From Eating to Exploration

Anyone who knows me knows that food is a very important part of my life, so finding good places to eat near work has been something of a priority. The embassy cafeteria contractor left shortly after we arrived, so I've had to find other options.  Thanks to some good tips from coworkers, I've got a few good resources from which to choose.  One is a little hole-in-the-wall place outside of a nearby church.  It's pretty cramped and there aren't many choices on a given day, but the menu changes daily, the prices are good and the food consists of authentic local cuisine. I often don't even know what I'm ordering until it's set down on the table in front of me - and sometimes I'm still not sure after I've eaten it.  To top it off, there is a very disinterested girl who works as the cashier and takes orders, and I make her tell me what kind of pastries they have so I can bring something home to Stephanie.  No pictures of that location so far as it's too small to be discreet.

Another favorite is an unexpected combination of a cafeteria-style eatery in an upscale setting.  It's located in one of the "Seven Sisters" buildings near the embassy. There are seven of these architecturally similar structures around the city. One close by houses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and another hosts the Hotel Radisson Ukraina near where we live.

The interior is no less grand with marble-faced walls and pillars, chandeliers, and molded plaster ceilings.  

Luckily, the prices reflect the quality of the food more than the decoration.  There are more choices here, but  once again it's very authentic local cuisine. They even have plov on hand most of the time, in case I get nostalgic for Central Asia.

The flip side of eating is, of course, exercise, and I've lucked out there as well.  I was able to join the gym at the embassy and go a couple of times a week. But our proximity to the river provides some excellent options for running.  Our northern latitude has meant much longer daylight hours as summer approaches.  It already starts getting light before 4am and doesn't get dark until after 11pm.  So when I get up to run around 6am, it's already full daylight.

I particularly like running up the river, where there is less traffic and I get to enjoy views of the little group of skyscrapers that have cropped up across the way.

In that direction, the path peters out fairly quickly, but in the other direction it's possible to run for miles...

One morning, I was pushing my limits a bit and noticed some golden domes peaking above the trees.  I learned that those are the churches of the Novodevichy Convent, which is within a fortress dating back to the early 16th century.  I marked it in my mind as a place to visit and last weekend we walked over for a tour of the grounds and a picnic. The point where we entered the park was probably the best as you get an impressive view of the fortress over the man-made pond there.

Going inside, was another issue.  Had I listened to Stephanie, it would have been a short walk around the pond, but stubborn as I am, I insisted on going my way and we ended up walking around the entire perimeter, much of which borders a busy road instead of a nice green park.  Anyway, lesson learned, and when we got there it was worth it. The inside of the walls feature several churches and beautiful architecture.

After spending some time sightseeing, we went back out the park for a nice picnic. We brought an assortment of treasures from the outdoor market including fresh string cheese, homemade sausage, various korean pickles (which we topped with an amazing sauce that the Korean lady sells), and a delicious cherry strudel, which was nothing like a strudel.  Oh, and we had some fresh strawberries, which led to a breakthrough for Aiden.  Up to now, he hasn't been into eating anything with texture.  Everything has to be pureed. But he took a great interest in the strawberries, actually climbing all over us to try to get them.  So we let him take a bite and what do you know?  He ate them!  And now he's added cut-up kiwi, pears, and scrambled eggs to his list. The fact that he has four more teeth coming in at once hasn't affected his demeanor, but I guess it's made it much easier to chew.  Even more exciting...Aiden took his first steps this week.  If anything, he seemed even more excited than Stephanie and I.  After he did it, he sat down and clapped his hands and laughed.

After our picnic, we strolled around the park a bit, coming across this family of ducks, before heading back down the river toward home.

Speaking of home, we're finally fully settled in, so I thought I'd share a few pictures of our apartment.  Below is the living room...

...which is combined with the dining room.

Then there is our nice sunny kitchen...

And our library/office...

Our bedroom...

And best of all, Aiden now has his very own room.  We were surprised to see how quickly he learned that it was his room. When he is playing in the living room, he'll frequently go down the hall to his room to play with other toys.

One of the best things about Moscow is that there are numerous parks in and around the city that are all accessible by metro. We took advantage of the long weekend and beautiful weather on Saturday and Sunday to get out and about.  On Saturday we took the metro out to Izmoilovo Park, which is the site of a former Tsarist retreat.  Apparently Peter the Great spent a portion of his childhood here.  We started off with a nice walk through the forest...

We eventually made our way to a section of the park which has been developed into an amusement area.  We decided to take Aiden on the teacup ride, but he didn't seem too impressed. 

From there, we made our way to the historic Izmailovo Kremlin (kremlin being the word for fortress), which is next to the souvenir market and now features restaurants and a vodka museum.  It is apparently a great example of medieval Russian architecture.

Also inside the walls is the Church of St. Nicholas, which is the tallest wooden church in Russia at 46 meters tall.

On Sunday, we went on a tour of The Kremlin organized by the Embassy. In this case, the Kremlin refers to the one in Moscow, similar to the way we use "The White House" to refer to the place where our president lives instead of just any white house.  In hindsight, we probably did not need a guide, but it was very informative and a nice way to be introduced to The Kremlin.

We started off in the Armory, which does feature some weapons, but mostly displays the treasures of the Russian empire. It was truly impressive.  From actual clothes, jewels, and thrones used by figures like Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, and Katherine the Great, to trophies of war, and diplomatic gifts from European countries, it really is amazing.  I particularly enjoyed hearing the stories that helped connect some of the sights we've seen with the people behind them.  For example, we learned that young Peter the Great actually shared the crown with his half brother at his coronation.  They built a special throne with two seats and made a replica of the crown which had been handed down from the Byzantine Empire because they had to be crowned at the exact same moment.  Their regent, Sophia, was Peter's half sister and when his half brother died, Peter imprisoned her at Novodevichy monastery and had her supporters killed so that he could consolidate his power. 

We spent almost half the tour inside the armory before heading out to tour the grounds, at least the part that is opened to the public.  We passed the Grand Palace (inside tours are rarely available)...

...and went on to the amazing Cathedral Square.  We got to go inside each of the three cathedrals, which give the square its name, although pictures were not allowed.

 Still, the frescoes over the doorways give a good sample of what's inside. It's amazing to think that all of these paintings are original.

Each cathedral dates back to the 15th century, when Russia was just shaking off the remnants of Mongol rule and becoming a unified country. There are also several smaller churches around the square, but apparently, more than 15 ancient churches and monasteries were destroyed after the communist revolution.  Our guide said no one is sure why these churches were spared, but most people think it was based on the need to preserve diplomatic relations and avoid alienating other orthodox countries as these churches represent the center of the church. Whatever the reason, I'm grateful they're still here.

The cannon below was apparently used to shoot shrapnel.  Our guide said this is likely because the bore is not correct for shooting cannon balls and it's unlikely that anyone would have wasted the effort to make such a large cannon for only decorative purposes given the constant warfare that typified the time period when it was made.

As we left the Kremlin, it's even more impressive to consider that the red brick walls, all original, also date back to the 15th century and encompass an area of about 28 acres.

The tour lasted over 4 hours, and the only thing more amazing than the architecture and history is that Aiden made it through the whole thing.  He did sleep for about an hour, but was awake for the rest of the time.  Throughout he was cheerful and quiet.  One of the people in our group told us that we must be the best parents in the world.  It was nice to hear, but I think the credit goes to Aiden for being an amazing little boy.

Memorial Day itself has turned out to be mostly a wash, which is probably just as well since it gives us time to recuperate.  This morning we went to the market and I tried my hand at buying meat.  The cuts are different than what we have at home, but I think I understood what the guy told me about preparing them.  I certainly did not understand when I bought what I thought was osso bucco - it turned out to be big chunks of bone with mostly gristle and fat.  We'll see when we get around to cooking.

Here's the rest of the pictures for anyone interested...

Spring has Sprung in Moscow

Our time living on the embassy compound went by quickly, so before we actually moved into our apartment, our sponsors offered to show us around the neighborhood.  We figured out the walking route from the embassy to where we live and discovered that on the way we get to cross a bridge with great views along the Moscow river - 

- and of on of the Seven Sisters buildings that are dotted around Moscow.  This one is now the Radisson Ukraina, a very beautiful, upscale hotel. It was an easy and picturesque walk, which I get to enjoy everyday going to and from work.

Once we got a little feel for our neighborhood, our sponsors offered to take us to the Izmailovo Market, so we all hopped on the metro.  I say 'hopped', but it's more like schlepping since the metro isn't particularly stroller-friendly.  There are escalators for the main descent, but Stephanie and I do a fair amount of lifting up and down smaller stairways. People are also not generally very sympathetic to us and tend to shove past us and cut us off when we're trying to maneuver.  It isn't too bad for the two of us, but it means that Stephanie can't really travel on the metro by herself with Aiden.  Still, we're lucky to be close to a metro that's on the major ring line, so it's easy to connect to any other line in the city.  It's also a particularly beautiful stations. 

 Our destination was the Izmailovo Market, a huge souvenir emporium that looks like a Russian Disneyland.  It also features some good shashlik stands and a very interesting flee markets sporting all sorts of soviet-era antiques. This place, along with the nearby Izmailovo park, certainly warrants further exploration.

While there, we took a break from our browsing for shashlik and while we ate, Aiden attracted the attention of one of the babushka cleaning ladies working there.  She was so taken with him that she started dancing to try to entertain him. It's really something to see the effect that Aiden sometimes has on the sterotypically dour Russian population.  And while that stereotype certainly doesn't describe everyone we see, there are a number of people here working very hard to maintain that image.  We've seen some surprisingly sour looks even from young people in response to what we think of as Aiden's most charming smiles.

A few days later we got to move into our apartment. It was a very hectic day as we had to pack all of our stuff again and load it into a car and then unload and carry it up the tiny elevator (the three of us barely fit). I was a little annoyed that we didn't get more help with the move since we were already inconvenienced by the temporary stay, but at least the driver was very friendly and volunteered to help.

Not long after we got our suitcases in, the movers arrived with most of our stuff from Washington and Dushanbe. In Dushanbe, our house was huge, so there was plenty of room to put things out of the way until we could get to organizing them.  While our apartment is perfectly fine, it doesn't have nearly so much space so we were sort of buried under our own things at first...

But we got most of the house set up fairly quickly.  Our main issue was that we couldn't figure out where the hardware for Aiden's crib went, but we found it in our suitcase (because we brilliantly put it there so we wouldn't lose it) a few days later and got him set up.

At least we got things organized enough to celebrate Aiden's actual first birthday, and we even had some friends over to do it.  Aiden hasn't had the best experience with wheat so far, so he couldn't actually eat the cake, but he made good progress with the ice cream and the icing.

Our first weekend in our new digs, some friends who live nearby offered to take us to the outdoor market, which is a short walk a way.  It's similar to the bazaar in Dushanbe except that it's well organized, spotless, and has a much greater variety.  I only got to fire off one snapshot before I learned that photography isn't permitted.  We found some good deals on fresh cheese, nuts, and cinnamon, but the prices on fruit and vegetables were horrific.  We've had to deal with some pretty big sticker shock - even compared with NY - on food in general, but when we were there tomatoes cost 500 rubles per kilogram - or about 8 dollars a pound.  Luckily there is a grocery store in the mall near us and it has much more reasonable prices on produce.

We've enjoyed sampling Russian food around us, but couldn't resist checking out Russia's take on MacDonalds.  Some of my Russian teachers recall people waiting for hours in line when the first one opened  in the Soviet Union.  It seems that Micky D's remains popular as people were lined up 6 deep at all 7 registers when we went in at 4pm.  They even have people with wireless devices taking people's orders while they stand in line so that they're ready when they get to the counter.  Of course, true to the stereotype, you don't get a smile with your meal here (not that you get one in the U.S. either).

The food was actually surprisingly good.  I had a Beef-a-la-Rus, which is a burger with bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a tangy sauce on a brown bread bun.  I don't mean it was good for MacDonalds, it was actually good.  We also sampled the brie nuggets with cranberry sauce, which were also good - but when has fried cheese ever been bad?  Speaking of sampling Russian takes on American food - I tried some potato chips that claimed to be flavored with horseradish and head cheese.  I tasted the horseradish, but I've never eaten head cheese, so I don't know if it tasted like it.  We have also found new flavors of baby food for Aiden - like cauliflower and potato, and rabbit.  He's not been much for solid food in general, so it's hard to tell what he thinks about these exotic flavors.

There are two things we've noticed about the weather here. The first is that it is completely unpredictable.  The weather forecasts are almost never right even just a few hours ahead.  And it can go from bright sun to pouring rain, back to bright sun in the space of an hour.  It is ALWAYS necessary to have an umbrella with you if you are going to be out for more than an hour or so.  The second thing is that Spring happens very quickly.  When we arrived a month ago, there was snow on the ground.  Within two weeks, the trees were budding and flowers were everywhere.  Spring literally transforms the city.  We landed in a gray, dreary, and depressing place mostly filled with uninspired buildings.  The past two weeks have made this into a European capital, with green trees and colorful flowers.  It is really a in incredible transformation.

We took advantage of the arrival of Spring last weekend with a day trip to Victory Park, which was fitting since last Wednesday was Russia's victory day.  It's about a three mile walk, but only one subway stop away - and a rather impressive subway stop at that.

All over the city, preparations were underway to mark the great victory (that's what the sign below says), but Victory Park is entirely devoted to memorializing the Soviet Victory in WWII.

The park is huge, so we didn't see all of it, but we got to see some very nice attractions.  Our first stop was the church erected as a memorial of the war in the 1940's.

Given all of the beautiful decorations, I think we'll be spending a fair amount of time visiting the various orthodox churches in the city. Here, the priests were kind enough to let us take pictures, which I understand won't always be the case.

Another incredible sight is the huge victory monument, topped with winged victory flying above a representation of St. George slaying the dragon, which is bedecked with swastikas.  The column itself is decorated with scenes of war and the names of major cities involved in the conflict. I found it particularly interesting that there is a replica of the statue of St. George outside of the UN in New York, but the dragon has been replaced with an ICBM in that case.  Of course, the nazis were actually defeated, while ICBMs are still hanging around.

Continuing into the park, we encountered a very poignant holocaust memorial.  I was a bit surprised given Russia's historical treatment of Jewish people, but it was good to see the tragedy is recognized here. 

And on a brighter note, there were the flowers.  The city is full of tulips, and as the weather gets warmer, they have already passed their peak, but we certainly enjoyed them while they lasted.

The next day we took the metro out to Kolomensky Park with some friends of ours, which features a number of historical sites. The weather started out pretty crappy, but it was no less impressive for that. Below is the Church of the Ascension, which was built in the 16th century to celebrate the birth of an heir for the empire.  It turned out to be the birth of Ivan the Terrible, but I'm sure no one knew that when the church was built.

There was also a guy in a bell tower who really went to town when the time came for him to play. I mean, he went on for a good 15 minutes, and it was LOUD. But I guess when ringing bells is your job, you have to give it your all. 

Having escaped with only a little ringing in our ears, we moved deeper into the park and visited a cabin that was built for Peter the Great so that he could oversee the construction of a fortress on the river.  No pictures allowed inside, but the guy must have been very very short because I had to bend over almost double to get through the doors.

From there we made our way through some very extensive orchards to get to the main attraction...

The replica of the wooden Kolomenskoe Palace, which was originally built in the 17th century.  Apparently, Catherine II had it destroyed when the capital was moved to St. Petersburg, but it was reconstructed from a surviving scale model very recently.  I don't know about the replica, but the original was constructed without any nails.

This weekend, in celebration of Mother's Day, I wanted to take Stephanie to see a particularly beautiful church.  On the way there, we were walking through the park to get to the metro, when we had to stop because thus woman was trying to parallel park in a space too small for her car and she was making wild maneuvers to get it done.  When we finally slipped passed her, she had the nerve to yell at us "I'm parking here!".  I guess having to speak Russian 4 hours a day is paying off because I was quick to reply "Can't you see we're walking here?!" in kind.

That brings up another side point that Stephanie and I have talked about.  We feel that there is a pattern among drivers, where women are far more aggressive than men.  We notice when we are at a crosswalk, that women are much more likely to speed past, even when we have the stroller.  Men are much more likely to stop and wave us through. It's not 100%, but it's a clear trend.  We notice the same thing in stores and in the metro. Russian women are more likely to shove past us or cut us off, than men.  It's something we'll have to explore to see if our theory is correct. We'll also need to hypothesize as to why this is the case.  Stay tuned.

Anyway, we made it to the church and then realized we couldn't go in because we were both wearing shorts. Still, the church was beautiful and we had a nice time crossing the pedestrian bridge across the river and taking in the views of the Kremlin.

On the other side of the river, we got great views of the monument to Peter the Great.  An interesting story, it was originally designed as a monument to Columbus.  You can even see the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria at the bottom. However, the story has it that the artist was unsuccessful in finding a governor in the U.S. who wanted the statue in their state, so they cut off Columbus' head and attached Peter's instead.  I zoomed in pretty close, but can't see where the new head was attached, so they must have done a good job.

On our way from there to the metro station, we went through Fallen Monument Park (as it is known by expats - Arts Park in Russian), which I understand is where many old Soviet statues have been retired.  Judging by the cage of heads...

...and the many Lenin's...

I judge this to be the case.  Today the weather wasn't so nice, but we made the most of it.  I made Stephanie southern grits (which I made as close as I could to what we had in Savannah, including the bacon gravy), and savory eggs for Mother's Day breakfast.  Then for dinner, I made homemade blinis to go with red caviar and sour cream that I picked up at the grocery store.

Tomorrow it's back to work, which has turned out to be quite interesting.  Last week, with less than a month under my belt, I found myself in the position of acting chief of my section.  The interviews are stimulating to say the least, and every now and then I get some particularly interesting cases.  I'm enjoying the commute as well, at least while the weather is cool, although I did have a bit of a mishap on Friday.  I stopped at the store to get the caviar and bacon on my way home, but while I was standing in line, the guy next to me (who was trying to hold about a dozen beer bottles and looked to have drunk almost as many), dropped two beers on my feet. So now one of my next adventures will be finding a dry cleaner that I can afford - that and a barber.

Until then...

For those interested, here are additional pictures