Friends, Family and Fun

December 2016

December was a mixture of parties and events with new friends in Moscow and parties and events with old friends and family in Ottawa and Halifax. I am blessed to have so many fabulous people in my life! 

December 6 features a trip to the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum for concert by Mikhail Rud; a Soviet pianist that defected in Paris in 1976 at 23 years of age. The concert included the music of Gluck, Mozart, Wagner-Liszt, Debussy, Ravel and Mussorgsky accompanied by, what I considered, weird video installations attributed to Kandinsky and Chagall. Rebecca, Eva and I grabbed burgers at Voronezh and then headed to the concert which was held in a beautiful room in the Museum featuring fabulous art. I may have fallen asleep for a few minutes (!) but the music was fantastic and the surroundings surreal.

December 10th, after a highly entertaining Canada Club on Friday night, I was up and at‘ em Saturday morning for a brunch at I Love Cake in Patriarshiye Ponds; an affluent residential area in downtown Moscow. Looking at the cake offerings in the two displays, the reason for the restaurant’s name is obvious but they also serve a spectacular brunch. 

The Pond is one of the main settings of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita; a must read that is currently on my list of Russian books to buy. After brunch, Robin and I strolled through the area checking out some of the quaint little shops and bakeries along the way. A return visit in the spring is a must.

Both Robin and I are heading home for Christmas so we grabbed a bus and the Metro and headed to Ismailova Market to pick up some last minute gifts before heading home. It was a bit cold but our expedition was successful. 

Saturday, December 10 boasts another Embassy Christmas party, this one hosted by Jack and Shirly. They live in my building so there is lots of time for a quick nap and shower before whipping up a little something for the party and putting on my glad rags. Jack and Shirly are the Embassy’s unofficial Aunt and Uncle so their parties at are always well attended and the food is plentiful and fabulous! Another late night but loads and loads of fun!

On December 13, I co-hosted an Ag Attaché lunch with my US colleagues as my last task before my flight to Canada. We hosted about a dozen guests from around the world with an interesting speaker on the future of Russian Agriculture. Back to the office finish up the inevitable last minute things before holidays and then home to finish packing. Embassy staff had been offered an opportunity to buy hockey jerseys signed by the famous former goaltender for the Soviet Union's national hockey team; Vladislav Tretiak; a fundraiser for his Charitable Foundation that supports children. The jerseys arrived an hour before I was leaving the office so my Dad's Xmas present is in the bag!

Rebecca modelling one of the Tretiak jerseys

My December 14th flight home includes an Aeroflot-Air Canada (with a change of terminals) in Heathrow so that was all very interesting but I arrived in Ottawa pretty much on time and headed to Karen’s; my home for the next few days.

After a few hours of catching up with Karen and Sally over glass after glass of wine, I crashed in a heap. The next day, I had a lunch with work colleagues, a meeting with my boss, a dental appointment and then dinner at the Royal Treasures with Gavin; another full day that ended earlyish. Friday, I crashed the Animal Health Directorate Christmas lunch to chat up my former colleagues and friends, relaxed for a bit with Karen and Sally and then headed to the Manx for a great night out with the usual suspects. 

Anyone seeing a pattern here? Food, drink and friends! 

Saturday, I hung out with Karen during the day and then headed to Linda’s for her Xmas party and more great friends, fabulous food and fun. Sunday, one more chance to chat with Gavin as we grabbed a bite en route to the airport and my flight home. I miss my Ottawa peeps and I didn’t get a chance to see everyone but I certainly tried! Thanks to everyone who made my visit so special and for those I missed, I will try to do better next time!

Most of the next eight days were spent in Halifax hanging with my Mom and Dad. I did manage to squeeze in a visit with Chrissy, Maureen and the Crant/Smith families, a card night with Connie and Mary but mainly I spent some quality with my folks. 

Mom's Tree

My sister Heather hosted the clan Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Peraux where we were treated to some great food (including maybe the best lobster I have ever eaten!) and lots of laughs. 

Yummy Crustaceans

A visit from the Pyle family on Christmas Day with their two precious boys was a highlight as was ahanging with Ashton, Cody, Heather, Rob, Mom and Dad. 

Too soon it was Boxing Day and I was packed and headed to the airport hauling along an extra suitcase to bring back all the food I’d bought to stock my larder! The green monster rides again!

The flight home was a bit hairier as I had a tight connection in Heathrow and we were late leaving. It was one of the few times that I can say that I was happy that my flight was delayed as the connecting flight to Moscow was also delayed so I made it to the gate with lots of time to spare. 

I arrived home a little late but my luggage didn’t make the connection so I worried for a couple of days about the butter, cheese, lobster and other delights that I had brought back and what condition they would be in when they finally arrived. With a bit of prodding and follow up, I managed to have the bags delivered Thursday night around midnight! All my treasures survived the ordeal because it was winter and quite cold.

New Year’s Eve Eve, Craig and Kerry hosted and evening of dinner, cards and silliness though I was well-behaved as I was hosting a large contingent for New Year’s Eve the next night and I had lots of stuff to do.

I love hosting parties though I have usually avoided doing so on New Year’s Eve so this was a first for me. The day was spent cooking and cleaning up the disastrous mess that ensued but I planned it well as there was time for a nap and a shower before the guests were to arrive. 

There was lots of food as most everyone made something for the table.  Melissa outdid herself bringing enough cookies, confectionaries and cupcakes to stock a small bakery and assuring there would be no lack of sugar for the guests big and small!

We had a great time chatting and laughing and as midnight approached, we donned our winter gear, grabbed the bubbles and headed to the bridge behind the Christ the Saviour Cathedral to enjoy the fireworks from Red Square and Gorky Park. Luckily the thermometer was hovering around 0C so it wasn’t cold.

The Boys!

The Girls!

Fireworks over the Kremlin

Champagne!

The bridge was packed with people ready to continue their celebrations. The fireworks were a bit disappointing because of the low cloud cover but we popped the corks on the champagne and toasted the New Year with friends and strangers before heading back to continue the festivities chez moi. 

The festivities continued until the wee hours though I may or may not have nodded off before the last guest left – Jet Lag!! Can’t wait for the adventures that 2017 has in store. 

С новым годом

Moscow Metro Tour - Underground Palaces

November 28 – December 4

Monday morning and it’s back to work after a whirlwind weekend with Chantale. Luckily, her departure is softened by the myriad of social functions leading up to the holidays. In fact, this week only Monday and Sunday do not include a social and/or work function. No wonder my bathroom scale is starting to show the effects of a Russian winter!

I offered to host the Trade Section Christmas Party at my SQ because of its proximity to the Embassy and it was tarted-up for Christmas in time for Thursday’s bash. We had ordered a bunch of food from a local caterer, rescued some abandoned bottles of vino from the Embassy basement and wrapped our presents for a Grinch gift exchange so we had all the necessary ingredients for a couple hours of fun. The afternoon was a blast with lots of laughter especially during the gift exchange with the odd theft of a prized selection here and there. In the end, everyone seemed pleased with their final selection so all was good. The party ended too soon but there are parties on Friday and Saturday as well so best to save some energy (and liver/brain cells) for those.

Friday was the Colonel’s fiftieth birthday so free drinks and pizza at Canada Club for a couple hours and then a few games of cards with the folks from Obydensky before calling it a night. Despite the late evening, I was up and at it early the next day as I was heading out on a guided tour of the Moscow Metro; something I have been meaning to do for months. Stephanie and I met the fairly large group (it was a free tour!) at Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Blue Line). Lots of cool things to see there but we are keeping that discussion for the end of the tour so we headed off to Teatralnaya (Green Line).

Teatralnaya Station is decorated with labradorite and white marble taken from the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Crystal lamps in bronze frames attached to the center of the room give the central hall a festive appearance. The vault of the central hall is decorated with bas-reliefs by Natyla Danko on the theme of theatre arts of the USSR, manufactured by Leningrad Porcelain Factory. These bas-reliefs are a series of fourteen different figures, each representing music and dance from various nationalities of the Soviet Union. 

Seven male and seven female figures attired in their national costumes are  performing an ethnic dance or  playing a distinctively ethnic musical instrument. The series includes Armenia, Belarussia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Back on the train, we head to Mayakovskaya station. Located 33 meters beneath the surface, this station became famous during World War II when an air raid shelter was located in the station. Alexey Dushkin's Art Deco architecture was based on a Soviet future as envisioned by the poet Mayakovsky. The station features streamlined columns faced with stainless steel and pink rhodonite, white and grey marble walls. In the ceiling there are a number of mosaics by Alexander Deyneka with the theme “24-Hour Soviet Sky”.

Mayakovskaya Station

Soviet Sky Mosaic

Soviet Sky Mosaic

Soviet Sky Mosaic

Staying on the Green Line, our next stop is Belorusskaya. The station is named after the nearby Belorussky Rail Terminal, from which westward trains towards Belarus and western Europe depart. The station is decorated with national Belarusian motives. 

Next we jump off the train at Novoslobodskaya (Brown Line). It is best known for its 32 stained glass panels, which are the work of three Latvian artists. At the end of the platform is a mosaic  entitled “Peace Throughout the World”.  

Next stop is Kurskaya (Blue Line). It is named for the Kursky railway station located nearby. Built in 1938, the station has tiled walls and gray marble pylons with sconce light fixtures and circular ventilation grills. Upstairs there is a spot for visiting musicians but sadly there were none there that day.

Two hours later and we are back where we started at Ploshchad Revolyutsii. The station opened in 1938, its architect was Alexey Dushkin. The station features red and yellow marble arches resting on low pylons faced with black marble. Each arch is flanked by a pair of bronze sculptures by Matvey Manizer depicting the people of the Soviet Union, including soldiers, farmers, athletes, writers, aviators, industrial workers, and schoolchildren.  
One of the bronze sculptures — a dog that accompanies a frontier guard — is believed to bring good luck if you rub its nose.

A rub for luck!

Moscow metro is famous not only for its exquisite design and interior but also for its unique trains. Nowadays there are  seven of them which have their own names. Some of them are dedicated to significant military campaigns and battles, others - to art and culture.

A train honouring the memory of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War The Christmas Train!

Another interesting Metro fact is the gender of the person announcing the station depends on the direction that you are going.  When you are taking a train to the center of Moscow you hear a male announcer. But as soon as you cross the city center you'll hear a female voice announcing stations. There's a good way to remember this - 'your boss calls you to work; your wife calls you home'. On the ring line the clock-wise direction is announced by the male voice, while counterclockwise direction is under the guidance of the fairer sex. This system was initially invented to help the blind. Listening to announcements you can find your way even if you don't understand the language.

The Metro tour finished, I have a couple hours to get ready for my next Xmas party! Saturday night’s festivities were co-hosted by Alex and Cat at one of the locations a bit farther afield. I grabbed the Metro mid-afternoon armed with some chips, guacamole, and small hostess gifts so I could help with last-minute preparations. Luckily, everything was done when I arrived so nothing to do but hang out, taste test the night’s delicacies and sample some punch.

Most of the Embassy descended on the party between 7:00 and 8:00 and the music and dancing started had the place rocking. There were some special guests including folks from other Embassies and

Canada’s next man in space – David Saint Jacques. What a great night of silliness to kick off the holiday season!

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!