Krème de la Kremlin

It was a very early morning, as the group had to be at the airport by 7am. Yuck. We did not arrive at our Moscow hotel until 6pm. A long day of travel. Russian customs is as bad as you might expect - surly women in steel heels prying apart the first page of your passport to see if the picture has been altered. Traffic was also snarled. A good article about this in the New York Times recently. However, we were stalled right next to a very nice billboard which I will have to share later.

Oh, did I forget to say that it was cold? Freezing. Snow everywhere.

Still, we decided to go out for a “traditional” Russian dinner near the hotel, meaning that the waitresses wore goofy (but cute) outfits. As we walked there, we immediately began speculating as to who would be first to bust ass on the slick patches of ice. No one did. What a shame. We pigged out. We had caviar on pancakes, borsch, other stuff. Again, sing the chorus with me: “pictures later.”

After dinner I lead a troop to find the local bookstore. I wanted to find a copy of A Hero of Our Time by Lermontov, in Russian. This I did. I also got a copy of Rolling Stone with Jack Nicholson on the cover, with Cyrillic lettering. Pretty cool. Our troop then returned to the hotel and had Irish Coffee in the lobby bar to warm up. The Libertine and El Guapo were both bushed, so I went out for a drink with a new rep buddy, the Anglo-Czech. It was Moscow, Saturday night – we had to go out and see what was going on, especially since it might be unadvisable.


We went to a place called The Pyramid, or something. It had funky ersatz Egyptian décor. We had a couple of beers and people-watched. The guys looked stereotypical Russian. The women made Anna Kournikova look average. We were on the main drag of Moscow, now one of the most expensive cities in Europe, where 80% of the nation’s capital circulates, where there are 150,000 new millionaires. No wonder there is a high concentration of high-caliber women. They looked fierce.

We hopped back on the bus at 9:30am to make a trip to one of the largest open markets in Moscow. Our guide told us that the micro-climate there actually makes it colder than the rest of Moscow. Unfortunately, she was not kidding. Cold air oozes up off the Moscow River and climbs up your spine. Thank Lenin I bought that overcoat in Boston. As soon as I bought something that required me to carry a bag, and thence take at least one hand out of my pockets, I was forced to also buy a new pair of gloves (remember, having lost one in Dresden). All in all, I bought a lot of stuff. Took care of a lot of Christmas presents. I won’t say what I bought, because it was for people who might read this blog. I would have bought more, but I was afraid it might be illegal. For example, I would never buy 15 black-market DVDs for $40. Never. Lunch was awesome. Skewered meat over wood-fires. Spiced, hot wine. Simple and lovely.

We had time to freshen up at the hotel before going to the American Center for presentations and a college fair. We shouldn’t have bothered. There were more of us than there were students. I had one visitor. He was looking for something my university does not offer. Oh well. Back at the hotel, I got some work done and then went to dinner with The Libertine. We ate some sushi at a place I’d noticed on the main drag. Sushi is all over the place here. Luckily, our neighbors spoke English, because our waitress did not, and they were able to translate when we had trouble.

Next was the best part of the whole trip. The Libertine and I stopped by the hotel to use the WC, then walked to Red Square. It was stunning. First of all, it was beautiful – covered in snow, lit up, incredible architecture, including St. Basil’s. But more viscerally, this was the place that as a child I saw as the center of all that was evil and life-threatening. This was the square where I saw Soviet troop marching in formation on the news. This was the home and holy place of our arch-enemy. Now here I was, watching people frolic in the falling snow. Surreal. A triumph.


We had to wake up at 6:30am and check out. Then we loaded onto the bus for more seminar sessions and a college fair at the Anglo-American School. Was good. We were allowed to go back to the hotel and change some of our clothes in the bathrooms. That way we could get better dressed for our walking tour of the Kremlin and Red Square. I will not bore anyone with the dry details until I have the pics to go along with them. It was a good tour, but I am so glad that I took the opportunity to see the Square the night before. The snow was now gone...

After the tour, to the airport again, and Warsaw...

Prague

I had hoped for a picturesque train ride, but by the time that it left the Dresden station, and made an extended stop in a nearby suburb, night had fallen. Oh well – I saw some pretty lights on the hillsides. From Prague's northern station I took the Metro into town, just west of the river. Again, I knew from having previously looked at a map that my hotel was nearby, but didn’t know exactly, so I had to make a quick stop at an internet café. Two blocks away. It almost bit me.

So I dropped my things in my room and set up my only appointment for the following day – a lunch with a prospective sports recruit, her father, and her agent. Then I got a map and headed across the river and into the historic core for a good wander. The first stop was of course the main square and the Astronomical Clock (again, pictures later). No way to trace were all I went next. The map would look like a bird’s nest. Suffice it to say I sampled many venues in old Prague. My two favorites were the Bar & Book, which as the name implies sells books and drinks, as well as pretty good food, and Chateau Bar, which despite its French name is an Irish Pub. Great bartenders, finally. Good company as well. I met a local graphic artist who was responsible for designing recent brochures explaining the workings of the afore-mentioned clock, and a Brit who was returning to town for a wedding after once having lived here as an ex-pat. We had a good conversation. I headed in at a reasonable hour and got some sleep.

The following day, after a bit of a walk and the lunch meeting, I met up with the cousin of a friend back home. James has lived here in Prague for several years, teaching English. We sat at a place called the Globe and conversed for a couple of hours, being joined by another friend named Matt. The three of us then moved to a restaurant called The Tulip, owned by an American ex-pat, where we had an incredible dinner. Highly, highly recommended. After that James left us, having to work early in the morning, and Matt and I continued. I needed to change some money, so we searched for an exchange, but the first thing we came to was a casino (which are all over Prague). By happy accident, I found that you can get a very good rate at the casino, with no surcharge, as they expect you to be blowing all that money on the premises. Good to remember for next time. We had flirted with the idea of going to an all-out club, but decided against it in favor of returning to Chateau Bar, and later the “disco” below, L’Enfer Rouge. Good times. Oh yeah, I ended up buying drinks for quite a few people to celebrate the end of the Republican monopoly of power (though I am still a registered Republican) and to show some of the Euros that we Americans can be pretty cool.

The next day it was back to the grind. I met up in the morning with the other reps who would be participating in the whirlwind CIS tour of Eastern Europe. After lunch we loaded up on a bus and drove west of town to the International School of Prague. There we conducted seminars and a college fair for the students of ISP and other area schools that were invited. A good fair.

Afterwards we returned to the city and were given an excellent walking tour by one of ISP’s faculty members. At one point we were let loose in the main square to shop before the striking of the hour on the Astronomical Clock. Three of us decided on a quick drink at the Irish pub instead. These two other fellows are reps that I travelled with previously in Africa. I will call them The Libertine and El Guapo. It was fairly obvious that two of the young blonde waitresses were talking about us in Czech, so El Guapo and I returned the favor in Spanish. Ha, so there. The tour ended with a walk across the famous Charles Bridge and dinner. We were all pretty wiped, and full, so afterwards we returned to the hotel for some sleep before heading to Moscow on the morrow…

Of course, yes, I have left things out here. Buy me a Guinness and ask me later...

Whistle-stop Tour

So the second day of the Copenhagen fair went well. I spent another night in town, did some more wandering around the historic core, then woke up early the next day and caught a train to Hamburg. As you will see from the map, this train traveled south from Copenhagen and actually was loaded onto a ferry! Then it crossed a bit of the Baltic to Germany. Google Earth actually captured a satellite shot of this ferry preparing to dock. Pretty cool…

So in Hamburg I once again had a tight connection to my school visit, so I hopped in a cab at the train station. I made it right in time to give a lunch-time presentation to a group of interested juniors and seniors. After that I entertained a classroom of sophomores with info on my university’s majors. Never too early to start thinking about it…


The school counselor had booked a nearby hotel for me, this being west of central Hamburg. I was able to hop on a bus that took me right to the doorstep of Hotel Schmitt – a cozy little place right next to a metro stop. So, I put away my things and headed downtown for dinner and a walkabout. From the main station I headed west along the main pedestrian shopping street (can’t remember the name). I bought a wooly head-cap at H&M, and drooled all over the interior of the LEGO store. If I were only 10 again… nevermind, I bought some anyway. I also had a hamburger at the main Hamburg Burger King. Had to. Next I walked through the city hall square, amazing, and over a canal to an very posh shopping and hotel district. After some window-gazing I walked along the bank of the lake for a bit before descending into the underground to return to my hotel. There were some very drunk Hamburgers on my car with me. I decided to get off with them at Altona Station, just to watch them. Then I decided to walk down a random street that looked promising. There were several bars, but nothing that suited me. I just kept saying, “One more block.” Finally, I found what I was looking for – a dive. I sat there, had three Jack & Cokes, and finished Atlas Shrugged. Pics of the place later.


I slept late, then rode back in town to the main station and bought a ticket to Dresden. It was a pretty long ride, with a train switch in Berlin. When I arrived in Dresden it was dark. Oh yeah, and I had no hotel. No problem, I just walked until I found a likely candidate. Check-in. Shower. Go for a walk.


The old center of Dresden is stunning – even if you’ve seen a lot of old stuff, as I have. Really, really beautiful and amazing. Wait ‘til you see the pics. Anyway, I walked through that area, through the pedestrian shopping district, and on to the main station to check on trains to Prague for the next day. I noticed that hardly anyone was downtown. It was dead. So I asked a younger couple coming out of the station what was up. There is no nightlife downtown. Only shopping. Ah. So they told me where to go: back across the river where my hotel is. After dinner, I did that.

Great bar district, scores of places within easy walking distance of one another. There was even a bar devoted to “The Big Lebowski” – the Lebowski Bar. I shit you not. The movie was of course running inside. I should not need to tell you what drink I ordered. I sampled a few other places and then went to bed. Oh yeah, awesome donner kebab on the walk home.

The next morning I woke up and began my trek to the next school visit. I thought that it would be easy. I’d looked up the address at the website, found it on Google Earth, then matched it to a S-train stop. First, there was a trolley wreck. I’d always wanted to see a trolley hit a car, but now was not a good time. So we all had to get off and walk to the next stop, then get on another line. I made it to my stop and looked for a map to refresh my bearings. No map. I thought every transit stop in Europe had a map of the immediate area. Not so. Therefore, I relied on memory, since I’m too cocky to bring my own map. I did find the school after one or two mis-turns. However, I was informed that this location is only the lower school, and its address is used as the main school address. The high school is elsewhere. Ironically, it was two blocks from the trolley wreck. Ugh.

Anyway, I still made my lunch appointment to speak with interested students. Had quite a few. Went back to the hotel, grabbed my things, took another trolley to the main station and got on a train to Prague. Prague, of course, deserves its own entry, so I will stop here, for now.