Off to the airport in ten minutes. I know my flight on Lufthansa will be smooth and professional. I doubt if the flight attendants will be able to do this:
More tomorrow when I’m back in Moscow. William
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Nerobergbahn
I decided to walk last night instead of having dinner. It was such a beautiful evening I didn’t want to waste it inside. After about two hours of wandering, I was a bit hungry and got seduced by soup. I was walking in an area new to me and there was this little hole in the wall that just sold soup. I had the chicken broth with a poached egg in it and it was divine. It came with a slice of piazza brot with garlic and I had a glass of wine with it. A perfect meal for a tired walker. Got to bed early and was up at six and walking by six thirty. It was fun to watch the city wake up and the day promised to be perfect in terms of weather.
I was done working by noon and came back to the hotel and changed into walking clothes and it the pavement. I walked up to the Nerobahn, which is a water/gravity propelled tram that goes about 500 meters to the top of the Neroburg, small mountain. Walking there was about two miles and it took me places I’ve never seen in Wiesbaden. There is this darling little park called Nerotal, Valley of Nero, which goes almost the entire way from city to the bahn. On one side the hill goes straight up, the first third filled with very, very expensive and beautiful old stone homes, that the rest is vineyards. Wiesbaden use to produce mediocre wines at best but now they are experimenting with some new varietals and some of them are really wonderful.
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| The little Tram that could. |
I got to the bahn (train) stop and found out that it wasn’t going to be running for a while so I walked up a forest path to the top of the hill, about 1000 feet. It was a lovely walk and quite strenuous and it got me a tad upset when a group of about twelve seven year olds passed me on the hill. I think I might have lost a step or two from my youth. On the top of the hill there are jaw-dropping vistas of Wiesbaden and the surrounding area. The weather was just perfect, about 70 degrees and crystal clear. There is also a Russian Orthodox chapel!! I just can’t escape them. On the way down the hill I came across lots of mushrooms that looked good and I was hoping those kids would come by again so I could test the mushroom on them. Here is all you need to know about the tram.
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| Russian Chapel on top of the Neroburg |
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| View of Wiesbaden from the top of the hill. |
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| The Tram on the way up the hill. |
Dinner tonight with some of the DoDDS folks and tomorrow I’m out of here in the morning for my flight back home. Got to get ready now so I’ll sign off for now. William
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Wiesbaden Wanderings
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| Our Summer Residence Whilst in Germany |
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| Rathaus (City Hall) |
Yesterday I wrote about how I’m sometimes so embarrassed by American travelers. Well last night I was extremely proud of American Soldiers. I went down to the hotel bar and there was only one seat left, a dozen US Navy Seals, who had returned that day from Afghanistan and were overnighting before heading back to San Diego, occupied the rest. These were the most polite, well-spoken, well-dressed soldiers I’ve encountered in a long time. You might expect that they would be ready to party and loud and if they were you could almost excuse it given what they have been doing, but not these guys. They were certainly happy, but in a very subdued manner and very respectful of their surroundings. I talked with a few of them and told them my son-in-law had been a Seal. (My mistake. I was told once a Seal always a Seal) They had spent a full year in Afghanistan and to a person they said that they were afraid that they were going to use all the hot water in the hotel when they arrived since it was the first time in months that they had had hot water to bath. We talked a bit about San Diego and where they might go for dinner that night. They then all said their goodbyes and were off. Real Gentlemen!
I went for a long walk after that and explored the town some more and just stretched from having sat so long to get here. I ended up at a little grill joint near the hotel that had some tables outside and had a half of a grilled chicken and salad. It was so much fun to speak German and to laugh with the wait staff who were actually smiling and friendly. It also felt good to read a menu in a language I can understand and to ask questions and understand answers. I was a regular chatty German Cathy.
While we were in Bahrain one of Cindy’s colleagues asked her how long she had been overseas and Cindy told them eleven years. She was asked where and she said Germany and Italy and he laughed and said, “That doesn’t count as overseas.” He was correct. It really is, in retrospect, rather easy to live in Europe where you can understand signs and most everyone, if necessary, can understand English. Bahrain was difficult but they all spoke English so it wasn’t necessary to learn Arabic. Russia requires that you learn Russian or you’ll not want to stay there long.
I woke up early this morning in a panic: How will the Nobel Committee contact me when I win an award. I’m already afraid that they went to the number two guy for medicine because they could reach me by phone. If anyone out there knows someone on the committee (I think my best shot this year is either Peace or Literature) tell him or her to Skype me.
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| Thermal Fountains of Wiesbaden |
Once I sorted that out, I fell back to sleep until some drilling started in the courtyard at about 6:45, very unusual for Germany which has some rather strict noise laws. I got up and did some exercising and then headed out for a long walk. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating, Wiesbaden is one beautiful city. They have so many parks and fountains and wooded walkways that you can just go for days and never repeat a walk. I went past one of the thermal fountains, Wiesbaden has a lot of geothermal activity, and it has been a place people come to for healing since the Romans, and there was a lot of steam coming off the fountain which gave it an gossamer like glow.
Spent the day working with the good folks at DoDDS Europe, all of whom I’ve known for decades. I’ll not bore you with details of work, but it did feel good to get dressed and have someplace to go!
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| Old City Gate |
I’ll enclose a few shots of this city and then send this off and head out for another evening walk. Wm
Monday, October 4, 2010
Home in Germany
I just arrived at the hotel in Wiesbaden having been traveling for about ten hours. I took the train from the Frankfurt Airport to Wiesbaden and then walked from the station to the hotel. I’m really tired of schlepping luggage around Europe. What follows are excerpts from messages I sent Cindy from the Airport in Moscow. Consider it stream of conscientiousness and don’t pay any attention to spelling or grammar. Really, don’t pay attention!! Best wishes from Germany, William
I'm at the airport having only been
stupid twice in thirty minutes.
1st, I noticed that I forgot my phone when I got to the train
station. I left it next to my computer. I had it packed and
took it out to call you and forgot. Dumb One
2nd, I took the wrong exit from Pavelaskya, somehow I got
twisted around and found myself outside with no sense of where
I was. I asked lots of questions and walked three blocks to
the right train station. You are suppose to exit at the front
of the train for the Aeroexpress and exited from the rear.
Even with all that nonsense I still made the train, which was
PACKED with drunks and others who smelled bad.
I opted to spend the extra two hundred rubles and sat in the
peaceful clean business class section and had a lovely hostess
serving me water and papers. Very civil.
The train is good but my there is a lot of walking involved.
When it pulls in to the airport, you still have to walk for
five hundred meters, without cover, to get into the terminal.
This after having to line up to show your ticket to get out of
the track platform. They certainly know how to slow down
“express”.
Just had a few small open face sandwiches and a big bottle
of water. I didn't dare drink anything since I knew there wouldn't be any
toilets in my future during the trip out. They have some traditional Russian
food on offer here, but for the life of me I can't understand why they would
serve stewed cabbage with hot dog bits to anyone about to get into an enclosed
capsule? Lots of buckwheat here so the shortage must be over.
The Metro seems to run every minute during rush hour, quite amazing. The trip
from when I got on the green line until I got off at Pavel, was only twelve
minutes. That is a lot of distance to cover in twelve minutes. Everyone seemed
to accommodate those of us with luggage so that wasn't an issue. A bigger issue
is the lack of ramps and escalators. I was carrying my luggage up and down too many times.
The train works best when you travel very, very, lightly. When I go back to WV
I'll most likely only need one small case since everything I need with be at
home. I'll take the big suitcase so that I can bring back your formal clothes.
The LH lounge is just lovely, with big windows, comfortable seating, and this
nice computer center. They even have a smoking room and the door seems
permanently open so I have to keep my distance. Lots of Americans in here so
I'm not sure if they are going to FRA or if they are on the United Flight to IAD
which is right outside the window.
You are exactly right about them having the right concept but poor execution.
If you take Business Class, you are the farthest from the exit to DME, but the
first to the exit in Moscow. Can't imagine doing this if foul weather since
there really is a lot of outdoor walking that needs to take place if you are
going to take the train.
According to the boarding pass, we board at 13:20 so I'll be out of touch after
that. I'll hook up and skype you as soon as I get to the hotel, well after I
have a glass of wine or two in the half price bar.
I feel so silly about the phone. I have a rule that if you take something out of
your packed luggage you stand there to use it and then place it right back. I'm
losing a step in more ways than one.
For most of the way out here we pass lots of dense housing and factories, but
about fifteen minutes before arriving we went through a thick forest of birches.
The contrast of their white bark and yellow and orange leaves was just lovely
and relaxing. There didn't seem to be much traffic on the road, but at least
when you get on the train you know you'll be at the airport in 45 minutes, no
variables.
Ok, time for elevensies. Love, wm
Sometimes I am so embarrassed when I'm around dumb American travelers. They
just have no class. You can spot them a mile away, with their running shoes,
jeans, untucked shirts, loud voices and arrogant attitude. This lounge is very
lovely and they have staff to make sure everything is clean and neat. The food
is very good and there are plates and silver and napkins everywhere, yet the
Americans insist on opening one of the glass coolers where they have pastries
and they take one, eat it, grab another and eat it, all the while crumbing the
little pastry wrappers and leaving them on the counter when there is a place for
trash six inches from their fat little faces. I finally had enough and got up
and gave one of them who was feeding at the pastry display, a plate and told him
where the napkins and silver were. He looked at me like I was from Mars, but
then he took the plate filled it with eight or ten little pastries and proceeded
to place them in a plastic bag he had and slip!ped them into his luggage. Oh save me!!
I have a very drinkable glass of white wine here. LH has gotten smart and they
don't have any self service booze in their lounges anymore. This must cut down
on drinking a lot and not only saves them money but spares others the prospect
of drunks on planes.
The day here has turned quite lovely, with high clouds and blue skies. I hope
the weather is good on the flight since I'd love to see what thinks look like
from here to D-land.
When I checked in at the LH counter they made me place my carry on bags on the
scale and announced they were too heavy to carry on. I said let me adjust the
bags and I slipped out the computer from the side and held it beneath the desk
and suddenly, I met the weight requirement and she gave me the tag that said it
was ok. When she asked for the passport she looked and asked if I had a
residence card. I handed her the Karkoshka and she beamed and handed it all back
and told me that I could use the Business Class security line. I got upstairs
and was delighted that I had that option since the lines for economy were huge.
There was no one in the Biz line so I just breezed thought immigration. I got to
security screening and just had to take off my shoes and jacket, didn't have to
take out my gels and liquids or computer. How very civil. From the minute I got
off the train until I was though with formalities was exactly one hour. Not bad
at all.
Darling, the wine is a French Blanc Sec, that is all I could determine, but once
I chilled it with ice, it was good. They serve everything warm and there is one
itsy bitsy bowl with a few pieces of ice in it. I had to have them go to the
back room and get me real ice. No charge this time, wish I had the DP now.
The Duty Free here is more expensive than the prices at the local grocery
store??? I suppose the Vodka is cheap, but the other stuff is crazy. $26 for
Campari compared to $18 at the grocery store.
For the record, I'm the only one in the lounge with a tie on that doesn't work
in the lounge. Savages!
Judging by my colleagues on the Metro today, everyone in Russia is hung over
this morning! I swear I felt like I had just entered a brewery when getting
train. These folks take drinking very, very seriously. When I got off the
Aeroexpress at the airport, I walked by three guys who were finishing off a
bottle of Vodka before heading to their flight. I hate to say this, but we are
real light weights when it comes to drinking compared to these hard core
Russians. We'll have to consider serious drinking as our New Year's Resolution.
I think I could have left the house forty-five minutes later and still have had
plenty of time to get here, but I'm always comfortable sitting at the airport
instead of sitting on the way to the airport.
I just had a little piece of Bienkuchen? It is the honey cake that is
multi-layered? It is very, very good. They just announce that the Munich flight
is delayed. To think, I could have made Oktoberfest. I didn't know they had a
non-stop to Munich. That is a much better place to connect than Frankfurt.
Time to go. I'll be thinking of you the entire flight. Love, wm
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Pills, Paint and Moscow Muslims
I needed to get some pills from the pharmacy so I did as much research as I could before going there and carried my little cheat sheet with me. I walked in and found my way to the counter where there were two women in pharmacist-like clothing and began my pitch. It was hilarious and finally ended with my getting what I wanted - wrong dosage but she demonstrated that I could split them. Actually they are the size of a baby aspirin so I’m not sure how that would work. If there had been someone filming the transaction, it might have looked something like this:
Yesterday while at one of the monasteries we were standing in front of one of the churches listening to our guide going on and on about dates and saints and things like that when we heard a loud noise. We looked around and up at the scaffolding covering the bell tower in time to see a big bucket of red paint fall from one level of the scaffolding to another and then dump all the paint right in front of the exit of the church. Just as the paint hit the ground two very, very well dressed Russian women were walking out and got completely splattered with the paint. One had on an elegant full knee length black leather coat and black leather high heeled boots, the other had on a WHITE furry coat with matching boots. They both ended up looking like they had chicken pox from heat to toe. Others in our group got a little color but these ladies got the brunt of the blast of paint. Later one of the Russians who works at the school told Cindy that the falling paint was a sign. She wasn’t sure what the sign was, but she knew it was a sign. Personally I thought it was a sign of a pending lawsuit, but I’m not sure if you can sue the church in Russia.
While I might have had some complaints about the bus trip, I certainly can’t fault the expense. Turns out the entire day, with admission charges, donations to the monasteries, and guided tours, only cost us $7.50 each! I guess AAS sponsored the transportation and perhaps underwrote some of the expense. We certainly got our money’s worth!
For those of you who don’t read the NYT, here is an article from today’s Travel section. I must say, the writer went to only the most expensive places and I’m tempted to write an article on Moscow on the Cheap!
This morning I went shopping at about nine am to make sure Cindy had all the groceries she would need for the four days I’ll be gone. I got a lovely chicken which I’ll cook this afternoon so that she’ll have it for the next several days. I got lots of fruits and veggies and cookies also. I’m getting a little better at fighting off the babushkas in the produce line. I was about halfway thru getting my things weighed and tagged when this old lady comes up and places the two lemons she wanted right in front of my bags. I gave her my biggest smile and said in perfect English, “Not so fast sweetie!” and moved her lemons past my fruit to be weighed after mine were done. Yesterday in the bakery the lady in front of me was paying for all her breads in what looked like pennies and nickels. She must have had a hundred coins out and was slowly counting them as the line got longer and longer. Three women jumped the line and threw the exact change at the cashier and ran off with their purchases, while I, ever polite, stayed in line despite the fact that I had the exact change. Finally the cashier looked at me and saw I had the right amount of rubles and simply held out her hand for the money. I’ve much to learn.
If you would like to see more photos of our trip yesterday, I’ve posted my photos to this address: http://gallery.me.com/wbyxbee#100112
From CC: let me explain my fashion statement! Yikes I look like I should be in the soup line at the homeless shelter. We were told we had to wear long skirts, no pants, and had to have our heads covered. I have no long winter skirts so I hauled out a cotton one and wore tights underneath for warmth. I’d started the day in short boots but they had heels and my feet were tired so I switched to my Sketchers – and my scarf looks rather ridiculous, but heck, I didn’t get barred from entering anything so I guess my ensemble worked!
Back to Wm: Speaking of photos, here is one that doesn’t go over well with most folks in Moscow. It is the overflow of Muslims at Friday’s prayer at the Central Mosque. They fill this square every Friday and every Friday there are tons of cops around the area. Remember that it was Muslim extremists who blew up the metro last March, so the Russians have good reason to be suspicious and to have lots of police on hand.
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| Moscow Muslims |
I’m off tomorrow morning for sunny Germany and I have no idea if I’ll be able to write or if I’ll be able to post blogs, so don’t hold your breath. Until next time, Cindy and Wm
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Monastery Madness
We were up at the crack of dawn, actually thirty minutes before dawn, which today was at 7:34. We had been awake at four and five and got back to sleep sometime after six before the obnoxious radio woke us. I was up in a flash and making coffee and breakfast and then making lunches. I had made some egg salad last night using whole grain mustard, Dijon mustard, mayo, capers, salt and pepper. I sliced some dark bread and put a piece of cheese on each side so as to not get the bread soggy from the egg salad. Topped it off with spinach and then placed some pickle slices in a small baggie to go with the sandwiches. I threw the sandwiches into the carry case along with a pear, some peanuts and two bottles of water and headed for the shower. We were out the door at 8:20 and off on the ninety-minute ride to the west of Moscow.
I’m not fond of bus rides and this one did nothing to make me a fan. The bus was hot and the windows quickly fogged up so that you couldn’t see anything. I finally convinced them to turn on the air conditioning and in fifteen minutes we could once again see where we were going. It was a pretty trip with the fall colors against a slate sky, and the rain held off almost all day. The town where the first monastery is located is rather quaint and very charming. The air was really different, clean and crisp and fresh and we all piled out of the bus happy to be able to stretch. Here is a link to the monastery, which will give you all you need to know about the joint, except for the fact that they have a bakery on the grounds and as we left I purchased this loaf of bread stuffed with shredded apple and spices and covered with powdered sugar. It was shaped like a fish: get it, loaves and fishes?? Anyway, it was delicious and I went around to the group encouraging them to break bread, which is as close as I’ll ever come to giving communion.
We piled back on the bus and ate our lunches as we drove to New Jerusalem Monastery. I felt like I was back in grade school on a class trip eating my sandwich on a school bus. This monastery is much, much larger and much cooler. It is like a Disneyland for the religious of Russia. For some reason they wanted to create a church like the Holy Sepulcre in Jerusalem and the guide was talking like Jesus had actually been at this church and had been crucified and buried here. It was all very, very strange to me and to many of our group. When it comes to rituals, the Russian Orthodox Church takes the cake. It takes a penitent about two minutes to kiss a relic, what with the number of times they must cross themselves, find where to kiss the relic, back away crossing themselves again many times and then bowing and touching the ground. All very fascinating to watch. Here is a link:
Here is a link to all the photos of the monastery you might every want to see:
We walked around the grounds and enjoyed the scenery and then headed back to the buses. There were two marriage groups in the parking lot getting ready to have their photos taken at the monastery. They were a happy group, drinking vodka and Russian sparkling wine and toasting and kissing everyone. I think I got some good shots but I’m too exhausted to even download them. We piled into the bus as the rain started and were doing well in our travels until the rain got heavy when everything on the highway just stopped. Three lanes became six and nothing was moving anywhere fast. It took us hours to get home and now we have locked the doors and will not leave the apartment until at least noon tomorrow.
Best wishes, Cindy and Wm
From CC: I must congratulate my dear non-touristy husband on a fair and balanced report on our day. Somehow I thought we had made a mutual decision to go on this trip (not that it ever would have been his idea, but he seemed agreeable enough when I asked him about it). As soon as that awful alarm went off I knew we were doomed in terms of fully enjoying the day, but as reported we saw some very pretty sights and the monasteries were extremely interesting. What this really means is that we never have to go to another monastery again – not to sound jaded, but we feel we have this area of religious experiences covered!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Metro Mania and other Madness
Happy Birthday Blake!
The rains came on and off today so I decided to make a dry run to Pavelskaya, the train station where I’ll catch the train to the airport on Monday when I go to Germany. On paper it looked very easy, hop on the brown circle line which is close to the apartment, get off in five stops - and bam, you are at the train station. In reality it is quite different and I’m very pleased that I decided to check things out. The connections seem to have been designed by Rube Goldberg. There is a great deal of going up and over and down and through and back up and back down … well you get the picture. In reality the Metro stop is close enough that you can see the train station but it does involve lots of walking and lots of stairs, which if you have luggage, as most did, I rather inconvenient not to mention time consuming. It took me forty minutes without luggage to get from the local Metro to the train station. It took me forty minutes last time I went to the airport via taxi. Once at the train station you need to purchase your ticket and wait for the next train, which runs every thirty minutes, and the ride is forty-eight minutes. Total travel time, anywhere from one hundred to one hundred and thirty minutes. It is certainly cheaper and given the fact that it took me three hours to get home from the airport last week, it is worth the hassle. If it were a weekend, I might opt for the taxi, but during the week, anything goes with traffic so this is the safest bet.
Sometimes I read articles in the Moscow Times that are so strange that I need to read them again and again. One such article appeared yesterday with the headline: Five Jump Out of Window. Now I was ready for a story about a fire and victims jumping to safety, but this was not the case. Five managers of a Moscow based firm selling biologically active additives broke their legs after jumping from a second story window in an attempt to flee police investigators who came to search their offices. Needless to say, it wasn’t hard to apprehend the managers who were all writhing on the pavement when the police arrived!
Here is another article that I found fascinating: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/wanted-putins-girl/417759.html
We went back to the Georgian restaurant last night since we enjoyed it so much on our first visit. We had the same table and the same waitress who remembered us and seemed very pleased to see us again. I think that is one of the reasons we like the place; the Georgians are so much friendlier than the Russians. The same singer was there belting out Georgian favorites and this time the front of the house was almost full and her singing was warmly received. We ordered some starters, chopped spinach with spices and topped with pomegranate seeds, the eggplant stuffed with walnuts which we liked so much last time, and some slices of a local Georgian cheese. We tried to order white wine but they were out of it! How does a restaurant run out of wine? We had the Georgian red, which was very good and served rather chilled. Cindy ordered the quail again and I, at the recommendation of the waitress, tried the lamb kabob. She came back to tell Cindy that they didn’t have quail. This is so common in Russia, they run out of stuff and it never occurs to them to get more. She ordered mushrooms instead which turned out to be mushroom caps with a cheesy topping that was baked and looked like a little soufflé, which was really quite good. I’m sure my lamb was spring lamb but I’m not sure which spring. Despite being a bit old and chewy, it had a lot of flavor. Everything is ala carte here so when you order the lamb that is what you get, five little chunks of lamb. We were still hungry after dinner so we decided to try the prunes stuffed with walnuts. We each had an idea as to how it was prepared and how it was served and were very wrong. She presented us with a bowl of about fifteen prunes that had been sprinkled with walnuts. No sauce, no ice cream, no nothing – not even a sprinkle of cinnamon. We took the prunes home with us and I’m sure they’ll last a long time. We’ll go back, but not for a while. Incidentally, we live at Gruzinski 3, which we thought might be someone’s name. Actually, it is the Russian word for Georgia!!
The Ministry of Central Heating flipped the switch at three pm today. The apartment, which I found to be very comfortable, is now heating up. My desk is right next to one of the radiators and I can already sense that I might have to move as the season progresses.
I had some trouble with the photos yesterday and not all of them were downloaded. If you want you can go to this link and see them all. At the left bottom you’ll see choices as to how you want to view them, slide show, thumbnail, etc.
It appears that The 54 Club has inducted a new member; in an effort I’m sure to show its inclusiveness. The new member is in a wheelchair and seems to be well dressed and well groomed. He has two saddlebags on the side of his chair; one had two bottles of vodka and the other had plastic glasses and beer. He was sharing with everyone so either it was part of an initiation or he is from the Moscow Welcome Wagon.
Cindy has roped me into a field trip tomorrow to two monasteries about an hour away from here. Depending upon what time we get back, and what my mood might be, I may or may not get to the blog. I’m sure you would all like a day off anyway. I’m hoping Cindy gets home early tonight so we can go for a walk and do a bit of shopping since I just found out that we need to pack a lunch and beverages for the bus trip. Oh joy!!
Best to all, Cindy and Wm
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