Restaurants, used clothing, cathedral and flowers

Who loves flowers? There is a cute flower shop on every street corner here. They aren't cheap, but they are beautiful! I have yet to go into a shop here, but I see people holding gorgeous bouquets all the time. Never give an even number of flowers here unless it is for a funeral!

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to go out with Helen, Nathalie and Katherine. Our mission: go to a used clothing store called "Second Friend Store". (www.secondfriendstore.ru Кутузовский проспект, 12, стр. 1м. Киевская). It's a store where rich Russians take their clothes that sometimes have never been worn or worn only once. Brand names like Prada, Jimmy Choo, Marc Jacobs, Armani, Victoria Beckham, etc.

I tried on one Victoria Beckham dress that was awesome, but didn't work for me. All four of us tried it on actually, no luck. There were also some gorgeous leather purses, but they were too expensive for me. You will find some really, really weird stuff and some really great stuff, especially dresses. Sadly, nothing fit me, so I left empty handed. It's not far from Prology and Euro Mall, but it's in a really strange location through a guard point in a run down warehouse-type building. You're not allowed to walk the 50 metres from the guard point to the store...cars only! Natalie and Helen tried hard to convince the guard to let us walk through, but he would have none of it and said he'd be fined if he let us walk in. Nothing would keep us from our shopping though....there just happened to be a taxi sitting there in the parking lot outside the guard house, sooooooo, we all hopped in and drove the 50 metres!! That was good for a laugh, even the taxi driver thought it was hilarious! It was definitely an interesting place. Sorry, no pictures, I forgot to bring my phone!

After shopping we stopped at Tribeca for something to eat. Hey! Trying on all those clothes was hard work! Lol It started off a little rough. Helen asked for some wine, they didn't have any, she asks for another one and they don't have that either, she asks for the Asian burger.....you guessed it, that wasn't available. Despite that start, we all enjoyed our food. I had the Tribeca burger and it was delicious! Thanks ladies, for a great evening!

Tribeca Restaurant patio

Speaking of great food, last night Craig and I ate on the patio at Vаниль (Vanill) restaurant with Christ the Saviour Cathedral as our backdrop. Best of all, it's a 5 minute walk from our place. Expensive, yes, but tasty. We especially loved the calamari and a very fresh tomato and red onion salad! An interesting thing happened...this large, black, SUV pulls into the very busy intersection and blocks traffic. Out steps a man surrounded by 5 body guards (complete with earpieces) and they join us (well, at another table) on the patio for dinner. The body guards stood watch while he ate. Craig couldn't resist asking the waiter who that man was and the reply was "business man"! Lol We really need to stop eating out though or I won't be able to fit in my clothes!

Hmmm..."shashlik" (shish kebab)

Note the man standing there... keeping watch.

Speaking of the Cathedral, on Wednesday, I joined Alice and her Aunt Estelle again for a tour of Christ the Saviour Cathedral - It is stunning! We didn't pay for the right to take pictures inside, but now I wish I had! It has quite the history and it is the tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world. The original cathedral was unveiled in 1860, but was destroyed by Stalin in 1931 to erect an enormous palace that never was built due to many issues, one of which being the foundation wasn't suitable for such an enormous structure. So they built the worlds largest open-air swimming pool (Moskva pool), but it caused humidity issues with ancient buildings, like the Kremlin nearby. Eventually the current cathedral was erected (in the 1990's - completed by 2000). In 2012 "Pussy Riot" were arrested and jailed for staging an uninvited performance in the cathedral...

Every day is an adventure!

I celebrated my birthday in Russia this year and my adorable husband bought me 11 roses (not 12 because an even number of flowers is for funerals only), wrote a beautiful card and then we went out for dinner at Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant. It was good food. Not fantastic, but good. The pizzas looked really good! After dinner we walked back home in a park adjacent to the Kremlin walls. An amazing day... well, that was the day before my birthday because the day of my birthday we went to the Hungarian Embassy for a function.

Off to the Hungarian Embassy

Every day really is an adventure here! We woke up Saturday morning and decided to go to the auction held by the U.S. Embassy. It was quite far from our apartment, but we figured it would be interesting getting there if nothing else. I don't even remember the routing by Metro, but it was WAY out of town at the last stop on one of the lines. That only took about 30 min. and then we had to find a local bus, got on going the wrong direction, but thanks to Yandex Maps, we realized it when the arrow was pointing the wrong way and hopped off the bus, crossed the road and got on going in the right direction! We arrived at our stop, but it was a warehouse district and we didn't really know which direction to take...we knew it wasn't far, but things weren't well marked. So, my wonderful husband asked for help and they managed to steer us the right way. We found the auction spot, registered, got a number and then quickly found out that this auction wasn't for us. They were selling some great stuff if you need washing machines, fridges, bedroom and dining room sets. If they were selling it by individual pieces, perhaps we could have had some fun, but they were selling it by the sea container! You know, those huge metal boxes you see at sea ports? So we would be bidding on the whole lot - a sea container filled with furniture. But hey, it was an adventure! lol

Washing machine or fridge anyone?

First time using "the hole" style bathroom

Here's a few random shots of our life here....

View of the Kremlin from a pedestrian bridge really close to our apartment

The adorably cute blue building across the street from us

Our little street...



So people in this new diplomatic world of ours travel... a LOT! We've caught the fever and have already booked TWO trips! So excited! More on those later. We hear all kinds of interesting travel stories from the people we've met, but the best one so far is a story about getting a Kalari massage in India! It's not as lovely as it sounds! First, it's a man getting a massage by another man, then the masseuse asks "John" to take off his clothes and put this diaper-like underwear on - while he stands there and waits for John to do so....."John" reluctantly does so. He is then asked to lay on the floor and not long after is asked to take said diaper off (why bother putting it on???). "John" does so reluctantly. So picture a naked man on the floor while another man hangs onto ropes attached to the ceiling and massages naked man with his feet. It's not sounding too bad, but then it gets nasty! Masseuse massages "John's" butt crack with his toes! But wait... it gets even better! Masseuse asks "John" to turn over! I'm laughing at this point while the story is being told to us. So, naked man, laying on his back, full frontal and the massage continues. Feet are using sort of an "X" pattern for the massage, which means, something gets in the way every time his feet hit the centre of the "X"! You probably guessed it... feet flick said obstacle to the other side each time he comes to the "X" junction! I don't think "John" will be getting another Kalari massage... well, at least not by another man! lol That's awesome! The world is an interesting place!

On Monday I joined Alice, her Aunt and an American lady on the Great Kremlin Palace tour. Organized through Patriarshy Dom Tours. Thank you Alice!
Built between 1837-1849. Formerly the tsar's Moscow residence (The Romanov family) and currently the official residence of the President of Russia - Vladimir Putin. Its five reception halls (Georgievsky, Vladimirsky, Aleksandrovsky, Andreyevsky, and Ekaterininsky) are named for orders of the Russian Empire: the Orders of St. George, Vladimir, Alexander, Andrew, and Catherine. Georgievsky Hall is used today for state and diplomatic receptions and official ceremonies. This palace is absolutely AMAZING! Unfortunately there are rooms we were unable to photograph, so those will have to live on in my memory only, but the rooms we were able to photograph as absolutely stunning. We weren't allowed to touch anything and to help preserve the magnificent, intricate, wood inlay floors, we walked on the carpet only. See http://www.caroun.com/Countries/Europe/Russia/Kremlin/17-Kremlin-GreatKremlinPalace.html for more info.

Say "Cheese" Alice and give me your best pose!

Absolutely stunning!

ok, so I didn't take this shot, obviously, but it's a great overview of the whole Kremlin area

A great week!

It's been a great week and a busy one too! We went to an awesome outdoor market with a couple in our building. They sell everything from fur hats, nesting dolls (matryoshka dolls), lacquer boxes, hand-painted bowls, antiques, etc. Definitely a place to bring anyone who comes to visit! (Hint hint)

I enjoyed two ladies functions this past week. One with AFASA (Attache spouses from all branches of the military from all countries represented here in Moscow) and then the smaller AFOSA (attaché spouses from Air Force branch only). The ladies are very welcoming and friendly. I'm going to enjoy getting to know them and building friendships from around the world.

We were at the impressive Polish Embassy for the Polish Constitution Day function. Anna, my friend, I was thinking of you! Hmmmm.....Polish sausages!

On Monday we enjoyed lunch and a stroll in Gorky park with our fellow language training friends, Alice and Rob. It was a great day with them! Thanks guys!

My awesome neighbour Helen took me to the  Euro Mall (loved it)  where we had lunch at a Uzbek restaurant  and then on to this meat market. A unique experience!

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Not sure how we got here!

So we went out to explore, took the metro and planned on walking back. We ran into so many road blocks that we ended up walking into this as we kept trying to head in the right direction. It looked like a memorial for those lost with all the signs with people's pictures on them. Next year, we will stay in, but it was interesting!

Then, we had to get over the river and the first bridge we were able to cross to get back towards home turned into a great route as it went directly into the back of Christ the Saviour Cathedral by our apartment! Whoohoo!

Victory Day long weekend

This weekend the Russians are celebrating Victory Day - 70 years since the WW II surrender of Germany. Yesterday we went to a memorial service in a park hosted by the French Embassy followed by a reception at the French Attache's residence. It was our first official function and it was wonderful to be a part of it. Although ... everything was in French and Russian so I only understood some of it. Between the French and Russian, Craig managed to understand most of it. My Russian is better than my French.... A point not missed by a French gentleman who said "You're from Canada and you don't speak French"?

Last night we went to Canada House at the embassy....where they celebrate TGIF. Craig is their newest bartender - and of course he loves it!  I tried some great Russian vodka (Beluga)! Afterwards we walked to an Italian restaurant where I had delicious ravioli with wild boar (540 Rubles = $13 or so).

Today we joined the masses for the Victory Day Parade. I'm not sure how many people were downtown but I imagine hundreds of thousands. The closet experience I've ever had is Canada Day
on Parliament Hill. I got up close and personal with a large Russian man! Luckily Craig was directly behind me when everyone started pushing forward. When the tanks drove by the whole ground shook....I didn't realize tanks could move so fast! Below are a few pictures. The second last one is the planes forming "70" in formation. We weren't at Red Square because it was closed to the public but Putin was there speaking and troops were marching. We could see that on a big screen. All very cool to be a part of. Wish I had a picture of the crowds, but we couldn't get up high enough to get a good photo.

I think I'll go back to bed and start this day over...

Today is starting out badly...friend in hospital here in Moscow, but it turns out to be nothing too serious, thank goodness!

So .... we ordered groceries online a few days ago through this Russian company and delivery was expected today between 8-10 am. When I was eating my breakfast I realized there was a missed call from 7:10 am on my cell and then it rang again at 7:20. I answered, but my language training went out the window when the person on the other end was speaking at what seemed like warp speed! Lol

I figured it was our delivery guy early, but I couldn't understand much other than "order" and him asking me what apartment we were in. I went to our intercom system, but I couldn't see him on the video. This is where things went from bad to worse and in a panic over the language barrier I buzzed my neighbour who speaks fluent Russian....not remembering it was only 7:20 am! I had been awake already for 3 hours, so I didn't clue in. My poor neighbour....she's going to want to move! I SHOULD have just gone downstairs and he should have just buzzed the intercom instead of calling my cell. 

Lesson learned! Credit card wouldn't work, paid cash and because I was in a state I don't think I even paid him enough. I'll make it up to him next time. Once he left I tried the tv for the first time and was glad when I turned it on and there was an English Channel clear as a bell. My mistake was changing the channel....now I can't get anything but fuzz. I try calling Craig for the first time at work and that number didn't work. So....I've decided to go back to bed and start this day over! 😉

Hello from Moscow!

We have arrived and are settling in very well here in Moscow! So far our Russian language skills have come in handy at restaurants, the metro, grocery store and the market at Gorky Park where we purchased some artwork (below)!

Our apartment is great and so are our neighbours (including Henry, the 165 lb. Newfoundlander). The area we live in has many restaurants, banks, hair salons/ spas, small grocery stores and churches. We have two churches (cathedrals) very close to us and I love hearing the bells! We can see the man manually ringing them from our
bedroom window.

We learned through our neighbour that a haircut at the fancy salon at the end of our street costs $500! Yikes! Guess I'm growing my hair out! Lol That's what it costs in some salons, but not all. I have lots of people here to help me find all those services.

I walked to the Kremlin/ Red Square and St. Basil's Cathedral from our apartment! It's amazing really! We still can't believe it.

That's all for now....






Sent from Kerry's iPad AirHello from Moscow!