Spartak - CSKA Football match

Red Sox - Yankees, Bears - Packers, Carolina - Duke, Rangers - Celtic, that is the level of rivalry for this Soccer match. One of my fellow workers here has some Russian friends that asked if we wanted to attend when they found out my love for soccer. This is a huge game with all the goings on that surround European matches. I checked with our security folks and said just be careful and follow the normal "hide in the crowd" guidelines. Wouldn't you know the next day a notice came out to avoid the area due to "skin heads" and other security risks mainly rowdy fans, many of who take things way to far. We had tickets and were commited so off we went with assurances from our Russian guides that if we didn't look for trouble we would be fine. The Metro was as packed as I have ever seen it, full of chanting fans from both teams. The riot police were out in full force. There were several "incidents" at the metro stops and we saw some unfortunate folks being lead off in cuffs.
We only had one "oh shit" moment when a big drunk guy came against the flow of fans and grabbed a kids scarf right in front of me. Our friends pushed us to the wall and hurried us on. We passed Militia and Army stationed all along the entry to the stadium area. There were no more problems. The game was great ending in a 2-2 draw, probably the best result for a safe exit. They emptied the stadium a section at a time so we sat for over an hour before leaving. We avoided the Metro on the way out by getting a Gypsy cab (unsanctioned taxi) for the ride home.


My first European Match was an exciting time. I shot some very rough video and some photos, here.

Saturday, in the park, you think it was the Fourth of July...

Seems we spent the whole day in two parks and they were on opposite sides of town. We had our last softball game of the summer at the northern most stop on the Green line (that's Metro speak). After that the fearsome foursome went to almost the southern tip of the Green line to the Honey Festival. We found the park with some helpful locals, yes they do exists here. We entered Lipki Park on the NW end and walked almost to the Moscow River to a large exhibit area. Inside were hundreds of honey vendors. As you passed each vendor you had the opportunity to taste the honey with a small disposable stick. I'm not a big honey person but some were quite good. The vendors were from many different areas and used different flowers to make the honey. There was even some honey wine. Renee tried it and lets just say not good.


After getting our fill of honey we hit the shashlik stands for lunch then wandered the remains of the park. It was odd to find signage in English. There were several beautiful churches on the grounds in varying states of refurbishing or remont as they say here. There was also a log cabin once used by Peter the Great. We wandered for several hours and as we were leaving noticed a group of American Indian style dancers. There is the thought that Native Americans crossed the Bearing Streight when it was a land bridge from Russia. It was nice to sit on the Metro for the ride home after a long day of walking.

Lots more photos here!

August goings on

A few things happening this month here in Moscow. The first weekend several of us took a trip to the Embassy Dacha. Dacha is the term used by Russians for their get a way or summer places. They very from crudely built shacks to fancy homes. The Embassy Dacha is a single level log cabin maybe about 2500 sq ft. It has a large function room and multiple bed rooms. There is a large outdoor patio area and several acres of tree and grass area. It is still in the city but you would never know it. We barbecued and played some games and just enjoyed the evening. Saturday we walked along the Moscow River and just enjoyed a relaxing day.


We also said good by to friends Pete and Cecile as they start a new adventure in China. We will miss them. We also joined in on a scavenger hunt sponsored by the Embassy. Clues took us all over Moscow, great fun.





Last night there was a fund raiser poker game for a fellow worker hurt in a motorcycle wreck here. Guess who won!.

Final news is Renee is going to start a new job. No more washing windows and scrubbing toilets.

Check out more photos.

Summer in Moscow

Not been in the mood to blog lately so just a quick "catch up". Weather has been wonderful with a few warmer days, nothing like back home in OKC. Tends to be 80s in the day and cools off nicely at night. There has been some rain. No major fires close this year. We have spent time walking and I just purchased a couple of used bikes. We visited Red Square again, so different in the Summer. We often walk the Old Arbat which is the stereotypical European street with vendors and street performers. Check out the Bagpiper:



I play soft ball with the Marines every Saturday and we are headed to the Dacha this weekend. I'll try to be a better blogger....

Happy Father's day and Happy birthday!

Happy Father's day to my Pop and Happy birthday to my Mom. Mom's birthday great was a little late (16 June), but our family has a 30 day window on that sort of thing!

It's wonderful to have my folks, they've always been such a big influence on my life.

Thanks to both of you!

The great relax......

A beautiful day brought the idea of a boat ride on the Moscow River. John, Jodi, Renee' and myself took a nice relaxing trip. The river ride is very popular and you do see sites from a different point of view. We had seat on the stern and enjoyed a couple of pivas (beer), took in the sites and rode the metro back. The most unusual thing we noticed was people actually swimming in the river. Not many but it's a nasty river.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Golf at Le Méridien, Moscow Russia

Several of us here brought our golf clubs only to find that courses are very few and far between. Out of 3 known places we found two, one by the German Embassy that was a 9 hole and very pricey and a club called LeMeridien. The latter was about an hour from the embassy and not near as expensive at 3000 rubbles a round, about 110 USD. The course is nice, maybe equal to a $75.00 club in the States. It hosts a stop on the Euro Tour of some kind. Fairways we good, lined with water or trees. The greens were a bit rough and hard to figure out, but the snow has been gone for just a bit over a month.

We had 2 groups go out and a good time was had by all. This may be only a once or twice a summer thing, but at least I can say I played golf in Russia!

Check out the photos here.

Also posted some pictures of a Sunday stroll.....