A visit from a friend

November 21 – November 27, 2016

My friend Chantale is coming to Moscow to hang out for the weekend; my first guest from “home”. She and her Viking family had also been my last guests in Ottawa as we dined among the packing boxes the week I moved. I can’t wait!

I have spent the last couple of weeks planning lots of fun cultural and shopping opportunities for us. The first part of the week seems to be a century as I am really looking forward to her visit.

Soon enough it’s Thursday and Chantale arrives bag and baggage with her colleague Ivan. After a few glasses of wine and lots of laughs, we head out in search of sustenance.  First stop is the Georgian restaurant close to the Embassy, Elardgi. Nothing doing without a reservation so we head to a larger Georgian place on the main drag. 

There was only one table free directly in front of the stage, the doorman suggested we wouldn’t want to sit there but we gave it a shot. After a few minutes of deafening Georgian lounge music, we headed off for somewhere we could hear ourselves think and ended up at Voronezh Deli.

The first floor of Veronezh features both a meat counter where you can buy  fabulous local steaks to cook at home and a casual deli with great food. Our dinners we all very good but the star was a ginger/lime mayo that came with the home-cut fries. Yummmm – I need to figure out a recipe to make some.

Ivan and I on the Metro

Chantale @ St. Basil's

Sated, we hopped on the Metro for a quick trip around Red Square so that Ivan could have a chance to experience a bit of Moscow before his flight home tomorrow. After our microburst of tourism, Ivan headed back to his hotel and Chantale and I headed home. A couple more glasses of wine and lots of catching up later, we called it a night.

Friday was going to be a busy day so we fueled up before heading out on our guided tour of Moscow’s Kremlin. Our guide, Oksana, was amazing and regaled us with stories, history and facts for four hours without any problem. Alex and I had come to the Kremlin in August and wandered around but the experience was totally different with someone who the knew stories surrounding the sites and the lines were short so we were able to get into all the open churches without any problem. 

After touring the grounds including Cathedral Square, we headed to the Armoury Chamber to view the wealth of the Russian Empire in all its iterations and the Russian Orthodox Church; wowser! Originally the royal arsenal the museum is now a museum bursting at the seams with treasures ranging from Faberge eggs to a collection of carriages and everything in between. We spent two hours learning about some of the more significant pieces and barely scratched the surface.

Four hours of history was somehow exhausting so we headed home for a bowl of soup and a nap before our next ”event”; Vendor Night at the Embassy – another event in support of he GCWCC. A couple of glasses of wine fueled a bit of a spending frenzy and I leave with lots of beautiful gifts for friends and family back home and a beautiful Santa for me – a Russian carved from a single block of wood and decorated with jewel colours and gold leaf!

My Russian Santa

We sent our treasures home with Craig and headed out for a bite to eat with Fadi and Stephanie. Another busy night so we cooked up a scheme to drop the name of our colleague at Pinzeria when we arrived. Our scheme worked like a charm and we ordered pinzas, salads and drinks. Great food and great company made for a lovely evening. Chantale and I chatted again into the wee hours.

Saturday and we are up and headed off to the International Winter Bazaar sponsored by 30+ Embassies in town. Muscovites have no sense of personal space so the event is a mad house! LOL, somehow we manage to buy a few things but as a shopping opportunity it is a bust – an aggravating experience that does not need to be repeated. Since we were close to the Euro Mall we went to check out Natura Siberia where we purchased a plethora of lotions and potions for ourselves and as Christmas presents.

Saturday outside the Euro Mall

Moscow Cake for Lunch

On our way home, we ended up on the Arbat where we ran into some old "friends"; Hare Krishna dancing down the street.

🎵🎵🎵 Hare Krishna 🎵🎵🎵

After a quick lunch, we headed home to drop off our treasures and relax for the evening. We ordered Georgian food, with some help from Cat, and settled in for the night. The food took hours (2 +) to arrive. It was good but not great because it arrived a bit on the cold side. No matter, the company was great and we watched the History of the Eagles into the wee hours before crashing for the night.

Sunday is Chantale’s last day in town and we have lots of things to see and do. First stop GUM to check out the beautiful building that is tarted up for Christmas.  We had a quick bite at Stolovaya 57; a Soviet-style self-service restaurant on the third floor.

GUM

GUM

Back on the Metro and we are heading to Izmailovsky Market for some Russian souvenirs and more Xmas presents. The excursion is a success and I even managed to buy the elusive fur hat that I have been seeking.  Probably not the last but it’s my first!!

Izmailovsky Market

Russian Cafe

My new mink toque

After a late lunch and some final chatting, Chantale is whisked away by a cab for the drive to the airport and her flight home. My SQ feels a bit emptier now that she is gone but it was a great few days.

Chilling in Moscow

November 14 – November 20, 2016

Nothing of much import happened early in the week so I will share a couple of my insights about Moscow.

One of the daily adventures involves the traffic. I'm not sure whether it is because there are approximately 12,000,000 people in Moscow or because the city has grown as a series of rings with not many places where left turns are allowed or maybe it is just the crazy Ruskies all driving their luxury autos like they are headed to the hospital with a woman having a baby but it’s insane!

The traffic is so bad that when you order pizza or other fast food to be delivered, the delivery guy hops on the Metro with his carrying bag and then hoofs it to your door because it's quicker than driving! I’m quite glad that I decided not to bring a car though groceries can be a pain! Luckily, there are a few Embassy colleagues that are more than willing to lend a hand there.

Traffic is one thing but parking is something else and in the last few years the city started charging for parking. You were supposed to be able to pay using your phone (that works better now apparently but at first not so much!) but no one likes paying for parking. Over the first couple of months, I noticed some really strange things – people cover part or all of their license plates with CDs, paper, tape, whatever and people parking on the sidewalks with their trunks open. Very weird! I finally figured out that the goal was to hide or obscure the license number to avoid paying for parking and/or parking tickets (which by the way are 10X more expensive than speeding tickets!!).

I find all of this quite fascinating but I have never lived in a really big city before so it is possible that what I perceive as something unique to Russia’s capital is not but please do not burst my bubble!

Fast forward to Friday and we are on to the next activity for the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign (that old GCWCC follows you everywhere!); the semi-annual Canada Club Poker night. I will confess that I do not have a poker face but since I love playing cards, having fun and supporting charity, I signed up to play Texas Hold ‘Em along with 40 or so folks from various Embassies around town (several Danes, Belgians and Americans joined the Canadian contingent for the event).

After a couple glasses of wine and some Mexican food made by some of the ladies at the Embassy, 40 men, women and children (the youngest player was 12 and she finished 4th!) sat down with our stacks of $4000 in chips. My table played fairly conservatively but the wine was flowing and we were having a few laughs so all good.

Fast forward 4 hours or so and there are seven players left for the Final Table and miraculously I was one of them. I was the short stack and should have been knocked out easily but as luck would have it, I was seated on the right of the first dealer. This meant that I didn’t have to bet for several hands and the boys were too liquored up to restrain themselves (the winner apparently slept on the floor when he got home because the room was spinning!). I finished the tournament 5th so I won a small prize and some bragging rights. Better still 53,000 roubles (around $1100 was raised for Canadian charities).

Other than a quick trip to the Christmas Market at the German Embassy Saturday morning with some of the ladies from the Embassy, I spent the bulk of the weekend blasting carols and getting my apartment decorated (very early) for Christmas. I am hosting our Section’s Xmas party on December 1 and with Chantale coming next weekend wanted to make sure I had it all ready. All in all, it was a pretty relaxing week.

My New Gingerbread House

Remembering in Moscow

November 7 – November 13, 2016

Weeks that follow a short week always seem longer and this one started off slowly. The early part of the week was “rescued” by a two-day first aid course that included CPR and how to use an AED. I am not sure that I will be able to save you if you drop in front of me but I will try!

Friday was Remembrance Day and though we didn’t have the day off, there was a very moving ceremony at the Embassy that pretty much all Canadian and local Russian staff attended. The Ambassador outdid himself with his speech where he told everyone about the uncle of one of the Canadian staff that had been on one of the ships delivering essential supplies to the Soviet Union in the Arctic convoys of World War II.

A German U-Boat disabled his ship so he and a few other crewmen were left on-board to get the ship safely to port. They made it but he was paralyzed for three years. He received medals from the Canadian, British and Russian governments. Stephan was planning to let his cousins know that their father had been so honoured.

Remembrance Day at the Embassy

The Mucky Mucks!

Buddies!

After some pics and some light refreshments it was back to work for the civvies while the military folks headed off to my neighbours’ for pizza, beer and reminiscing. I joined them for a couple quick beer (1 liter beers that is!) when my work was done. We played a few games of cards before heading back to Canada Club at the Embassy. Playing catch up seems to always have the same result especially when you toss a couple glasses of wine on top of beer; I got a bit blasted and went home to sleep it off!

Saturday morning Cat was taking us on a Metro run. I have invited 14 people over for a Euchre Night and I had promised food! My menu was ambitious: escargot stuffed mushrooms, pork sate with peanut sauce, meatballs with soy-lime dressing, veggies and homemade hummus, mango pomegranate guacamole, fresh shrimp wraps with peanut sauce, honey garlic chicken wings … You get the picture.

We finally arrived home laden with food and (slightly hung-over) I started to go through the list. Luckily it is winter so I used the cold temperatures and the chairs on my balcony as a second fridge as dish after dish was finished. Cat and Eva came by between 4 and 5 and to help me get things done more or less on time.

My first guests arrived right on time at 7 and though I wasn’t quite ready I pointed them at the snacks and poured them some drinks. Before the rest of the guests arrived I had changed out of my cooking clothes while Cat mopped the kitchen floor!

The evening was fun with lots of food (and leftovers for the week!), cards and laughter but I stuck to Diet Coke after my excesses of the previous night! Actually, many of my guests were very restrained in their alcohol consumption for the same reason. I am hoping for regular card nights now that it is winter.

Sunday, I was up early (courtesy of the Diet Coke) and cleaned, did dishes and two loads of laundry before heading to the Art and Artisan Fair hosted by the American Women’s Organization at the Ritz-Carlton. A check of the Metro app told me the Red Line wasn’t running so Kerry and I walked there and back instead.

The fair had a plethora of Russian crafts, many of which I wanted and some of which I bought as presents so I can’t talk about that here!

Exploring Russia's Golden Ring

October 31 – November 6, 2016

When Halloween falls on a Monday, the celebrations are all done before the big day so the week started off with a whimper rather than a bang! There were a few flurries but I can’t believe winter is really here so I am ignoring the white stuff and hoping for some slightly warmer weather.

This week was a good one for receiving “stuff”. My order for some duty-free liquor to stock up for visitors and the Xmas season arrived on Tuesday. Wednesday’s diplomatic bag brought the new winter coat that I had ordered from The Bay. Both shipments were much appreciated especially the coat; it came just in time as I am heading out to explore the Golden Ring this weekend and the extra warmth will no doubt be much needed.

Thursday was one of a few fundraisers for the Government of Canada’s Workplace Charitable Campaign; the GCWCC Silent Auction. Despite the fact that my SQ is bursting at the seams, I employed my normal shotgun approach and bid early and often on a range of treasures to encourage others to spend their money. Also as usual, the strategy also ensures that I get to spend some of my money! 

I had the winning bid for a number of items including some beautiful lacquered items from Vietnam and a lovely pillow and footstool ensemble that will look great in my SQ! More importantly, we raised over $1200 for the charitable campaign.

Thursday night I was home packing for a weekend exploring in and around Vladimir and Suzdal, two of the towns of the Golden Ring; a “ring” of cities northeast of Moscow. November 4 th (Friday) is Unity Day in Russia and a stat holiday for Embassy staff so it’s a long weekend with lots of time for exploring at a leisurely pace.

The Embassy hosts lectures on Russian culture, traditions and history on Fridays at lunchtime. A few weeks ago, Elena, one of the guest speakers for the series, was waxing poetic about the Golden Ring so I immediately started planning an excursion with one of my colleagues. 

The Golden Ring is made up of ancient towns that were sites of significant events in Russian history and many also played a significant role in the development of the Russian Orthodox Church. After a few false starts and with the help of the amazing Tatiana we had found an English-speaking guide to help us make the most out of our trip. He’s going to meet us at the train station in Vladimir and drive us wherever we need to go and explain the historical significance of the area.

Friday finally arrives and I have packed a knapsack instead of a suitcase. Okay so it’s a big knapsack (the one I used my five-week pilgrimage on the Camino) but its not full and it will be easier to carry up and down stairs in the Metro than a suitcase (I hope!). Our Metro maps/directions are accurate and we make it to the train station with plenty of time to spare before boarding our train to Vladimir.

We booked a first class compartment which is pretty nice – I’m sure you will agree. The compartment even has its own bathroom complete with a shower! Long-distance train travel in Russia might be a pretty good option if you are willing to pay a bit more for the “little” luxuries (and I am!).

1st Class Compartment

Our private bathroom

The fare also includes breakfast which is passable though I would bring some tasty food (and wine) for a longer journey to augment the not so spectacular offerings. 

We arrive in Vladimir right on time and Sergey (our guide) is waiting for us on the platform as promised. Our stuff stored in his trunk, we headed east out of Vladimir to our first stop – the first stone town of Northern Russia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site – Bogolubovo.

Bogolubovo (Beloved by God) was founded by Andrey Bogolyubsky, a key figure in Russian history whose significant contributions are, according to Sergey, largely overlooked. Andrey increased the importance of the northeastern Russian lands and was largely responsible for moving the capital of Russia north from Kiev. 

Sadly, like many strong leaders he pushed his peeps too far. The final straw was his attempt to reduce the political powers of the upper nobility within his lands who in response conspired to murder him.

Once in town, our first stop was the Bogolubovo Monastery; one of the oldest surviving medieval Russian Eastern Orthodox monasteries. 

According to a legend, Andrey travelled from Kiev to Vladimir. The horses that carried a stolen icon of the Virgin Mary (later named the Our Lady of Vladimir) stopped at a steep bank overlooking Klyazma River and despite best attempts wouldn’t continue.

The prince took this as a sign from God and ordered construction of the Bogolyubovo Monastery (1157) which is one of the most ancient monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Church was originally attached to the castle and the stair tower where Andrey was murdered is the only part of the castle still standing.

Bell Tower

Stair Tower (on the left)

Summer Church

Inside the Cathedral

After a tour of this beautiful church turned museum, we headed across the fields to check out the Church of Intercession on the Nerl at the confluence of the Nerl and Klyazma Rivers which was also built by Andrey possibly to keep the riff-raff moving their goods up and down the river out of the town and the church there.

 

Church of Intercession on the Nerl

The Summer Church

Apparently the knoll on which the church sits is often completely surrounded by water in the spring especially when there is a large snow melt. This likely means a return visit is in order!

Next stop is Kideksha to see the Church of Boris and Gleb that was built in 1152. Boris and Gleb, two brother murdered by their older brother, were the first saints canonized in Kievan Rus after the Christianization of the country.

The church is the oldest white stone (limestone) church in Russia. Also at the same site is the leaning bell-tower – not exactly a rival for the Leaning Tower of Pisa but interesting nonetheless.

Church of Boris and Gleb

The summer church

The leaning tower ...

With the touristy stuff done for the day, we headed to Suzdal for the night. Suzdal is one of the main orthodox church religious centers in Russia and one of the most ancient Russian towns. These days, Suzdal is the smallest of the Russian Golden Ring towns with population of around 10,000.

Suzdal is however, home to 50 churches and 5 monasteries several of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Once the capital of Rostov-Suzdal principality, today Suzdal is a quiet town where time appears to have stopped. There are no train stations or industry (other than tourism) but there are plenty of small wooden houses (many with decorative carvings).

Sergey dropped us off at the hotel which is made up of a cluster of several buildings and quite spread out. No big buildings higher than three stories are permitted so it is a very different from Moscow. 

Our room is compact but perfect to relax for a bit before heading out to dinner at a new restaurant in town that is dedicated to all things cucumber Restoran Ogurec. Apparently, Suzdal hosts an annual Cucumber Festival so this seemed the right place to eat.

The fare was traditionally Russian. I tried a salad and some beef stroganoff; both of which were quite good. For dessert, I opted for some chocolate ice cream but Eva was more adventurous and had the cucumber jam that was a soft very sweet pickle!

Cucumber for dessert

Sergey was on hand the next morning for our tour of Suzdal. First stop was the Saviour Monastery of St Euthymius founded in 1352. The monastery was planned as a fortress so when the monastery was “closed” it was (ab)used as a prison.

 

Saviour Monastery of St Euthymius

Bell Tower

"Prison"

While we were there we were treated to two “concerts”. The first was an extraordinary example of bell ringing. The bell tower has more than 20 bells with all the ropes gathered in a single area where the bell-ringer (zvonar) stands. Using both his hands and feet, he makes the clappers strike the sides of their bells in a complicated sequence producing beautiful music.

The second concert was a small group of musicians dressed as monks chanting religious songs inside the church. Both were hauntingly beautiful.

On our was to the Museum Of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life, we stop at a lookout where you can see onion domes and bell towers in almost every direction – Suzdal is definitely a town of churches. Sadly, many of them have been abandoned by the Orthodox Church and their previous glory has faded.


Soon enough we arrive at the open-air museum where ancient wooden buildings from all over the Vladimir region were gathered including the Church of the Transfiguration and the Church of the Resurrection.

Church of the Transfiguration (winter)

Church of the Resurrection (summer)

The two churches form an ensemble, which was common in Russia –a summer and winter church. The winter church, the Church of the Transfiguration, is smaller and has three rooms. The summer church, the Church of the Resurrection, is larger and intended only for summer use because it is not heated.

The museum also includes other buildings (homes, workshops, etc.) illustrating peasant life in this region. The windmills are interesting as the top can be rotated using the long poles so it faces to catch the wind.

Next we take a short walk across the bridge and up the hill to the Suzdal Kremlin; the oldest part of Suzdal. Within the Kremlin’s ramparts there are a number of buildings and churches, including the Nativity of the Virgin Cathedral with its blue domes spangled with gold. 

Nativity of the Virgin Cathedral

Aside from the blue domes, one of the most striking features is the 13th century intricately gold inlaid doors. The Golden Gates, as they are called, were made in very intricate technique by fusing gold onto a black background of bronze. The spectacularly beautiful doors are covered in a series of reliefs, each telling their own story. 

Golden Gates

After our tour of the Kremlin, Sergey guides us to Market Square, gives us a list of other attractions to see including the Intercession Convent and shows us the way back to the hotel. A bit cold and hungry, our first stop was lunch. 

Fortified with a bowl of borscht and some pelmeni – dumplings (the Russian equivalent of tortellini), we strolled the market square checking out the souvenirs and then headed back to the hotel for some R&R snapping pics of more beautiful churches on our way.

When we were hungry again we headed to the tavern we had passed where we had smelled meat grilling the night before for some shashlik (Russian shish kabobs) followed by an evening playing Heads Up!
 
Sunday, Sergey is there again and we throw our knapsacks in his trunk and head off to Vladimir. Our first stop is the Museum of Crystal, Lacquer Miniatures and Embroidery opposite the Golden Gate. The museum occupies the Old Believers Trinity Church and houses a rich collection of Russian handicrafts and folk art, lacquer miniature, rock crystal and glass pieces.

Golden Gate of Vladimir

 

 

 

Apparently, the nearby town of Gus Khrustalny has housed the largest Russian manufacturer of crystal and glass art since 1756. Sergey says that he will show us where their Vladimir ship is located. Hmm, just what I need – another tchotchke!

Next, we have a chance to check out the Cathedral of Saint Demetrius finished in 1191. The church is famous for its white-stone carvings - its walls are decorated with more than 500 reliefs most very well preserved.

The carvings depict saints, mythical figures and animals real and fictional. You could spend days looking at these carvings and never get bored. We also checked out the interior including a few fragments of frescoes of the 12th century that have survived.

A few steps away is the Dormition (Assumption) Cathedral a still-working church of 13th and 14^th century medieval Russia. Originally built in 1158-1160, the 6-pillared 5-domed cathedral was expanded in 1185-1189 to reflect the increasing prestige of Vladimir.

It is the second largest Russian church (Christ the Saviour Cathedral in my hood is the biggest!). The outside is stunning but the inside even more so with restored 12th-century murals of peacocks and prophets and very well preserved frescoes by Andrei Rublyov and Daniil Chyorny, painted in 1408.

Our guide Sergey, me and Eva at the Dormition (Assumption) Cathedral

After guiding us to the crystal store, Sergey leaves us on our own to shop and explore a bit more. I manage to find something I “need” before we head off for some more sightseeing on our own.

First up, a quick exploration of the Golden Gate that was built at the western entrance to Vladimir in 1164 to decorate and to protect the city.

On Sergey’s recommendation, we also visited the museum in the Water Tower to get a bird’s eye view of Vladimir’s historical center.

Time for a very quick bowl of borscht before Sergey meets us to take us to the train station. Trains in Russia run on time and while we managed to get on board the train before the two-minute station stop was done, two passengers making the mad dash were left behind slack-jawed and cursing.

Our first class compartment was nice and clean but lunch was served in the dining car. After a bite, we returned to our compartment for the short ride home.

Back in Moscow, a short hop on the Metro and we were soon back at our SQs after our introduction to the Golden Ring!

Another adventure completed.