OLD ARBAT PANORAMA - OUR MOSCOW APARTMENT

This is a late addition to the blog, because I simply forgot to post it.

However, I wanted a record of our apartment at 11/13 Bolshoi Afanasievsky Pereluk, 14th floor, unit #113 that overlooked the Moscow River, the Arbat and the Kremlin.

We have been home five and a half months. The memories and significant details (both good and bad) have already evaporated. It was only because someone asked about our experience this past weekend that I even thought to provide this photographic update.

Our apartment building exterior at 11/13 Bolshoi Afanasievsky. Our unit is the third from the top, third from the left where you see the open balcony. The window to the right of the balcony was our bedroom window.

Next to our apartment was the Burganov statue studio and museum. There is statuary right in front of our building, as well as dispersed around the neighborhood.

Two busts in front our park-like front yard.

Two more busts in front of our building.

Looking up our street.

The elevator lobby on the 14th floor. To the right and down the hall is our apartment entrance. Apartment owners on several other floors decorated their elevator lobbies with plants, statues, paintings... for a decidedly friendlier, inviting look.

Our hall and apartment door on the left. To the right of the door is a light switch that illuminates the hall in front of our apartment. We found that weird, because at times, our hallway would be pitch black when no one had on their light.

Exterior of our padded door. We must have crazy to live here!

Interior of our padded door. This little entrance foyer had a bench for shoe storage and sitting, a coat rack, and a mirror to make sure (in the Russian manner) that one looked presentable upon leaving and entering the apartment.

From the entrance foyer looking into the bathroom.

The bathroom: hot water heater right inside the bath/shower made for a cramped bathing experience.

The bathroom: toilet with two flush speeds, bidet and heated drying rack.

The bedroom: looking back into the entrance foyer.

The bedroom: uncomfortable double bed very low to the ground.

The bedroom: my view upon waking.

The kitchen is between the bedroom and the living room.  Fridge is twice as large as the one we had in St. Petersburg. Gas stove and oven. Electric tea kettle. The kitchen also served as my office where I wrote this blog and studied Russian.

The kitchen from the window looking back into the entrance foyer. The washer is just visible on the right.

The living room and TV. The couch on the right served as Alexi's bed when she stayed with us. 

The living room. Behind the louvered doors were shelves where we placed our clothes, racks to hang clothing, and drying racks which we took out when we needed to dry our clothes.

JET LAG 6

First morning, I awoke at 4:00 a.m. to a very cold house. Got to get the heat going.

Guess we became accustommed to the suffocating warmth of our Moscow apartment where we had to open the windows before bed to push back the blaring heat in order to sleep comfortably.

Unpacked. Now getting organized. No real rush.

Thinking of Sana sitting in class right now in Moscow. Are they on break right now? Perhaps. Or is Dimitri sighing in that condescendingly Slavic way a correction to a student's misconjugated verb?

Andrea and Cricket are reunited at last. Andrea is doing just what she has talked about for nearly three months; just laying on the couch and snuggling with her little, snaggle-toothed companion.

HAPPY DAYS AGAIN: ANDREA AND CRICKET.

JET LAG 5

WE'RE HOME.

NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

EVERYTHING IS THE SAME, BUT THE SEASON.

JET LAG 4

My bed!

JET LAG 3

I didn't see it myself, but I heard about it afterwards: The double take I expected from Cricket happened.

When Andrea went through the front door, Cricket came barking like a banshee, ready to attack an intruder.

But as Andrea crooned for her Cricket, the dog stopped on a dime, recognized the voice, looked back at Stephanie and went running for her momma!

We scurried about the house for a couple of hours. I could no longer keep my peepers open as the Tigers fell to the Giants in the 10th inning. As we say in Chicago, wait til next year.

JET LAG 2

We flew on British Airways #236 on a 747. Andrea did not like sitting on the second level. We arrived at Heathrow, flying over a still very green with still colorful trees lining the country roads leading to Londontowne.

I slept on the flight and ate in the airport lounge. We arrived at the Coaching Gate for a bus to deliver us to the airplane parked offsite. 

Our cabin crew on British Airways #295 was very accommodating and helpful, especially during the periods of high turbulence.

While well north, we suspect the bumps may have been caused as Sandy approached the southeastern coast of the United States.

ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL.

OVER THE BAY OF ST. LAWRENCE

In Chicago, we were needlessly separated at Passport Control. I gathered the bags while Andrea complained about her treatment (the first chance in three months to complain). We had about 30 minutes before the bus back to the South Bend Airport was to arrive.

Bill and Leslie picked us up at SBN at 9:08 p.m. After figuring out how to load our bags into the car, the long awaited reunion with Cricket was that much closer.

JET LAG 1

The evening before departure. We called people to let them know we were coming home.

We started packing around 11:00 p.m. We showered at 2:00 a.m. and were waiting for Dimitri at 3:30 a.m.

The snow was falling and beginning to stick. Andrea was very nervous as we drove through the dark, wet streets of Moscow for the last time. I shielded my eyes from the neon glare reflections.

We arrived at Domodedovo Airport by 4:45 a.m. We boarded and departed on time at 6:35 a.m.

CATHEDRAL OF THE REDEEMER AND BACK TO THE TRETYAKOV GALLERY

Saturday, October 27, 2012

A cold, clear morning. I went up Bolshoi Afanasievsky to the New Arbat and the Dom Knigy. I bought Lex her Russian text book, finally bought my text book and some Masha e Medved trinkets for Andrea. Stopped at Prime one last time for "kafe s-boy."

Later, we finally visited the Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer. While admittedly gorgeous and impressive, it's like the beautiful, high-priced model that appears on all the magazine covers: beautiful, but you know how much pain was required to achieve those looks.

The workmanship is inspiring, but it's weird to think the place was just built 15 years ago; a copy of the original built in the late 19th Century as a memorial to the War of 1812 and destroyed by Stalin in the 1930s. 

Typically one might marvel at an old church knowing it may have been erected centuries ago using Old World craftsmanship that has stood the test of time. At Redeemer, one marvels at the time, money and resources used to construct this church in the here and now.

We then made our way over the bridge, braving the wind, and on to the Tretyakov Gallery for follow up research. After our time at the museum, we walked along Piatnitskaya and ate Uzbek food before heading home for the night.

BUILT BETWEEN 1994 AND 1997 AT A COST OF MORE THAN $200 MILLION. 

ON THE PATRIARCH'S BRIDGE.

OVERLOOKING THE RIVER AND KREMLIN.

BRIDE ON A BRIDGE.

INTO THE KREMSKOY...

"TRETYAKOVING"

IVAN THE TERRIBLE BY MARK ANATOLSKY.

STORY PARTY.

METRO TEATRALNAYA TRANSFER TO THE RED LINE.

ST. BASIL'S ON RED SQUARE

Friday, October 26, 2012

For the last three months, I have been living in a blessed bubble, shielded from my every day roles and  responsibilities at home and protected by dear wife's knowledge of this country and her ability to  communicate and get things done here in Russia.

That womb-like bubble is about to burst.

Soon, I will be back  home and subject to the laws of life.  I will be back in the USA, back to schedules and responsibilities, back to the grind of every day life from which my Russian bubble can no longer shield me.

But in the meantime, we're still having fun! On Friday, we went to St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square. Afterwards, we took the metro way out so that Andrea could go to Leonardo, a Russian craft store. 

On our way to the metro, we stopped in GUM, the grand retail space that is actually a mall of high-end boutiques and designer stores.

Here are some photos to mark the day.

WAT Walk Way.

TRINITY CHAPEL SPIRE.

FOR NICK JENSEN - THE CHAPEL OF ST. NICHOLAS.

DETAIL OUTSIDE CENTRAL CATHEDRAL.

VIEW FROM ST. BASIL'S DOWN TO MOSCOW RIVER.

ANDREA IN ADMIRATION.

CHAPEL OF THREE PATRIARCHS.

RED SQAURE.

HOLY...HOLY!

BEAUTIFUL DETAIL.

THIS CHURCH DOES NOT TAKE A BAD PHOTO. FROM EVERY ANGLE, IT IS EYE CANDY.

GUM INTERIOR. PRETTY, PRETTY, CLASSY.

SPLENDOR AND LUXURY.

YOSHIK! THE HOLIDAY WINDOW DISPLAYS FOR THE ADJACENT CHILDREN'S GUM MAY HAVE BEEN BETTER THAN FIELDS' EVER WERE?

A DEAR AND CHARMING FRIEND

I met Sana after her Russian language class today. We stood there for some time, saying good bye to David, who returns to Portugal Saturday.

Oz is going back to Turkey for one week to settle some visa business before returning to Moscow.

We talked at length with Mahmoud. He goes back to Sudan a week from Sunday. Upon his return, he will resume work with the Sudanese Defense Ministry. We spoke about yesterday's bombing of the weapons plant there (allegedly by Israel).

He said he knows the facility and has been there many times. He said ordinary ammunition is produced there, but I pointed out that he doesn't know where those munitions are sold and who ends up using them. 

He agreed with me, as we said it is ironic three people as different as we are could easily communicate and enjoy one another's company while politicians built barriers between people, and then send bombs over those fences.

I had invited Sana to lunch, because having attended classes with her over the last month, I came to really like her. I asked if she was hungry. She replied she wasn't yet, and when I suggested we sit in a cafe for a while until her appetite perked up, she suggested we simply go to her house for coffee.

Her house is close to the Gnesin Music Academy. In fact, it is right across the street. But my real surprise was when she showed me the house, and I saw the Chilean Embassy emblem on the side. I knew her husband worked for the Chilean Embassy. I just didn't know that he was the Chilean ambassador!

She lead me through the gates, explaining this was not the embassy, just the official residence of the ambassador. She showed me around the ground floor. The living room is larger than our entire apartment (and probably then some)!

She offered me a coffee, and when I asked if I could help her make it, she just laughed, and told me to stay in the parlor while she had her "girl," Tatiana, bring it in. I was flabbergasted, to say the least. Sana eschews the diplomatic lifestyle. She is such an unaffected, genuine and personable lady.

While it is a generalization on my part, I have seen some of the diplomatic wives around town, and they tend to be somewhat haughty and insular; sticking with one another and putting up their noses at those not in their circle. I saw this behavior at the cafes when the weather was still decent.

But not Sana. She prefers the metro to the embassy's car and driver. (It's more efficient and faster, she says). She prefers taking Russian classes with bedraggled German college students and lowly, wandering Americans than with the wives of the Spanish-speaking diplomatic corps at the Cervantes Club.

Her life story and that of her family is fascinating fodder for a book or movie. We talked at length until she became hungry. We went into the small, family dining room, and there, Tatiana served us a delightful salad of olives, tomatoes, lettuce and buffalo mozzarella.

Of course, she insisted I drink Chilean wine with my meal. When I stated a preference for white wine, she herself got up and went into the sous kitchen to open the bottle. (Apparently, there is a large, professional kitchen in a lower level). 

Our main course was blini filled with sauteed mushrooms, followed by dessert of vanilla and chocolate ice cream with warm chocolate syrup and crunchy cookies.

Unfortunately for me, her husband, Juan Eduardo, and daughter, Susanna, were unable to dine with us -- so more food for me (JK. I behaved with the proper manners with which I was raised)!

We repaired to the parlor (a room that sits on the corner of the house's first floor with three large "bay like" windows giving a wide perspective of the neighborhood and filling the space with light). 

We chatted easily and amiably until nearly 4:30 p.m., at which time I excused myself. My only regret is that I did not think to take a picture of her or of us together.

Farewell, my dear German-reared, Chilean-Syrian friend with your degree in French literature!

I MET ANDREA AT THE PUSHKIN GALLERY OF EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN ART FROM THE 19th AND 20th CENTURIES AT 5:30 P.M. AGAIN, I DIDN'T TAKE MY CAMERA INTO THE MUSEUM. WHAT A SHAME, AS THE MUSEUM HAS VERY GOOD COLLECTIONS, AND I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO PHOTOGRAPH SOME OF THE PIECES, AS WELL AS HAVE MY PHOTO TAKEN ALONGSIDE THE RODIN SCULPTURE, VAN GOGH PRISONERS, PICASSO BLUE PERIOD WORK AND OTHERS. MAYBE TOMORROW AT THE TRETYAKOV?

BOLATNY BETWEEN BRIDGES

The weather was unnaturally nice, sunny and warm Saturday, so after a late lunch on the Old Arbat and some grocery shopping, Andrea went to the library, and I headed out to do some additional exploring in our terrific neighborhood. There are numerous foreign embassies and consulates in our backyard!

I checked out Bolatny Island, which is the island in the Moscow River. It is accessed via the Patriarch's Bridge, which juts out from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

Bolatny Island is home to the former Red October chocolate factory. Like many old industrial installations in the States, it is now a "hipsters scene" with galleries, restaurants, drinking establishments and the Strelka Institute for Architecture, Media and Design.

On the tip of the island is the Peter the Great, or as some Muscovites call it, "Peter the Ugly" statue.

From there, I passed through the Park of the Fallen Heroes. It is actually called the Art Muzeon Statue Park now because it has all sorts of interesting statues. However, it also has a bunch of statues of Soviet-era "heroes." Officially, you are supposed to pay to enter this park, but it just didn't make sense to me to pay!

From there, I walked past the new Tretyakov Art Gallery. Andrea and I visited this vast art museum of 20th Century Russian artists Sunday with her Russian language teacher, Katja, a charming young woman. The collection is notable for its collection of Supremetism, Constructivism and Socialist Realism. We took no photos.

Sunday night, we had dinner in and stayed up very, very late watching NFL. It was after 5:00 a.m. when we went to sleep. Andrea woke up at 12:30 p.m. By 2:30 p.m. today, we went to the library, where I acted as research assistant, i.e., I scanned books. We had good Thai cuisine for dinner tonight.

Here are some photos from my tiring Saturday afternoon promenade.

CHRIST THE SAVIOR CATHEDRAL AND THE PATRIARCH'S BRIDGE TO BOLATNY ISLAND.

OLD RED OCTOBER CHOCOLATE FACTORY FACILITY ON BOLATNY ISLAND.

THE RED OCTOBER COMPLEX IS NOW OVERRUN WITH EVERYTHING THAT APPEALS TO YOUNG HIPSTERS: BARS, GALLERIES, TECHNOLOGY STORES...

MOSCOW RIVER VIEW: NEW TRETYAKOV GALLERY ON LEFT AND KRYMSKY VAL BRIDGE IN DISTANCE.

THE VODOOTVODNY CANAL. THE ISLAND IS FORMED BY THIS CANAL ON THE SOUTH SIDE AND WAS CONSTRUCTED TO CONTROL FLOODING.

PATRIARCH'S BRIDGE EXTENSION OVER THE VODOOTVODNY  CANAL.

GRAPE MAN. PART OF THE EXHIBITALY EXHIBITION ABOUT ITALIAN DESIGN AND INNOVATION AT THE STRELKA. EARLIER IN SEPTEMBER, I PHOTOGRAPHED "PASTA PETE."

ZURAB TSERETELLI'S PETER THE GREAT STATUE. IT IS 94.5 METERS (310 FEET) HIGH, WHICH IS TWICE THE HEIGHT OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY WITHOUT HER PEDESTAL.

ART MUZEON SCULPTURE PARK. THIS PARK SURROUNDS THE NEW TRETYAKOV GALLERY.

ART MUZEON SCULPTURE PARK.

ART MUZEON SCULPTURE PARK.

ENTRANCE TO THE NEW TRETYAKOV GALLERY. GONCHAROVA, LARIANOV, MALEVICH...AND MANY MORE INSIDE.

KRYMSKY VAL BRIDGE OVER THE MOSCOW RIVER.

PETER THE GREAT STATUE FROM THE KRYMSKY VAL BRIDGE.

A NEAT APARTMENT HOUSE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.