Stuff plus trip to Minsk, Belarus

In June, we were invited to the residence of the Swedish Attaché - Jan and Liljana. It was a BBQ, so we were really looking forward to it since we are unable to BBQ here in our apartment. Craig absolutely pigged out on steak.... we haven't found tasty steaks in the grocery stores here, so he's asked our hosts where they purchased it. The BBQ was a Swedish Midsummer Party which included team games. It started off with a shot of vodka before the games began. Then we were all lined up in our teams - I was ready with the potatoe on my spoon and the spoon in my mouth and when the whistle blew, I took off like a rocket....and immediately pulled a muscle in my calf. I kept going and did the other games (darn competitive streak) and then sat down and had a few drinks. By the end of the night, I was limping out and unfortunately couldn't walk (or leave apartment) for three whole days! Not fun, but I'm back to 100%.

Speaking of steaks, we recently went out to Chicago Prime restaurant here in Moscow and I had one of THE best steaks ever! It was Angus beef (apparently they ship the cows from the US) and it was bacon-wrapped filet Mignon.... so yummy along with crab mashed potatoes with whole chunks of crab! Hmmmm....This was a going away diner for Dominic/Mary, Aaron/Tina. Their time in Moscow has, unfortunately, come to an end. We didn't have much time with them here, but it was wonderful meeting them and spending some time with them. Farewell to you guys and all the best back in Canada!

Dominic & Mary

Aaron & Tina

June 24th Craig and I attended the first AFOA lunch. It's like my AFOSA group, but this one is Air Force Attachés and their spouses and the attachés organize it. This particular one was organized by the Mexican Attaché and so it was held at the Mexican Club Restaurant. It was a fun time with great food and even a little dancing to a mariachi band! They started off with a traditional Mexican dancer in costume for us, which was wonderful!

This was Craig's first AFOA meeting, so they have a little fun thing they do.... all the new guys race to take off their current ties and put on their new matching AFOA ties (how cute). Craig was last of the three! Oh honey! 

Great mariachi band!

Daniella (from Romania) and I snuck in a pose behind the band... too bad it's a little blurry.

June 25th I went back to Kolomenskoe Park. The first time I went with Cynthia and we didn't feel like walking to the Great Wooden Palace 2.5 km's away. This time, I went with Liljana (from Sweden) and we felt up for a long walk so we managed to find the palace and paid to go inside and to take pictures (It's usually two separate fees - in churches, museums, castles, etc. One for entry fee and one fee if you want to take pictures...which of course, I do). We did a quick tour of the palace and then took a detour back (through the forest and a graveyard and down and up a big staircase from the big gully - we were a little lost, but managed to find our way out). We had "business lunch" at a little cafe nearby and then popped on the metro back home. It was a lovely day.

Great Wooden Kolomenskoe Palace

An intricately carved bed within the palace

Entrance to wooden palace - Liljana

A "Banya" within the palace - note the branches - their used to whip others, seriously!

June 26th - I went for a mani/pedi for the first time here with neighbours Helen and Shirly. It was Shirly's first time EVER! We enjoyed ourselves....the two services are done at the same time. Thank you ladies...it was fun!

Shirly's first time ever! What a good sport and neighbour!

Who doesn't love to be pampered???

Helen, the instigator - and also awesome neighbour!

June 29th I had my first haircut here. Thank you Helen for the recommendation! I had brought this little printed blurb (in Russian) just in case I wasn't able to communicate what I wanted, but as it turned out, between my Russian and a little hand gesturing, she did a great job and I will be happy to go back. Unlike the salon at the end of our street ($500/haircut), my haircut was only $50!

June 30th we left for Minsk, Belarus. Where's that you say????



Why you say???? Minsk is the capital of Belarus. It is a cultural city with many museums and theaters. It's a bit like Moscow with the Stalinist architecture, but it's got more of a laid back feel than Moscow. It's not so hectic. During the German-Soviet War, Minsk became a major centre against the invasion and was also one of the largest Nazi-run ghettos in WW2, temporarily housing over 100,000 Jews. It is bordered by Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. We went there because Craig, in his position as Deputy Canadian Military Attaché is accredited to Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Once a year he will visit each of these countries as a Canadian representative. Together, we enjoyed touring around and sampling the food.... see picture
and we were also fortunate to have been invited to a show/concert to commemorate their Independence Day celebrations. It started off with a 30 minute speech from the President of Belarus (Alexander Lukashenko) followed by lots of traditional and not so traditional singers and dancers, musicians and acrobats. Anna, I thought of you with these celebrations as I imagine some of the costumes and dancing styles would be similar to that in Poland.

Cathedral of Saint Virgin Mary - 1710

"The Pub" - that's quite the death stare by the other patron!

Bronze statue outside the Church of Saints Simon and Helena - or "Red Church" - opened 1910

My handsome soldier (and I) going to the concert/show at the Palace of the Republic

President of Belarus giving speech

The costumes were gorgeous!

How do they do that? He made it look so fun and easy!

A good look at some of the costumes

We stayed at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Minsk and it was a good location and they had a good breakfast. We treated ourselves to a massage at the hotel the night before we left and it was very similar to the massage I had in Argentina where they massage your stomach and all around your chest! She even was kinda in my butt crack! lol Luckily my massage was first, before Craig's!! lol  (for those of you who know Craig well, you will understand what I mean!). Do they not have king-sized beds in Europe? They had two single beds together in Minsk, but then the comforter was only a queen, so it didn't reach either side of the bed. They also seem to just have a comforter and no top sheet. Always interesting to see the differences in other countries! Next stop, Stockholm, Sweden and my friend Liljana and her husband will be in Stockholm when we are there so they are going to show us around a bit. What a great way to see the city - with locals!