The Walk to School

I have a friend who uses lots and lots of photos in her blog to tell the story of her time here in Russia. As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." so I thought I would give it a try to share with you my favorite walk that I do here in Moscow.

Each time I sub at the school, go to a parent/teacher conference or extra curricular event I walk, take the metro and then walk some more.  The trip takes one hour but I love it because I get out of my neighborhood and the city center and into what feels a bit more like true Russia to me!  Last week I grabbed my camera and took photos on my way home from the school.

Leaving the Anglo American School.  They are very picky about walkers going through the door size gate and cars through the car gate.  No slipping through the car gate on foot!

Then a short walk down this dead end road with the river on one side and the school on the other.

This barbed wire lane takes me to the bridge to cross the river.  Note the tall apartments buildings lining the banks of the river.

To the left is the river.  Right now the river is thawing.  In the winter it is covered with ice fishing holes and men sitting with fishing poles in hand.

To the right is a set of locks.  When the ice is thawed I plan on spending a bit of time on this bridge to watch a boat go through! 

Graffiti painted wall on the other side of the river.

At cross-walks in Moscow one must bravely step out into the street and hope all traffic stops.  

 Decorative iron-work decorates everything.  Whether it is barring on a window or supports for an awning or a fence, everything is pleasant to look at.

Laundry hung out to dry.  Russians do not have driers so despite being in tall apartment buildings, they do their best to air dry their clothes outside!

Colorful playground.

Dogs in coats.

Parks.  I cut kiddy-corner through this one.

Babushkas with shopping carts.

Decorative lights strung along the streets.  I expected to see these only lit during the Christmas season, but with the short daylight hours they are on much of the day.  It adds a pep to my step when I get on the main road and see all the sparking lights.

Old electric tram cars - and the wires they run on!

Building decorations.  Specifically Soviet symbols.

This is the last major building before I come to the metro.  It is a mall with a grocery store in the basement.  (Where most grocery stores are located in this city.)  The basement also has a few small shops that I have come to rely on.  One is a hardware store and the other a spice/nut shop.

My special shop!  Note the beautiful Uzbekistan pottery.

The friendly worker who speaks a bit of English and recognizes me every time I come in!  He always tempts me with little tastes of nuts and dried fruit.

An industrial area.

Russian men with hats smoking cigarettes.

Women in high heels.

People from all directions entering the metro lane.

 Stalls selling things:  fruits, cheese, fish, magazines

 Old people selling things.  Maybe just one doll, or some home canned pickles.

The Metro station

 This metro has a long perihode (underground walking tunnel).  Perihodes (I've probably spelled that completely wrong.) often have little shops.  One of the main things you can buy is women's under items.  As you can see from the top picture, they are popular shopping venues.

The train is here.

Not too full at 4:00

The metros are very deep.  Many were designed with the additional purpose of being bomb shelters.  Long escalator rides up.

The plaza in front of our metro.

Women carrying flowers.

One of the Seven Sisters buildings greets us.  Home is just on the other side!

But first I have to take the treacherous, crumbly steps down.

Home sweet home!

Oldich

Laughing, chatting, smiling and warmed by the company of a group of women, I enjoyed the journey downtown and the destination. A retro restaurant with a chic appeal. The eclectic decor of the cellar felt warm and comfortable while we enjoyed a variety of menus items with a hip twist. Wait staff that spoke English was a plus in my book. 

A fun bonus is the vintage clothing store on the main level. 

Oh How To View the Olympics??

I love the Olympics, especially the winter ones.  When I was a kid it was easy, turn on the t.v. and watch prime-time broadcasting complete with special stories about athletes that would make me cry.  Remeber when Dan Jansen's sister died or when Tonya Harding had Nancy Kerrigan assulted?  The personal stories really made the Olympics come alive.

As an ex-pat, or not, it's a bit more difficult to follow the competition.  In New Zealand we loved watching the summer games and hearing about the NZ comepetitors.  They really kick butt in rowing and windsurfing, but I missed my American heros.  Then back in the states I held my tinfoil wrappedantenna  out the basement window until my fingers got too cold just in an attempt to see the games.  I was able to buy a few of the competitions off iTunes but that was very limited.  In Colombia I turned to slingbox.  A friend gave me her password and as long as the internet was streaming well that day I was able to get pretty good coverage.

So now I sit here in Russia with the Olympics a stone-throw away, but completely inaccessible.  I've been asking around to see what other people are doing.  Russian channels are an option, but I only know two words - yes and no - and I don't think they will enhance my viewing experience very much.  AFN looks like it might be another option.  We are lucky enough to get that, so I will set the ancient multi-region tv we were given in the family room so we can all watch it.  

Chad just gave me another option that looks like it will work-out pretty well.  NBC Sports Live Extra app. for my iPad.  The boys have been using it to watch soccer for about a year now.  All you need is a cable account number and password (thankyou mom & dad!).  I've been going through the app. for a few days.  There is an icon just for Sochi Olympics that opens up loads of interviews and commentary. I can beam it up to the large screen tv through my Apple TV box.  It makes me feel real techy.  Another feature that I'm liking is it tells me when certain events will be broadcast, and not just in America, but it figures out what time, where I am at!  Seriously cool, I don't have to go through all those complicated equations of timezones and whatnot.  So Monday morning I plan to get up at 5 am and watch the women's nationals long program while getting ready to sub!  Easy, peezy!

Hachapuri

A sign hangs in the front window claiming to be "2013 Trip Advisors favorite ex-pat restaurant".  From the number of ex-pats who have told me about it and the conversation around our table about favorite dishes, I would guess that statement to be well deserved and true.

A crowded room, an accordian playing, a piano with candles lit dancing in the dim light pulls one into intimacy with their table as they huddle close in conversation.  From the Georgian menu we decided to order an array of grilled vegitables, hachapori, dumplings and keebobs.  We picked and nibbled and shared food and conversation.  Before we knew it the night was over and it was time to pull out the umbrellas to head home.

Natura Siberica

The frigid rain and cloudy day melted away as I stepped into Natura Siberica.  A friend had suggested going and quiet honestly, I needed to get out of the house.  I'm posting about this shop because, in my opinion, it is not a place I would stumble across in my wanderings around the city.  It's a place you have to be told about, have to be shown.

A short walk from the Tverskaya metro, just across the street from Starbucks - in case you've mapped the city according to coffee - with a nice little sign above the door is Natura Siberica.  As their card says they specialize in "cosmetics of wild herbs and flowers".  A lovely clerk who spoke some English helped me out.  I think I was lucky on this day to find an employee with English skills.  My friend had gone over the website before we left so she was familiar with the packaging of the items she was looking for - another good option in the world of Russian. 

From lotions and creams, spa supplies, make-up and a wide variety of oils, all products are made from natural ingredients.  Take for instance the hair oil made from Yack horn.  Ok, some things sounded a bit weird, but the outcomes were amazing!  

The best part of it all was I walked away with 2 pump bottles of hand soap, 2 lotions, 1 spa cream and 2 bath soaps for less than $30.  Great items to tuck away for a rainy day or when I need to pull out a last minute gift!