Folks…I’m goint to try adding pictures in for today’s blog. I’m having to do this over a shaky phone line.. so.. I apologize if the pictures are all crammed together

I just added the pictures from yesterday’s blog.. so please go take a look. I apologize for my uneven postings, but getting to an internet connection is really tough here. The place is very technically advanced but for some reason wireless internet is just not that common. There’s no internet of any kind in the hotel rooms… but you can get wireless if you go down and sit in the lobby. That involves paying the equivalent of $20US for an hour of use . Then you need to use the service from one of the sofa’s in the lobby.. which you have  to share with the many ladies of the evening that seem to work the hotel. It’s a weird and unwholesome scene.  So.. I’m doing my blogging from work.

 

   So speaking of blogging… where was I ?    Let me start from last night. Just after I posted yesterday we were hustled into a bus and began the 40 minute drive to the hotel. All of us were exhausted and we took turns falling asleep mid sentence. The drive through the city was pretty interesting…

   The Hotel Metropol is quite nice. (every eastern European city I’ve evr been in has a ‘Hotel Metropol’ )  It looks just like you think an eastern European  grand hotel would look. It has lots of dark  corners to hide in and lots of mysterious  looking people hanging around. You can imagine a century of Communist Party officers walking these halls…

 

The hotel as it looked 100 years ago

Another guest, Leo Tolstoy

My humble room

The spooky hallway outside my room

After a quick freshen up, we walked across the street to an Italian restaurant. There were 14 of us including my Academy friends (Hugh, Mike, Kelly, Phillipe, Lori, Charlie, Takeo-San, Jane, Edie, Karl-Heinz, Robert, Guru, Fukanaga-san, John. Joanne, Steve, Caroly, and Deb) We were joined by some friends from other cites including Marcel and Stephan, Francesca, and Esther , Andreas from Slovenia and Christian from Vienna. Christian and I figured out that we lived only 2 doors away  from each other in 1979 when I lived in Vienna. at 42 Graf Starhembergasse . I gave him a SamStone to take to the Erol’s who still live there. I also gave a SamStone to Marcel to take to my friend Bhavna in Zurich.      The food and conversation were great. I just love being with these folks. In order to fit in better, we bought a liter bottle of Vodka.As they say ” When in Rome….. “

 

Weirdness on the menu

This one’s for you Vickie !

Huh ?

We toasted Sam

Dangerous stuff… tastes like water !

here goes

Nastarovie !

Everybody smokes here..

My Halo

Back to beer

Good dark beer.. tasted like chocolate

After dinner we wandered a block down the street to Red Square, home of the Kermlin, Lenin’s Tomb and St. Basil’s Cathedral. I remember grainy movies of uniformed party members watching a parade of tanks from the bleachers n this very square. Nothing could have prepared my for the beautiful and peaceful scene that greeted me last. It was really breathtaking.. It was a beautiful night with a few stars starting to blink on in a deep blue late afternoon color sky… funny thing was that  this afternoon sky was happening at 10:30 at night.!  Lori, Hugh and I walked around for about an hour

Here are some of the pictures from last night..

he old GUM State store.. now a very upscale department store in red square

All the crosses were replaced with stars after WWII

GUms again

Random cool building on Red Square

Lori and Hugh

An Icon over the gate to the square

St. Cyril’s (wow !)

The gates

Random cool roof thingys

Lenin’s tomb

St Cyril’s domes

St Cyrils around 10PM !

OK.. I lied it was 10:40 PM Note the color of the sky !

Da moon !

Can’t get enough of htis one.. St Cyrils that is..Hugh’s OK too

Tossed a Samstone in here.. Made me happy and sad

The Bollshoi Ballet under repair

My twin Karl Marx (for you Glenn !)

The metro sign

Stand on this and through a coin over your sholder and something good is supposed to happen.. at least it did for the person who cautgh my coin

 I tossed a SamStone into the grounds of St. Basil’s. It made me happy and sad.
It was still twilight at 11:30 when I went in. I made a feeble attempt to try and get on the internet, gave up and fell instantly asleep… There’s no better sleep than jetlagged sleep.. Ahh.

 

I slept through until 6:30. I got up and immediately went downstairs for a run. I took a quick jog around the Kremlin… which is about 1.5 miles around.. I’ll tell you one thing.. Russians are not early risers. The streets were still deserted when I went in around 7.

After a quick shower I ran downstairs for a very expensive.. but very tasty breakfast.. then a half hour ride to IBM. The day here has been pretty productive.. In addition to the Academy work were doing, we had some good meetings  with some recent hires and met with the communications folks here.   I love meeting new people . it reminds me why I really love IBM…

     I gotta pretend to be paying attention again so I should go. I just heard from Diane that it’s hotter than heck there and Gabe’s got a fever. I’m bummed  that I wasn’t’ there for his last day of school .. I guess he missed it too. I miss my family like crazy..   Hope everyone is doing well. OK.. gotta run !

Dasvidanya !

  -me