Wordless Wednesday

 

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Miniature city

The first 3 days of our 5 day weekend were largely consumed with chores. There were too many things that absolutely had to be done before I left next week. We got outside every day, but the outings were largely brief and close (major exception being shashlik ... it was important to me to do that one last time, and there's still a chance we might go one last, last time).

Today the sun was shining, and I just had to get out. I suggested we metro to Gorkovskaya and see if we could find the miniature replicas of the major buildings in Piter that's supposed to be behind the metro. If not, there's always Peter and Paul Fortress, the Artilliary Museum or the zoo. The kids love riding the metro, it could be an outing all on its own. So we threw some things into a bag and off we went. It is remarkably freeing to go out with the family with no stroller and everything we need fits into a large purse. As that was packed, however, I took my leather backpack.

I hadn't realized it was actually a miniature of the city. Shiny, polished marble represents the rivers and canals. Grassy areas are parks and a couple of the major ones, like the Summer Garden, had its polished marble "pond" laid out.  The buildings are where they are supposed to be. We read an article a couple of months ago about how this was a gift to the city but the city never did anything about it and vandalism was destroying the place. Today everything was cleaned up, if Spilled Blood lacked color, and a gentleman with a megaphone kept anyone from touching the displays. Or rather, he yelled at everyone as they touched the displays.

 It was warm enough to be without jackets in the sun. The kids had the best time running around town. Zoltan even got on his belly to "swim" in the Neva. We got lunch in a nearby cafe and home in time for nap only a little late.

Concert and Ballet and Hockey, oh my!

A couple of weeks ago we had what was for us a crazy busy weekend.

On Saturday, one of our Consulate colleagues performed in a cello concert (accompanied by a pianist - the teacher of several of the Consulate kids and a parent or two) at the CGR. Our game plan was that Terry and Alex would go and Z and I would stay home as it was naptime. Thus, I can't say much about the performance other than everyone reports it was very good and there is video I hope to view. When Z woke from his nap the first thing he said was "Can I bring doggie [stuffed animal] to the big house [CGR]?" So we went, hoping the concert had ended by the time we arrived. It had. So we got to hang out with

The next day we went to the children's ballet production of Sleeping Beauty at the Gorky Culture Palace out in a part of town where we had never been. Because the dancers were kids, some of the spectacular moves that make me love that ballet so much were toned down, but overall Alex and I enjoyed it, the boys got antsy.

We rushed home from there to get the kids a bit of naptime, because when we woke them we were off to hockey! Terry's been playing on an intramural type league and that Sunday evening was "skate with your kids" night. Alex couldn't participate as she was still in the cast and Zoltan was very eager outside the rink, very iffy inside. In the end Zoltan skated a tiny bit and we all got to see Terry play a bit and I got photos and video that will probably never see the light of day. A couple of the other kids inspired ours and they both said they want to skate more. I'm pretty sure Alex would have been on the ice if she could have. So, if we're here when they do another round, it will be another family night.

Wordless Wednesday

CKA Hockey - Playoffs

[Editor's note: this event took place 2, maybe 3 years ago. I edited the post to add labels. Somehow it re-posted as of today. Love technology]

Wow do they take their hockey seriously. We went to a playoff game on Defender's Day (aka Men's Day) and it was a great game. Spartak scored a tying goal with 3 seconds left on the clock, and CKA won in overtime. And we still got home in time for the sitter :)

Some interesting points.
1. The Moscow fans get their own section and it is blanketed with Policia (formerly militsa, in any case the riot police) The photo is from my phone so it isn't so good but there is literally a police officer sitting on either side of the aisle on every single row. Terry tells me they do this for every game, even when the other side only had 6 fans at the game. Wowsers.

2. There is a special CKA fan section, you need to be on some special list to even sit there. These folks are hard core, they have their special chants and arm movements, and the flags. Oh, the flags. I took some video of them cheering for something great the CKA did, I don't remember what. Enjoy.

Russians and their language

It is well known to people who have ever tried to speak Russian to a Russian that they are very particular about how their language is spoken. "Muttonburger" gets wide-eyed stares, "Moo-ton beurh-gher" get the waitress scribbling in her pad. So far as a I know every detsky sad has a speech pathologist who comes by to check that the kids are able to speak properly.

So it should come as no surprise that all over town for the last few months have been these billboards proclaiming:
"Let's Speak Like Petersburgians"

At first I had no idea what it was all about. T explained that it's meant for people who are not from Moscow/Piter but other Russian speaking countries or other parts of Russia who may not
speak "properly".


One billboard I saw a few months ago went through numbers. This one seems to have negotiation and worker type words (agreement, facilitate, draw/scoop, quarter/block ...  but then "utterly"?)

This vs. That

Last week Terry had training in Portugal. He did this:

Some beautiful building on the water

 Some beautiful monument on the water

A seagull eating a rat. Notice the water flows, as in it isn't ice

Ah, wine

Meanwhile, I was home with 2 kids who had just gotten over Daddy's last trip. Alex had all the medical issues going on. We did this:

Yep I let Zoltan have the camera. Heck, Terry doesn't like it (camera) anyway.

  Treat!

 They gave him that lollypop free. Alex's was red.

That sign says "Happy Phone" above the seafoam green telephone

 Playground at the detsky sad when we went to pick Alex up after our special day together

 Of course, Alex and I had to hit the same cafe on our special day.

 The tea here is amazing. And comes with a little cookie.

 Super heroes duking it out

79 days

We don't have actual orders yet so this is only proposed/theoretical. But the real day will be within days of the one we're aiming for. 79 days. After 4 years. Doesn't seem like enough time.

Happy International Women's Day

If I were allowed to put up photos all willy-nilly I'd share what Terry got for me before jetting off to Sweden, but you'll just have to know it's a sweet pot of very happy yellow flowers and I love them.

I'm also realizing that I haven't really said much about this holiday and this is now my 3rd one in Russia. It's essentially Valentine's Day and Mother's Day wrapped together but so much better because it is for every woman. Not just ones with kids or in relationships. Flowers, already a ridiculous racket in Russia, are given by everyone to everyone, seemingly. Restaurants get booked and the cafes have heart shaped treats or stunning cakes in honor of March 8.

At the Consulate, and I can only speak from experience for the one section I used to be part of, the gentlemen in the section put on quite a spread. They fill a table with different dishes, fruit and sweets, all for the women they work with. I hope/imagine this kind of thing goes on all around the country.

So, to all the women I know,

С Международным Днём Женщин

 

 

Awesomeness

Awesomness is the 5 year old helping the 3 year old learn his Russian poem for his school performance next week. She already has it memorized from Tuesday night when our nanny was helping him with it.

Russian Museum Member Evening

This year we have a membership to the Russian Museum. Between its physical convenience (30 minutes walking, or 25 minutes by metro/walking) and its convenient hours (open Mondays,the only major museum here to do so) it's been a fabulous thing to have.

The Russian Museum is technically comprised of 4 buildings and the Summer Garden (which is, for now, still free). Several times a year after the museums close for the night, Members are invited for an evening of art, music, food and drink.

This month we went to the Marble Palace, one of the buildings in which we'd never yet been. Just walking up was a sight, there's a good amount of marble on the facade. The evening featured a temporary exhibit so we didn't get to see many of the palatial rooms, but that just leaves something to go back for.  The exhibit was very modern, which was an interesting contrast to the 200-ish year old surroundings.

My favorite part was this glass sculpture that emitted tones as people moved around it or touched it. I am sad to say that I forgot to take photos of it.
There was a sign like this on the pedestal: 

And then hand written on the wall, in both English and Russia, with an arrow pointing to the sculpture, said "Please feel free to touch the glass."

So of course people touched it. And the dejournaya came and yelled at them for touching it.It was a bit like slapstick comedy.

We ran into a friend there, and when we went to find the bathroom she was at the garderobe (next to the bathrooms) getting her coat and offered us a ride, so we didn't stay for the lavish display of hors d'oeuvres that people were just starting to crowd around when we left the room, but they looked numerous and delicious and I hope the next evening will have a similar spread and we'll have to try it.

Instead, we hit Il Patio, which is a chain restaurant we visited for the very first time only about a year ago and now frequently return to because their pizzas are pretty good and the Caesar salad tastes just like a Caesar salad. I became a bit pre-melancholy about our return to the USA and the expense of housing and the 6 months we'll be living on one salary. We won't be able to have museum memberships or pay for a babysitter for a night out, or even logistically be able to go out on a Tuesday with the length of our commutes and the very shortened time we'll have with our children on a daily basis (as compared to now with our 15 minutes - 20 if we're feeling lazy - walk to the Consulate).

If the photos pass Terry's muster, we'll post some of the photos from the evening .... some day .... after he gets through all the Finland photos.

[Edited to add photos]

 

Grand Maket

More than a year after hearing rave reviews of this place, we FINALLY ventured down to the south side of town to see the miniature Russia exhibit "Grand Maket".

What the heck were we waiting for? We already have plans to go back at least twice - once with the kids and once just the adults. Including the short snack break, we were there more than two hours and everyone wanted to stay longer but daddy knew traffic might be bad and it was naptime.

The exhibit captures the environment and a bit of the culture from every major region in Russia, and has trains, cars, trucks, tractors, buses and maybe metros (we never saw them but there are 2 metro stations so maybe we weren't patient enough) running around. There's also planes, helicopters, hot air balloons, boats and more that are grounded; i.e. not moving. The terrain goes from the taiga to the mountains, from beaches to permafrost. Realistic down to the traffic jams and crazy construction, the exhibit absolutely blew us away. We even got to joke that we no longer lament never getting to Kizhi, as there was a miniature island with replica wooden buildings and I am sure Terry could have caught it at an angle that could have suggested we were actually there, sort of.

On the way to the exhibit there's a windowed workroom so you can see the engineers putting together trains and other parts of the exhibit. At the exhibit itself there are plenty of places where you can push a button and make things happen, from starting construction workers digging and jackhammering, to felling trees in the forest, to lighting up a lighthouse.

Here's a sample of what's to see...

A different kind of date day

We have recently started what I hope will be a monthly tradition, at least while I am still not working and the kids are still in preschool. On the first day, Alex and I brought Zoltan to school, then went off on a day of just the 2 of us.

First up - a treat at the local cafe, as it was only 9:30am and nothing we planned to do was open yet. Fortified, we went shopping for socks and tights as Alex seems to be going through a bit of a growth spurt. Then she chose trolleybus as our transport and we headed to the Russian Museum, where we have a membership.


Above she is showing me which picture is her favorite in the room. We played that game to get her to actually look at each piece of art, not just run from one room to the next.

After only about 40 minutes she was whining she was hungry - art apreciation does work up an appetite - so back on went all our winter gear and we headed out in search of lunch.

Here she is doing some coloring while I finished eating. She didn't like her plain pasta (?!?!?!) but she did like my soup - as I thought she might - so she wasn't hungry.

For getting home she chose the metro, and by the time we got home it was naptime, she was so exhausted she said she was looking forward to it! Her nap was surprisingly short, so we had time for a pedicure and a full High-5 magazine before going to pick up Zoltan. Usually with the magazine we only have time for a few of the stories, so going all the way through one is a decently big deal.

Zoltan and I had our date day later. I had planned a day of trying out all the local transits - bus, tram, metro, etc but he actually insisted in recreating Alex's day. So we brought Alex to school and off we went to the metro to go to the museum.

Learning from past mistakes, we went for treat/snack after getting off the metro, right before heading to the museum.  In the museum, he first whined about not wanting to carry his backpack, and wanting a snack, every 5 minutes. Eventually, though, he got into it. It might be because I let him carry the camera, and even take some photos. I'll have to remember that for my next outing with Alex. Unfortunately, Terry the Photographer deleted every damn one. I thought it was pretty cute that he got the bottom half of every painting and a bunch of the wall/floor. Terry was not amused.

We had gotten yelled at by a dejournaya for getting too close to one of the paintings.She said we couldn't go any closer than the "line" on the floor ... here's Zoltan carefully checking to see he's on the right side of it.

And a photo of him in front of a favorite painting.

For the return trip home, he wanted to take the trolleybus - basically a reverse of what Alex and I had done. Then he decided he didn't want to have lunch in a cafe but instead to go home for PB and J. Soon after lunch began he told me he wanted to go to nap and not finish lunch. Sure thing, baby!

Sennaya Ploschad haul

In the regular grocery stores right now, we can choose from apples, pears, oranges, and mandarins. And some globe grapes that aren't worth the necessary de-seeding for the littles.

Today we ventured to Sennaya for the first time in a long time. We got: 2 kilos kish-mish grapes; 1.5 kilos finger bananas (first time ever seeing them in Piter!); 1 kilo mandarin; 1 mango; 2 kilos granat; 2 kilos apples; 1.5 kilo pears; 1 kilo plums; and 1 fruit item I had never seen before but described to me as like an apple and sweet (1 piece was 1/2 kilo). Veggie-wise we didn't get as much, but still the kilo of zucchini, half kilo of winter squash, pack of snow peas will get us partway through the week.

Because the kids get up so early, we're in and out and back home by 10:30am, so no traffic, no parking troubles. It's a good day, and I can't wait to gobble up the fruit salad.

Ice skating @ Elagin

Both kids have been talking about skating lately. This is due partly to the partial thaw then re-freeze of the city a few weeks ago, which rendered all sidewalks mini-rinks. But, as Terry is hell-bent on getting Zoltan into hockey, the day will have to come sooner or later that he dons skates and hits the ice (hoping, of course, not to really "hit" the ice too hard or too often).

Elagin island - already our family favorite place - has a free, open, outdoor ice rink. I think in the summer they just call it "ground" or maybe "pond". Terry and Alex already have skates, so for the price of 400 rubles to rent skates for Z and me for an hour, the family had a great morning! Both kids said they wanted to go again, although Zoltan said another day - not again today.

 Lunch ended up taking forever so we didn't get home until deep into normal nap time, and both kids had fabulous naps. There's nothing like fresh air and exercise :-)

Puppet show

Our last "big thing" for the long week was a trip to the puppet show with a friend. The show was a riff off The Nutcracker, with a similar theme of a girl loves her Christmas gift nutcracker, dreams of him being real and there's a fight with the mouse king, but there the similarities end. The theatre did a great job of moving between puppets and actors, and employing some other media forms - at one point we saw a very short film about the history of the animosity between the nutcracker-prince's family and the mice. It involved kielbasa.

After the show there was the obligatory Ded Maroz sighting, and the actors were available for photos. The children also did some singing and dancing and as usual, although my kids knew the songs perfectly, they had no intention of joining in. No worries, they were happy spectators.

Christmas Market

There's an annual Christmas market held off Nevsky for the weeks surrounding and including the January holiday. We went last year, but the kids were small and we had gone at night and in the end we didn't stay long and didn't do much.

This year we went early in the day, which was a benefit for many reasons. The crowds were much smaller. We noticed the honey stalls and got to spend some time tasting the various kinds, although as usual we bought the white honey. Oh goodness will we miss Russian honey when we return home!

Then off to the rides. They had a merry go round and a few other preschooler-appropriate rides. Alex definitely has the thrillseeker in her, she'll go on all the roller coasters with Terry one day. Zoltan was visibly thrilled on the train ride. I think I see train adventures in our future - a stop in Jim Thorpe for sure during home leave!

 We were all starting to get cold, so each kid got to choose a treat and off for home we went. We didn't notice Zoltan fall asleep, but he still had a piece of his cookie in his hand when he awoke back home. It was just the thing to keep him happy as we had to wake him, get him out of the stroller and out of his winter gear. Unfortunately, it seems the 10 minute nap so refreshed him that he didn't sleep during naptime. Rough all around.

Umnikum

The science museum in the mall is still awesome, and the kids again were entertained for the entire 2 hours we were there until everyone started getting hungry and grumpy. It is small, though, and our annual trip is probably often enough.

One surprise hit was that Zoltan loved the planetarium show. We sat through it 3 times. He also couldn't get enough of the exhibit where he got to "make a crater" by pressing a button that released a "meteor" onto a flat dusty ground. Boom! about a hundred times. The magnets were their usual hit, with each kid returning to that exhibit a few times.

There's also a huge foam ottoman-height seat that we let Zoltan bounce around on. Because we don't have a bouncy castle as home he could use or anything.

 Of course we got no photos of the things the kids loved the most, we were too busy doing stuff with them.