First Taste of MOCKBA

We are in Moscow.(I know - holy cow, hunh?)

It's been a really long day. (Thank you Salem for getting Mummy up at 4am as pre-payment for being an alone-a-kitty for a week). We flew from Gborg to Stockholm, then on to Moscow, arriving here about 8:45pm local time. Given that it's now 1:15am local time (tomorrow), you get the idea.

The drive in from the airport (Moscow has 2 - the bombing a few months ago was at the other one) takes you past the monument marking the place where the Russians stopped the German invasion. You drive past apartment blocks, all tall, all tired-looking. You drive past IKEA (yes - it's everywhere, but spelled differently in cyrillic) (actually, short version of a long story - when IKEA tried to build here, they refused to toe the line and pay people off, etc etc etc so now, they build the entire shopping mall in order to stay open for business. Ever seen an IKEA as an anchor store in a mall? Only in Russia). The driving is intense. Fortunately it was stop and go, not faster. No lines on the road - it's make your own lane! Think you'll fit there, then go! Cut somebody off - too bad! (Glad I was in the back seat!)

After settling in to the hotel (very posh - thank you Volvo),we had a walk down Tverskaya street (english phonetic pronunciation) to Red Square. We walked through the subway underpasses to get from one side of the street to the other, and saw the tiny shops in the walls that Peter had told us about. Red Square is nothing like I'd imagined. The last time Peter saw it, it was empty except for the tanks practising for May 9th when they celebrate the surrender of the Germans May 8th, 1945. Tonight, Red Square was getting ready for something athletic, with barracades, a basketball court, and something that looked like a paintball terrain (though how they'd contain the paint through the screening, I'd rather not be close enough to find out!)

I'm so grateful to be here. My grandparents came to Moscow on their honeymoon in the 1930s. (my dad's folks) My grandfather was doing research for his doctorate and they spent a month here. I've always thought they had a real pioneering spirit, unafraid to take anything on. As it turns out, we won't have the chance to take on much more than a taste of Moscow in the 4 days that we're here, but I'd like to think that some of that pioneering spirit has carried through the genes. Rather exciting to think that their great grandchildren are seeing some of the things they saw too.