You Never Can Tell

Another whirlwind week has come and gone. Between squaring up our budgets for the upcoming end of fiscal year, working with a specialist who visited to help my procurement section, and the usual hub-bub of keeping the embassy running, there's barely been time to breathe. Stephanie has been similarly swamped with work, so the 'ships passing in the night' idea probably applies here. I guess that's the price you pay for seeing the world.

And of course, it isn't ALL work and no play. On Thursday we took my colleague (we'll call him the 'other GSO', out to lunch for his birthday. Most of our staff came along and we had some really excellent grilled lamb.

The good thing is that time not only flies when you're having fun, it goes somewhere close to light-speed when you're working hard and now we're already enjoying another weekend. Last night, we went to a party where they miraculously had lobster tail, and some of the best pork chops and steaks I've had anywhere, much less here in Tajikistan.

To top it off, they had a local live band that played something other than local music. Actually, the band was fantastic and they played a mix of music that had everything from Elvis to Nirvana, including Hotel California. It was the perfect way to unwind after such a long week.

Today I made a trek to the big bazaar. We try to go once a month to get some things that they don't have at the smaller, more convenient markets and also to take advantage of the greater variety. I really had a field day too, bringing home buckets of black currents, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Plus I scored some very rare green beans and several varieties of pork sausage.

It's amazing what can become a 'great find' when it's in short supply. As to the berries, it's way more than we can possibly eat, but we'll freeze the majority for the winter. Our experience last year taught us that berries do better with freezing than most fruits.

Also at the bazaar, I saw something bizarre, (almost a pun)... One of these gypsy women came up when I was buying the berries to beg for money and as usual I ignored her, not wanting to encourage the behavior. Usually, vendors will just shoo them away from customers, but this time, the vendor's little boy came running and started hitting the lady with a small spoon. I was shocked, but so was his mother (the vendor). It was interesting to see parenting in action here. When the boy didn't listen, his father swooped in to carry him off. It was an interesting exchange on several levels - both to see a young child attack another adult with a spoon (which says something about the status of the gypsies I think), but also see the quickness of the parents' reaction given the status of the gypsies.

This evening, we're going to another cook-out at a friend's house. Next week we're planning our own little party - so the summer season continues to be plenty full.

On a not-so-good note, we were reminded about the down-side of 'anything can happen' when a drunk driver, speeding down a side street, failed to turn at an intersection and plowed across the ditch, through an iron fence, and ended up on the steps of the supermarket down the street for us. Unfortunately, one of our friends was going into the store at the time and was hit. He's being med-evac'd to London to get better care for his injuries, but should be ok.

I was on my way home from dinner with colleagues on Thursday evening and when my marshrutka got stuck in traffic near the supermarket. I decided to just walk from there and that's when I saw the damage from the accident. Everything had been cleared away, but I ran into one of our local employees and got filled in. The only bright side of this terrible incident was seeing how the embassy community rallied around our friends and was willing to provide support. It's nice to know that such a safety net is there.

Now, we're just hoping our friend is ok and that the driver isn't rich enough to buy his way out of trouble. Cynical, I know, but with good reason.

Wrapping it up in Riga

Our last stop on this whirlwind tour of Europe was Riga. Here's the quick link to pictures - story below:

Riga 2010 JPGS

Even though I had gotten a good preview on the way out, there was plenty to see with Stephanie. We got settled in at the hotel and were out and about by around 4pm, taking in the sites, like the wonderfully restored interior of the Russian orthodox church -

- the Swedish Gate (built by the Swedes to celebrate their conquest of the city) -

- and various other street scenes -

We found a little restaurant for dinner near the old city wall and had a great time trying new dishes like blood sausage.

We also sampled various local beverages like local beer, blueberry cider, and birch tree juice - which is not like birch beer, but is actually a sour, yet refreshing drink that comes straight from the tree. Our waiter told us they can produce 100 liters a day in spring when the juice is tapped.

After dinner we took a walk on the bridge to take in the views of the city over the river. It doesn't look it, but it was around 10pm when these pictures were taken.

Upon returning to the hotel, we took advantage of it being the tallest building in Riga and went up to the top floor for views of the city -

- and finished the evening by taking in the city as it lit up after sunset (this is around 11pm!)

On the last day of our trip, we decided to head a bit out of town to see the open-air ethnographic museum. We had trouble finding the place to catch the bus, so we decided to take a taxi.

As it turned out, the museum was more than a little out of town and it took all of our money to pay the cab driver. Then, there were no ATM's at the museum. Fortunately, we were able to buy our tickets with a credit card and we went on in, figuring we'd find a way back to town somehow.

The museum was not what it sound like. It's about 100 acres of forest where they have set up old wooden buildings from the 16th - 19th centuries as they might have looked back when they were in use. It was really neat to see these well preserved churches, homes, and windmills, among other buildings.

As part of the exhibit, they had some locals dressed in period costumes making local handicrafts. We found one lady who was making things to ward off evil.

We not only purchased one for a Christmas ornament, but she was willing to exchange dollars for the local currency so we finally had enough to take the bus back to the city.

We spent a good part of the afternoon touring the museum - Stephanie especially liked going into the houses, which were set up with period furniture.

The bus, seemingly like everything else in Europe, was not air-conditioned. So when we got back we quickly found some ice cream to help cool off. In our wanderings, we also saw three young men dressed as village women playing songs like "My Heart Will Go On" on the street corner.

Our last meal was at a restaurant that specializes in authentic medieval cuisine. It was down in a basement area that was used for town events dating back to the 13th century.

Not only was the food delicious, but the atmosphere was really cool (literally and figuratively, thankfully). And so we bid a fond farewell to Riga and arrived safe and sound in Dushanbe.

To see all the pictures:

Riga 2010 JPGS

Mad About Madrid

As you know, I'm tagging along with Stephanie on her business trip to Madrid. You can see all of the pictures here, or again at the bottom of the page.

Madrid 2010 JPGS

On our first day in Madrid, I pretty much spent the day resting from the previous day's travel marathon, although I did scout out some restaurants and picked up some local flavor from a nearby supermarket.

When Stephanie finished with work, we headed out to the Plaza de Espana -

- and walked over to the Temple of Debod, gifted to Spain by Egypt.

From there we took a trip on the teleferico for some good views of the city, the Palacio Real, and the neighboring Almudena Cathedral.

After that, our plans to eat by a lake in near Casa Del Campo were thwarted by the World Cup Celebrations, which made it nearly impossible to get there.

Still, it was an amazing sight to see the huge crowds of revelers. It was also extremely hot, so we headed back towards the hotel for dinner. I have to say, the Madrid metro system is quite impressive - timely and comprehensive - you can get anywhere and it's very easy to connect between the different lines.

On Tuesday after Stephanie left for work, I made my way down the tree-lined Paseo del Prado to see the Prado Museum.

The museum was great, unfortunately it was another no-photo zone, but I snuck a few in. Unfortunately, the paintings I liked most didn't come out, but I still got some good ones, like this pair of an extremely large brother and sister. I don't know why, but I found them intriguing.

After the museum, I went to see the Anton Martin market -

- and picked up some more goodies that we can't get in Tajikistan (good olives, good baked goods, figs) to bring back to Stephanie. By then it was getting pretty hot, so I stopped for some paella and headed back to the hotel for an afternoon siesta.

When Stephanie got back from work, we headed out to tour some more of the city, taking in the Puerta del Sol -

- Plaza Mayor -

- Plaza del Cordon, and the winding streets of the Austrias district.

From there it turned out to be a relatively short walk to the Cathedral Almudena de Real, which had an interesting mix of classic and modern decor.

The Palacio Real is right next door to the Cathedral, so we checked that out as well although it looks like we weren't be able to go inside because the royal family is visiting.

I know it sounds like a lot to accomplish after work, but it doesn't get dark here until after 10pm, so we had plenty of time.

After all that sightseeing we went looking for food and found a whole store full of Iberian hams, with the hooves still on them -

- after that we stopped at a nearby restaurant to try some of the ham along with a dish of eggs, homemade potato chips and refreshing sangria. It really hit the spot. After returning to the hotel to call it a night, we took in some fresh air and the night views of the city skyline from our balcony.

On Wednesday Stephanie planned to work at night to coordinate with her offices in the U.S. so we decided to take a day trip to Toledo - only 30 minutes away by high-speed train. Our adventure got out to a fun start when we got to the train station and learned that the tickets couldn't be purchased on a self-service machine. We had to take a number and wait in a cramped little waiting area.

When our number came up, the lady told us we had taken a ticket for the line for people who want to purchase a ticket for the following day. Who knew? So we got another ticket, which put us at the back of the line for people who wanted to purchase tickets for that day. As we watched the minutes drain away before our 9:20 departure, we got increasingly nervous. Finally, at 9:10, our number was called. We dashed up, I spoke in broken Spanish (all that I have left since learning Russian), and we got the tickets.

Fortunately, while waiting, I had scouted out the location of our track and we were able to make a dash for it. In the end we got on the train just fine. All settled in, we enjoyed a breakfast of figs, yellow plums, hard cheese, and some baked goods I picked up the day before. Soon enough, we arrived in Toledo.

Toledo is, in appearance, primarily a medieval city, but it actually dates back to Roman times and was of course occupied by the Moors for a good while and definitely shows the Arabic influence. We spent the rest of the day wandering the winding streets, taking in the sites like the Alcazar and the various churches.

The cathedral in particular was very beautiful, but was also one of those places where we couldn't take pictures.

I snuck a few, but couldn't help wondering why pictures are disrespectful when they have this extraordinarily hokey video blaring in front of the main altar on enormous TV screens. I'm still convinced that it's just a gimmick to get visitors to by post cards. We also stopped into a restored synagogue, which was more austere but still nice - especially the ceiling.

In our wanderings we picked up some delicious marzipan that was hand made by one of the convents - delicious and about half the price of the stuff in the tourists shops. Lunch was in a little out of the way place that wasn't remarkable except for the very good gazpacho. We worked off lunch by taking in the views -

- and walking down to the old city gates -

- and then caught the bus back to the train station -

- which was beautiful in it's own right.

When we got back to Madrid, we were started by an enormous baby's head near the train tracks. I guess we missed it in our rush in the morning, but I don't see how we could have. Creepy.

On our way out, we encountered a literal rain forest in the train station, complete with a turtle pond.

The afternoon was dedicated to a tour of the botanical gardens, with some amazing flowers, a bonzai exhibit, and a nice greenhouse section.

By then it was time for Stephanie to get to work, but a little later we took a break to get dinner. While strolling through our neighborhood, we were crossing the street and a woman with a rather husky, (to be truthful, he was almost perfectly round),boy was crossing toward us. The boy looked less than pleased to be there and suddenly, his mouth yawed open and his gum just fell out of his mouth and onto the street. It looked like he just gave up chewing.

Without thinking I said, "He sure doesn't look like he had trouble keeping food in his mouth." Which I know was mean, but we were laughing pretty good all the way to dinner. Our neighborhood isn't the best spot for eating in Madrid, and we were starting to despair of finding a good place to eat when we discovered a little tapas bar that turned out to be just the thing. We had a nice selection of tapas and some very good Sangria before returning to the room, where Steph had to get back to work and I just kicked back and relaxed. Tough life, I know.

Thursday was our last day and I didn't have a whole lot planned while Stephanie was at work, although I did make a dentist appointment for the early afternoon given the dubious quality of oral care in Tajikistan. With my free time in the morning, I wandered around a bit, taking in the sights, and then found a cider house I had read about and stopped to sample the different kinds, accompanied by some chorizo and an empanada. Well, by the time I had sampled all the ciders I was interested in (all of them), I was pretty well on my way.

When I got back to the hotel I decided to e-mail Stephanie a fun e-mail to brighten her day. The subject was something along the lines of "Come back soon, I'm rather drunk". I only found out later that at the time, Stephanie was giving a presentation and when my e-mail arrived, the notification came up and everyone in her training could read the subject. They thought it was hilarous. Stephanie was a bit embarrassed, but I think it was probably a nice way to lighten the mood ;-)

My trip to the dentist was quick and painless, with a thumbs up report, so I went back to the hotel to relax and wait for Stephanie to get back from work.

Thursday night was a special treat as we went to see a flamenco rendition of Carmen by the Flamenco Ballet of Madrid.

The show was outstanding and we followed it up with an outstanding meal of potatoes, eggs, and black pudding, fried chunks of iberian pork (a pork rind lover's dream), seafood paella, roast suckling pig (melt-in-your-mouth), and of course, sangria.

All that while sitting out on the Plaza Mayor as the sun set.

It bears mentioning that the sun didn't set until almost 10 pm. We though Italians were bad about eating late, but the Spanish take it to a whole new level. Many restaurants don't even open for dinner until 9pm! But, with the moon rising over the square -

- we made our way over to the Opera House, which faces the Palacio Real and took in the night scenery. I think it was the perfect way to end our trip to Madrid (and the walking was good since we both ate way too much!

By the time we got back to the hotel, we had about 4 hours of sleep before it was time to head to the airport for our flights to Riga. But that will come in a later post. For now, here's the rest of the pics from Madrid:

Madrid 2010 JPGS