Out and About

Major events of the day: Countdown to Court 4 of 7, A Little More Shopping, Dinner with Friends, and An Evening Stroll

Sorry about the late post today. It’s well after 11 pm local as we write this entry since we had a long dinner with friends and didn’t get back to the apartment until after 10:30.

This afternoon was cool, but according to Masha, still unusually warm for this time of year. Since it was so nice, we went out and took a few more photos, capturing the Skif sign which we didn’t post yesterday (now posted in yesterday’s entry). We’ve also seen several American cars, such as a couple PT Cruisers, a Hummer H1, a Dodge Ram Pickup, and even a new yellow VW Beetle (we weren’t quick enough with the camera to catch that one). There are also several cars sporting a license plate bracket with “In God we trust” on it. We’ll keep our eyes peeled and camera ready to capture that one too. We also saw a store called "Amigo" across from the Skif which sells furniture. Notice the every-present steam pipes running right through the building?

LB will be able to wear his jeans to court Wednesday. They’re a little darker color and he has a nice shirt and shoes to go with them. LG was another story. Although our attorney says that jeans are fine for her too, we wanted to dress her up a little as well, so this afternoon’s adventure was an off-campus trip for some shopping. Again, Masha the holder of great knowledge in the shopping department took us to a nice store with reasonable prices where we found a skirt ensemble that is dressy enough for court, but casual enough for everyday wear. Bill even helped by selecting a perfect pair of boots from the shelf which completed the look.

Then it was time to reward LB’s efforts in English with a stop at the Bliney Café. (Recall his efforts in forming a complete sentence yesterday…) What a tasty treat! “Blineys” are Blintzes, a thin pancake/crepe with various fillings or toppings. They even make a bliney pizza if you’re that adventurous. There were many families ducking in and out, so it must be a very popular thing to do with the kids. We’ll have to look for something similar back home.

After Blineys we headed back to the apartment to unwind for a bit until we had to return to the RBS. Being Saturday with no school tomorrow, we were able to keep them a bit longer. Both wanted to know if they could stay overnight. Sadly, not yet. Soon though! Masha was quite surprised at the unexpected question. Although the kids don’t dislike the RBS, it’s obvious they like being with us more.

They accepted the answer and quickly moved on to other activities. It was only a couple minutes before they discovered our back-up camera and a toe-to-toe photo shoot ensued. LG eventually commandeered the camera while LB dove into the computer. Both had a great time, and soon the time to return was at hand. Side note: LG was REALLY enjoying the shortbread cookies we found at the Nan (HAH) store yesterday. No doubt they’re one of her favorites. On the short trip back to the RBS we made plans to come early tomorrow and have lunch at the apartment. They both want to watch Spiderman even though the copy we have is only in English (we brought that one from home). The fall-back will be Night in the Museum (in Russian with English subtitles). And if the weather cooperates, we’ll even get out in the park for a bit.

Another great day for the record book.

After dropping off the kids and returning to the apartment, it was time to dash off to meet with Suzanne and Hilton to celebrate completion of their 14 days of bonding on Thursday. It was a nice evening walk to the Slovenian Inn and this time, the English menus re-appeared (we think Marina and Irina were having fun with us last time). It was a most enjoyable meal and because there was an empty table, we lingered and talked over coffee and more water. The coffee was very good, but even better with a shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream added in. We could have stayed there a while longer, but there are blogs to write and bedtime was approaching.







Although cooling off, it was still a very nice evening and we noticed that the Dept of Ed and the statues across from it were lit, so Bill captured a couple nice night shots. We said our goodbyes and headed back toward the apartment. Cathe thought it would be nice to add this picture of a tree stump in the middle of the sidewalk. We haven’t figured it out. Maybe they’re waiting for the stump to rot away before repairing the sidewalk?