for the backup, but we just crawled for miles.  I called Wm when I was getting close to tell him why I was late and to say that I could really relate to his day.  Not a way we particularly wanted to relate, however!  The good news (for me) was that I had offered Erica, a charming young French teacher from Bordeaux, a ride home so I had someone to talk to.  She was probably wishing she’d taken her usual bus/ metro combo instead, but she seemed content chatting with me.

Get Away Day

Get Away Day

Finally, time to get home and centered.  I really don’t enjoy these trips without Cindy. Went to the neighbors last night, a joint dinner for me.  They are just about the best neighbors you could ever ask for.  They are so generous with their time, watching over the house and yard and making sure everything is ok.  Makes us feel so much better knowing they are here.

Lots of last minute jobs to do today, but they are done and I’m out of here in two minutes.  Got the Golden Call from United that my upgrade cleared so it should be a lovely flight home. Moscow here I come!!  Ciao, wm

767-300 aka Chariot Home

Monday,Monday

Oktoberfest was a grand event. Colin, Meagan and Hannah made Bavarian deviled eggs, potato salad, roasted onions, two kinds of grilled wurst and pretzel rolls  which we washed down with great Oktoberfest beer.  The music was appreciated by the entire neighborhood, until I turned the volume down.  The day was just picture perfect and when it got dark and cool, I fired up the old chimney we purchased in Mexico and fed it with all the dead branches from the trees around the deck.  We all marched to bed rather early since Meagan had to leave the house at 5:30 to see what the commute would be from here to the Dept. of State. She made it in 58 minutes, which I’m assuming is a world record.

I had a lot of things to get done today since I’m out of here tomorrow.  I was at the dentist at nine for a cleaning, which only took thirty minutes. They try to tell you that you are doing such a great job of keeping things clean and healthy, but I think it has more to do with being able to see more patients in a day.  Ran around picking up dry cleaning, a bit of banking, returned some things and exchanged them for others and found my way to Wal-Mart to pick up about twenty color patches of red paint to try to match the paint in our red room. Cindy wants to make sure the rugs she picked out will not clash with the room.

I learned something today that I think is absolutely the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of.  You need to have an optometrist’s prescription to replace one lens with clear glass!  Cindy has a pair of glasses that she wanted to use for night driving while wearing contacts.  All she wanted was to replace one lens for clear glass since her contact in that eye does all the work.  IMPOSSIBLE.  Like a dummy, I tried to apply logic into this discussion and was told that if Cindy got into an accident with glasses that they gave her without a prescription, they could be sued. I said she would be more likely to have an accident wearing the glasses as they are now but my arguments fell on deaf ears and we’ll have to figure out something new.

Colin and I rearranged the garage and threw lots of stuff out before getting his pop-up stored for the winter.  The lady at the homeowners association was very apologetic when she found out that the trailer was only in the driveway for six days and that we never had any intention of storing it outside.  I laugh when they talk about keeping the area beautiful since the house right behind us has filled their front yard with graves, crucifixion scenes of witches, hosts of goblins and ghosts, a nightly sound/light show and miles of police tape identifying the area as a crime scene.  So it is ok to crap up your yard for all to behold for a month before Halloween, but goodness don’t get caught with a trailer in your driveway.

I feel like I’ve been gone for weeks instead of six days.  Can’t wait to hop on the big bird tomorrow and I’m hoping that they check the gas cap so that they don’t have to turn around over Nova Scotia like they did last time.  Ciao, wm

Oktoberfest Casa Embee

Today is Oktoberfest at Casa Embee.  It is a magnificent day with lots of sun, white clouds and blue sky with a temp of 80 degrees.  Colin, Meagan and Hannah have been cooking all day and soon we’ll be on the deck celebrating.  I’ve managed to find four cassettes of Bavarian music. (Cassettes were what we used to play music in the old days).  I even found my old cassette player with great speakers and the yard is filled with the sound of music.  I tried to get into my lederhosen from 1984, ah, memories.  I have a better chance of getting Israel and Palestine together then I do getting my button to meet the buttonhole. 

The Staples of Life!

We have three six-packs of great Oktoberfest beer and they are cold and beckoning so they trump the blog.  More tomorrow!!

http://www.oompahband.com/bavarian.mp3

My Heart Belongs to Hacker-Pschorr

The Great Educator

I was waiting for the school bus to arrive yesterday since I wanted to give one of the neighbor boys a card with a little money in it as a thank you for taking care of our mail.  Kaden is ten years old and is about as responsible as any adult could hope to be. Everyday he checks our mailbox, pulls out the mail, enters the code for the garage door and places the mail inside.  From what I can tell, he has never missed a day. While I was waiting, the first bus came with the younger children. Two of the neighbor kids ages 7 and 5 got off the bus and ran to their dad.  The dad started to take them home and the 7 year old decided to stay with me and wait for his other brothers.

He had a book he was reading and it looked like a pretty advanced book.  I asked him about it and he gave it to me with a quick synopsis.  It was about an emperor in China and how he banished dragons to some mountain range.  He told me to look at the map, which I did.  There was a representation of the Great Wall of China and I asked him if he knew anything about it.  He did not so I started to explain why it was built, who built it, what it looked like, how it functioned etc.  He kept looking at me and nodding and about three minutes later the other bus turned the corner.  I handed him back his book and he smiled and said, “Mr. William, I didn’t understand anything you said, but it seems interesting.”  Perhaps I’ll only sub in higher grades!

Dinner was a lot of fun and despite Patrick’s best efforts; he couldn’t eat everything that I prepared.  I got caught up on how the kids are doing in school, their friends, their extra curricular activities and the normal dinner time conversations, which is always fun.  Olga has gotten back into running and it shows, wish I could run a bit but these knees are not cooperating, not to mention my lungs.

It was a crisp 37degrees this morning when I went for a walk but now it is up to 72 and it feels delightful.  I’m about to hit the yard and get some work done while the sun shines and before Colin and Meagan arrive. 

Best to all, Wm

Medicare Madness

I received two pieces of mail today that confirmed two things that I already knew:

1.     My Medicare Card arrived which confirmed I’m officially old.

2.     A letter from Medicare told me I had to pay an extra $110 per month for Part B, which confirmed that the government is screwed up.

For the youths among you, you need to apply for Medicare three months before you turn sixty-five.  In the application there is a section, which allows you to defer, without penalty, paying for Part B (Doctors) if you are covered by a health care program. I filled that out telling them I was covered by my spouse.   The card that arrived had me listed for both Part A (Hospital) and Part B and I was told they would start billing me in December for the Part B. 

I can’t believe how incompetent the SS administration can be. They allow you to do things online, which is good, but then they don’t seem to read what you have written.  I called the number they provided to figure things out and was on an automated system for ten minutes with no way to get out of it.  They talk to you like you are twelve, and they repeat and repeat and it is horrible. Finally you enter all your information and the real person comes on and asks you for the same information!!  

I tried to explain to Rose what had happened and her response was that I must not have indicated that I wanted to defer Part B. I asked her if she would like me to fax a copy of the form I filled out online, which I had printed out for my records.  “Just a moment please I’ll check with my supervisor”, six minutes of horrible music later, Rose told me that I needed to write a letter stating that I was covered, did not want Part B yet and then gave me the address as to where to send said letter and my Medicare Card.  I’ve sent the letter and we’ll see what happens.

Unfortunately, that was the highlight of the day.  I’ve been running around trying to get everything done that needs to be done, so that I can spend the rest of my time here in the yard.   The kids and Olga are coming for dinner tonight so I’ve made a huge pot of chicken cacciatore, loaded with veggies, chicken and sausage, that should last for days unless Patrick brings his big appetite with him tonight.  Colin and Meagan are coming up Saturday afternoon so that we can celebrate Oktoberfest on Sunday on the deck.

Cindy went to a Rug Party tonight and found two rugs that they are letting her ‘evaluate’ for two weeks before purchasing or returning.  The one I could see looks lovely.  I’m sure she’ll provide more information. She has to work all day tomorrow to make up for the time that was missed during the smoke and heat. Poor puppy will never get caught up on sleep.

Happy Weekend, Wm

Small Town Pleasures

Charles Town Courthouse

There are some great joys to living in a small town, and Charles Town is a very small town. One of them is getting things done and getting them done quickly.  The bank is next to the post office, which is next to the espresso joint, which is only a few doors away from the propane gas company, which is only a block from the insurance company, well, you get the picture.  I had to visit all of the above and simply parked once and walked around my fair city on this glorious fall day.  Earlier I had to go get my driver’s license renewed at DMV, which is about a ten-minute drive from here. I was signed in at 10:58 and after getting my eyes tested, identity confirmed, picture taken and credit card swiped for $13, I walked out at 11:22 with my new five year license.  Plus, they all smiled, were competent and called me sugar.

I very much miss having the ability to ship things to where we are living.  I feel like a mule with all the luggage I bring back and forth from Moscow, but we have no alternatives at this point.  Luckily I can still check three bags for free on United so I can cram a lot of stuff into three checked bags.   Made the rounds of Wal-Mart today getting those essential odds and ends at bargain prices compared to Moscow. 

There are a few disadvantages in living in a small town and one of them is the fact that everyone knows your business. I received a letter today from our homeowners association telling me that they would like me to remove the camping trailer that is in my driveway. It has been in the driveway since Sunday! It appears that it is an eyesore and someone ratted me out.  The trailer belongs to Colin and Meagan and it is a little pop up thing that is only about three feet high but someone finds it ugly.  It really isn’t a problem since we have lots of room in the garage, but it does make me wonder about the other ‘ugly’ things in driveways, like the guy with his bass boat with the for sale sign, or the other guy with a dune buggy on his lawn, or the guy with his car on blocks.  I’ll write a lovely letter back telling them that I’ve corrected the problem and asking gently about the above.

Cindy is well and filling her time with work and language lessons, which she repeats selected parts of to me on Skype. Don’t know what we did before Skype, well I do know what we did, we ran up huge phone bills or fax charges, but Skype is so much more personal and free.

Best wishes to all, wm

Old Jail

City Hall

Washington Street, the main drag.

Charles Town

Greetings from Charles Town.  Getting here was pretty simple.  I must admit that when the Metro stopped between stations for five minutes, I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t catch the train, but everything worked out pretty well and I had a full minute to spare.  United was on time and the flight was just great. Dulles continues to be an embarrassment for international travelers.  It took forty-three minutes to get from the plane to the immigration lines, which were very long.  The taxi ride here was most enjoyable since we missed most of the traffic and it was a glorious day and the fall colors are spectacular.

Colin and Meagan were here for the weekend so the house was a clean and shiny and they left me a delicious dinner of chicken pasta and veggies, and two ‘all American’ hamburgers, so I didn’t have to go out for anything and could just veg.  Tried to sort through piles of mail and stuff but just didn’t have the energy so I went to bed early and slept well until 4:30am.  Finally got up about seven and coughed my way though the first hour of the day until it finally passed.  Not too much fun having a chest cold when all you want to do is work around the outside of the house.  Just walking was more than I could deal with, although it is beautiful outside.

Colin came up this afternoon and we had a little lunch and conversation.  He is waist deep into his law studies and only had two days to appreciate his retirement.  Time to nap.  Best to all, wm

PS: This is a great slide show on some of the best Metro stops in Moscow:

http://www.businessinsider.com/moscow-subway-pictures-2010-10

Georgian Blues

We had to get new Metro Passes so when Cindy came home we had a short cocktail hour to let the crowds thin and then we walked to the station and purchased our passes.  We then headed to our Georgian restaurant for an early dinner. The joint was almost empty at 7pm so we headed to our favorite table and sat down. Soon a waitress, who was new to us, came up to take our order.  She had wonderful English and was able to help us learn to pronounce new words.  We had a great meal with our favorite grilled quail and three glasses of wine; we shared a rich red with the quail.  When the bill came, it seemed rather high for the modest meal we had so I checked it carefully.  She had charged us 300 rubles per glass of wine instead of the 150 it should have been.  I brought it to her attention and she said, “Oh, you had the Georgian Wine, which is 300 per glass.”  I told her we most certainly did not have Georgian wine and asked her to show me where that was on the menu.  Only full bottles of Georgian wine are available and yet she persisted in trying to tell us we had Georgian wine.  She must have thought that I had just fallen off the beet wagon!  I very gently, but firmly handed her the bill and told her to adjust it.  She did, but not before making sure we knew that she had given us Georgian wine.  We left her the normal tip and left the restaurant feeling like we had lost a good friend.  Now we have to be super careful when we go there, or anywhere in Moscow, and it will not seem as relaxed and friendly as it had been.

Seems that they are giving out awards to everyone in Russian this week.  The Spies that Couldn’t, who were deported several months ago, all got awards at the Kremlin yesterday.  Goodness, I wonder what the good ones we don’t know about get?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/world/europe/19russia.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

It is 8:30 and I’m ready to head out to the Metro to go to the train station to go to the airport.  More luggage to schlep again since I’ve a lot to bring back from Charles Town next week.  At least it doesn’t weight much since there is nothing in it, a perk of going home where I have everything waiting for me.

The same thing that happened to me in April when I came to Moscow happened to Robert Di Nero over the weekend.  Well almost the same. He arrived in a private jet, but was still hassled over his visa.  I feel so much better. http://www.oochoo.com/2010/10/robert-de-niro-is-in-moscow/

That’s it from Moscow for me.  Stay well, William

Penultimate Meal in Zagreb

Cindy was up and out at the crack of pre-dawn and she graciously allowed me to sleep in since my chest cold has gotten worse and not better.  I’m departing for DC tomorrow and don’t want to be all congested and coughing on the eleven hour flight. I woke up at about 8:15 to the sound of the door opening and someone saying something. I had a coughing fit as I sat up and then heard the door close.  Later this morning one of the Green Guys came by and said, well I think he said, he had seen the door open and knew Cindy was gone and wanted to check to make sure everything was okay.  These Green Guys are Great.

It was far too late for us to go out to dinner last night so I found some leftover pasta sauce that I had made for Cindy to use on my last trip. I doctored it up with stuff around the house and we had a lovely pasta repast with a glass of wine and then headed right for bed.  Poor Cindy must be exhausted at this point.

On Saturday afternoon, Cindy’s meetings ended at two and they had arranged a city tour for the participants of the conference.  They swung by and picked me up and we headed for the old Mirogoj Cemetery.  This place is a gem, with some of the most beautiful buildings of classic design I’ve seen anywhere. We walked around for a while enjoying the informative talk that our guide presented as much as we were enjoying the beautiful day.  Here is a link to the best bits:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirogoj_Cemetery

We toured the rest of the city for another few hours and our lovely guide, Doris, filled in lots of gaps for me.  While I had walked the entire city, she had all the historical background and odd and interesting tidbits that really made the city even more enjoyable for me.  She also had lots of funny stories about other tour groups that she guides around the city. She said the Japanese will do exactly what you tell them to do and will not move until told to move, whereas the Thais will get off the tour bus and disappear. I had seen some interesting cross-cultural antics at noon while watching the Changing of the Guard.  There was a group of older Japanese women who were down the hill where the horses were gathered before the start of the ceremony. They were taking a million photos and videos and as the horses started up the hill, passing the women, they began to run after them taking photos.

Now I’m not much of a horseman, but when I lived in Winona I would go on trail rides with Lynn Nankivil who had lots of horses on the farm.  The one thing I remember being told is that you never come up behind a horse since they get quite nervous.  No one had told the Japanese women this and they came running up right behind the last horse who swayed to the left, knocking the two women right off their feet and into the crowd.  Not to be discouraged by this temporary setback, they got right up, grabbed their cameras and started heading for the horses again. Fortunately one of the policemen who had witnessed this stopped them from getting anywhere near the procession. 

The night before we had been taken to the marvelous brewery owned Medvedgrad Beer Hall. The beer here is simply delicious, very much like a Munich beer - light, refreshing and the last sip is as delightful as the first. The food was typical beer hall offering, good quality and plentiful.  They even had some wine for Cindy.  Here is a link to them:

http://www.pivnica-medvedgrad.hr/o_nama-eng.html

Saturday night was the farewell dinner for the IT group and I was once again graciously invited to attend. Our host, Neven, had arranged for us to go to a typical Zagreb restaurant for traditional food and beverages.  We walked over to the base of a big hill and then went up 166 steps to get to this little gem of a restaurant.  We walked in and the owner, a man in his eighties and dressed to the nines, greeted us and escorted us to the big table that was to be ours for the evening.  The smells were already beginning to drive me nuts since we were very close to the kitchen.  Neven had done all of the ordering beforehand so that our only decision was what to drink.  First came the slivovitz, that fiery plum brandy which did much to awaken our senses and increase our appetites.

“If there is one product that typifies Zagreb, then it is štrukli – dough, rolled and prepared in a specific way and filled with cream and cheese. Here we talk about its age-old tradition, and ways of preparation.  The humble but precious štrukli has seen proud Croats fight its corner with the Eurocrats in Brussels. The Ministry of Culture had to proclaim this traditional dish of rolled dough, fresh cow’s cheese, eggs and cream a cultural icon.”  From a Zagreb guide to local food.

This would be worth the trip!

We all treated it with reverence and dispatched it quickly. It was simply divine and if the meal had ended there, I would have been completely happy, but of course it did not.  Out came liters of wine, beer and water followed by platters of food, served family style. There were a baker’s dozen of us and there was enough food for twice that number. 

Two outstanding soups started the next course - a rich cream based mushroom soup that was filled with a variety of fresh mushrooms from that day’s market, and a clear beef soup with thin pasta and veggies.  The fragrance of these soups was only matched by their earthy flavors and textures.  Before the main dishes came out, great big plates of pickled cabbage, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, greens and shredded carrots were brought to the table. I was told that you eat the salad with the meal to cut the heavy meats. Boy, was that an understatement!

First came Pasticada, a stewed beef dish originally from Dalmatia (and sometimes referred to as "Dalmatinska pasticada"). It was served with gnocchi (dumplings) that absorbed the magnificent juices. There were hints of honey, cinnamon, orange, nutmeg, bay leaf and wine and it went fast.

Next came oven-roasted veal shank that was presented on a huge tray with heavenly potatoes and root veggies.  The meat was falling off the bone and the skin was crisp and delicious.  Finally, even though we didn’t really need any more food, out came the roasted duck served with a kind of flat pasta that had been pan fried and browned in duck fat. 

Duck Delight

My goodness, one bite of this and I felt like I was in a deep forest in front of a roaring fire; it was a dish to be cherished. 

When we all thought we might explode, out came two strudels, one a sour cherry and the other apple.  No one was eating to be polite anymore. We were digging in like there was no tomorrow and enjoying every savory mouthful.  I now understood why we had such an early reservation. We needed four hours to eat this feast and no one left early!!  Thank goodness we had fine weather so that we could walk home the long way and start to digest this lovely dinner.

Apple Strudel

Sour Cherry Strudel

I filled my day today with multiple loads of laundry and then doing the food shopping for Cindy. I must say that I really noticed how cold and distant Muscovites are, especially when compared to the good folks of Zagreb.  The first thing that Cindy noticed when we were in the markets in Zagreb was how friendly everyone was.  The ladies in the pickled cabbage section of the market must have been the friendliest with huge grins and genuine warmth; they each greeted us like long lost friends.  The other thing I noticed today was that I didn’t hear one car horn blaring the entire time I was in Zagreb.  Today on my short walk to the market I heard dozens and saw two accidents, again something I had not noticed in Zagreb.

I’ll most likely not be writing much in Charles Town so perhaps you’ll get to hear more about what Cindy is experiencing during my week in the States.  Best wishes, Cindy and Wm 

Parting was such Sweet Sorrow

It is nine pm and we have just returned from Zagreb, parting was such sweet sorrow!  We had an uneventful flight arriving on time but the luggage took forever to appear and then we hit the normal heavy traffic so from the time we landed until the time we arrived was about two hours.

This morning we managed to go for a very long walk as I took Cindy to my favorite new market, which was open but not as vibrant on a Sunday.  We then headed to the central market and Cindy got two lovely scarves and I got a beautiful leather bag to carry on my walks and trips.  The prices were really low compared to here.  We hit a coffee bar for some macchiato and then back to the hotel to have breakfast and pack.   The weather held off until we departed the hotel when it started to rain and get rather cold, at least for Zagreb.

I’ll give a detailed account of our last meal, which requires time.   Ciao for now,  Cindy and Wm.

Zagreb Mini-Market

It was 8:50 in the morning and I was engaging the young man pouring the wine in light banter about the joys of drinking in the morning.  I had stumbled upon a real neighborhood market, far from the fancy ones I had visited yesterday.  Here they wore cloth coats and cheap boots, not the leather of the monied marketers. This was a market for the neighborhood where all of the ladies had little bags on wheels and the men had hand baskets.  Jon sold wine out of huge aluminum barrels, five wines, two white, three red and everyone had brought their own container.  Jon had learned English wandering around California working in vineyards and then came home to work with his family selling wines to the public from various wine co-ops.  This was good, very young wine, only about 11% alcohol and cold enough since it has been in the barrels overnight and the night had been chilly.

I thanked him for the samples and looked around the market some more and found more similarities to yesterday’s experience, but on a much smaller scale.  Whereas the big markets had six or eight stalls for chicken and six or eight for turkey, this one had two for poultry.  Everything was as clean and neat as yesterday, but there was more familiarity here, with everyone greeting everyone else by name.  It felt good to be there and I felt obligated to buy something so I purchased a nice bag of egg pasta, which I can’t wait to cook back in Moscow.

I lingered for about an hour and then headed home through a nice little park and found a small café for my morning macchiato.  The water here is wonderful, right from the tap, and that helps to explain why the coffee is so good. When you start with really good water run through good coffee, you’re bound to end up with a good drink.  I had breakfast as soon as I came back to the hotel and focused on the fruit, cheese and homemade bread and jam.  I was having a grand old time when one of the wait staff came over and brought me a lovely flute of French sparkling wine.  She had had a problem with my name yesterday and couldn’t find it on the list and wanted me to pay.  I wrote my name out and she couldn’t believe how it was spelled and felt terrible that she had questioned me, so the wine was her ‘apology’.  I was on a roll, three kinds of wine in two hours, and it was still morning!

After I cleaned up and changed I headed out since I had to be back at the hotel at two for a tour with Cindy’s group.  I walked around the Botanical Garden for almost an hour and enjoyed reading all about the plants and trees and wildlife.  There are two ponds with little bridges and a host of places to just sit and think. It was so tranquil and relaxing, but time was flying and I was out of there in a flash heading to the only department store in town.  I got Cindy a powerful hair dryer since the one she has in Moscow takes forever to get the job done.  Once that transaction was over, and there is a story there but I’ve not the time to tell it, I was heading up 110 stairs to the upper village to get there in time for the Changing of the Guard Ceremony by the Regiment of the Cravat.  Zagreb is said to be the place where neckties were invented.  The Regiment of the Cravat wore red scarves tied around their necks and when they fought with the French, who always appreciate style, they copied the scarves and called them Croats, which became cravats in French.

Okay, that is the end of the story for today since we have to be downstairs for a god awful early dinner!!  More tomorrow, Cindy and Wm

PS He means the timing is god awful because it’s so early – we’re going to a Croatian restaurant and I’m reasonably sure the food will be good!

The Markets of Zagreb

I’m an enthusiastic but sometimes jaded traveler and I don’t always get worked up over cities and towns, but Zagreb has overwhelmed me.  This is one lovely, laid back, grand dame of a city.  Coffee and cigarettes fuel the locals, sitting for hours in one of the million or so cafes all over town, drinking Italian espresso and filling the air with their gesturing hands and their pungent cigarette smoke.  These are really Italians by nature; even their conversation cadence is Italian. They dress like the rich from Trieste or Milan and they love to share their intimacies.

I walked for ninety minutes before breakfast and for five hours after breakfast and I think I have a real feel for this burg.  I didn’t bring a camera so you can visit this site and click on any of the categories to see some remarkable pictures. http://www.zagreb-touristinfo.hr/?id=37&l=e

Today was just beautiful and I think I visited all of the parks and squares and churches in the inner city but what really blew me away was the market.  It is a three story affair, with meats, fowl, pasta, pickled veggies, breads, cheeses, eggs, and a host of other goodies on the first floor, all brightly lit, clean as a whistle and smelling like heaven.  Up one flight of stairs and you come to some specialized fish and fowl places and lots of little stalls to purchase hot food that is cooked on demand.  Up one more flight and you are outside in a huge square filled with stalls selling all manner of fresh veggies.  Little cafes surround all of this where folks drink wine and coffee and talk about the day’s events as they gaze at the market and the grand cathedral in the distance.

Up one more little level and you have a really large fish market with some of the best looking fish I’ve seen anywhere. This was thronged with folks who still carry on the old Catholic tradition of fish on Friday.  Outside of this hall was another large square filled with flowers, bright, fragrant, beautiful flowers and plants.  Either side of this square is filled with little kiosks selling clothing, leather goods, underwear, winter coats, hats and gloves and all matter of accessories.

I spent almost an hour there just taking it all in and then two hours later I returned for another hour just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. I wished that I knew someone in Zagreb so that I could just start buying things and cooking all weekend.  These are very friendly people who greet you as you pass their stalls, even if you have no intention of stopping or purchasing anything. It is just their way, and I think it is a lovely tradition.

In the main square of the lower town they were having a Honey Fest, which was so unlike the one we attended in Moscow.  Here the stalls were well spaced and everyone could walk around and sample goods without crushing everyone in their path.  Like the Moscow event, this one was well attended by honeybees hoping to take back a bit of their labors. 

I took a little break on a side street that had a little café with a sign indicating that they served Segafredo coffee, one of my favorites.  I went in and ordered an espresso macchiato and the way I said it must have made the guy think I was Italian so he replied in Italian and we were off to the races. It was a really fun ten minutes of talking, mostly about coffee, and I was shocked to discover that a wonderful coffee here only costs about $1.30, compared to about $3.10 in Moscow.  Here every café serves the coffee on a little tray that has a napkin, spoon, packets of sugar and a glass of ice-cold water on a little saucer. Ever so civil.

Last night Cindy’s group all met in the lobby and the host of this event marched us to a Mexican restaurant!!  Here we are in Zagreb with a rich history of excellent food and we end up at a Mexican restaurant.  The highlight of the evening was the little three-piece group that played all the music of the Buena Vista Social Club, that great Havana tradition. They were simply wonderful.  We were exhausted by the time we returned and collapsed for seven hours before Cindy had to get up and get ready for the first day of the conference.  As I was walking today, I realized, “This is what it really means to be retired! I felt sorry for Cindy, but not sorry enough to have it ruin my day.

From CC:  Oh, isn’t he the funny one, feeling sorry for me.  He’s right, it was a GORGEOUS day but I was stuck inside a school all day.  There are about a dozen of us at this conference, mostly men, mostly younger than I am – and all very nice and knowledgeable people. Most of them are more “techie” than I am, but it seems to be a trend for international schools to also have an educational specialist along with the technical specialists and some of these guys wear both hats.  It was cool to hear about the issues of the other schools in Eastern Europe, including Prague, Budapest, Warsaw, Tallinn, and Sofia.  The day started by everyone finding a place at some tables that had been set up for us, and after about a minute I realized I was the only one who had not unpacked a laptop!  Oops. We had one with us but I was sharing it with Wm and it was back in the room.  I guess I’ll have to wrestle it away from him tomorrow.

Happy Weekend, Cindy and Wm

Zagreb, Day One

Woke up this morning to the news that The 33 were all recovered from their earthen tomb. Celebrated with strong coffee and lemon tart.  We finished packing, dressed and were out the door at 8:30 for the 9:00 train to the airport.  It was a very, very cold morning with a strong wind making the walk to the station invigorating to say the least.  The train took us mostly through seedy neighborhoods until we reached the outskirts of Moscow when the tenements turned into birch forests studded with dachas.  Soon we came to a bend in the Moscow River where it connects to the Moscow Canal and there were two huge marinas with some of the most expensive boats I’ve ever seen anywhere. What a surprise.

The train deposited us right on time in the middle of the airport complex and we had a fifteen-minute indoor walk to our terminal, which was almost deserted.  We breezed though immigration and security found that we still had two hours before the flight departed.  I found a club that I didn’t have access to and just for the fun of it, decided to try to talk my way in.  I did, much to Cindy’s delight since she really had no idea what I was doing.  We whiled away the time there and had an uneventful trip to Zagreb.  My oh my, what a city.  I’ll write lots more about it tomorrow but it is a little gem.  We got to the hotel, unpacked and Cindy dragged me to the Mimara Museum, which is as big as it is eclectic.  Again, more tomorrow. 

http://www.zagreb-touristinfo.hr/?id=277&l=e&solo=275

Mimara Museum, we did it all!

Renoir, centerpiece of the collection

We walked to the old city and finally just got back and we are really tired and have one hour to recover before we are picked up for drinks and dinner.  Must go. Cindy and Wm

First Snow!!

It SNOWED today!!  October 13^th and it snowed. It didn’t stick but it was a driving snow and very cold so we are bracing for what might come our way this winter.  I went to AAS with Cindy this morning and all of the kids were over the moon with the snow.  I’m going to be doing some History of Wine/Wine Tastings for staff over the next several months and then in March I’m going to auction off private tastings for the parents, all to raise money for the school.  It should be grand fun.  I’m also hoping to volunteer my time as a Professional Development Coach for teachers who want to continue with their growth but are not at all sure how to go about that at a distance. 

How many light bulbs does it take to change a light bulb?  The answer is four!  As strange as it seems, we have to call the Green Guys to change light bulbs in the ceiling units since we don’t have a ladder or step stool and I’ll be darned it I’m going to stand on a chair.  So, one of them came right away and got on the ladder and changed the bulb but it didn’t work. He then played with a screwdriver and the connections and it still didn’t work. I took the bulb from him and placed it in a table lamp and it didn’t work because it was defective. We played this game four times before finding a bulb that worked.  Sometimes I think things haven’t really changed that much in Russia.

While at the embassy yesterday I thought I’d try to get a haircut so I sat outside the salon until they opened at 10 am (as the sign indicated).  They didn’t open at 10 and in fact didn’t open until 10:35.  When the door was unlocked I went in and asked if they had an opening this morning.  The shop is run by Russians and the conversation went something like this:

“Can I get a hair cut this morning?”  She looks at her list and looks and looks and says,

“We had an opening at 10”

“But you weren’t here at 10”

“That’s because we didn’t have an appointment”

“Do you need an appointment?”

“Not if we have a slot open”

“When is the next slot open?”

“ There is an opening now”

“So, I can get a hair cut now?”

“Yes, just as soon as I put you on the list”.

Abbott and Costello couldn’t have come up with something like this. 

We’ll be gone for the next four days, heading to Zagreb where Cindy will be involved in workshops with all of the other ICT folks in Central Europe.  AAS is by far the largest and best of all the regional schools and from what we hear, they love to know what is going on at AAS so that they can benchmark their programs to AAS.  Cindy is a master at promotion but I’m sure there will be much for her to learn since she has only been on the job for ten weeks.  I’ll fill my time with touring and checking out the wine and cuisine options.  Our good friend Robin is the director of the Zagreb school so we’ll be with her one or two evenings for dinner.  I’m looking forward to the trip and will try to report periodically. 

More from Zagreb,  Cindy and Wm