Moscow - celebrating September/October Birthdays - Part 4

A new addition - Videos - Give them time to work and you can enjoy a few minutes with my Russian Team.

Moscow - celebrating September/October Birthdays - Part 3

Moscow - celebrating September/October Birthdays - Part 2

Moscow - celebrating September/October Birthdays

Mostly gave my camera up for the evening - let others catch some shots. I am a one setting kind of guy - and not serving me too badly. They all seemed to have a need to adjust the settings - not many to choose from, but they needed to test the camera out. They are not our best picture moments, or focuses, but thought you would enjoy a few moments of our Friday evening fun celebrating together. I often look better in a blur.

We have moments of Valia in the kitchen making fabulous eats, our in-house massage therapist showing us men how to dance after she very profesionally performed on her own, and the multi-sceen production where many of us were doing improv, miscellaneous moments around the rest of the party - and hookahs, music, darts, dance, food and frolic our usual stuff...........and so much of it out of focus - makes me look better!

Enjoy us, the pictures and hopefully some videos! The first video attachments - let's hope they work.

Got my first video posted - not sure how we did it - a couple more to follow - if it seems the same as the next watch - different camera.

Saint Paul - Danny had a birthday and I missed the party

Danny had a birthday and Dawit hosted the party host...............Lindsay must have been a party crasher. A good threesome! And then Scott moved in - WOW. No doubt lots of stories to explore with all this.

Moscow - cold, grey but always another new neighborhood to discover

It was cold today - that winter kind of feel. Fortunately all that came down was rain.
Another hair cut day - same place - another new cutter - another new adventure - hard to make my cut look bad..................and it grows.
After I was looking good I headed off for the day.
Moscow has some similarities to the Twin Cities - a river winds through both and it defines where things are and how you get around. The Moscow River is everywhere and impacts how you get from A to B just like getting from one side to the other in Minnesota.
The grey and gloomy weather certainly seemed to reflect all the action in Rochester Minnesota. On Thursday they checked my mother into the hospital to get her and her heart back on track.............after pounds of water and many hours of sleep, in the hospital, they sent her home for the weekend to come back on Monday for the next round of upgrades. That can take the gloom out of a long grey Moscow weekend!
So far my winter experiences here have all been grey and gloomy - but has kept the extreme cold out. I assume that if it goes in to the world of horrible cold, like Minnesota, it will be bright and sunny.
I have to work on the alternative route to walking - a couple tram rides can get me there - have to find the ticket booths first!
I had a few battery problems today so lost some things and upon review not sure the grey gloomy day reflects the interesting neighborhood near Kievskaya - but expect I will be back that way again one day so you can enjoy from another perspective.
Abbey - like 5 - 7C here today.........getting colder and colder.

Moscow - Cows on the road

If you grew up in the midwest part of the US at some point, or often, you would find cows, pigs, horses, chickens or whatever wandering or filling the road as you approached. They have a way of finding a way out - even if it is just a small break in the fence.
Now Moscow is a mega or monster city - well over 10 million people. I arrived back on Sunday night and my driver decided to take the back route into the city since the main road was overloaded with vehicles - a 24 hour a day condition here. And when there is weather it only gets worse. So off we went. I have traveled this route many times. Lots of trees, houses and businesses. And on this trip a herd of cows wandering around on the road in the dark.
Certainly the closest thing so far to a Minnesota moment as I have had since my first trip to the City.
We had a couple visitors from our Madrid Office in for a client meeting - had the perfectly trendy Moscow night out. You know it is a "hot" spot if it includes sushi, no matter what the cuisine, hookahs and the World Fashion Channel. Our group was a perfect mix - a Brit living in Madrid, a Russian living in Madrid, a Dane living in Moscow and a stray American wandering the streets of Moscow. And we threw in great tradtional Russian food and Russian couples dancing around us! What could be better - maybe cows on the road on the walk home! Would beat the stray dog pack I run across from time to time.

Barcelona - fall days along the Mediterranean Sea

A few days of grey and rain and then the sun came out on Friday and stayed into Saturday. Great walks along the coast and dinner in a great little spot surrounded by the sea and you can see it all from the second level.

Everyone was out. And the cruise ships all seemed to come in so it the City was full of people all day. I decided to hang in the neighborhoods and just quietly wander and enjoy the sun and the quiet - or at least the weekend grind in the neighborhood. Ran across a drum band moving through the streets and atracting a crowd - heard it for blocks and blocks before our paths crossed.

Moscow - the perfect fall weekend

A perfect October weekend. The leaves are in their last moments of color. The street sweepers are doing multiple sweeps a day, with their "wicked witch of the west" brooms, and it was warm and sunny.
Like me, I met up with many other Muscovites in one of the parks. The park was full. Sokolniki Park is in the center part of the city. It abuts a very large national park. I have been eyeing a bike at the local sports shop - hoping it goes on late season sale for next spring.
This par, Sokolniki, is a full service facility - amusement park, restaurants, exhibition halls, sports arena and miles and miles of paths for doing everything. And absolute solitude. I wandered off and you very quickly appreciate the quiet and serenity.
As one of the world's monster cities, Moscow never sleeps and quiet in not a word that I think of often when I think of being here. In the park it was queiet and calm. You could find your own little piece of the forest to just sit, take in the sun and enjoy the quiet - and there was more than enough room for all of us that wanted to enjoy those moments. Picnics everywhere.
And as I wandered I came across another church, all wood, in the middle of the trees. Very much like the others but with a rustic interior design - no brass but lots of wood and ceramic structures with all the pictures and candles.
On my wander home I stopped at a kiosk for some water and a young guy from Belarus stopped me after heard me fumbling around inside and wanted to walk with me and practice his English. I am not sure he understood I was going to keep walking and walking. We had a great chat. He wants to get a job with an English speaking Company when he finishes his architectural studies. His English teacher told him to find people to talk to. It is always a challenge because they so often learn British English here so the Midwestern USA sound is almost another language.
He has Australia in mind as a spot to go when he finishes up - smart young guy!
And just like all the other kiosks on the street I ran across a small old church in the middle of the road - must have been the first kiosk here.