Sunday dawned much like Saturday. Sara sleeping in and I getting up early. As much as I have the ability to sleep in some here, I guess getting up early is ingrained in my system. However, getting up at 7 or 8 is sleeping in for me, so I guess I’m sleeping in some. Sara took a nice hot shower (we have hot water all the time now again…yeah!) and met me in the business center as I posted blog and talked to people on the internet phone.
Lunch in the room, and we were ready to get out. It was cold and rainy all morning, but it broke a little by the afternoon and we ventured out. Past the courtyard outside the hotel and its beautiful fountains, we crossed a street lined with horse drawn carriages. Down the long stone steps flanked by bronze statues and a waterfall fountain, snapping pictures of Curious George sitting on the foot of a 15-foot tall famous Russian statue (since we couldn’t bring the boys, Curious George has been our stand-in for all the pictures that we would have taken of the boys. I have a running story going with George in my e-mails to the boys, and they love to see new pictures everyday. Who knows, maybe there’s a new Curious George book to come out of it “Curious George goes to Siberia”. I sense I bestseller in the making…). Arm and arm, we crossed the busy street and traversed the decrepit stone steps down to the Yenisei River (I think this is the first time I spelled it right).
It was cold, but we huddled close as we strolled down the birch-lined walkway, stopping occasionally to snap a picture or take some video. The beauty and peace of the moment were not lost on us. Spoke of home and boys, and how nice it will be to take Misha down here in a few days. We love to go down to Point Loma to Shelter Island or Seaport Village in San Diego and stroll the boardwalk next to the water and sit in the grass, so this afternoon felt like a piece of home (except for the temperature, or course).
Back at the room, we figured it was laundry time. Blowing up the inflatable pool we got for Misha’s bathtime, we proceeded to wash clothes, Sara in the pool scrubbing and I rinsing in the sink. We were quite a team. Even Curious George got his shirt washed. Now it will only take a week for them to dry.
Dinner found us back at the Irish Pub (KFC was closed for some reason). Sara helped me order fish (it actually turned out to really be fish this time), and the salmon was excellent. The smoky atmosphere, flashing green laser lights, and techno dance music got to my head, and on a dare Andrew (the Franks’ 7 year-old son) and I stood up in front of the DJ’s table and did “the robot” and “the running man”, very much acting the part of stupid Americans. We earned a thumbs-up from the DJ (he even got the smoke machine going for us) and a few smiles from the staff behind the bar (for Russia, I think that’s pretty good). You only live once, right?
After getting creamed by the Franks in Trivial Pursuit, we dejectedly headed back to our room, our pride in tow. Tomorrow we see Misha again in the morning, and we can’t wait….
JP
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