STILL FLEXIBLE?

It's weird to think that tomorrow at this time, we'll be pulling away from the gate at O'Hare and that 24 hours after that, we will be in Russia.

It's been 32 years since I lived abroad for an extended period of time. Sure, I've traveled many places since 1980 when I lived and studied in Germany. (It's been 37 years since I lived in France!)

However, living in one place is different than flying in, spending 3-5 days, and flying out. And that is different than going on a 2-week trip where you move on every few days.

When I was 21 years old, I was open to any thing and every thing. I was flexible and spontaneous. If someone had asked me whether I wanted to join him for a weekend of skiing in Switzerland, no question! I was there. A day in Basel? What time does the train leave?

Now, I'm 53 years old. I debate the best, most efficient route for a string of errands. I plan and program with the expectation that no changes will throw a wrench in the monkey works. No decision comes easy any more.

Have I become sedentary in my thinking, stodgy in my desire to try new things, and tired of different experiences? Will my current soft and comfortable life slow down my ability to put up with what are expected to be many challenges in our daily lives? Have I become a curmudgeon? I know I am heck a lot of crankier than I ever remember.

Another consideration is that both my overseas living experiences provided some "backup" support. I lived with families in both my previous overseas experiments.

In Petersburg and Moscow, we're on our own. On our own for everything from buying and preparing food, to getting around, to figuring out where to get a hair cut, to living with each other in tight quarters without any known social outlets to relieve us of  one another. Our choices are staring at each other or staring at the wall.

It will be an experience in my grand experiment.

VSYEGDA GOTOV - FAMILY STYLE

Saturday was a gorgeous day; dry weather, blue skies and a high temperature around 82 degrees.

Bill and Leslie Gitlin picked us up at Nall Court at 6:40 p.m., and we drove to Timothy's Restaurant at the Gordon Beach Inn in Union Pier, Michigan for another farewell fete (and regular summer get-together) with family.

On the way to our seats, we saw our neighbors, Ron and Nancy Cohen having dinner with Bud and Pinky Raab! Then we sat down with Fred and Sue Kobak and Rob and Jane Lynch. 

We had a nice table on the porch, and dinner was very good. Andrea and I split a crab cake appetizer. I had the avocado and crab cold bisque and the shrimp and scallops in five spices. Tres bon!

Unfortunately, Andrea did not enjoy her filet mignon (overcooked and with the butcher string still on.) But Timothy's being Timothy's, they comped our triple mini dessert of flourless chocolate cake, creme brulee and ...hmm, did I mention how good the vodka martinis were?

Thankfully, Bill had only one glass of pinot noir and was more than fit to drive home, no problemo. Bill and or Leslie will drive us to the South Bend airport Tuesday at 12 noon, and from there, we'll take Coach USA to Chicago O'Hare's International Terminal.

Some photos from the evening...

Uncle Fred and Aunt Boo Boo

Rob and Jane Lynch and most of my sister, Leslie Gitlin

Our travelers - Andrea and Will Turbow

AT THE READY - VSYEGDA GOTOV

That was the theme of last night's wonderful fete by Andrea's IUSB colleagues. 


While I cannot actually spell the two words in Russian because Google does not have Cyrillic letters as part of blogspot's programming, it is a salute used by the Komsomol, (Soviet youth organization somewhat akin to Boy Scouts but much more blatantly political) according to my trusted source, Dr. Andy Schnabel.

Dr. Andy Schnabel in front of the flower microphone

Andy, his wife, Louise Collins; Linda Chen and her retired college professor husband, Roy Schreiber; and our generous hosts, Cathy Borshuk and Steve Gill feted Andrea before Tuesday's departure for the motherland.


Toasts were made. Best wishes were expressed. Much food and wine was consumed! 


In addition to fish and chicken sausages on the barbecue, Steve concocted in the kitchen and finished on the grill a most wonderful peach and blueberry cobbler for dessert.


In addition to the food, highlights of the evening were Louise's "Russian" presents to the group. She provided red kerchiefs and home made turtle pins that looked suspiciously like Soviet Red Stars. 

Louise distributing the wealth of red kerchiefs and "turtle" pins (although we know what she's really trying to  pawn off on us - brainwashing Soviet Red Stars!

And in honor of the Olympics, Louise presented Andrea with her very own gold medal for bravery in traveling to the former Soviet Union.

WE HAVE A WINNER!
PS: Louise also made this medal and the Soviet-style napkin holders

I made a public spectacle of myself (per usual), by removing my wedding band from my left hand to my right hand, which is the Russian tradition. Andrea insisted I wear my ring on my right hand while in Russia so that every able-bodied Russian women will know I am married.

The Gill-Will Ring Ceremony

Who would want a piece of that anyway?

Cathy, Linda and Roy

Andy and Louise

After dinner, we watched the opening ceremonies...perhaps not so much watched as commented throughout.

RUSNOCKIA II - TRAVEL AND CONTACT INFO

In one week from the moment I write these words, we will be on British Airways Flight #294, winging our way to London's Heathrow Airport. We are set to arrive there at 6:55 a.m. local time (1:55 a.m. New York time).

Then, we board BA #878 at 9:20 a.m. and arrive in St. Petersburg, Russia at 3:35 p.m.

We have rented a flat for one month through Oksana's Ltd. in St. Petersburg. We are staying at the Nevsky 88 Apartments.  Our address from August 1 through 31 is:

            Nevsky Prospect 88, Flat E

            St. Petersburg, Russia

            Postal index  191025

            Telephone: +7 (812) 579-2878

From September 1 through the end of October, we are staying in a rented flat in Moscow through City Realty Russia. Our address will be:

          11/13 Bolshoy Afanasievskiy Lane

          14th Floor, Apartment #113

          Moscow, Russia  

          Postal index 119019

          Telephone: +7 (495) 691-5413

Our plan is to purchase a Russian mobile phone shortly after we arrive. I will take my EuroBuzz mobile in case of emergencies, but in Russia, calls cost $4 per minute, as opposed to the 79 cents per minute in Italy and France. Incoming texts are free to me.

Be aware, placing a call to us on the EuroBuzz mobile while we are in Russia will incur international calling rates on your phone bill, as the EuroBuzz phone is registered as a United Kingdom number.

Simply dial 011 (the dial out code for the USA), then the UK country code (44) followed by our number:
7867-329735.

We will suspend our U.S. Cellular phone service around 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 31.

RUSNOCKIA

It is strange knowing that in 10 days, we will be transplanted from our provincial existence in South Bend and transported 3,953 miles to urban Petersburg.

We appear well organized and prepped with our Russian visas, packing lists, and newly purchased toiletries.

Our world - cat, dog, business, house, friends, family - will keep on going without us, as if we had died and gone to heaven. And like a dream, we will return in three months time as if we had never been away, walking back into our world as though we had merely gone around the corner for a pack of smokes.

FUN IN FEDERAL DISTRICT AND FREDRICKSBURG

This post is not about a European adventure. And it's hard to believe I am only now getting around to writing about the nice trip I took to DC to see my sweet, delicious daughter, Alexi in late June!

It was June 22, around 9:30 a.m., to be precise, when I hit the road. Nice drive. The Ohio Turnpike oases are the best, and I used one to stop and make some business calls. Mostly uneventful drive. Some rain as I entered Maryland, and there were severe storms reported throughout the region. However, none slowed me down.

I got to Alexi's apartment in Arlington, Virginia around 7:00 p.m. She, Dustin and I went to a Mexican restaurant in the 'hood. We returned home, watched some TV and went to bed early.

Saturday, June 23, Lex and I woke up before 7:00 a.m. and by 7:45 a.m., we were out the door. First stop: Harris Teeter (Hairy Tweeter) for some food supplies. We would need to pack our lunch today, because we were headed down to Fredricksburg, Virginia and an all-day river adventure.

We had reserved space on the Civil War Canoe Paddle. The Friends of the Rappahannock River (an important river during the Civil War) were conducting an all-day canoe paddle on the adjoining Rapidan River with National Park Service Ranger Greg Mertz, a specialist in Civil War history.

If anyone has ever seen the South Park episode when the boys are looking for something to kill their boredom during Spring Break and they decide to go zip lining, then you would know what Alexi and I experienced: a very varied group of people being cajoled into participation and having fun by an overly enthusiastic staff.

I don't want to paint the wrong picture. It was a fun and educational day. We watched a video for basic river safety tips. Then we piled into vans pulling canoe trailers and drove about 40 minutes to the launch site. The launch site was locked, so we had to carry the canoes over the fence and down to the river.

I hadn't canoed in at least 30, if not 40, years, but it came back, just like riding a bike. Lex in front. Me in back. We would paddle to a spot, at which the guide would relate stories of what happened along the river or nearby during the Civil War. There were about nine such stops during the day, plus a stop for lunch.

Remember when I wrote about feeling like a leaf floating on a river during our visit to Versailles?

Well, Lex and I were literally those leaves floating on the lazy Rapidan River. We only had a few "upsets" along the way, but mostly, we coordinated our paddling and were consistently among the 2-3 lead canoes.

We saw bald eagles, turtles, fish, and a snake. And spiders...in our canoe!

It was nearly 7:00 p.m. by the time we checked into the Courtyard by Marriott in the Fredricksburg historic district along the Rappahannock River. After some room adjustments and showers, Lex and I walked to a great Italian restaurant. The food was good and filling after a long day paddling in the hot Virginia sun.

We walked around town. If you are a history buff, you would like Fredricksburg. Here are some photos snapped by Lex that evening.

Remember Floyd's Barber Shop from the Andy Griffith show? This is it!

Sign of the (very old) times

This was posted on the apothecary shop. Very instructive.

We happened upon Wally's Ice Cream Shop. The smell of fresh chocolate brownies baking hit us as we entered the old time shop. They bake the brownies to include in the brownies and cream ice cream. Wally opened up the shop about 10 years ago after having been a travelling salesman making big bucks during his career. Now he makes home-made ice cream, and it is GOOD! We listened in as Wally told an old customer about buying peaches for his peach ice cream. The local peaches will be coming in soon, and when they do, Wally will be up for two nights straight getting the batches made.

Neither Alexi nor I could keep our peepers open to watch a silly movie before we were both asleep.

The next morning, we woke up, had breakfast and went to the Fredricksburg Battlefield Visitor Center. We watched the video about the December 1862 battle of Fredricksburg. There is a plethora of Civil War history about and around Fredricksburg. It is amazing the events that unfolded here and which lead to Gettysburg and the ultimate end of the Confederacy. There was an older, Southern couple watching the video with us, and they made a comment to us (not knowing we are Yankees) which demonstrated that some bitterness still remains to this day. (Although, they were very friendly about it.)

We walked the Sunken Road and entered the Innis House, which was between the Confederate line on the hill and the attacking Yankees, who couldn't take the heights. Some photos, please Alexi:

Innis House on Marye's Heights along Sunken Road.

Alexi in Innis House looking at bullet scars that remain from 150 years ago.

Kirkland Monument. Kirkland was a Confederate who helped Yankee wounded as they lay on the hill during  lulls in the fighting.

Will at the Fredricksburg National Cemetery.

We then drove several miles to Prospect Hill, where a National Park Service ranger related how this point on the far right Southern flank in Spring 1863 almost fell to the Yankees. The Blue was so close, but they  retreated, leading to Lee's resolve to take the war north.

Lex was not feeling well (sneezing, head ache...) so after a stop at CVS for allergy medicine, we visited Chatham, a revolutionary era-built manor that was used as a Union command post and hospital during the Civil War. It is a truly lovely estate that overlooks the Rappahannock River from Stafford County. We enjoyed the presentation and the grounds.

Chatham. Finished in 1771 by William Fitzhugh, a friend of George Washington. 

Walt Whitman visited here in search of his Union solder brother and wrote about the horrors of the hospital.

The wrought iron fence was installed when the DeVores restored the property in the 1920s.

Alexi wanted to visit George Washington's boyhood home at Ferry Farms, just down the road from Chatham. It was a typical hot and humid Virginia afternoon, so we took advantage of the air conditioning inside and learned about George's life before he became a respected  general and father of a nation. Walking   the grounds, we found archaeological excavations underway as the roots of the farm are still being explored.

Then we were off to Chancellorsville Battlefield in Spotsylvania County and the visitor center there. Apparently, it was not allergies affecting Alexi, because by the time we finished watching the video, she was downright ill with a migraine. We drove around the military park a little before driving back up to Washington, D.C.

On Monday, I went to submit our visa applications for Russia. Three times I scaled Invisa's walls, and three times I was repulsed by those Russian bureaucrats! By lunchtime, I gave up. I met Alexi for lunch near her office in Georgetown and then hit the road back to South Bend. I left at 2:00 p.m. and arrived home shortly before midnight.

We used Duke's Visa Service to complete our visa applications, and on Wednesday, July 11, we received them!

Daughter and Father at Prospect Hill, June 24,  2012.