When It Rains In Moscow.....

When it rains in Moscow you really don’t want to be outside. You might think it’s unpleasant to be outside anywhere in the rain. Moscow is different. Give some of the world’s pushiest and rudest people free use of a weapon – an umbrella – and it’s war. One day recently, we were out of groceries and I had to go to the store. Exhausted from traveling, I lost track of time. It was 5pm. Rush hour. You never walk the streets at rush hour. Not ever. Certainly not when Russians are wielding umbrellas. I entered a sea of colored umbrellas. All I saw was red. Potholes had already filled with water, so ladies in their stiletto heels were trying to sidestep the ponds, not caring who they had to push out of their way. Drunk men crashed their big boots directly into the puddles, splashing everyone around them. There were motor bikes. And children. And Russian babushkas blocking the sidewalks with their vegetable kiosks. And everyone… every last Russian… was navigating all this chaos with an umbrella in hand. I had to keep my eyes on each passer-by, so as not to find the corner of a pointy umbrella in my eye. It was war. The normally 20 minute walk became 35 as I fought through the crowds, dodging water-resistant weapons while trying not to step in every puddle. All this, while carrying my bags of provisions. The groceries were hopefully enough to sustain us until the rain was over, as I decided not to leave the house again. I felt like a wife on the prairie, provisioning for the hard winter, hunting and gathering against the forces of nature to feed my family. These are the things you think about when you’re walking home in the rain in Moscow. I made it back home and decided to stay in and tell you where we’ve been these last few months. It is safer inside. And now I’ll explain why there haven’t been any blog posts.

We have been lucky to travel almost constantly these last few months-it has been wonderful. Here are the highlights and a few photos.

London – February was mild there, no snow! We spent time with good friends and even got to Scotland which I count as a country but is technically part of the United Kingdom. (I’m always sad when I don’t get a new passport stamp.)

Portugal – We spent a week travelling the country with friends from New York. We went from Lisbon to Porto and a couple of small towns along the way. We tasted Port along the riverfront and ate al fresco in February.

Venice for Carnival – a great pre-Lent celebration! Not as crazy as New Orleans but full of food and music. Got lost repeatedly and took the water taxis all the wrong ways.

Quick stops in Slovenia, Paris and a romantic run to Casablanca to meet David while he spent over a month in North Africa covering the Arab Spring. With a quick stop in Brussels (think beer and chocolate) on the way home!

We had many wonderful visitors this spring and we travelled with many of them to St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Estonia, and Helsinki. I went alone to Oslo, and met a wonderful friend I had met in Italy 5 years ago. Then I found a $200 ticket to America by way of Copenhagen – one night there was better than none.

We got to return to London for the Royal Wedding! I wore a hat, drank lots of tea and shopped! Then we went straight from London to Kazakhstan – a normal travel route of course.

We made a last minute trip to Israel where we visited our good friend Alex who had just moved there and saw the Greene family at the same time-they were there for a conference. Tel Aviv was a blast and Jerusalem was fascinating.

Finally, we did Croatia for a week, with a one-night layover in Freising, Germany.

I am finishing this post en route to America on a United flight to DC for a very quick visit with family. We are fortunate. It was all amazing. But I might be a little tired now…..



Big Ben



Visiting old friends in Scotland

Portugal. Amazing.

Viva Carnival in Venice!



Casablanca



Cousins visit and tour St. Pete

Afternoon in Tallinn



Brave Ohioans visit when winter is still going strong



The Royal Wedding

Oslo



Helsinki



Estonia



Kazakhstan



Jerusalem

Israeli Food

The Western Wall



The music of Croatia