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.
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...
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.
...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...
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...
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