More Moscow Pics ....

Good morning, Peeps!

     Yesterday was indeed a busy day and I wasn't home until 10:00 last night.

My hip is now out of control with its screaming at me, so I shall be calling my doctor in the morning to see if we can find out what's going on.  Any bets on how soon I can get in?  2 weeks?  A month?

     I'm currently planning a day of watching the French Open and applying a heating pad (the first time I've tried it).  

I know ..... the excitement is almost too much, isn't it?

     Poor Son #2 wasn't feeling well yesterday, either.  Sore throat and fever.  I'm praying that it's just a bug and not strep.  I knew he felt bad when he stayed home not only from the party yesterday, but from dinner at an Italian restaurant.  The boy loves spaghetti and meatballs almost more than he loves his mother (OK, that may be a slight exaggeration, depending on the day) ...... so for him to turn that down means he's really sick!

     I hear that S1 and D2 & D3 are surviving at camp .... so far.  Son #1 still has to take the life guard test, which involves rescuing a very heavy brick from the bottom of the pool.  He was a bit worried about this part ..... as the existence of this brick and its ability to dash the hopes of many a would-be-life guard is almost legendary.  Personally, I think it's mostly hogwash, since both D2 & D3, the most un-athletic people I know, passed the brick test.  

Seriously .... even though Son #1 really only likes to lift a golf club (and hasn't done that in a couple of years) ..... I'm hoping that he can at least match his sisters' rescuing skills.  If not, his future at all family gatherings will be full of misery and stories about letting a brick drown. Who would want that hanging over them for the rest of their lives?!  That would be like ...... well, like my little brother running for his life from a herd of cows!  But that's a different blog story ......

    Anyway ..... back to Moscow.  Oh, I just shuddered at those words!  Let me rephrase ..... back to the PICTURES of Moscow:

     

     
            This is the dorm/hotel room that I stayed in.  It was quite small but not bad at all.  Well, if you don't count the wood mattress.  But other than that, quite comfortable!

     These are pictures from a statue park in Moscow.  This was the day that we found ourselves on the Mafia boat for lunch.  You know, the one we left after we couldn't read the menu.  

     We took a stroll through this park, which was made up with different statues that had been all over Moscow before 1991 or so and had later been relocated here.

     I forgot to tell you something quite interesting about that visit.  But first, I must show you this first picture of what appears to be a monk: 
No, not your usual monk.  Evidently monks in Russia had to have protection.  One would assume that they had enough robes on to hide their automatic weapon, but maybe the artist didn't want a bulge under the robe of his masterpiece.  

Who knew?!

So ..... D1 and I were minding our own business, just walking through the park, trying to find the exit so we could go on to the hip-killing, mind-numbing very lovely and interesting Russian art museum.

Suddenly D1 noticed that a security guard was coming our way ..... and he was carrying a rather large, un-safe-looking gun, not unlike the one in the above picture (only not quite as large).  We were on our way into a small cafe to get something to drink and then saw that he was heading there also.

Now when I say that he was carrying this gun ..... he wasn't carrying it in the way you'd picture someone in his position would carry it.  Not in a holster, not at his side, not in what appeared to be a safe and secure way.  Not.  At.  All.

He was carelessly holding it in his hand, swinging it as he rapidly walked ...... almost as if he would use it at any moment.  

I don't know ..... maybe there's a big security risk in a statue park.  Maybe there's a problem with suicide pigeons?

Anyway, he walked past us and into the cafe, where he met another guard and handed him the gun.  This guard lifted it up, quite unsafely I might add (no, I'm not a gun expert, but I have shot a few of them on the farm over the years and I do know enough to make the assumption that holding it up with total disregard for what .... or whom .... it is pointing at seems "unsafe").  He then checked the ammunition chamber.

That's about when D1 made the astute decision to keep walking past the cafe and out of the park.  

I don't know what happened after that, but I don't think I heard gunfire.  Of course, the gun could have had a silencer on it for all I know.

I'm just glad I was able to snap a few pictures before any statues were killed.

                   Here's an interesting, and huge statue.  Evidently it was intended as a gift for the United States of America ..... to sit in close proximity to the Statue of Liberty.  The man on the ship was Christopher Columbus.  Note that I wrote "was".  This is because the USA, in what would appear to be a rather rude, but yet tasteful,  move, said "No thank you" to Russia.  I know .... bad PR, right?

So they kept the statue and then replaced Chris with Peter the Great, or some other well-known Russian leader.

      I have no idea who this was supposed to be .... I just thought his hair looked like Elvis':

                 Yes, Albert Einstein:
    

      Evidently this was the Chinese part of the park:

       D1 with Pinnochio:

      More crazy parking pics:

                  Ummmmm ..... a cathedral, but I don't know which one.  This was on the way to the play with no words.  Otherwise known as the mute Don Quixote:

       This was D1's ballet teacher.  She looked exactly how I pictured a Russian ballet teacher!  She seemed quite pleased by her class and their recital.  I will refrain from posting pictures of D1 in her leotard.  Two reasons:  I love her and don't want to embarrass her and .... she would hurt me.

        These are the gates outside of Red Square:

      This is the tomb of the Unknown Soldier:

      I have no idea what this is, but thought it looked cool:

      D1 in front of a flower garden in the Kremlin.  They love flower gardens .... mostly tulips.

 

     Outside of the Armory:

     So there you go.  I think those are all of the good pictures of Moscow, but I may dig some more up later.

     I will now go through the Petersburg pics and post those later.

     Good news!  Son #2 just came down and is feeling much better this morning and is fever-free.

On the other hand, the heating pad doesn't seem to be doing anything except making me sweat.

Ugh.

Oh well ..... I've still got the French Open.  :)

Have a good day, my Peeps.