US Flag Day in Moscow

Happy Flag Day!  I went to the embassy today so that I could salute and say the pledge of allegiance in front of the giant flag in the courtyard.  I mean, that’s what holidays are for, right?

It rained most of the night and morning resulting in Minnesota on the Moscow, land of 10,000 lake-sized puddles.  I swear we must be in a bowl in this neighborhood. There is water everywhere and you have to plan a route carefully or you end up confronting a large body of water and have to turn back. Drainage isn’t one of the grand things about Moscow.  There is, however, an up side to this problem. As I was waiting to cross a street, a big black SUV parked in the crosswalk on the other side of the street. Now I had been thinking about how I was going to get around the puddle in the crosswalk just as this bozo leaped out of his car and submerged his Gucci loafers up to the tassels.  Oh it was a grand and glorious event and he did not react well, which made it even grander.

I almost timed my trip to the embassy perfectly, but the last twenty minutes of the trip were filled with heavy rain.  I was carrying my backpack, which was filled with liquids, and it was heavy. That combined with the light rain jacket I had on provoked a good deal of perspiration and gave me a very good workout.  It is now bright and sunny, of course, but I’ll bet dollars to donuts that it rains like crazy when we are ready to walk to dinner.

Pasta with Salmon and Green Beans

Attempting to prepare dinner last night taught me a few tricks that I’ll use from time to time. Since I really don’t have a decent frying pan anymore, I decided to ‘stew’ the onions and garlic in butter that I placed in a small saucepan.  Once they were soft I added salt, pepper, tarragon and some chives and continued to slowly cook it for another few minutes to release all the flavors.  I then turned the heat off and stirred in about a half a cup of smoked salmon that I had cut into small pieces.  When the pasta water was hot I added a mixture of spinach and egg fettuccini, which was languishing in the cupboard. I returned it to the boil for four minutes and then added lots of whole green beans and cooked everything for another five minutes.  Meanwhile I added a half-cup of sour cream to the salmon mixture and gently heated it as I added a half-cup of chicken stock.  I had already grated the remains of the wonderful pecorino that we had in the fridge and I was now ready to assemble and serve. The drained pasta and beans went back into the big pan, followed by the salmon mixture, which was incorporated into the pasta. Off went the heat, in went the cheese, out came the mixture onto the hot plates, a little sprinkle more of cheese and voila!

It looks like you can take the Commie out of Communism but you can’t take the privilege away from the privileged. Very happy I was not on that flight.

Fifteen days and counting. Best wishes, Cindy and Wm

Stalin's Snow

Lovely Central Fountain

I had a lovely three-hour walk today and discovered a completely new neighborhood.  I love taking walks where I end up going someplace that turns out to be an adventure.  I was deep in some strange neighborhood when I stumbled across a very large park with a magnificent fountain.  I went into the park to explore and found all this wonderful old homes and buildings surrounding the park and a huge statue of a very stern looking man, who I’m guessing might be Lenin. The park is called Skver Devich’ego Polya, which translates as Square Maiden Field.  I had to do a lot of map work to find this when I got home, but it was worth it just for the language experience.  It has a wonderful history as you can see from the article. The park lawns were filled with Stalin’s Snow, the white fluffy seeds from both cottonwood and trembling aspen.  They blame Stalin for planting all these trees to replace all the trees that were cut for firewood during WWII.  These are fast growing but no one anticipated all the ‘snow’ they would produce in the spring.

Stern Lenin

I was thinking today that I probably know more about the walking tours of inner Moscow that any non-native speaker. I figure in the eleven months that I’ve been walking around here I’ve most likely logged about seven hundred miles, assuming I walked at least three miles per day, which on most days has just been a warm up.  I’m quite sure I’ll miss this part of my experience when we move back to Charles Town.  From CC:  I feel like I’m just warming up in terms of getting to know Moscow.  If I could stay here for several more months without working at AAS I’d be in heaven!

One of the best things about walking today was that there was no traffic, it being yet another Russian holiday.  Most of the Russians were at their dachas so it was just me and the Stans walking around Moscow.  I made a quick pit stop in a very large four-story mall, which was almost deserted at noon. (I know where all of the very clean and free toilets are in Moscow, surely a marketable commodity.)  On part of the walk I crossed the Moscow River four times, just for the fun of going over bridges that were not clogged with traffic and pollution.  You do get the very best views of Moscow from the middle of bridges.

Time to go and check out the fridge. We have been very good about getting rid of things and I’ve only a few more meals to prepare since we have been getting lots of invitations to dinner this week. Last night was just the leftover chicken served with corn. I found one can of corn and drained it and then melted butter and garlic in a pan and threw in the corn.  I added some salt, pepper and herbs de Provence and cooked it until the niblets started to turn brown.  We had that with the remains of the French bread and an exquisite Petit Chablis. I’ve always said that nothing dresses up a dull meal more than an exciting wine!

Best wishes to all, Cindy and Wm.

PS. They jail poets, don’t they?

The Day of Russia

Today is The Day of Russia, a national holiday to celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty.  There most likely are speeches, parades and other festive things but mostly it is a three day weekend and Muscovites are off to their dachas, bars - or if you are a member of The 54 Club - sitting in the clubhouse with extra rations of vodka and beer.

Last night we returned to Ragout for dinner with our friends that recently moved here from Costa Rica, Katy and Craig.  Dinner was wonderful as were the stories of getting acclimated to Moscow.  Craig has already made great strides in becoming accepted in his company. As the only American it has been rather difficult but he seems to have proven himself to the extent that he now gets invited to birthday celebrations, a real sign that you have made it.  Katy has been involved with the International Women’s Club and recently went to one of their events which featured a luncheon cruise on the Moscow River.  With her permission, I’m sharing her summary of the event.  As you read this remember that this is not an el cheapo cruise but rather it is on one of the best boats in Moscow.

I attended the International Women's Club end-of-year outing which was a cruise on the Moscow River.  It was quite funny because some ladies received salmon for the main course, others beef with a few meager potatoes, some ladies received the beef and salmon, and some only received vegetables!  I was one of the ones who received the beef and I am accustomed to small portions here, but this was really small. The woman next to me was sure we were going be served salmon after the beef, but that was not the case.  Then, one woman from Hong Kong said that at her table they received only vegetables and no one was vegetarian.  I talked to another woman later who said they had first been served the beef and then later waiters appeared and served them all salmon.  For dessert they served vanilla cream to some tables.  Our table was not served, but there was a tray of ice cream near us, so the woman next to me went to help herself and was told that she couldn't take a dish of ice cream.  They did come by later with ice cream for our table.  Oh, one other little tidbit:  there was a small plate of Russian mushroom salad on the table between me and the Russian woman next to me.  Well, she assumed it was her salad and put the whole plate on her plate.  It was a small serving and I guess by placing it between us, she did not think it was for the table.  The other ladies and I realized it was meant for the table because there was another SMALL cabbage salad in the middle of the table.  The Russian lady's friend later realized that the mushroom salad was for the table and asked them to bring another serving.

Well at least what the Russians lack in service they make up for with toilets.   Here are some lovely photos of Frick and Frack at play!  The Russians eat this stuff up.

We have had a lovely and quiet Sunday, which started late since we were up much later than normal. We had breakfast at a local café with excellent espresso and pastries.  Cindy, at my insistence, brought her iPad so that we could look like natives. We would have fit in perfectly except we were talking with one another, which is a sure sign that we are not serious techies.  It is a beautiful day and we have taken several walks in between getting organized for the move at the end of the week.  We really don’t have much stuff to move so you would think that this would be easy, but somehow it is a bit more complicated than we anticipated. In the end we are told that anything that we don’t move or don’t sell will disappear in minutes if we place it outside near the garbage containers - or as I like to call them now, the Goodwill Boxes.

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday, Cindy and Wm.

The Apartment is Getting Empty

Most of the morning was spent getting things organized for a ‘garage sale’. Only about three people came but we unloaded a lot of stuff.  We have sold almost all of our electronic things, including the multi-voltage, multi-system 32” TV.  I fear the movers will have very little to pack out for us, mostly just clothes and computers.

Jamaica Jerk Chicken and Cole Slaw

Yesterday afternoon I purchased a chicken and then cut it up into twelve pieces and marinated it for three hours in Jamaica Jerk, lime juice and a nice bit of BBQ sauce.  Then I cooked it until it took on that nice brownish red color and it was really delicious served with my crunchy sesame Cole slaw.  It appears I’ll only have about three more meals to prepare before everything is gone from the kitchen. As it is, it is getting more and more difficult to cook with fewer and fewer pots, pans and utensils.

Now here is a really bright idea sure to win the hearts and minds of Russians everywhere.  And this is a topic seldom discussed in Moscow, but pickpockets do exist.

Mayor's Residence

Yuir Dolgorukiy

We took a walk this morning after the tag sale and found some interesting places.  We walked right by Itar TASS, the old Soviet era propaganda paper. From there we walked to a lovely little gallery that was having an exhibition on Spanish bullfighting. Rather then go in, we sat by a great fountain that we had all to ourselves.  From there we went to the Mayor’s Residence and took some pictures.  There is a great statue of Yuri Dolgorukiy, founder of Moscow, in the front of the building and a great fountain to the rear of the statue. There were a few teenagers trying to skateboard near the fountain and man were they terrible.  I’ve noticed that skateboarding is a very big thing, despite the fact that I’ve never seen a Russian kid do it well. I’m thinking of starting The San Diego School of Skateboarding here in Moscow.  I’ll be rich!!

Central Fountain

The new mayor is doing a great job of dismantling all the wasteful construction that took place doing the old regime. He is also doing a fantastic job of getting rid of all the advertising that was on buildings under renovation. The old mayor used to get kickbacks from both the construction contracts as well as the renovation advertising.  It will do much to make Moscow more attractive.  We got home just before a big heavy rain that we hope will cool things down and get rid of a bit of pollen.

All the plants have departed the apartment for their new home and I must say the apartment seems much more dreary without them.  However, I’m sure they will thrive and since our time is running low, we needed to get as much done this weekend as possible.

Extra Credit: What Does This Say?

Have a lovely Saturday, Cindy and Wm.

Irritants: Wind Blown and Otherwise

With the Russian schools out, the playground outside our window fills with Vietnamese kids and moms/grand moms at around 8 am.  There are about twenty-five kids ages one to ten in the morning and then the older ones join them at about two pm.  This will give you a sense of what it sounds like.  

We had about an hour of rain last night and I was hoping it would clear the pollen from the trees but no such luck.  My allergies are really acting up and the air is once again filled with cottonwood seeds.  I walked to the store but that was it for walking outside today, just too much pollen for my delicate eyes and nose.  I hope things clear up so we can have an outdoor weekend; we still have lots to do on our list.

Purple Passion Flower

Purple Passion Stinky Flowers

Plants II

Yesterday when I started to do the laundry I noticed a smell most foul. It smelled like sour milk or vomit and I checked all the clothes and clothes containers but found nothing.  As the laundry cooked I watered my plants and as I bent over the purple passion, I found the cause of the stench.  I have taken very good care of that plant and as a result it was filled with blossoms, delicate little yellow blossoms that stank to high heaven.  I have never had one flower before and therefore didn’t realize that they smelled so bad.  I read up on them on Google and it was suggested that the blossoms be cut so that the plant can fill out, so I cut them, about a hundred of them, and threw them out the window.  Everything smells fresh and clean now. 

Plants I

 

I think I mentioned this before but when we arrived I found about eight plants that had been left unwatered and unloved over the summer. Some were in friends’ apartments and several were just sitting near the garbage.  I salvaged them all and with some TLC, good watering, and fertilizer, I’ve nursed them all back to health. Now I have to say goodbye to them since people who are staying really want them and of course, we can’t bring them back with us.

Curried Vegetables with Butter Poached Cod

Dinner last night was a lovely fresh vegetable curry served on a bed of spinach and topped with chunks of butter, garlic and dill-poached cod.  Cindy did not like the cod I made before so I had to find a way to make it taste better, moister, and fresh*, so I decided on a two part recipe. First I made the vegetable curry by melting some butter and a bit of olive oil in a big pot. I then added my spices, curry, turmeric, nutmeg, ginger, chili flakes, and black pepper and cooked them until they began to release all their lovely flavors.  I then added chopped potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and green beans and cooked them until they were just getting soft (NO German Bean Sprouts).  I then added a half-cup of chicken stock, stirred, turned off the heat and partially covered the pan.  In a smaller pot I placed about a half stick of butter and some sliced garlic and over a low heat got the butter melted and the garlic soft. I placed the pieces of cod in this and cooked covered for about four minutes. I added some fresh dill and turned the pieces and turned off the heat.  Just before serving I added a half-cup of sour cream and a quarter cup of yogurt to the curry mixture and slowly heated it while stirring all the time.  When it was ready, I placed spoonfuls on the spinach and then topped it with the cod and butter sauce, which I gently had reheated.  Cindy did enjoy the cod this time but I will be our last attempt of using frozen cod. From now on, fresh only! (* from CC: I hope it’s clear that the dish I did not like was for good reason; I’m not fussy!)

I realize my time is getting short here in Moscow and as a result I’m certainly not as objective as I might be, but today at the market things just seemed to be even more ‘Russian’ than normal.  There was a level of aggression at the vegetable area that I’ve not seen in a long time.  One woman was giving her plastic bags of fruits and vegetables to the clerk to be weighed and priced, while at the same time filling new bags with fruits near the clerk. This seemed to be a deadly sin and she was attacked by two women who told her - in no uncertain terms - that you don’t get in line unless you are done shopping.  While they were having at it, the clerk was idle so I handed him my four bags and was out of there while the conversation continued.

There seemed to be chaos in the fresh fish area since the fish wasn’t fresh.  You could see by the color and odor that this was not fresh fish and sharp words were exchanged with the clerk. I saw this argumentation all over the store today, in meat, dairy and even at the bakery, which is usually a tranquil spot. Everyone was just standing around arguing and blocking the narrow aisles. At the checkout, the two women ahead of me were paying with coins. Don’t know why I think that is charming in France or Germany and I find it bothersome here. Well maybe I do know and it is good that I’m leaving.  Perhaps the barometric pressure is affecting everyone, or perhaps it is the pollen, but these are not especially happy people today.

I received lovely notes of thanks yesterday from the folks in charge of the Liberty Store at the Embassy, thanking me for my assistance.  It is always nice to be recognized, even if it is only in praise of my ability to unload pallets.  Speaking of recognition, Cindy has been getting her fair share as people come to understand all she has done and wish that she could stay and fight for their technology concerns.  I’ve told her to be strong and resist.

I had to clean the screens on the windows today since they were clogged with the fluff from the cottonwood trees. I wet down some paper towels and on my first swipe the towels turned black!  I keep forgetting that Moscow is a dirty town when it comes to air pollution. I went through a half roll of paper towels just doing three screens.  No wonder my allergies are acting up; it is a combination of dirty air that is also filled with pollen. Not the best combination in the world.

That’s it for today; time to get into the weekend.  Today was Cindy’s last Friday at work since she’ll be home with me on Thursday and Friday of next week to prepare for the movers and supervise their packing out of our stuff.  Nice to be able to count the last of things.

Best wishes, Cindy and Wm.

Aeroflot: Best In Business

I’m back from a very fast two-day trip to Wiesbaden Germany.  I feel like I was in perpetual motion from the time I left the apartment at 8 am on Monday until I arrived back here at 8 pm last night.  Since it was a short trip and I didn’t have much time to prepare, I was unable to stay at any of the hotels I would have preferred in Wiesbaden.  There was some type of big convention going on and I was lucky to find anyplace in the city. I ended up at a small place called Hotel am Kochbrunnen; right across the street from the, yep you guessed it, Kochbrunnen.  The Kochbrunnen, Cooking Spring, is a natural hot water spring used continuously since the Romans soaked their bodies in these springs.  The hotel was fine, clean and small but my room on the first floor faced the street and since it was really hot, I had to keep the window open, which made the room very, very noisy from five am until midnight.

I had purchased a last minute coach ticket, which cost about $300 more than it would have if I had been able to purchase it a month earlier.  I have to tell you, that $300 was very well spent. I took the train to the airport and then had to spend about thirty minutes getting through the initial security before walking to the Aeroflot section of the airport, the furthest from the train.  I stood in line to check in and when I got to the front I was told I had to go to a different check-in counter. NO reasons are ever given for anything in Moscow.  I got there to discover that it was where you check in for Business Class, which was surprising.  They looked at my ticket and without any hassle gave me a seat in Business Class and an invitation to the lounge, which brightened up my morning considerably. 

It turns out that the Russian Schools went on summer vacation last week and there were hordes of children in the airport. Security was very slow since kids being kids didn’t know the drill, so it took another forty minutes to clear security and head for the lounge. I was very happy I had decided to take the earlier train. The lounge was nice although a bit sparse, and had no windows, which made it rather dark.  My 11:20 flight was not scheduled to board for another fifty minutes so I had some tea and cookies while writing to Cindy regarding my good fortune.  I went back to the coffee/tea area and saw a line of men waiting to pour themselves glasses of cognac to go with their beers.  Without them saying a word, I knew they were on one of the SAS flights leaving for either Sweden or Denmark.  The lounge had three different types of cognac and three types of vodka, but nothing else other than beer and some indifferent wine.

Toilet Kit for a Three Hour Cruise

For those of you of a certain age who remember the old Aeroflot, you can imagine how I was mightily surprised about the quality of the service in Business Class.  I had the luxury of not having anyone next to me, and the leather seats were comfortable in a 2x2 configuration. Each seat had a good-sized pillow with a linen cover and a nice wool blanket wrapped in plastic. The flight attendant took my jacket and returned with a selection of drinks, water, juice or Champagne. The Champagne was Louis Roederer Brut Premier and it was delicious, even though it was served at room temperature.  She later came by with toilet kits, which was very surprising to me since it is only a three-hour flight.  The kits are in a nice blue bag and have slippers, eyeshades, pen/paper and tissues. We departed on time and were treated to a lovely view of Moscow as we made our swing to head southwest.

As soon as the seatbelt sign went off one attendant came by to take our drink order while the other handed out small personal video players and noise cancelling headphones.  These slipped nicely into the seat pocket in front of me, thus freeing up the tray table for lunch.  I had ordered Champagne and was surprised when she came by with Cristal. I asked about this and she said it must have been a mistake or a promo since they never had it on board before. What a lovely mistake!  I felt bad drinking it with ice, but it too was room temperature and they didn’t have any way to chill it.  As I expected, there was no Cristal on the homeward leg.

Menu Items

I started to watch a movie as they began serving lunch. There were lots of choices - the menu is attached - and the food was delicious and in some cases quite innovative.  I skipped coffee and desert, opting instead to try a little bit of their excellent cognac, Hine Antique XO Premier Cru, which I’m happy to report, was simply divine.  All too soon we were heading into Frankfurt International and the fun and games were over. 

I was scheduled to come back today, but since I was done with my work I called to see if I could depart on Wednesday. I was told I could for an additional fee of 400 Euros. I instead made a reservation at the airport hotel for a lot less than that and was resigned to spending a night at the airport.  When I woke up on Wednesday, I decided that I would go to the airport to plead my case in person since I knew they had empty seats.  I put on my jacket and tie and headed out convinced that the Byxbee charm would carry the day.  I was lucky to get a very sympathetic person at the counter who understood that getting home a day early is sometimes like winning the lottery.  We negotiated prices until I was able to get her down to about the same price I would have had to pay to stay and eat at the airport and she reissued my ticket, again placing me in Business Class. This was a fine trip.

Now it is back to reality, two loads of laundry cooking and soon I’ll head out to find something for dinner.  It is, however, great to be back early.

Best wishes, Cindy and Wm.

Noisy Sunday

Our Romantic Balcony

A lovely Sunday at home with just the tranquil sounds of sirens, car alarms, heavy drilling equipment, construction noise and of course the constant singsong of Vietnamese.  This place would be so much better with air conditioning; that way we could drown out the clutter by keeping the windows closed. Of course if we had kept the door to our balcony closed, we wouldn’t have this photo.  Years ago when we lived in Germany it was illegal to make any noise on Sunday. You couldn’t mow the lawn, hammer a nail or do anything that would violate the quiet of a Sunday.  I’m sure that has also changed but it sure was nice while it lasted.

We did a lot of domestic things this morning.  I did some laundry while Cindy made six (small) loaves of her famous Chinese Lemon Bread from a secret recipe supplied by Barbara Romig, who I’m reasonably sure is not Chinese.  This is good stuff, dense lemony cake filled with golden raisins, walnuts and lots of eggs and butter. The house smells divine.

We took a little walk this afternoon just to get out of the house a bit, and enjoyed the flowers that are now everywhere.  We stopped at a local bakery/coffee house for some bread and two of the best cups of espresso this side of Trieste.  To think, it has been there since we arrived and we never tried it.  Not only was it fantastic, they gave us two glasses of water, FREE, which is a very big deal in Moscow.

Pasta Caprese

We didn’t think we would want any dinner last night but around seven thirty we were both a bit hungry so I did a quick look about the kitchen and came up with a nice Pasta Caprese served on a bed of arugula. I flash fried some quartered cherry tomatoes, garlic and coarse salt. I added the drained pasta and a half-cup of the pasta water and mixed it all up. I then turned the heat off and added the mozzarella and some pecorino and basil and stirred until things started to melt, and then transferred it to the plates of arugula.  It was just what we needed.

Hope you all enjoy your Sunday, Cindy and Wm.