2010 10 23 - Tourist Time

Cathedral of Christ the Savior (click to enlarge)

Billie Jo picked out some easy sight seeing for me since she knew I would be tired - I also wanted to try and get on Moscow time so checking out the town was a better option then a needed nap.

She took me to a bridge located adjacent to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. From the bridge you can see several landmarks including the Church - which is actually a recreation of the an historic church that was destroyed during in 1931 (a Stalin initiative) - The new Cathedral was finished in 2000 and is the tallest orthodox church in the world.

Other sights include the Kremlin, The Krasny Oktyabr Chocolate factory and a gigantic statue of Peter the Great (double the height of the statue of liberty).

Mercedes Benz also has an office in the area as their logo towers over one of the office buildings that casts a shadow on nearby Red Square.

The bridge itself crosses the Moscow River which flows through the city. The location is somewhat helpful in getting oriented in this new town, but I am still in a fog from the travel hangover.

Kafe

Cafe Lebedev near Arbat (click to enlarge)

We then walk a few blocks to one of Billie Jo's favorite Cafes. It is a small cafe in a popular Arts district of Moscow. During the walk I am able to identify several letters and even a few words on signs. There are several words that can be transliterated from Russian-English, Kafe, Kofe, Komputer, bank (since they have only had banks for 20 years, their word for bank is "bank"),
metro (pronounced MITRO), Taxi, Salad, Salon, Restarant, Menu and many many more.

We grab a drink and a small snack at the cafe. This is only a warm up for my dinner as Billie Jo was smart enough to prepare a delicious and comforting potato and vegetable soup for my first dinner in Moscow. She also has me try a syrniki, it is sort of a miniature cheese pancake - pretty sweet with sort of a cheesecake texture and taste.

I finish my dinner and head for bed - I make it till almost 10p - I have been up for roughly 30 straight hours. That is enough - my first night in Moscow I sleep well.

2010 10 23 - Apartment 66

In the previous entry you may have noticed that I specified that we "sort of" arrived at our apartment.

Truth is we were only at the building - As with any urban apartment there are numerous levels of security. The doors and locks involved in getting from the front of our building to within the comfort of the actual residence surely rival that of any tightly sealed Greenwhich Village walk-up. Anyone familiar with the opening sequence of the 60s era sitcom "Get Smart" can visualize the trials involved in entering our Moscow abode.

To enter the building one must first via keypad enter a code involving a bunch of numbers and one of those special characters. This garners one entry to a small foyer whereupon you reach a 2nd door. There is room next to the foyer where a guard sits. The 2nd door requires a second and different access code - this one involves both letters and numbers.

The Elevator

Anyone who has traveled internationally is likely to have an elevator tale - Russia is no different. The first thing Billie Jo tells me is to "Always use the second Elevator". I don't even bother asking why - I take the advice as earned knowledge and proceed to nudge Billie Jo, myself, a stuffed Suitcase and my carry-on into the cabin which is slightly larger then a phone booth.

As with any other elevator that likely dates back to Stalin, this one creaks, wheezed, tugs and pulls. Even weary with travel (and knowing this is about to happen) my heart skips a bit as the lift rises in sporadic fits before depositing us at the sixth floor.

Billie Jo notes that we are lucky - I give her a squeamish look and she calms me and mentions - no it's not that bad - apparently the elevator occasionally ignores your floor request and takes you do the top floor (10th) and then you have to run through the process of pressing 6 again to return to where you wanted to go - so yes we are fortunate to not have to travel the lift for meore than the requisite six floors.

Apartment 66

We have survived our first elevator experience in Moscow but we are still not yet in the apartment. Maxwell Smart still has two more doors to navigate. Our door is at the end of the hall - I note that there is an upright piano sitting outside our door for some reason - I don't ask why. I have traveled to foreign lands before and I know that asking such in this situation typically returns nothing more then a sincere shrug.

Billie Jo takes a key and places it into the lock rotating it several times - she tells me that you must turn it two three or possibly four times depending on who locked it previously.....ok - I reply with a question mark in my head. on the inside she turns around and manipulates the reverse of the lock which is similar to a small gas cap. She tells me to give it one full turn - this way when the next person comes, they will only have to turn the key two rotations (OK? I nod again). Apparently if everybody did this - entry would be consistent and flawless.

And then I am confronted with the flaw in this logic. There are now two doors before us. Apparently the door we just passed through is shared by our apartment and another. So if anyone from the other apartment messes up the sequence we need to deal with the whole 2 or 3 or 4 rotations problem. Couple this with the fact that Billie Jo is sharing her apartment with another person and now we are throwing me into the mix - there could be any number of permutations to the way that door gets locked.

Billie Jo then pulls out a key - a big key - the kind that you see used by an cranky old Wizard in one of those Fantasy Films based on some epic tale written in olde English during the 17th century. Billie Jo takes the Wizard Key, she places it into the lock twists it about a half dozen rotations and proceeds to tell me that this one also goes either 2 or 4 times depending on who locked this door most recently - then Voila! the door opens!

Do you Believe in Miracles?!?!

We have Arrived!!!

2010 10 23 - Kievskaya

The next stop is our apartment in Kievskaya - actually the Metro stop is Kievskaya - I know this because it is one on the need to know list of words and places that Billie Jo has been quizzing me on for the past few months.

We take a largely vacant train from the airport to the metro - an older woman asks Billie Jo to watch her bags while she uses the bathroom - Billie Jo handles the conversation seamlessly. I am proud of and happy for her.

Once on the metro we take a maze of trains, stops, transfers, escalators, passageways, and stairs (many, yes, many stairs) that finally lead to our destination - the Kievskaya station. While on our journey I occasionally recognize letters and signs - a twinge of giddiness runs through me.

Kievskaya station emerges at one of Moscow's busiest malls "The Eurocenter". The mall's emblem is a semi-script lower case "e" - there are four foot tall ones at the corners of the mall rotating inside a globe that has a ring like Saturn. On one corner of the mall is an automoblie ad that features an what looks to be a near full scale replica of a Kia hatchback climbing the wall to "kick" a giant futbol into a net.

We exit the metro pass the Kia and cross a busy street and make a Left - Billie Jo explains to me the walking portion of our trip it is easy pretty much all Left-Right-Left-Right-Left till we get o the apartment.

On the way we pass a great Russian Icon. A Moscow MacDonalds. Yes there is an extra 'a' in "Mac" for pronunciations reasons I suppose. I have been told I have to have the Russian Mickey D's experience, but even in my exhausted jet lag stupor I can tell this Muscovite MacDonald's has the same expired grease stench of it's American predecessor.

the Perry-Hood

Once past the golden arches we take a few more L-R-Ls and I have my first experience with a "Perry-Hood" . PerryHood is the Russian term for an underpass used to cross a busy street. They are common in Moscow where Jay-Walking is frowned upon and uhm monitored much more closely than in the states.

The Perry-Hood is the last landmark as we approach are building. We have arrived at our apartment in one piece including baggage all the way from the United States/DC in - I don't know - maybe just little over 11 hours.

Well when I say arrived at the apartment - I should say sort of arrive...

2010 10 23 - Domodedovo(DME) Moscow

I leave the plane and the first stop is immigration. Everything goes well - signs are well marked and in English. While waiting at immigration someone tries to cut in front of me - I quickly remember there are no Russian customs for waiting nor personal space. Think of standing in the betting line at the Track, Turf club or any other OTB. If your not right behind the person ahead of you your not next.

I hand my immigration card to the person attending the station and she asks me to remove my glasses - I am in Moscow all of 20 minutes and the first woman I meet is flirting with me!

The officer hand back my immigration card - this is an important document - I will need to carry with my passport and visa at all times - loss of the immigration card will incur a $2000 fine.

Next up is baggage claim - I am looking for a burgandy suitcase I borrowed from my folks. I win the luggage lottery as my bag emerges relatively quickly - I easily identify it by the orange plastic bag my father had tied around the handle during a previous trip.

one final line for Customs. This time I know not to bother any conventional American line rules and expectations. I jam into the funnel of travelers readying myself for the customs process....except there is no process. I go through a door and possibly a metal detector and through another set of doors and I am in Moscow.

There is a fence around the arrival area, where I spot a few dozen people awaiting friends, family and colleagues. I do not spot Billie Jo.

I exit the arrival area - several men approach me barking "Taksi" "Taksi" "Taksi" - I take a quick glance around still no Billie Jo.

I position myself by a pole with a good view of the area. I remind myself that Billie Jo may not make the first train to the airport, but she definitely expects to be on the 11:47 or 12:15 trains. it is now 11:15.

Then I see a pretty girl in line at the newsstand. I know that pretty girl!! - she turns around and almost walks right by me - It's Billie Jo!!!

2010 10 22 - DC to Moscow

Day One - Flying to Moscow out of IAD (DC-Dulles)

I close up the apartment and set off for my journey to the foreign land of Moscow. It is my first trip there and I will get to see Billie Jo for the first time in 3 months.

My friend Steve is my escort to the airport - we enjoy the roughly 3:30 to 4 hr drive from Wayne to Dulles. We stop for lunch at a restaurant south of Baltimore - I have a BLT - Billie Jo has told me that bacon is in short supply in Moscow, so I take advantage of the opportunity. The barmaid gently harasses a patron next to me for sporting a Denver Broncos T. It is the last time I will here Football (American football that is ) talk for the next two months. I also remark to Steve that the days warm weather will likely be something I don't experience until March.

At Dulles I procure some Rubles in case of an emergency - my $108 nets me 2500 Rubles - which is a poor exchange rate but worth it if needed.

The Flight goes well - I sit next to a Russian PHD candidate who is attending school in Pasadena. He speaks English well and we exchange pleasantries - his Name is Ivanye and he will be presenting a paper at his home school in Moscow. There are several pretty young women in my section - this somehow cushions my fear of spending the next eight weeks in alien territory.

There is a soul searching Canadian Art-crap movie titled "One Week" on the plane. I watch it intermittently while dropping in on an episode of "the Office" - It is the one where Michael defies corporate by creating his own Dunder Mifflin commercial - and sneaking peeks at the pretty girls in my section.

After dinner I try to sleep overnight but don't.

There is a light breakfast as the sun rises - The stewards hand out immigration cards - I carefully fill mine out before landing.

The plane touches down - we are a half hour early - it is 3 degrees Celsius and I am in Moscow.

Puerto Rico 2009 03 06 - 2009 03 11

This is a street in Old San Juan, click to enlarge and you can see the ocean at the end - actually that is probably the bay. I can't figure out the orientation here right now.

The three photos below are of one of the two forts on each side of San Juan. Someday when I have more time I will add the names of the forts here.






Picture of the Bay from San Juan


Below is a Mofungo - I think it is Bananas Mashed and Fried and then they pour over your choice of toppings. Typically I think they use pork, this is Chicken. There is some sort of mild spice that gives it that red/orange color.



Hiram Bithorn Stadium - Above = outside, Below is during the Puerto Rico v Nederlands game


I have bunches of other pix but I just wanted to post a few so Dad would stop bothering me about putting up pictures.

Ned Ember - Patriot News Obituary

If you click on the article portion just above, it will expand which makes it readable. I couldn't find an online version if anyone can I will link to that.