Roundabout in a Square Plaza

A bright and beautiful day in Moscow with the temperatures hurling up to 3°, yet it was lovely to get out and walk as far as I could before the pain in my face was too much to handle.  I managed to get in a solid hour of walking, although not all in one shot, but it got me out of the apartment.  I stopped for a few things at the grocery store on the way back, just enough stuff to get us through until Friday night.  The joint was jumping and for the first time ever, there were no shopping carts or baskets available, and the folks waiting for them were none too happy.  I carry my own bags so I just wandered around placing this and that in the bag, until I was informed that perhaps it would be better to use a cart that had suddenly appeared.  In all the other places we have lived, you could always use your own bag and then empty it at the cashier, but I think they are a bit afraid of shoplifting so I was duly chastened, but in a very nice way. 

The vegetable section is really looking tired.  There don’t seem to be any deliveries of anything that I really want.  For three days now I’ve been looking for eggplant and broccoli, but can’t find them anywhere.  We get so used to having everything available all the time in the States that it seems strange not to be able to get ‘summer’ vegetables in the dead of winter.  I did find some lovely carrots, first time they have looked good in weeks. Don’t know where they come from but they are perfect. Because there were so many people shopping, I had to queue up and wait my turn to have the one person at the scales weigh and tag the carrots and onions I purchased. This gave me a chance to watch the dynamic of the babushka ballet.

There is a definite pecking order involved with this and it seems to have a lot to do with age and infirmary.  One babushka, who was very old and very frail, had already pushed my cart and therefore me out of her way as she took ten minutes to select three carrots.  Having made her selection she did an end round and hobbled up to the back of the kid weighting the vegetables and placed hers right in front of everyone else.  No one said a word.  Emboldened by this move, another babushka, not as old and certainly not as hobbled, tried to do the same thing with her basket of vegetables and was soundly shouted down by the assembled multitudes and banished to the back of the well established line.

I came home and had just taken off all my snow/cold weather gear when the bell rang and four count them, four Green Guys were there with one technician dressed in black. He had to have been from the gas company and for the next twenty minutes they came in and out, chatted, opened the range, used tools and gauges, closed the range and cleaned things up before proudly asking me to come into the kitchen.  The technician slowly explained to me in Russian what he had done while the Green Guys all nodded, and then he lit up the range.  Imagine my surprise when the flame was still orange.  I said, the flame is still orange, and they all agreed, but, said the technician, it is ok.  I just don’t get it!

We went out for dinner last night with two of Cindy’s colleagues and a visiting artist who has been at AAS for about a week. We went to the Munich beer hall and had a lovely time.  The walk home was really cold since the temperature had dropped to -14°, but I had a lovely lamb stew keeping me warm and Cindy’s mushroom soup had done the trick for her.

As you might expect, Cindy and I have been following the events in Bahrain quite carefully. We could not for the life of us figure out where Pearl Square was, the epicenter of the protests.  We knew exactly where the Pearl Roundabout was - it is a focal point for traffic in Bahrain - but it certainly isn’t a square.  Well it turns out that the media wanted to have another SQUARE just like Tahrir Square in Egypt, even though this is a circle – a traffic circle with a huge statue in the middle, not a square in the sense of a public plaza.  Oh, the way the news is manipulated for the sake of sensation. Those of you who read our missives when we were in Bahrain know that this protest was something we anticipated, more than the US Government did, that’s for sure.

We live in exciting times!  Ciao, Cindy and Wm.

Civility Dies in Moscow

Civility in Moscow died today at 11:21!  For those of you who have followed this blog since August, you will know that Civility in Moscow had been on life support for some time and thus its death must come as no surprise.  As I was navigating the narrow, icy footpaths of trampled snow that pass for sidewalks, I noticed that dog owners had decided to allow their animals to do their business right in the middle of the path, so that now, in addition to black ice, we have to avoid brown poop mines.  But that isn’t what killed Civility.  It wasn’t even the minus five-degree weather with the strong winds pumping out of the north that spelled the demise of Civility.

Death came when not one, not two, not three, but nine cars decided that the best way to avoid sitting in snarled traffic was to pull up onto the narrow sidewalk and drive down said sidewalk for a full block and then try to reenter the stalled cars, thus gaining a ten car advantage! They did not seem to mind in the least that those of us trying to walk on this sidewalk were forced to jump into snow banks to avoid being hit, and even then, one person was clipped by a side view mirror. Eventually even the sidewalk cars where forced to slow down and then stop since there was no way to reenter the traffic in a speedy manner, and this is when my keys came out and I just held them at waist level as I tried to maneuver around the queue of cars.  If a car came too close to me, well that car now has a souvenir of deviant behavior.

I eventually got to the embassy where I purchased skimmed milk and honey for my honey.  At one point on the trip I was so cold from the wind pelting my face that I walked into the entrance of a supermarket and took off my hat to put on my balaclava.  It never dawned on me that I must look like a guy getting ready to rob the store, but I did notice several people watching me with great interest.  I also learned that it is almost impossible to secure a hat while wearing mittens.  I think I’ll stay in the apartment for the rest of the week and just walk up and down the stairs. It is supposed to get colder and colder each day ending up with temperatures on Friday in the minus 12-14 range, and that is the predicted high!  (Weather in Marseille for Saturday is expected to be sunny with a high of 54°)

Our Valentine’s dinner last night started with glasses of Champagne, Russian to be sure, but still called Champagne because ‘under European Union law, as well as treaties accepted by most nations, sparkling wines produced outside the champagne region, even wine produced in other parts of France, do not have the right to use the term "champagne.” In much of the former Soviet Union, including the three Baltic States, who are now EU members, the term Sovetskoye Shampanskoye continues to be used, with the governments of those countries claiming that the rights to the use of the word “Champagne” was granted in perpetuity to the Russian Imperial Government by the French and that this cannot be rescinded.’

This was followed by a Russian salad of beets, potatoes and carrots (the Russians love their root vegetables) mixed with a bit of fresh garlic, chopped pickles, tarragon, mayonnaise, two kinds of mustard and fresh chives.  I served it in a fresh green pepper half on a bed of spinach.  

Russian Salad ala Embee

The main course was baked penne with vegetables.  I sautéed onion, garlic, shaved carrot, chopped red and green peppers, and mushrooms in a big wok and just before they were tender I added some oregano, salt, pepper, lots of pepperincino, and fresh parsley.  I dumped the cooked penne into the vegetable mixture, along with a quarter cup of the cooking water. I then added eight ounces of ricotta, some skimmed milk and a touch of butter and mixed everything together before transferring it to a baking dish. I covered it with a mixture of finely chopped garlic, seasoned breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and chives and let it all bake until the top was brown and crusty.  It was rather tasty.  We ended the meal with pieces of fresh apple strudel from the bakery served with Crème William.  This is nothing more than some sour cream, mixed with two drops of real vanilla, a bit of cream, cinnamon and some coarse granulated sugar.  (From CC: FABULOUS)

I had to cook between visits from the Green Guys.  The flame on our gas oven/stove is more orange than blue and I know that isn’t good.  Normally this comes from too much gas pressure so I thought for sure the boys would know this and be able to fix it.  I studied how to say, the flame is orange not blue. I even printed it out in Russian just in case I couldn’t make myself understood.  I told them what was wrong, they didn’t understand, I showed them the printout, they repeated exactly what I thought I had just said, and they laughed. They then proceeded to spend the next twenty minutes looking, talking, scratching, turning the gas on and off, scratching some more, but not once did I see a tool, a gauge, or any activity that might indicate that they knew what they were doing. I swear if there where three of them I would have had the complete collection of Stooges!

That’s it for today; I’m going to be holding a wake for Civility as soon as Cindy gets home so I need to chill the wine.  Best wishes, Cindy and Wm.

From CC: I wimped out yesterday and ran on the treadmill after school, but today it was sunny and not windy so I suited up and ran outside for 20-some minutes.  The forest is beautiful with lots of new snow, and my oh my those frozen paths are crunchy.  I did notice a lack of other people today, compared to normal winter days – I usually encounter a few dozen walkers and cross-country skiers as well as one guy on a bicycle (yikes), but today I encountered only 2 people.  Even Russians are finding these temperatures a bit too cool.

Valentine's Day 2011

Happy Valentine’s Day

I’m about to throw myself out of the apartment and go to the grocery store to see what I might be able to find that would make a special Valentine’s Day dinner.  Last night, for some reason, I remembered something that someone told me that made me shudder, which is why I want to cook a special meal tonight.

I had been working in Germany for Boston University for about five years when the Dean of the College of Education, who incidentally reads this blog daily, made me an assistant dean.  Well that really frosted the shorts of the VP who was in charge of things in Europe, especially in light of the fact that his girlfriend was in my department and I would have supervisory responsibility over her.  In an effort to smooth things over, I volunteered to drive her from Heidelberg to Brussels, where we both had different meetings to attend. It was a very long, tedious drive and the more we talked the more I realized that we had nothing in common.  However, she was fluent in French and I was looking forward to having a decent meal after this long trip. 

When we got to the hotel we arranged to meet in the lobby at six.  I had spoken to the concierge and had a list of four restaurants that were typical and not too expensive.  I was looking at the list when she arrived and she asked if I had picked out something.  I told her I had a short list and showed her and much to our mutual horror, she thought I was talking about movies and I thought we were talking about restaurants.  Here we were in one of the gastronomic capitals of the world and she wanted to go to the movies.  That is when she said the words that still make me queasy, “I wish they would just make a pill that you take once a day so that we didn’t have to waste any time eating!”  Needless to say, we said our goodbyes and I avoided her as best I possibly could for the next four years. (In case you are wondering, I had a memorable meal that night that involved patés, mussels, and frites with three mayonnaise dips, Muscadet, mini-fruit tarts and delicious Cognac.)

Dinner last night was a lot of fun. I had made a caprese salad which I served on spinach and arugula as a starter, and then I went into the kitchen and made some great potato/carrot pancakes using the potato/carrot smash that we had the night before.  I first mixed three eggs and three tablespoons of flour in a big bowl and let it sit for a bit. Then I added about two cups of the potato/carrot and I stirred that together until it was all nicely blended.  I added some salt, pepper, tarragon and chives and mixed it up again. This time I let it all sit until I was ready to fry the pancakes.  Meanwhile, I had cut thin slices of lighted salted salmon and in another pan I had caramelized an onion and five cloves of garlic.  When we were ready I made the pancakes and then placed them on the plate, covered them with the onion mixture, laid a few slices of salmon on each pancake, covered the salmon with yogurt and decorated each pancake with some chives.  DELICIOUS, if I do say so myself.

I challenged the weather this afternoon to go to the grocery store.  The weather won.  It faked me out with lots of sunshine, blue skies and what looked like light winds. Turns out the wind was coming from the opposite side of the apartment building and we were on the leeward side.  Once I walked around the building I was pummeled by a very strong wind that made the nine-degree temperature seem well below zero.  I had a very specific dish I was going to make tonight and every one of the main ingredients was not available at the store.  I’ll improvise!

On this Valentine’s Day let us pause and give thanks that we aren’t trying to celebrate in Malaysia.  Who knew that romantic love was not suitable for Muslims? And speaking of romantic love, what in the world is poor BerLUSTconi going to do today? With all of his girlfriends and all of the press he gets, someone is bound to feel slighted!  I’ll bet there will be no celebrating Valentine’s Day in Bahrain, even though the King, in an effort to buy some love from Bahrainis, gave each family $2700.  Today is scheduled to be a Day of Rage and Bahrain might not know how to handle it.  And finally, a sad story about two teenagers who will not be celebrating Valentine’s Day today.  Perhaps however, they did qualify for next year’s Darwin Award.

Moscow: Two students died on Sunday night in Moscow after they attempted to ride on the roof of a metro train, a police source said. One of the bodies was found on the roof with 'multiple fractures' while the other was found on the platform a short distance away, the source said. They are believed to have died after being slammed into the roof of the tunnel. Both the dead were teenage tourism students at a Moscow university.

Best wishes for the day, Cindy and Wm.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Being housebound ain’t so bad. Cindy is playing sweet music on her viola in the other room as I gaze out into the cold (4 degree) windswept snow. Our apartment is warm, we have food and wine and each other and nature has a way of slowing us down when we really need to slow down. We did venture forth this morning on what Cindy calls a “wake-up walk” – going outside to get your blood moving almost as soon as you’re out of bed. We had fully intended to go to the little French café/bakery that is not too far from the apartment but we got halfway there and headed in another direction. The wind was fierce and the temperature cold, so cold that our faces, even protected, started to fall off!  We shopped for some smoked salmon and brown bread and raced home to seal the doors and windows.  Not to worry, a week from today we’ll be eating croissants and sipping café crèmes on the quais of Marseille.

I did make dinner last night, which is a good thing since the weather was just as bad but it was also dark, which makes walking even more treacherous.  I defrosted a couple of tuna fillets and pan seared them in a bit of butter. Just before they were done, I added some Newman’s Own sesame salad dressing to the pan along with the juice of a half lemon. When it was reduced to nice syrup I placed the tuna on a hot plate and covered it with the sauce.  I served this with a mélange of smashed potato and carrot, with roasted garlic and Parmesan. Boiled peas added to the color and fresh flavors, especially nice with a lovely bottle of white Burgundy. Cindy was happy to have me home.  I never worry about her surviving while I’m gone; she was after all a professional caterer and knows her way around a kitchen. It is, however, much nicer to be waited on and served like you are in a restaurant. It is a good tonic for deep winter.

Random musings as I read the news:

1.     I never liked Clarence Thomas and I don’t like him now. This is what is wrong with lifetime appointments. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/us/13thomas.html?hp

2.     I used to love Guadalajara and now it is a haven for drug lords and look what they have done to this beautiful city. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/02/12/mexico.bar.shooting/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

3.     I like cruising. I like small intimate ships that take you to small harbors and quaint inlets.  Anyone planning on surprising me with a gift of a cruise, don’t choose this ship.  Thanks. http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/travel/13allure.html?src=dayp

Cindy made me go out into the cold again this afternoon but this time I had on more clothes, including a balaclava.  While it kept me warm, it was impossible to wipe my nose so I don’t plan on wearing that much more.  It has snowed all day and we are now very much in for the night and approaching The Hour.

Best wishes for a lovely Sunday, Cindy and Wm

PS from CC:  No one makes Wm do anything!  I simply announced I was going for another walk and after a lot of whining and some banter about waving at me from the window, there he was at the doorway, all covered up and looking very much like a bank robber.  I have to agree that the weather is miserable today, but with the right clothing it’s hardly noticeable and certainly nothing to write home about.  Ha!

Iron Maiden, Trials, Tribulations and Tide

Saturday, February 12, 2011

By now you know that my phone conversation with Mubarak ended well; still waiting to hear from Medvedev!

I must say that when I arrived at the airport yesterday, I did not dillydally once past customs. That is the spot where they set off the bomb that killed 36 people and I hurried out of the area to the Aeroexpress train ticket counter, which is on the opposite side of the terminal.  I found no comfort in reading an article while I waited for the train that said the bombing had been a ‘family affair’.

It was snowing quite hard as we approached Moscow and the pilot told us we were going to have to circle for thirty minutes since the airport was closed.  Normally, I would not like to hear that but I had hoped that we might land in the other big airport, which is much closer to our apartment.  The airport did open and we landed on time, instead of forty minutes early.  I’ve never been on a plane that taxied slower to the gate.  While the runway was nice and clean, the taxi areas were just a mess with lots of uneven surfaces due to ice build up.  This gave me more time to check out the Iron Maiden Final Frontier Tour Boeing 757 that was parked at one of the gates.  I’ve certainly heard of Iron Maiden even though I couldn’t hum any of their songs, but I was impressed that they had their own plane.  I was even more impressed when I found out that the band’s leader, Bruce Dickinson, is also the pilot for the plane!

Iron Maiden's 757

I really wanted to take a taxi to the apartment since I had three bags, but it was Friday afternoon and it had snowed and I knew it would be a three to four hour trip, so I opted for the train/Metro/walking option.  Actually, it wasn’t really walking; it was more like hauling and dragging.  The train was a piece of cake since I could take a luggage cart right to the train car.  However, getting the bags from the train to the Metro was a real pain in the rear.  You would think that a Metro stop that is at a major rail station would anticipate that people with luggage would use it, but it isn’t so.  There are no automated doors, which is really hard with three bags. There are no ramps, just two sets of stairs, which again isn’t easy with luggage and once you finally get into the Metro, you have to stand near the door, which is the only place that has space for luggage.

Once I got to my station it was a thirty-minute hike (normally about 10 minutes), dragging luggage through fresh snow that covered very old ice.  By the time I got to the apartment, I was sweating and sore and vowing never, never, never to travel with that much luggage.  If we had access to embassy mail, as the Canadians and British do, I could have mailed all the stuff back, but the US Embassy will not allow access to the mail to employees of AAS.  It was all worth it however when Cindy got home and realized I had brought her back everything that she needed. She showered me with favors!

We went to a restaurant last night that had been recommended by one of Cindy’s colleagues. It was a typical ethnic Russian place that was very attractive and had excellent food, perhaps the best we have had in Moscow, but oh my goodness was it expensive.  I kept looking and looking at the prices and tried to figure out how they could get so much money for so little food.  One eight-ounce bottle of water was six bucks and the cheapest little, little glass of wine was fifteen. The food was innovative; I started with little ravioli (called pelmeni) stuffed with salmon and served with lemon butter and red caviar on the side. Cindy had pelmeni stuffed with duck and fresh ginger in a marvelous sauce.  I really don’t mind paying lots of money for good food, but I draw the line on spending lots of money for bad wine.  Perhaps we were paying for the entertainment, which was quite nice and quite loud. It was like a gypsy band with violin, guitar, accordion and singer/tambourine lady.  I suppose that in a city with 114 billionaires, places like this can thrive.  Tonight I’m awake enough to cook.

We spend a little part of this afternoon cleaning the car, which had a one-week accumulation of ice and snow (you never would have guessed that Cindy had cleaned it off only last Sunday).  Once cleaned we had a heck of a time getting it out of the packed snow, so we placed tide detergent under the front wheels and it worked like a charm.  Tide should make that part of their advertising, ‘whiter than white, brighter than bright and provides wonderful traction.’

I slept for ten hours last night but I’m still a bit tired. I’m sure by tomorrow I’ll be one hundred percent alert, which will be in stark contrast to my fifty percent today.

Best wishes, Cindy and Wm.

Dom Sweet Dom

I have arrived!  It was a very, very pleasant flight, which I’ll talk about in a moment. Right now I’m very miffed with Mubarak.  He had promised me he would step down and the minute I get on the plane and I’m out of touch, he reneges! Same thing with Medvedev. First he tells me he isn’t going to mess around with the Time Zones or with Daylight Saving Time and again, the minute I get on the plane he reneges!  What’s with these so-called leaders? 

There are airlines and there is Singapore Airlines, period!  Their coach service rivals almost all of the Business Class services in the world.  What you don’t have is a lot of space, but the space you do have has been so thoughtfully designed to maximize your comfort to the point that you almost don’t notice. Each seat in coach has a ten-inch monitor, which offers 60 movies, 70 TV shows and tons of music, all ON DEMAND!  That means you start it and stop it at your convenience.  The seats are so comfortable that you swear you are in business.  When you recline the seat, it also moves forward, giving you a much more relaxed position to sleep. They even have footrests that have infinite adjustments so you can get it just the way you like it.  They even provide you with a big fluffy pillow, in a real linen pillowcase, as well as a big plush blanket so you can get really cozy at night.

When the doors were closed they came around and handed out piping hot towels, then toilet kits and then MENUS, yes, menus in coach.  I’ve attached them since they are so interesting.  They specifically ordered this 777 so that it had two additional toilets in coach, which cut down on the galley space but the flight attendants told me that that had been redesigned also and was very efficient.  Each bathroom is constantly cleaned and restocked with hand and face cream, cologne, after-shave, combs, toothbrushes, razors, shaving cream and female hygiene products.  The mirrors have those little lights around them so that you can actually see your face.

When we reached cruising altitude almost everyone was already watching a movie as the flight attendants came by with a cocktail service.  When they were finished with that, they came around and asked if anyone wanted another drink.  Incidentally, all the alcohol is complimentary, unlike all the other carriers now.  I could go on and on but you get the point. These are well-trained people who seem to love what they do.  It is an airline that respects everyone who travels with them, in whatever class of service, and provides a superior product.  Someone asked why I flew all the way to Houston just to fly with Singapore Air; now you know.  Besides that, even with the flight to Houston and the overnight, it was still cheaper to fly Singapore than it would have been to fly United from Dulles, and I can assure you the experience on United would not have been as enjoyable.

Okay, I’m tired and need to clean up for dinner so I’ll end this, happy to be home with my darling Cindy and looking forward to a lovely weekend. Hope you have a good one also.  Ciao, William

Not Bad for Coach

On Leaving America

On Departing America

I’ll be boarding a Singapore Airline flight from Houston to Moscow in a matter of hours, but wanted to get a few impressions on the record.  My eleven days here have been filled with lots of lovely experiences and a few not so pleasant. 

I was home for just a day before I had to leave for a series of meetings in Greensboro, NC.  I had rented a car when I landed since I had decided to drive to Greensboro, partially because it was just too expensive to fly, but mostly because I love to drive and thought this would be a wonderful trip.  I was correct!  I drove down the spine of Virginia on beautiful 81.  I have been on 81 before in the early spring and it was just spectacular, but even in the dead of winter it is a lovely road.  The trip took about five hours and from the minute I arrived at the hotel until the moment I departed, I was constantly bathed in the warm waters of southern hospitality. 

We have all been exposed to ‘faked’ hospitality, like Disney, or grand hotels, but what I experienced was genuine and heartfelt.  It didn’t matter whether they worked for the lovely hotel or for the Quick Stop gas station, everyone was courteous, smiling and soft spoken.  Their greetings were sincere and when they invite you to come back again, they mean it.

In addition to my meetings, I had the great pleasure of dining twice with friends of my host in Greensboro.  Goodness was it fun to be around adults who speak English and have lots of varied interests.  I realized that for most of my time in Moscow, I’m alone, or at best, with young teachers, who while committed and intelligent, have not yet had the life experiences to be as totally interesting as my dinner companions.  It was an unexpected and very much valued part of my trip.

Upon my return to West Virginia I had three days to play, cook, talk and laugh with the family.  Colin and Meagan will soon be heading to New Zealand for a two to three year assignment, so we had a grand time looking at maps, reading about adventure travels, and sorting out all the little things that have to be done before they depart.  Colin and I continued our cooking experiences by preparing fancy dinners and informal lunches.  We watched the Super Bowl with the WV grandkids after cooking up a Super Bowl dinner.  I couldn’t believe how long the spectacle was, especially with that silly half-time show.  By the time it was over, I was exhausted and fell fast asleep until eight the next morning.

I stupidly lost my drivers license on my United flight from Paris.  The plane was a 777 and it only had about 70 people in coach, which meant that there were lots of empty rows of five seats.  I took a three-hour nap in one of those rows and all of my credit cards fell out of my pocket as I moved around trying to get comfortable.  I thought I had picked them all up but obviously I missed the driver’s license.  This meant that I had to drive to the local DMV, which is about fifteen minutes away.  I was dreading the process, but really needed to get my license replaced.  Much to my joy and amazement, the entire process took only about twelve minutes, most of which was spend filling out a short form and waiting for my new license to be laminated.  Everyone there was so friendly and professional and I remembered why I have always enjoyed living in small towns.  Incidentally, the three ladies behind the counter all agreed that the Black Eye Peas were silly.

The dark side of my trip involved what is jokingly called commercial aviation.  I had to fly from Dulles to Houston to pick up my flight to Moscow.  Since it was a one-way trip, I was condemned to a connection in Charlotte, NC.  A non-stop flight on Continental would have cost more than eight hundred dollars, while a connecting flight on US Air was only two hundred.  I had no problem with the service on US Air, they were on time, and safe, which is all you really need.  My problem was with my fellow passengers, all of whom seem to have gotten very, very large.  I read about Michelle Obama’s efforts to fight obesity, about the FDA trying to get folks to eat better, but judging from my experience on just two flights yesterday, these appeals are falling on deaf ears. 

My Fellow Traveler Catching a Nap

The first flight was on one of those Regional Jets, which means small and packed.  It was just a one-hour flight to Charlotte and yet more than half of the people who boarded the flight were carrying enough calories to go transatlantic.  I can assure you that the sights, smells and sounds of these folks consuming their food at nine am was nothing short of disgusting.  I don’t know how they were able to finish everything within the hour.  I had a very long layover, more than four hours, so I had ample time to walk the airport and view the ample bodies of my fellow travelers.  The old joke about how people who used to take the bus now take the airplane has never been truer, but now it is more like the people who used to clean the bathrooms at the bus stations are taking flights.  No more dressing well to fly and certainly bathing has become optional.  It is just depressing.  The last leg of the trip was a three-hour journey on a fully packed 737.  If you have ever been on a bus where they have flip up seats that can be lowered into the aisle when they need more seats, you will understand how I felt when I got up to go to the back of the plane to use the toilet.  I was in row seven (I had to pay $25 for an aisle seat) and when I turned to go back I thought they had these flip up seats since it looked like the aisle was completely filled.  There were no flip up seats, it was just people spilling out of their narrow seats.  Feet were in the aisle, shoulders, and ham hock arms flowing into the free space like so much molten lava taking the path of least resistance.  I had to walk sideways like a crab in order to get to the rear of the plane. 

Getting off of that flight was like getting out of prison and I reveled in the space and relative fresh air.  Since I’m traveling with far too much luggage, I had to check it and it took one hour for the bags to get from the plane to the baggage area.  Wouldn’t you think that when they charge you $25 to check the first bag and $50 for the second, they would be able to get you your bags in record time?  Houston was experiencing record cold and standing outside in the raw wind waiting twenty minutes for the hotel shuttle prepared me for my return to Moscow.

So, I’m off and excited to get back to Cindy and to Moscow.  With luck the Moscow Musings will be start to flow by Saturday.

Best wishes to all, William