Sunday In The Park With Cindy

One-Eye, A Byxbee Tradition

It has been a most pleasant day here in Moscow. We had coffee and one-eyes for breakfast and then decided to walk.  Warm temperature and clear skies invited us to travel to parts unknown so we headed to the Metro to make the connections needed to get to the neighborhood of Severnoye Tushino.  This is the last stop on one of the lines so it took us about thirty minutes, which makes it very close to one of the major airports.  It sits on the Khimkinskoye Reservoir and is home to the Russian Navy Museum, which the guidebooks say is open every day:  It is not!  We walked from the Metro stop and found the museum, thanks to Cindy’s dead reckoning.  We could see the three attractions from the edge of the water, an old nuke sub, a large old seaplane and a rather decrepit looking troop carrier.  I was somewhat relieved that the museum was not open since I didn’t relish spending money to look at those vessels.  We carried on through the big park following the music in the distance. We were following a path near the water and could see lots of hotel boats that go from Moscow to St. Petersburg - some looked iffy, others grand - and I’m sure it is a lovely voyage.

We found the source of the music and it was an elevated stage that had a troupe of young dancers in colorful costumes doing various folk dances. They were just superb and so well choreographed.  They did four routines, all with different costumes and songs and we just stood there surrounded by families with lots of kids, enjoying the dances until we decided to head for our next destination, a large church and a mansion.  We found neither, despite our long, long walks.  The map we had was useless and no one who lived in this town knew where they were.  The town itself is filled with Khrushev-era mass housing called ‘khrushyovkas’ and it is very depressing. It is also the most littered area of Moscow we have ever seen. The entire walkway through the woods was filled with the remains of parties from the night before. Tons of bottles, bags, paper plates; it was like we were in another country since we have never seen any litter in Moscow.

We walked until we were too tired to go on and gave up on finding the Bratsevo Mansion and the Church of the Holy Virgin and found our way towards the Metro. We stopped in what was billed as a café but it was really a restaurant so we had a nice late lunch of lamb meatballs and sliced roasted potatoes and ice-cold beers. A much needed rest stop.

Speaking of food, last night we stopped on the way home from our walk through Victory Park and purchased a roasted chicken from a street kiosk.  They first wrap the chicken in a huge sheet of flat bread (like a soft tortilla) and then wrap that in foil.  By the time we were ready to eat the bread had absorbed lots of the chicken fat, which made it taste simply divine.  We had a nice spinach salad with tomatoes and red peppers - and it was a great chicken and cheaper than purchasing a whole fresh chicken. Nice to know, now that we are selling most of our kitchen stuff.

Yesterday afternoon I was really flagging and couldn’t get it together enough to label photos and add prices on our sale goods.  I told Cindy I was too tired to continue and she seemed surprised I was so tired until I reminded her that I had traveled without sleep for 34 hours only two days ago.  Oops, said she – that was a big thing to forget!  Later on I told her that I had researched bottled water delivery in Charles Town since she had told me she has gotten used to the convenience of bottled water.  I explained how often they came, the various dispensers they offer and all the while she is looking at me like I’m from another planet. She finally said, “ I never asked for bottled water in Charles Town, we have two filtered water sources that are just fine.”  It appears that I had dreamt all of this and acted on my dream as though it was fact.  We are seriously thinking of committing ourselves.

Happy Sunday,  Cindy and Wm