We didn’t get much sleep last night and we can’t figure out why. Perhaps it was in sympathy with Katy and Craig who had a 4:30 am pick-up for their flights back to Costa Rica, but whatever the reason, we are both very tired today. At least I don’t have to pretend to be wide eyed and bushy tailed at work.
Dinner last night was fun and it was great to meet Craig. He has had a whirlwind trip with non-stop travel and work, but he seems to like it and it looks like they will be coming to Moscow next year. They will be most welcome additions to the expat community here. The Bavarian Beer joint was in top form with a new fall/winter menu with excellent soups and hearty wurst and meat dishes to go with their spectacular beers. Cindy had the grilled veggie platter that she declared to be one of the best she has ever had, and she’s had lot of grilled veggies. It is nice that there is consistency in some of the restaurants here.
I woke up thinking about Dr. Brent’s birthday today. There was a time in the late 80’s and early 90’s when our paths would cross on a regular basis on his birthday, usually somewhere in Asia where we were attending conferences. We have had many a lovely celebration with great exotic food and drink from Baguio to Bangkok and Tokyo to Taipei. I remember one memorable meal we had once while we were waiting for a plane in Baguio in the Philippines. We had a very early flight at 0630 and we were at the airport - well what passed for an airport at the time - at about 0515. Nothing was open at the airport; in fact the airport wasn’t even open, but outside on the sidewalk was a little street vendor heating up his wok and starting to make garlic fried rice with egg. We wandered over and got two plates of the fragrant, hot and delicious fried rice and washed it down with two almost cold Heinekens. My but that was a breakfast of champions and by the time we were done eating, things started to come to life at the airport and we were soon on our way. The memory was so strong and pleasant that I made a plate of the fried rice for my breakfast today. I skipped the beer but did toast Dr. Brent with some rather cold water.
After getting laundry cooking, I decided to take advantage of the marvelous weather and go for a walk. The theme today was, “ Tracking the Elusive 54 Bus.” I started at the 54 Club Clubhouse and just started walking in the direction the bus was going. There are a lot of them so when I lost sight of one, another would pass me and I was on my way. The bus goes right past my lovely 1905 Park, but I had never noticed it since I stick to the middle of the park and not along the street side. The park looked lovely today in bright sun with all the leaves packed into bright blue plastic bags that looked like so many wayward oversized beach balls. The trees are bare but beautifully shaped and the ground glistened from yesterday’s rain.
The bus took me out of the park and headed towards a series of manmade ponds and paths that Cindy and I had walked before. There it seems to turn around and head back to our apartment, but I couldn’t be sure and it will take another walk to figure out all the details. I have a feeling that it crosses the Moscow River before turning back to our neighborhood. We hope to ride it some day, just for the fun of it. I must say that no other bus stops that I saw seem to host a clubhouse.
I doubled back and headed for the embassy, staying on back streets to see some of the non-touristic sites. On most of them what I found were cars parked on the sidewalks so that it was impossible to walk without getting your shoes filled with mud or having to walk in the narrow streets where cars do not yield to pedestrians. Not one car had a ticket! Must be the norm here and the hell with those of us who walk. As I’ve said before, the rule in Moscow is: If it is convenient, do it!
I finally reached the Children’s Park, which is across the street from the embassy. The joint was jumping since the weather was so spectacular and the park was filled with little kids and their nannies, parents, and grandparents. The park workers were doing a wonderful job of boxing the delicate rhododendrons to protect them from the heavy snows, which can snap the branches. They made A-frames around them and then covered those with burlap. Snow seemed a long way off today, with temperatures in the high fifties. Everyone is worried that this has been the warmest November on record so obviously we’ll pay dearly for this come January.
Crossing the street to the embassy I noticed that the church they call The Church of a Thousand Ears has begun to take down the scaffolding that was up for the renovations. This church is right across the street from the embassy and the story is that the renovations included adding many more listening devices. In this day and age it is good to know that we still participate in Spy vs. Spy just as we did in Mad Magazine days. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fifItoMPTw
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| Church of a Thousand Ears |
I noticed that the ambassador’s car was at the front door, along with about six other convoy vehicles. All of these were American made, the ambassador’s is a specially modified Cadillac with bullet proof everything, and the others were all SUV types from GM. However, looking in the parking lot of the housing area, I didn’t see one American made vehicle, all Asian or European. There ought to be a law!
I’ll leave you with a picture of today’s sunset from my office window. Notice how I captured the flying saucer in the middle left of the photo. Best to all, Cindy and Wm
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| Sunset from the Office |
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