Russia vs. Belgium: The Chocolate Edition

The FS Swap is an awesome concept created by a blogger currently in Moscow. As I'm newly active in the blogging community (well, "this year" new)it was the first time I'd heard of it and I was thrilled and excited to sign up for it.

In the sign-up thread, a blogger in Belgium mentioned she needed to be matched with a chocolate-lover because, duh, she'll be sending treats from the [alleged] world capital of chocolate goodness. She phrased it better. I replied she needed to be introduced to the joys of Russian chocolate. And thus, the chocolate taste test was born. We weren't matched with each other for the swap, but we each sent off our favorite chocolate to the other to try.

The contenders
Yeah, silly ol' me didn't think to photograph the goods until most of the Belgian had already been eaten. But it is still clear to see the concept.

The verdict
Presentation: Belgium hands down. Look at this pretty box and beautiful pieces of chocolate with the name of the chocolate's source.

Texture:  Belgium. It is completely smooth.
Flavor: Russia.

Sokos Flamingo (Helsinki, Last)

On our return, we couldn't find any better flight routings than the one that had us overnighting in Helsinki. As it's been 3 years since our last Finland trip, we decided it was as good a plan as any and started looking for appropriate lodging for 1 night, arriving in the afternoon and departing around lunchtime (ha! but that's another story).

Sokos Flamingo Hotel is 3.4km from the airport and located within a mall. The family rooms (which number more than half of all hotel rooms) come with the standard European two-double-beds-pushed-together-but-not-fooling-anyone-this-isn't-a-king and ... wait for it ... Murphy bunk beds. The kids were tickled pink to get to sleep in bunk beds, and when they weren't in use we could fold them back up into the wall. Gold Star #1.

The regular city bus that went to the airport also stopped about 100ft from the door of the hotel. Check-in was fast, and at the desk is a little stepstool for little ones to participate if they want. Gold Star #2.

Although we didn't participate, they have a waterpark in the hotel and I think there's deals if you stay at the hotel. I know when we ended up at Hesburger that evening there's a window into the waterpark so the patrons can get their burgers. Gold Star #3

At breakfast there's a "children's" table with, among other things, pancakes and Cocoa Puffs and child sized bowls, plates, and silverware. Right next to it is the Gluten-free table which may be coincidence but I liked that kids with food intolerances had their cereal and cookies right next to the other kids'. Gold Star #4.

The mall the hotel is located in has 2 grocery stores. Prizma in Helsinki is like Target (which now makes the Prizmas here look so sad and small). We ended up buying the kids' raingear there because the prices were so reasonable and for the first time the kids got to choose what they wanted rather than just get handed whatever we - or Bubby - ordered for them. Gold Star #5.

And the best Gold Star of all:  there's a children's playroom place where, for a daily fee of 6 Euros (Zoltan) and 12 Euros (Alex), minus the 20% for staying at the hotel, the kids can run and jump and play and climb to their hearts' content. The tables for adults to hang out have a full supply of magazines. I even got to catch up on some woman's fashion magazine from 6 months ago in English while the kids entertained themselves. Because Finnair changed our flight to be 5 hours later than the one we booked, we had a lot more time on Sunday to kill and I really don't know what we would have done if this place hadn't existed. Oh and if they hadn't opened 2 hours earlier than usual due to the Finnish school holiday this week - it normally doesn't open until noon. Sadly, there was a camera mishap so there isn't a single photo, but here's a link to the place's web site: http://www.naurusaari.fi/galleria.

Wordless Wednesday

This means "I miss him"

The kids prefer me. This isn't any kind of secret, because kids are also tactlessly and brutally honest. Sometimes, I have to imagine parenting isn't exactly fun and games for Terry.

However.

He was away this long, long, kids-home-from-school-for-3-days long weekend.  Zoltan has been potty trained decently well since he was 2, and has averaged no more than one accident a month for a good 6 months. He peed his pants Every. Single. One. Of. The. Four. Days. Daddy. Was. Gone.

When you're parenting your kids solo, the hours between bedtime and wakeup are especially precious. And, apparently, especially rare. Each night Terry was gone the kids took a solid hour to settle down and go to sleep ... heck I don't know if they were asleep but they stopped calling for me so I'll take it. They also fell immediately out of their previously and only recently acquired habit of not waking until 8am or later. Oh no, 7am is good enough for them now!

Not getting enough sleep makes people crabby. Especially children who haven't quite learned to articulate their emotions yet. The bickering, squabbles, just plain being mean to each other was about to drive me crazy and one morning the kids were informed that I was taking them outside to play because they were driving me crazy. Not my proudest moments but I managed not to say anything really damaging to them so I call it a win. They sometimes fight going out, but it is an instant mood booster for them and it's a double whammy because it is an instant mood booster for me too, so everyone is happier. Until one kid reaches the front door before the other and then everything is a trauma again.

From the moment Terry walked back in that door, the kids became the sweetest, most loving, most affectionate children one could wish for.  Oh how I dread his next business trip.

Zoltan-isms

Tonight, we were looking at the clock while I held him after he 'had a bad dream' 5 minutes after I put him down. He was reading the numbers out loud to me - he's working hard at reading them correctly as he's inclined to start on the right, not the left. After the number changed and he read it to me, he then said "I think the 3 is going to catch the 2".

When stretching his arms as wide as he can, he doesn't say "I love you this much" but instead "I love you this hugs."

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

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

Ivalo Airport

Ivalo is a very small city - with 4000 people, no university and no full-scale hospital it barely earns its 3-gate airport.

BUT, in that tiny space they find room for a children's play area. And once my kids found it, they quieted down.  That's the other point I want to make about making airports more friendly towards children - it makes the children more "friendly" to adults, by getting them happy and out of the way.

Here's the one photo that Terry allowed me to keep even though it is horribly out of focus. I promised him I would make it very clear in this post that he does not authorize this photo and wishes I would delete it.

The thing in the foreground is a kiddie sized table with two wooden puzzles on it. There were also 2 plastic bins with toys and books.

The family sees the light (Finland cont'd)

Our 3rd night we were on the schedule for the entire family to go to the aurora camp to try to catch a peek at the lights. We hemmed and hawed a bit about whether we should really bring the kids and in the end decided the sky was clear and it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Nobody remembers why Terry opened the door about 30 minutes before we needed to leave for the adventure, but after a moment's glance outside we started bundling everyone up at lightening speed. The aurora was out!!!

We got no photos as the camera was all packed up for the trip, but we got outside with enough time to show the kids and to watch for 5 minutes or so before heading to the meeting point. And no, I don't have faulty math. It takes a while to get all that clothing on.

We thought we did a super job bundling the kids up this time, but Alex did complain a bit about being cold. The nice part of the aurora camp is there is a field house with a fire going and people poke in and out to see what's going on. Terry and I traded off being inside and outside, but as we let the kids bring their LeapPads they couldn't have cared less if we were there or not.

The aurora never showed up as well as it had in the earlier evening.  We got a couple of photos that show it faintly, but the clouds started appearing soon after we got to the camp.  We ended up calling it a night earlier than the planned return time, apparently that's common when the weather just plain sucks.

Here's the one I took. And at least the kids got to see it, although they are not likely to remember it as they really didn't seem to care.

 

Husky dogsled ride

Alex: tights, corduroy pants, regular socks, ski socks, long sleeved T shirt, hoodie, her own Lands End snowpants and jacket, the hotel-provided Finnish brand coverall-type snowsuit. Estonian super warm hat. Scarf double wrapped around her face. Mittens.
 

Zoltan: just about the exact same gear.
 

Lynne: Longjohns, polartec fleece ski pants, jeans, long sleeved T shirt, flannel shirt, thick wool sweater. hoodie. Two pair of ski socks (one thicker than the other). Hotel-provided coverall snowsuit. Hotel-provided lined leather mittens.

We did have to open the door to our little apartment while we were bundling up but, I'll be honest, there were a couple of points when we were having our snack and petting the dogs that we all got cold. Yup, that's what I said. And mind you, we are people who spend an hour at the playground when it is -20C in Piter.

We have precious few photos from the day and nothing of the dogs in action. This is because Terry was busy hanging on and Lynne had two little heads right where she would normally hold a camera. And besides, it was extra super cold while the dogs were running and my hands would freeze right off and then I would probably drop the camera.

But we do have some photos from the day. The kids enjoyed the ride but they liked petting the dogs even more!

  Doggies getting a rest

 

                                                                                         

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.

The Northern Lights

Here are a few more photos of the Aurora Borealis from our recent trip.  It was a short light show both nights but quite wonderful.  Hope you enjoy.

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]

 

Reindeer Herding day

On our second day in Finland we went out with the reindeer herder and got to feed the reindeer. We also got to see Russia. It didn't look any different from Finland.

There isn't too much to say about that day - we planned badly and didn't dress the kids warmly enough, even though we wrapped her in blankets and a reindeer hide Alex got very cold and didn't truly warm up til we got to the fire for lunchtime, so we spent a lot of time worried.

Here's the kids at the beginning of the day, still warm and happy and playing in the snow while the older folks learned how to throw a lasso.

 And here they are feeding the reindeer.

 

Wordless Wednesday

The first day

We were up unfortunately early for how late we all got to bed, and of course all bellies grumbled. We got some coffee into the adults and granola bar into the kids and by the time we were dressed and coherent it was time for breakfast. During breakfast one of the staff members asked me what the kids eat for dinner, so they could be sure to have something on hand they'd eat. More on that later.

After breakfast we got the kids and me our gear - the place provides snowsuits, hats, boots, pretty much everything. The gear is good, but it turns out for a modestly warm day like today (only -2C) Lands End does just as well. The Kamik boots kept the kids' tootsies warm and I have to give a shout out - some of the resort's boots are Sorels, which have been the other boot we've used and recommended.

The morning was meant to be cross country skiing. Between Zoltan's faulty skis and the complexity of the activity the kids quickly dropped out. No matter, the experience started on the lake out the back of the resort, and the tobaggans and sledding hill were feet away. In essence, we waited for the group to return and got a bunch of runs in. You can see how happy the kids were!

 Having so much fun, in fact, that nobody thought to give them (or ask for) a snack. So a ravenous, about-to-grump group entered the dining area. We quickly load the kids up with rice, bread and fruit and I notice the only hot meal offered is a cabbage roll ... with pork. I ask if there's anything else as I don't eat pork and they say they will do something for me. I am a bit skeptical about what exactly will happen, and start to load up on salad and rice. And then, as the kids are pretty well finished with their meals, a delicious chicken curry appears at our table. Terry gladly helped me eat it.

After lunch we had to rush a bit to get everyone on the potty and back into snow gear for the afternoon activity - snowshoeing. So. Much. Fun. Zoltan this time agreed to hang out on the sled, and Alex made it about halfway before she also wanted a ride.

Here's Alex eating snow. I think this place has never seen tourists like us. When the guide heard Alex was eating snow her response was "No, you don't want to do that, it's very cold!" Um, for my kids, -2C is not cold.

 Bliss!

Laundry!

What I will not miss about living overseas: the teensy tiny "practice" washing machine and dryer with forever-long cycles. We were away for 6 days. There was exactly 1 potty mishap requiring a spare set of clothing (OK there were 2, one was today). The washing machine has been run continuously for just shy of 14 hours. We still have a load left. Aaaaruugh!

The hunt for the aurora

When we wandered off the airplane into the velvety black night and headed toward the building of the airport, we were pretty well done. It had been a long day of travel, especially for a mere 2.5 flight hours (I may have mentioned this previously).

Right at the entrance of the arrivals area were several people holding signs for the people they were meeting and bringing to hotels. None bore my name. I started to worry. Terry went to get the bags and I went to find the phone number of the hotel, hoping that our ride was simply running late. I watched a couple of guys hustling into the building and, yep, one had our sign. Huge sigh of relief.

We were at the hotel before 8pm, and the night runs went out at 9:30. During dinner one of the guides came by to tell us the aurora was starting, very faint but you could see something in the sky if you knew what to look for. We abandoned our dinner and ran out, but it was truly faint and we did not know what to look for. But, it gave us hope for the rest of the night.

After dinner was a race to get the tired grumpy kids to bed, which required a decent bit of unpacking to find pajamas and such. For the first time, they did not stay up chatting when put to bed in the same room. They were beyond exhausted.

Terry had gone out with the group with a promise to SMS me if the aurora put on its show. I unpacked as much as possible, organized things and by 10:30pm local time (midnight thirty to my body) I decided I was done.

No sooner had I lay down when the phone started to sing. Aurora! I threw on my coat, boots and hat and ran outside to see what I could see. At first it was nothing much, a faint fuzziness that could have been clouds moving around had the night not been so clear. I texted back that it was here but faint. Then I looked up again and saw a brilliant streak of green move across the sky. And more.

We both got to see the aurora on the first night here ... the rest is just icing on the cake. And what icing!

Helsinki airport

We did our research and knew Helsinki airport had 4 children's play areas. Two were within an easy distance of our next gate so we wandered toward the farther one, as we had 3 hours to kill.

Small, but very well done. Here's some photos.

Note to American airports and businesses catering to children:  In most of the major airports in our country, there are plenty of pockets of dead space about the same size as this play area. This one was sponsored by a manufacturer of winter clothing, they had their logo everywhere and also had stacks of their catalog within the rooms. Brilliant. If we ever end up anywhere cold enough again, we are likely to buy this company's products. It's a huge win-win situation.

But I digress. We gave the kids about an hour in the one place, then moved them to the closer-to-out-gate space, which was a bit smaller. Between the play areas, eating, and watching planes come and go, the time passed quickly.

We left the house around 11am local time, and got to the hotel 11 hours later. A bit annoying as we were only in the air about 2.5 hours, but it gave us a dry run for our PCS and other future trips and I am so proud and amazed at how far the kids have come as travellers. We had a Trunki and a roller bag for their carry-ons and they actually fought over who got to roll the roller bag rather than who got to sit on the Trunki. Their moods stayed relatively good even as naps got missed and healthy food not eaten. Because we knew we didn't have a lot of airtime and the airports were entertaining enough we brought little in the carry-ons - little enough that just about every snack got eaten and just about every toy played with. Success!

Wordless Wednesday

He can add!

Alex is our smartypants in the family. At 5, she speaks 2 languages, reads a bit in both, and can do addition, subtraction and multiplication. She's serious and extremely reserved, often shying away from friends she warmly speaks of in absentia, when confronted with their actuality.

Zoltan seems destined to be the charmer. He has an infectious laugh and easygoing personality. At 3 he can't identify the letter "A" (but he does know "Z").

Today we played a bit after school in the school playground. As my usual rule when I want to get them home, I gave them each 5 pushes on the swing. Alex was first. As I called out "three!" on her third push Zoltan looks at me and says "So she has two more."

There is hope!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Fasnacht Day

I hope everyone is enjoying a happy Fasnacht Day!

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!

Go Fish a whole new way

Today the kids got mint tea with honey at breakfast. Of course, it was served in their photo mugs, and somehow those mugs morphed into the day's beverage vessel, moving into water after the tea and later juice. At snack time the kids invented a "go fish" type game where one would ask the other if he or she had a particular color on the mug's handle (Alex's handle is a bunny with a carrot, Zoltan's is a snake).

At dinner, they continued the game. They also, as usual, ate the food they knew and liked and ignored the rest. When Zoltan asked for a color Alex didn't have and she said "go fish" I said "that means you have to take a bite of dinner." Without protest he did! And not too long later, the plate was empty.

Trying to stay one step ahead of these kids is exhausting!

Wordless Wednesday (Oops Thursday)