Deck the halls!

We were forewarned....Moscow can be a land of inconvenience for American Ex-pats.  We moved into our new apartment on Saturday and thought we were thinking 10 steps ahead by having the Internet guys meet us first thing.  They did get our Internet up and running...but the minute they walked out the door...not so much.  I found myself scrambling to the window shouting down the street “Wait!!!”.  That apparently doesn’t translate so well in Russian...they were gone.  We now have Internet access for about 32 seconds then it conks out for an average of 47 minutes.  When the Internet is your life line to the outside world - you want the thing to work!  They will be back in the morning...

It brings me great joy, along with glad tidings, to tell you Christmas tress are available in Moscow!!!  Steve and I bought our mini live tree yesterday at OBI, Moscow’s version of Home Depot, (complete with orange decor).  We just had our traditional tree trimming party (it took all of 8 minutes).  The lights are a touch on the florescent side - but we were thrilled to even find lights!  We also found the cutest ornaments at IKEA made out of straw... 

Moscow is beautiful at Christmas time.  Lots of decorations and lights strung across most streets.  Christmas decorations are in the stores along with English speaking Christmas carols....it’s kind of amazing to hear Jingle Bells in a store while surrounded by Russian speakers who have no idea what “Jingle Bells” means. I love it as it makes me feel like home.  I’m attending a “See Russia” event tomorrow put on by the American Women’s Organization.  The topic is Russian Christmas traditions - can’t wait!

All things fur!

No room for PETA in Moscow.  This place is climbing with fur.  The people watching is fantastic!  What you most likely imagine Russians wearing walking along the busy streets is exactly what they are wearing.  It’s a fashion show of fur...men, women and children.  

The full length fur coats are mostly worn by older women who absolutely have the matching fur hat.  Many women wear the mid thigh fur - in every color combo you can imagine.  Then you have the huge wild fur bomber hats....worn by the category of people who feel the crazier it looks, the warmer you feel.  

Many of the older men are wearing the typical Russian fur hats....as are the police.  Everyone is wearing fur lined boots and their fur-lined puffy coat hoods are in the “up” position at all times.  We’re all running around completely bundled Eskimo-style, with just a little face showing... it’s actually quite charming...until you remember it’s negative 100 degrees outside.  

I’ve seen a handful of men wearing this:

I think Steve would look great in one of these...don’t you?  Perhaps a little something for him under the tree Christmas morning...

I had a few extra hours to kill before our landlord stopped by for a sign off on the apartment.  I thought I would take in a walk around our new neighborhood - get to know the area, the people, make friends.  Ten minutes into the walk I realized under no circumstances should I ever, EVER leave the house without long johns.  I should probably wear them at all times during waking hours, sleeping hours and possibly in the shower.  My jeans felt like a wind sieve and my legs became sticks of ice.  I also remembered I had on thin socks and a pair of dressier boots that had no business walking the streets of Moscow.  I cut the walk short and bolted back to the apartment.  Mother Nature can get ‘r done in Moscow...

Observations...

Today, a potpourri of observations...

Steve was given our apartment key on his last trip to Moscow several weeks ago.  While finishing our moving prep in Atlanta I asked him if we needed to make a couple of copies.  He said....”well....I don’t think we can...”  Here’s why: This is our apartment key!  

Can you believe it?  I knew we were going back in time - but this looks a touch medieval. At least it doesn’t get lost in my purse.  I almost impaled myself with it when I went diving into the car to get out of the cold.  I like to think of it as the “key to our castle”.  Guess who’s the Princess?  (I also respond to Queen).  

On the nights Steve has been out of the country (three of the last four since we arrived....side note, he’s currently in Baku, Azerbaijan), I have taken in as much Russian fare for dinner as possible.  This is what I order most nights:  

Russian Borscht!  This really needs no explanation since, per the name of the blog, I’m still trying to find out who moved mine.  Simply stated, I LOVE BORSCHT!  Russian beet soup with a dollop of sour cream - complete heaven.  I plan to have it every day.

Salmon caviar and Bellini pancakes!   Another completely melt in your mouth delicacy as far as I’m concerned.  By the way, Steve will have none of the afore mentioned, (I’m sure many of you are saying “smart man”).  I give my amazing mother complete credit for my love of caviar and Bellinis!  She is known for passing this hors d’oeuvre on special occasions and I believe the tradition started with her amazing mother.  The tradition lives on...

The traffic.  Holy smokes.  It took me 1 hour to drive 2 miles from the apartment to our hotel this evening.  Now, I will say, this is a bit unusual as the other nights have not been this bad.   But when it is bad, it is really really baaaad.  It makes D.C. and Atlanta traffic look like childs play.  I just took this photo from our hotel window...

Some big performance must be going on in the center of Moscow tonight - unbelievable.  In the middle of the photo you can see the Moscow River - it froze over last night and is covered with snow.  Quite Christmasy, really.  It’s currently -5 degrees, but only feels like -20, thank goodness!

Grocery Shopping Moscow Style...

Ventured into our grocery store today - the fact that it is in our apartment building is a huge bonus as it is minus all rational temperatures outside at the moment.

Here’s what I found...Eva Longoria (U.S. actress) greeted me as I walked in.  She was standing as a life-sized cut out and did not look at all Russian.  She’s apparently a spokesperson for a hair color line....purple seemed to be sold out. 

Skittles - they must have 30 different varieties of Skittles combinations (tropical, sour, passion fruit, arctic blast...).  This nation is crazy about the rainbow of bite sized candy - who knew? 

  

Other brands I recognized - Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, Garnier for hair, several US toothpaste brands, Nivea.  Lots of flavors and sizes of baguettes, pastries, the chocolate aisle was endless.  Lots of salmon, chicken and many items hard to make out but appear to be in the pate family.  Frozen food was somewhat limited but pre-made perogies and puff pastry seem to be a hit. Yogurt went on and on - drinkable, thick, custard style, etc.  I was thrilled many products had a picture of what was inside or was in a see-through bag, like pasta.  Otherwise, we’ll be hoping to win the lottery each time...although that could get fun.  Perhaps we’ll buy a surprise item each week just to roll the bones!  The other challenge - even if we know what’s inside, we can’t read the preparation directions.   But who needs those any way?  Cooking directions are overrated...

Found this under our kitchen sink...any idea what this is for?  My guess - to keep the pipes unclogged...but who knew our pipes were coated with candy-colored sprinkles? How fantastic!

The Arrival...

On terra firma in Moscow!  But I seem to be missing something....ah yes...my husband!  I arrived...Steve did not.  

Here’s the scenario:  We’re at the Atlanta airport on Saturday checking in with Delta and I just happened to open our freshly delivered visas/passports (they arrived first thing Saturday morning for our afternoon flight).  While I was comparing our approved entry and exit dates, (side note:  Russia is very specific about which day you can enter and exit the country, wrong date = no entry), I notice my entry date was 11/28, Steve’s was 11/29.  There was no way he was going to get into the country yesterday.

So...Steve flew to Kiev, Ukraine, (he was going to fly there this morning for a meeting any way) and I went solo to Moscow.  I hope to meet up with him around 2 a.m. when he arrives at the hotel.  What would travel be without a little drama?

I flew with a total of 6 huge bags!!! Delta cast pity on us and allowed me to take a few of Steve’s due to our drama.  I must have looked ridiculous at baggage claim as I somehow, single-handedly, hoisted all 6 bags on top of each other on a baggage  cart “leaning tower of Pisa style”.  A Russian porter did offer to help...for $40 US dollars!  I thought he said $14 and when I confirmed, I dug deep and found my inner Helga and hoisted those puppies one on top of another.  I knew there was no other choice as I needed to get through customs and security.  Unbelievable.

I stopped by the apartment which is truly fantastic.  This is the photo I took of the Kremlin this morning from our living room window...

and while it was a beautiful sunshiney day, this is the photo I took outside our kitchen window...and yes, that is snow on the ground, (whimper)...

I also just noticed my computer has turned Russian.  My Google headings and side bar items  are now all in Russian.  Well, thank goodness I know Russian...oh wait...

And so the adventure begins...

Today is the day!  Steve and I depart Atlanta at 4 p.m. to take the 11 hour non-stop flight to Moscow to arrive at 11 a.m. Moscow time.  That is, if his visa arrives today by noon, (but that’s another story for another time). To say the least, we are very excited for what lies ahead.

During the last few months of packing and preparing, I’ve thought about the things I will miss most about Atlanta. So as we bid farewell, here is the “Top 10” (and thanks to Paul Kindzia for the idea):

# 10  The Atlanta Triathlon Community...While some believe the triathlon community in Atlanta is relatively small, the triathlon community in Moscow will include a party of two.  Me and Steve.  At least I know I’ll make the podium at every race! Small numbers do have their privileges.

#9  Warm Winters...Moscow forecast this week:  High of 4 degrees, low of -1 and snow.  ‘Nuf said.

#8  Our Fave “go to” Restaurants...Holeman and Finch (which we erroneously called Abercrombie and Fitch for months), Pietra di Cucina, 4th and Swift, La Tavola, Baronda, One MidTown Kitchen.  I sometimes dream about the Steak Frites at One MidTown.  Looking forward to hopping on over to Paris for the real deal.

#7 Jalapeno Cheddar Grits and Fried Pickles...but if you think about it, Russian beet soup and potato perogies are really the same thing...am I wrong?

#6 Putting up the Christmas Tree...every year, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we have installed the Riddle family Christmas tree.  Will be curious to see if Christmas trees can be found in Moscow...

#5  Our Beloved Atlanta Falcons...we have enjoyed sharing season tickets with our good friends, Jim and Theresa Scandle, for the last 4 years.  Our birds currently have the best record in the NFC at 8-2.  This is truly our year to “rise up”.

#4 Our Brand Spanking New Wine Cellar....we put the last rack in the cellar the day we learned we were moving to Moscow.  The Scandles have been incredibly gracious to store our wine collection while we are away...looking after our bottles, making sure they age gracefully.  Wait a minute, what did we do with the wine inventory?  Ut oh...  The truth is, we hope our good friends will generously help themselves to the stash as they are helping us out tremendously!

#3  Buckhead Church...it is truly an amazing experience every Sunday!  Thank you to my dear friend, Jacquelin LaScala, for the introduction.

#2 Ian at our Starbucks, Stacey at our UPS Store and “Happy” at our Moe’s....without realizing it, these three guys deliver the most amazing experiences day in and day out.  “Happy”, who doesn’t speak much English, and appears to be 80+ years old, makes a mean beef burrito and always makes me feel like one hot mamacita!

And the #1  thing I will most miss...Our amazing friends and family!  We have, without a doubt, the most incredible group of fun-loving  family and friends you could ask for.  The outpouring of love and support for our big move east has been overwhelming.  What would we ever do without you?  Thank you, thank you.

So I will sign off for now and will start blogging in earnest when we reach the motherland.  

And so the adventure begins...

Moving Day!

Whew!  Yesterday was moving day, the first of 3 days.  The movers will be back on Monday and Tuesday....not because our house is ginormous but because shipping household goods overseas and/or storing them in a warehouse for years on end takes special packaging.  Who knew?  Shrink wrapping, thermal paper, special coddling and gentle handling - bring it on!   We want our stuff to look even better when we see it again years from now.  (We are only taking about 5% of what we own - and practically no furniture, although the wine fridge made the list!).  I’ve had a tear in my eye saying farewell to favorite books, memorabilia, etc. knowing that our paths won’t cross for a long time.  But...many more new things to take in overseas.  We’ve been told IKEA will become our best friend.  Moscow, by the way, is so large, it is home to 3 IKEAs!

The movers arrived right on time. I was hoping they would arrive a bit late to allow for the last minute once over, but not a chance.  Not only did they arrive on the dot, they were a team of SIX!!!  Now, I have moved 17 times in my life (that is the Army Brat truth).  Never have I seen movers show up with SIX people.  If you’ve ever moved, you know the success of moving day depends on your ability to stay 10 steps ahead of the movers....and in our case, this is particularly important as we had to constantly point out, “this goes by air”, “this goes into storage”, “no, wait, let’s throw that out”, “do we need 30 training towels or 40”, (we seriously had this discussion - five would probably suffice).  We are, after all, moving into a small, two bedroom, cozy apartment in downtown Moscow a third the size of our Atlanta home.  


The movers moved through our house like a tsunami and were done in what felt like 20 minutes.  At the onset of the morning I asked them to leave the kitchen for last as we were still picking out which “pot” (not “pots”) and which pan (not “pans”) to take with us.  Ten minutes after this discussion I walked into the kitchen to realize the pots and pans were all packed....then the “unpacking” began...

                                                           Our "pot" and "pan" were in this mix early in the day