Friday, June 24, 2011

Friday sites...

Ventured out for a cappuccino this morning and snapped some shots along the way...
Explosion of flowers
I’ve got to hand it to the Russians.  They do flowers very, very well.  Not only immaculate flower beds in every park....the flowers change almost weekly.  Tulips...then marigolds...suddenly tall rose bushes - on and on...
Nike!
Nike is alive and well in Moscow.  We have good friends who work for Nike in Russia.  Very interesting to hear them talk about this market vs. the U.S. market.  I’ve noticed that the running shoe you and I are familiar with hardly exists here.  We’ll call it more of a ballet running flat of some sort...

Night-Night
People sleep in cars here....lots and lots of people sleeping in cars.  It’s not the “this is my home” kind of sleeping...it’s "I’m a workman and I think I’ll take a break now" sleeping.  Or, "I drive someone important and he’s at a business lunch, so I’ll just take a short siesta..."

Asleep at the wheel...

Laying down reading a book...
The ever-popular police making a random “show me your papers” check.  This is really never a spot you want to find yourself in....the end result may involve a Ruble payment of some sort...


Black car - blue light
These little ditties are sprinkled all over the city with very important people in the back seat (usually government officials and the like).  When you see them, it’s usually a complete blur as they tend to put the pedal to the medal 100% of the time and....more good news...traffic regulations do not apply to them.  

Sweet babushkas!

Women carrying flowers...
I love this part of Russian culture!  You see women carrying flowers everywhere.  If it’s a birthday - friends often give flowers and they are carried around all day.  It’s almost obligatory to give a woman flowers on the first date (and really the first few dates).  The bigger the bouquet - the more the guy is interested.  Every restaurant has extra vases for the table to put the flowers in....really quite charming.


And my final destination...














I know, I know....did I have to pick Starbucks in one of Eastern Europe's most cosmopolitan cities?  Well....it had been 5 months since I set foot inside and I just needed a good 'ole shot of Americana this morning...



Sasha, the young Barrista!