Cindy and I just reread Gorky Park and we were going to watch the old movie, but decided that we should first go and walk through the park. We headed for the Metro and in four stops we were within a ten-minute walk to the park. It is a physically huge place that spreads out along the Moscow River. The first part of the park is mostly tacky children’s rides and amusements, none of them open yet, but work is being done to get them ready for the Easter opening. All along the water are the adult, make it teen, rides. We had seen these rides in operation when we were on a boat trip on the river last fall. These things are designed to make my stomach sick, but they seem to be very popular with teenagers. You can click here for some nice photos. We wandered around and tried to find some of the exact locations where the bodies from the novel were found. We are sure we found the spots, but of course the film was shot in Sweden so perhaps nothing will seem as familiar in the movie.
We had to climb a lot of stairs to cross over the river on a very cool pedestrian bridge. As we entered there were five signs that said what you couldn’t do in the glass covered bridge: no smoking, no bike riding, no drinking, no pets, no food. We took bets as to how many violations we would see in the crossing. We both thought it would be three but it was four! We didn’t see anyone smoking but all the other prohibitions were ignored. Once we saw two uniformed police stop two kids riding bikes but shortly thereafter two teens raced by us in the other direction with their bikes. Russians do not like laws that impede their desires.
Our walk home took about ninety minutes and all along the way we saw lots and lots of people with little bunches of pussy willows. It dawned on me that it was Palm Sunday and that perhaps they used pussy willows instead of palms. Sure enough a search on Google confirmed our suspicions. One article even said that if the sick eat nine pussy willow buds on Palm Sunday, they would be healed. Happily we were both feeling just fine. The crowds around the newly opened zoo were thick with families and loud with the shrieks of delight from the kids.
Unfortunately, since it was a Sunday, I decided to wear nice pants instead of play pants and when I got home I found all sorts of grease and dirt stains on my slacks. The bottom of my left pant leg looks like it got caught in a greasy bike chain. They are soaking as I write before I wash everything. It hasn’t rained much and there is a lot of dirt in the air. Our cloths really looked horrible after our long walk requiring yet another load of laundry today.
I roasted a big chicken last night, with all the trimmings; I even made stuffing from some old bread. The lousy oven betrayed me, yet again. Somehow I can never adjust it for the right temperature and when I thought it was ready, I found that the thigh meat was still uncooked, so I separated them from the bird and cooked them a bit longer. It was all good, but by the time we had finished Skyping everyone and eating dinner, it was far too late to start Gorky Park, so we’ll try it again sometime this week.
Today I’m cooking dinner for one of the AAS families that just had a baby. Someone here organized a ‘meal service’ whereby a different family makes dinner for the new parents for the next week. I think it is a lovely idea and I’m only too happy to be able to contribute. We’ll bring them the dinner, complete with wine, and visit a bit to welcome the new child. Cindy purchased lovely little gifts for the new baby and her older brother, as well as for the parents; very thoughtful that Cindy.
On a cheery note, never let is be said that the entrepreneurial spirit isn’t alive and kicking in Russia:
From The Associated Press, April 18, 2011 - 06:17 a.m.
US investor reveals $39 million fortune of Moscow official who approved $230 million return
By The Associated Press
MOSCOW - An American investor barred from Russia has made public documents revealing a multimillion-dollar fortune of a Russian tax official. The documents revealed Monday by William Browder showed that a Moscow tax official who approved the fraudulent $230 million tax return in 2007 has bought luxury real estate in Moscow, Dubai and Montenegro and wired money through her husband's bank accounts worth $39 million. Olga Stepanova managed to do that with a registered household income of $40,000 for four years. Lawyer Sergey Magnitsky who uncovered the tax fraud died in jail in 2009 after being denied medical treatment. Browder has revealed documents incriminating officials of Moscow's Tax Office No. 28, which arranged the $230 million tax return in 2007.
Penniless in Moscow, Cindy and Wm.
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