Ahhhhh.....

Apologies for the delay in blogging.  The truth...the extended winter was getting a bit frustrating and I was apparently hibernating until warmer weather arrived. Happy to announce - spring has arrived with 68 degrees at present - clouds?  Not a one.  The city is buzzing.  The snow has vanished.  Crocuses pushing up from the earth.  Green shoots on trees.  We have finally joined the rest of civilization with warmer weather!  Can I get an “amen”?!

Passed these today...hello green!

Speaking of weather - with the change from winter to spring, we had some crazy fronts push through - check out this shot of the Kremlin...ominous comes to mind.

Easter in Russia...this being our first Easter away from home, Steve and I experienced part of a Russian Orthodox Easter service - fascinating!  In Russia, palms are hard to come by...so on Palm Sunday, instead of palms, pussy willows are handed out...

The Easter service starts at 11 p.m. on Easter eve.  The church is entered in darkness and part way through the service, each partitioner lights a candle as the light of the world begins to grow.  Typically, the congregation departs and walks around the church and then re-enters for a service that continues until the wee small hours of the morning. Church bells ring all over Moscow for 15 minutes starting at 11:45 p.m.....pure, pure heaven.

Our neighborhood church...

Beautiful...  (took this shot in colder days)

We attended a beautiful, small church right next to our apartment building....one of the few that survived Stalin’s church destruction during Soviet times.  Women must cover their heads with a scarf and wear a skirt.  The service was beautiful (we took in about 45 minutes) and so perfect for our first Easter abroad.

When in Moscow...eat Georgian!

Steve with the Moellering girls at Khachapuri - our new fave Georgian restaurant!

When in Moscow...eat Georgian...and we're not talking southeast United States.  Georgian food is, in a word, delicious!!  We had our first introduction during our Moscow “look-see” in August.  Our good friends, the Grimes, recently re-introduced us in February - and now we’re hooked!

As you may know, there has been a long standing conflict between Russia and Georgia, to the degree Georgian wine is banned from consumption in Russia. But....food is fair game and Russians love it as much as we do - herbs, spices, nuts, eggplant, pomegranate, shish-ka-bob, fish...

Eggplant wrapped around a walnut mixture w/pomegranates...

Satsivi - chicken in a walnut sauce...

Lamb!

Lavish Bread...also very popular - khachapuri- bread stuffed with cheese...heaven!

You may remember reading about my "sledgehammer to the knees" incident going in the "out" at the metro (blog dated 2/21/11).  My sweet sis-in-law, Amy, received a brief taste of the experience on her hand when she and Steve were passing the metro card between the gates - aaaaaagh!!!

The "pain" of the metro....not nice to instill on visitors!

Our first visitors!

Mother Nature queued the snow every day for the full Moscow effect.  Arrival and departure by train to the airport...

We just enjoyed 4 glorious days with our first Moscow visitors.  My brother, John, and his family are currently living in London on a one year assignment and spent half of the girls' spring break with us.  We had a wonderful time and packed a ton into our 4 days together...

Rockin the fur!

Led Zeppelin on the balalaika...

Steve and Amy in Gorky Park...

Sarah and Steve carrying the world...

Georgian food - a favorite!

Backstage at the Bolshoi...set assembly in process...

Moscow Musings...

We've had the first sign of spring - hallelujah!  It reached 54 degrees F this weekend.  Pure heaven!  The city erupted with park dwellers, hand holders and even some smiling faces. 

Let’s talk for a minute about parking in Moscow.  Oh my.  I mean, OH MY!!!!!  Rules actually do not exist.  This is a true statement.  You can park your car anywhere and everywhere - and people do!  The city of Moscow has very few tow trucks...so no apparent need to be considerate of others.  We’ve seen cars literally parked smack dab in the middle of a busy street - causing everyone to go around....traffic for miles...just because you can.  I've even seen a group of 4 burly men manually pick up and move a small car out of the way.  This is an every man for himself society!

Ummm.....really??      Organized chaos...

"I think I'll park riiiight here on this nice corner...."

"Just the spot I was looking for...."

Note cars coming and going down this one-way street - splendid!

We’ve also noticed, through the snowy, slushy winter, very few cars get washed....and why would you when the next day, it will get doused with another stunning layer of dirt and grime.  Although you will often see people wiping off their license plates...no one wants to give the police any reason to pull them over.  

This calls for a finger-painted "Wash Me!!!"  Wonder if that translates in Russian...

Custom designs are big!

Shovel time...

Prices!  Moscow shopping prices are generally out of sight.  Take raspberries, for example.  How does $13 for a half pint sound?  We don’t buy raspberries. Now, I will say, we have been pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive a few items are....this huge package of fresh ginger, for example, is only $1!!!!! (And I had already used a knuckle before I snapped the photo). Soooo... we’re having ginger chicken, ginger soup and ginger casserole this week...

The dry cleaners here actually do a fairly good job.  What is amazing is the drop off process and the detailed documentation of what was left behind.  A book is written about each garment....the number of buttons, any holes or tears, what the label says, the brand, the thread count, the number of times it’s been worn, whether it’s cute or not...and would the dry cleaner employee consider wearing it herself....????  Seriously, what are they writing?  Here is what our most recent drop-off slip looks like for 3 pairs of pants and a dress (check marks and all):

Note notary-type stamp in lower right - this is applied to all receipts everywhere!

Hi Dubai!

We just returned from a glorious, relaxing long weekend in Dubai with a good friend and Moscow mentor, David Telepak.  Dubai is incredible...

We took Emirates Airlines which was quite impressive...

Love the uniforms!

Upon arrival, we headed out to the taxi stand and had 2 lines to choose from....one for parties that included a female (women are required to take taxis with women drivers) and one for men only.  We hopped aboard a taxi with the sweetest female driver...she called me “Darling” the duration of the trip to the hotel.  Most everyone in Dubai speaks English.

The next 4 days were filled with beach time, fantastic shopping (Dubai is home to the largest mall in the world - yahtzee!), exploring the desert and fantastic food.

High rise condos and hotels the length of the beach...

These camels were sun bathing along with us!  SPF 5000...

The native dress was fascinating...men from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) wore white robes and white head gear, men from Saudi Arabia (right next door), wore the same white robes with red and white checked head gear.  Women were wearing all kinds of things.  Some in full berka....which I have to say, I found fascinating.  We asked a woman in full cover for directions and it was so unusual, and a bit startling, to talk only to her eyes.  She couldn’t have been more friendly.  I noticed almost every woman (including our taxi driver) was carrying a very expensive handbag, beautiful jewelry and fancy shoes.  I was dying to peek underneath to see what clothes they were wearing.  No doubt, most had on very expensive couture.

We had been told by many that the desert safari was a must do. Thirty minutes outside Dubai, we arrived at the desert - it looked like a scene right out of Lawrence of Arabia! 

The setting sun was perfect for this shot! 

We didn’t know what to expect but once our jeep arrived at the desert, our driver deflated the tires and “floored it” for the next 30 minutes!!!  We now know this is called “Dune Bashing”!  Thank goodness all of us had good sea (desert) legs.  This was a roller coaster ride of unparalleled proportions.  We were at 90 degrees a few times....up and down the dunes....speeding through sand embankments...catching air - a wild, wild ride!
  

We arrived at a camp with other “bashers”, sat on the ground and ate native food - lots of grilled lamb, nuts, dates, apricots, hummus, pita bread...and belly dancer entertainment...when in Dubai...you have to take in some belly dancing! Thank goodness, post-meal, our drive home was on a flat surface...

At the end of our first camel ride....whoa horsey... (notice the spit preventer!)

In the dunes with our good friend David...

Peter Columbus!

We get the Peter Columbus salute every morning.  This statue, standing 94 meters high on the Moscow River, is the 8th tallest statue in the world.  As legend has it - the statue was initially of Christopher Columbus - but when the U.S. Government rejected it, its head was replaced and was sold to the Russian Government as a nautical statue of Peter the Great...hence the nickname “Peter Columbus”.  In November 2008, it was voted the tenth ugliest building in the world...

From our bedroom window...with a zoom lens...thank goodness we can appreciate him from a distance!

Some Muscovites are lobbying to have the structure removed...or blown up....poor guy.

Fries with your "BIG MAK"?

I’m going to keep this in mind the next time I find myself strumming my fingers wating in a slow fast food line....

In 1990 nearly 30,000 people lined up to be the first to eat the famous “Big Mak” at the grand opening of Moscow’s first McDonald’s.  It was the world’s largest McDonald’s with 28 cash registers and enough seating for 700 people...

(this is the opening of the first Parisian location - but gives the same idea)

Russians were unaccustomed to eating finger food/sandwiches.  Some ate their Big Mak with a spoon while others pulled it apart and ate it layer by layer. 

Today - there are McDonald's all over town with "walk up" windows rather than drive throughs.  There is always a line...

                   *Some of this content came from a post by Michael Anderson.