Day of Astana (Kazakhstan) in Moscow

Day of Astana (Kazakhstan)

in Moscow

We had the unique opportunity to attend a concert in the Kremlin for the Day of Astana. It was filled with traditional Kazakh musicians, dancers and singers...and then a few modern ones thrown in there. At first I thought it was going to be held in the Grand Kremlin Palace (which I was excited about and was happy Craig would get to see it), but alas it was in another "palace" within the Kremlin - The State Kremlin Palace - which is a huge concert hall.

We had pretty great seats in row 10 and I enjoyed the show. Maybe it was a little too long for me to sit in one place, but there was some good and interesting talent, for sure. My favorite were, what I call, the "throat singers"... I don't know how else to describe how he was "singing". They were very interesting. I'll try to post the video here.

This is the State Kremlin Palace building - it's been a very cool and rainy September here. I'm going to feel ready for Ireland next week!

The Spasskaya tower (built in 1491) from inside the Kremlin with St. Basil's in the background from Red Square. This tower once was the main entrance to the Kremlin. In the times of the Czars, anyone passing through the gates had to remove their headgear and dismount from their horses. This tradition was broken in the Soviet era. In 1999, the decision was made to close the gate to all traffic. The gate only opens to receive the Presidential motorcades or to receive the new years tree.

Inside the concert hall

Some of the beautiful Kazakh dancers

The traditional Kazakh musicians

I'm sorry Kazakhstan, but this singing was a little hard on the ears. They looked beautiful though!

These are my favorite guys in their fur with unique instruments and a very unique sound

More beautiful dancers

These two I called "Ken & Barbie" - the Russian announcers

The sexy fiddlers

These two were very popular with the audience - I guess the Kazakh pop stars??

Interesting "dress"!

This woman was also very popular with the crowd. When announced she was cheered for.

On our way home out the Kremlin through the Troitskaya Tower.

Craig took a picture of us by the Moscow sign with our building neighbours Brigitte, Jason and Eva.

One of our tickets for the show. In the main white box it says "Day of Astana in Moscow". The ticket cost of 580 p (just over $10 Canadian) was incredibly reasonable, especially for row 10! It is these types of activities that allow us to experience the world and I am truly grateful for it!

Moscow signs with flowers

Moscow loves flowers, arches and signs...here's a little peek from our stroll last night...

This was hilarious... Craig and I were waiting, I kid you not, 10 minutes, for these two ladies to get out of the way. They too were busy taking photos and then checking them, but they were oblivious to us wanting to get a photo - preferably without them in it! So, we just went ahead and took it anyway! lol This sign (the Russian word for Moscow) was erected only a few months ago in our little square about 2 minutes from our apartment. You might not be able to tell, but there are real flowers all around the letters. Most of the parks are decorated with flowers and signs most of the year - well, not flowers in the winter, but lots of cute signs.

After I took a photo of the two ladies, they finally realized we were waiting for them and they left so we could get this shot in between people walking by. It looks like a nice calm little park, but on either side is busy traffic with lots of people out and about.

without people...a small miracle

This is one of the flower arches they put up not long ago in the little park by our metro station. All the flowers are real and are even more gorgeous in person. They go all along the park which is situated between two roads in the middle of downtown Moscow.

Here you can see a bunch of the arches along the path. It's gotten cold here already... it was 21 on Monday, but this morning it is only 8 degrees!

 

Attache gala - September 10, 2016

Attache Gala

 

After 16 months here in Moscow we finally went to our first gala! I was really looking forward to getting all dressed up in my gown and getting my hair & make up done. My day started at 12:15 when I jumped in a taxi to go to the Expat Salon to get my hair done. She was awesome getting my short hair up like the picture I brought her. From there I jumped in another taxi to get to the Euro Mall where I would get my make up done (for everyone to watch) by this very young  dude who did not speak English AT all. It started off well with interesting contouring of the makeup and blush, but when he got to the eye shadow I was starting to get concerned. Since I'm not used to wearing make up it was a huge change for me and I didn't want to look like a trashy ole lady! When I left there I was feeling a little weird as I took the metro home (I figured it was easier than a taxi in the traffic) - so picture me with my hair and make up all done up and I'm in my jeans and a casual shirt - riding the metro.... it was pretty strange. I arrived home a little after 4 pm and we were being picked up at 5:50 pm. Craig was a pro at lacing up my corset dress and off we went!

My expectations were low in terms of how much fun it would be, but as it turned out, I had a fantastic time as you'll probably be able to tell from some of the pictures! I danced the night away - not with Craig, but with the ladies! Craig, in his mess kit was "too hot" to dance! I apologize, most of the pictures are of me because Craig was the one with the camera.

 

Pre-gala selfie

Some of the ladies: from Sweden, Japan and USA

Craig & his friend Jan

Some of the men (+ Craig of course) from Korea, Israel, Chile, Sweden & USA

LOVE her, she's so sweet!

Shawn (the new Canadian Col.) & Kelly

My dear Romanian friend Daniela

Our new Czech friends - they're awesome!

Our table with folks from Austria, Romania, Serbia...and of course us from Canada. Yes, we were at the back of the room...maybe they were trying to keep Craig out of trouble? If so, it didn't work!

 

Elisa & Tim - our US friends and Elisa is my ESL teacher buddy

The "Irish" band - it's in quotes because I was told they were an Irish band and so I was excited to hear some Irish music (since I'm going to Ireland soon), but alas, they did not play any Irish music. Just the lead singer was originally from Northern Ireland, but the rest of the band was Russian and they preferred old-school tunes including a couple from Bryan Adams. I met the singer in the hallway during dinner and chatted with him (because I'm going to Ireland) and he said "I'm going to dedicate a special song for you and you're going to help me lead a dance".... Yikes! You'll see what happened...

They lined all the ladies up on one side of the dance floor and he dragged me up front with him. Everyone was to grab a partner and he was mine! At this point I was still a wee bit frightened! lol

Ok, getting the hang of this now....he was great at getting the crowd involved.

Then I got into it!

Then he got the guys into it and man did they get INTO it!

That's me just free-styling it with my Serbian friend

The mischievous pair - Craig & Rob, the Sergeant. At some point in the evening they stole Daniela's phone and took some pictures!

I love this one of my hubby - it captures his true spirit! Love the expression. xo I think a great time was had by all as the dance floor was full all night and people were really letting loose.

Tallinn, Estonia September 2-4, 2016

"Tere" (hello) from Tallinn, Estonia 

Population: 441,961 (City - 2016)

Founded in 1248
It is the capital and the largest city in Estonia.
As you can see, it's not far from Helsinki or St. Petersburg
One of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site

Tallin's Old Town

 With only one backpack between the two of us we were off to Tallin for the weekend for an early anniversary/ birthday celebration! Yes, you read that right, I managed to fit everything into one small pouch in a backpack! See, I'm not high maintenance!

At 10:45 am, after just a short 1 hour and 25 minute flight we arrived in Tallin! The airport is really close to the city - maybe 10 minutes - and the taxi cost 10 euros! That right there should have been an indication of how expensive this city was going to be. We stayed at the Hotell Palace (that's how it's spelled) just a two-minute walk away from Old Town and it was perfect! The hotel staff were very courteous, friendly and helpful, the location was great, the free breakfast was good (Craig especially enjoyed pounds and pounds of smoked salmon), it was a modern hotel and our room was fantastic! Actually, we ended up in a suite that had a full living room with tv and then the bedroom with another tv and in between was a huge bathroom with a large tub/shower and then a separate shower.

Our living room

Two showers!

The bedroom portion

Nice bathroom!

Since we arrived so early we actually weren't able to get into our room, so we dropped off our bags and went exploring. Craig navigated us through Old Town to find St. Olaf/Olav church tower. Of course we took some pictures along the way.

I don't think he knew my head was in the picture!

Part of the fortress walls

The city definitely has that "old" feel - but in a good way old.

Russian Orthodox church (Alexander Nevsky Cathedral) - we didn't realize there would be so much Russian spoken here, but it was quite prevalent. We did go in, but it is just like the Russian Cathedrals here in Moscow, so we didn't take any pictures.

Another church along the way...

View from a look out point that we accidentally found while searching for St. Olaf's

The old medieval walls

Another lovely view along the way

St. Olaf/Olfav Church (picture from internet) - it doesn't appear that there is a place for people to be up in the church tower, but where you see the three smaller green steeples (the front one is a bit camouflaged in the roof) is the roof and on this roof they put some boards down to walk on and then a fence and then they allow people to climb up the 258 steps (for 2 euros each) to get a nice view of old town. Bare with me, there are a lot of photos from the tower, but I love towers!

They must have been really small in the 1200's - there's a LOT of  tiny doorways in Old Town. This one was the doorway leading to the stone staircase.

The incredible stone staircase - only one way up and one way down which makes it a little tricky when you come upon other people, but that's all part of the fun!

Not for a claustrophobic person, that's for sure!

Craig pretending to be exhausted from climbing the stairs. In this narrow hallway they did have 4 pull-down seats just in case you did need a little break.

A view of beautiful Old Town from the tower

What a cool city!

The small fence keeping us from falling to our death. It is as narrow as it looks - not much wider than my body

The cruise ship in town

Cool shot love!

There's a pretty good shot at just how narrow this little walkway is up on the roof. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the walkway itself

Another great shot of the Old Town - Craig rocks as a photographer!

The only shot we have of the two of us on this trip - it only took one try at this selfie

The steepness of the roof pitch while standing on the roof

 

This is the final staircase to get you to the roof - it's VERY steep.

After the tower we stopped for lunch at Olde Hansa medieval restaurant. The menu and experience is quite unique. Maybe a little kitchy (spelling?), but still worthwhile.

http://www.oldehansa.ee/en/menu/

I had the salmon and Craig had a meat stew.

Nuts! Get your sweet nuts here! We never did buy any of these - we should have!

The restaurant patio on this beautiful day

Even the washroom was unique

The inside decor was very rustic and dark - likely similar to what it was like in medieval times

Craig enjoying - well, I don't know how he could be "enjoying" - his cinnamon beer. In the background to the left is the Polish Embassy

I had to try it...once

Craig's soup with some good bread and enough butter to make even my Dad happy!

My salmon with mushroom sauce meal included barley, lentils and that weird looking thing on the top left is a "bean sack".

Getting a wee bit artistic with the photo

Entrance to St. Catherine's Passage

 

St. Catherine's Passage (Katariina Käik in Estonian - they like lots of extra letters in this language - our waitress said it is because they pronounce every letter) - a neat little medieval passageway with these tombstones, cafes and shops

Little wee doorway in St. Catherine's Passage

We loved the cellar shops - those are steep stairs and thick walls!

More of St. Catherine's Passage

Church by our hotel - can't remember the name of it

The #1 rated Tripadvisor restaurant in Tallin - Rataskaevu 16. It was as excellent as everyone writes and for me, the highlight was the pumpkin seed bread!

My elk meal with beets and celery root puree. I also tried the local gin with rosemary - quite nice, but I still love Hendricks best

Craig's excellent duck leg in a cherry sauce with barley (they serve a lot of barley in Tallinn)

As we were walking away from our great meal Craig spotted this guy in shorts and sandals (it was nice, but not THAT nice) and a Tragically Hip t-shirt, so he just had to stop them and say "You must be Canadian". Turns out they, David & Nathalie, were a Canadian military couple currently living in Ottawa. We talked for a bit on the street and then headed to Frank's for a drink together.

Tallin Town Hall in Town Hall Square

buildings in Town Hall Square

Craig in Town Hall Square

They have a lot of beautiful doorways in Tallinn

See.... beautiful doorways

The Raeapteek - one of the oldest continuously running pharmacies in Europe - since the early 15th century 

Since we didn't go inside, here's a photo from the internet of the inside of the pharmacy

The cute, narrow, cobblestone streets of Tallin

The wool market along Old Town wall. Not here, but I did buy a nice wool shall in Tallin

My new Estonian wool shawl - I neglected to get a picture of me in it at the market we bought it in darnit

Next to the knit market you can go up and walk the medieval walls (200 meters long) and go in the tower so I decided to go up (for 3 euros) and this was a view looking down from the metal, spiral staircase to get up into the main part of the wall.

Staircase leading up into the

Loving the old staircase of course

Picture taken from up in the tower through the thick wall

Someone has a nice little oasis on their roof - well, except for all us tourists looking down at them from the tower wall

Another staircase shot

A shot from up on the wall down into the knit stalls area. Here you can only see the red awnings where the knit stalls are

While I was up there on the wall Craig popped out for a photo of him having a beer (waiting for me is hard work)

I like this shot of the wall and the street below

This is where I found him when I was done

A really old monastery we stumbled upon

More cute doorways

Inside the Olde Hansa restaurant shop - the waitstaff wore these shoes, but everything is very expensive in there

Our last night we at at Farm Restaurant - rated #8 on TripAdvisor. Unfortunately this was the scene as you enter the restaurant. While quite comical it's sad to see also

Inside Farm Restaurant

Craig's red deer meal - again with barley

My meal - lamb - both meals were tasty. It came with their homemade rye bread, but it was nowhere near as tasty as the bread from Rataskaevu 16, but it was a lovely atmosphere (more elegant to Rataskaevu's laid back atmosphere) and I again had a gin & tonic, but I should have asked them not to put cucumber in it - they did that for 2 out of 3 gin and tonics I had around town.

Me being silly in Freedom Square across from our hotel

It was a short trip, but that's really all that is needed to have a lovely long weekend in Tallinn. Very relaxing with great food and lots of places to just have a drink and people watch.