The trees outside the house have big fat buds on them, so many that I can’t see through to the other side of the street as I could in winter. I wandered around town for three hours today and things are really starting to look wonderful. Part of that is a result the upcoming May Day and Victory Day celebrations where Moscow makes sure it looks perfect. They have armies of people out planting flowers and cleaning the streets and the results are starting to show. I was outside the East Wall of the Kremlin today in the Alexandrov Gardens and it is ablaze with flowers all neatly arranged. They have begun to water all of the tulips and daffodil beds to make sure they are up and shining for the holidays.
I don’t know if it was my timing or if they don’t ring church bells in the winter but between 11:15 and 11:30 today, I heard more beautiful bells ringing all over the Red Square area. Some of these were thunderous bells, which could be heard for long distances, others were as soft and light as a summer mist. It was very, very intense and I was literally transfixed at times trying to find out from which belfry the bells were ringing.
I found a whole new area to explore this morning, very close to Red Square. Part of the area is made up of very, very exclusive shops while just around the corner are funky bars and cafes. There are some magnificent examples of turn of the century buildings in various pastels all tucked away from the most visited spot in Moscow and yet devoid of all the pedestrian traffic. Just a lovely little find to add to my guided tour of the Embees Moscow.
I decided to diagnose myself yesterday in order to cure my stomach ailments. (I would like to thank all of you who I’m assuming are medically trained, for your insights and suggestions regarding my health. I spent hours on Mayo.com trying to find out if I had all the things that were suggested I had.) I figured I would destroy whatever bad organisms were in my gut so I made a very hot and spicy chicken curry. It was filled with vegetables, raisins, chicken and lots of strong curry, cumin, coriander and chili flakes. Terribly afraid that I might not be able to deal with the intense spices, I added a few tablespoons of rich sour cream at the end with a sprinkle of mint. I served it over a hot bed of chicken and turmeric rice, which could also be used in quantity if it was too over the top for me. It turned out to be just perfect and really delicious, especially served with a bottle of light and effervescent Vinho Verde. I slept like a baby and feel great today.
Cindy is hosting a consultant that she hired to help with the professional development of AAS in regard to Interactive White Boards. These were just coming online when I left SDSU but they are really great tools for teachers and Cindy’s school has lots of them so they all needed to be trained in how to go beyond the basics. She had to drive into school today with the consultant and just wrote that they are closing lots of the streets that she needs to use to get home to rehearse for the May Day and Victory Day Parades. I may eat alone tonight!
Salvation, Cindy made it home and we are now going to have to get ready to party since she is entertaining the consultant tonight. I’ll leave you with this wonderful article that I could/should have written. It reminds me of Dieter, the world’s most annoying man.
Best wishes, Cindy and Wm.
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