goodbye aurora hotel
today we moved from our hotel, the
aurora, to our new home for the next 18 days: tverskaya 4, no. 28, 6th
floor.
The hardest part of the beginning of the
day was getting up before 1:30 p.m. local time. God even the kids were still
asleep and we, yes, deliberately got out of
bed.
After that it wasn't so bad though. The kids were alright and we ordered another room service breakfast. This time a cheese plate, five hard-boiled eggs (Russians are very particular about how long the eggs must be or not be boiled: we ordered ours boiled ten minutes), and oatmeal with coffee. The food was delightful as usual and fantastically expensive too (cheese, coffee, oatmeal, and eggs for $65.00).
Then there were hot showers and changing into fresh clothes. We packed and Monica settled our bill (yikes). This time our arranged transportation showed up on time, and although there was finally room to put Ingrid in her car seat, this time no seatbelts. I thought our apartment, 4 Tverskaya, Apartment 28, was very close to the hotel, but we were in the car twenty minutes before we arrived. Then there were the usual difficulties: who had the keys? Did we know the building's access code? Which apartment was it exactly?
It turns out are apartment is only about two blocks from the hotel (a five minute walk), but Moscow streets near the Kremlin go one way in a giant circle, so the only way to get to our new place by car was to go all the way around the city center.
The interior stairwell looks like many in Russia: dank, poorly lit. But this one has a small elevator and had the advantage of not smelling of urine. The apartment has amazing ornate leather-covered double doors (exterior and interior), and balcony views of the city center and parliament building.
It has a TV with satellite reception (which we couldn't get to work), internet access (which doesn't work with Macintosh computers), and no hot water. Other than that it's lovely.
The old woman who actually owns the apartment introduced us to the place and showed us its amenities (including a nice kitchen and front-loading washing machine. I will remember her as a lovely gray-haired and strong Russian woman with a fairly thick mustache.
After getting unpacked our next job was to forage for water and food. After a few mis-steps and a ten minute walk up the street, we found this amazing ornate (baroque even) supermarket with everything we needed. The kids were both beat though (part of our master plan to get a decent night's sleep tonight), so they were very cranky. This made it hard to get everything back to the apartment, since Monica had to carry Ingrid and hold onto Sam, while I carried five heavy plastic bags. Ouch. Mom bought a pair of sunglasses and Monica bought tickets to a Bolshoi Theater production of Madame Butterfly:
But we made it back with grapes, cheese, milk, juice, pasta, fantastic bread, a roasted chicken, onions, garlic, and raspberry jam (not to mention two imported German beers). Mom volunteered to watch the kids while Monica and Ivan made another trip to the store to buy water and more milk. The weather was warm and sunny and breezy, and it was a pleasant workout.
After we returned home we began to prepare for dinner while the kids watched Aladdin on Monica's laptop. Monica made a fantastic dinner of cold roasted chicken with a tomato and cucumber salad, fresh bread, and imported cheeses. I had one of my beers. Ingrid ate very little, but Sam ate just fine.
After dinner it was time for baths and bed. But it's so light out here this time of year we knew it would be hard (it is still light out at 9:30 p.m.). Now is when we discovered the bath had no hot water and the shower, which boasts its own electric heating unit, didn't put out enough heat to do more than take the edge off the cold. Sam and Ingrid had luke-cold baths and then changed into clean pajamas. We put Sam to bed and he konked right out (beautiful). Ingrid had no interest in sleeping as usual (lately), and so we waited for Sam to get into r.e.m. sleep before putting her into her crib, where she screamed for forty minutes before finally falling asleep around 8:30 p.m.
Monica fell asleep in the livingroom and then after half an hour or so left Mom and me to watch a movie and went to bed. Just before the movie ended, about 11:15 p.m., Ingrid woke up and began screaming again. After half an hour of screaming (it's awful), she finally managed to wake Sam, who then complained to a miserable Monica. There was nothing for it but to take her out of her crib so Sam could get back to sleep.
So I'm writing this blog at 12:30 a.m. while Ingrid watches "Bear in the Big Blue House" on Monica's laptop. If her pattern continues she'll konk out at about 2:30 or 3:00 a.m.; after which I'll be able to go to bed.
Finally, with any luck, we'll have internet access on Monday, when "Way 2 Go Russia's" computer expert shows up for work.
After that it wasn't so bad though. The kids were alright and we ordered another room service breakfast. This time a cheese plate, five hard-boiled eggs (Russians are very particular about how long the eggs must be or not be boiled: we ordered ours boiled ten minutes), and oatmeal with coffee. The food was delightful as usual and fantastically expensive too (cheese, coffee, oatmeal, and eggs for $65.00).
Then there were hot showers and changing into fresh clothes. We packed and Monica settled our bill (yikes). This time our arranged transportation showed up on time, and although there was finally room to put Ingrid in her car seat, this time no seatbelts. I thought our apartment, 4 Tverskaya, Apartment 28, was very close to the hotel, but we were in the car twenty minutes before we arrived. Then there were the usual difficulties: who had the keys? Did we know the building's access code? Which apartment was it exactly?
It turns out are apartment is only about two blocks from the hotel (a five minute walk), but Moscow streets near the Kremlin go one way in a giant circle, so the only way to get to our new place by car was to go all the way around the city center.
The interior stairwell looks like many in Russia: dank, poorly lit. But this one has a small elevator and had the advantage of not smelling of urine. The apartment has amazing ornate leather-covered double doors (exterior and interior), and balcony views of the city center and parliament building.
It has a TV with satellite reception (which we couldn't get to work), internet access (which doesn't work with Macintosh computers), and no hot water. Other than that it's lovely.
The old woman who actually owns the apartment introduced us to the place and showed us its amenities (including a nice kitchen and front-loading washing machine. I will remember her as a lovely gray-haired and strong Russian woman with a fairly thick mustache.
After getting unpacked our next job was to forage for water and food. After a few mis-steps and a ten minute walk up the street, we found this amazing ornate (baroque even) supermarket with everything we needed. The kids were both beat though (part of our master plan to get a decent night's sleep tonight), so they were very cranky. This made it hard to get everything back to the apartment, since Monica had to carry Ingrid and hold onto Sam, while I carried five heavy plastic bags. Ouch. Mom bought a pair of sunglasses and Monica bought tickets to a Bolshoi Theater production of Madame Butterfly:
But we made it back with grapes, cheese, milk, juice, pasta, fantastic bread, a roasted chicken, onions, garlic, and raspberry jam (not to mention two imported German beers). Mom volunteered to watch the kids while Monica and Ivan made another trip to the store to buy water and more milk. The weather was warm and sunny and breezy, and it was a pleasant workout.
After we returned home we began to prepare for dinner while the kids watched Aladdin on Monica's laptop. Monica made a fantastic dinner of cold roasted chicken with a tomato and cucumber salad, fresh bread, and imported cheeses. I had one of my beers. Ingrid ate very little, but Sam ate just fine.
After dinner it was time for baths and bed. But it's so light out here this time of year we knew it would be hard (it is still light out at 9:30 p.m.). Now is when we discovered the bath had no hot water and the shower, which boasts its own electric heating unit, didn't put out enough heat to do more than take the edge off the cold. Sam and Ingrid had luke-cold baths and then changed into clean pajamas. We put Sam to bed and he konked right out (beautiful). Ingrid had no interest in sleeping as usual (lately), and so we waited for Sam to get into r.e.m. sleep before putting her into her crib, where she screamed for forty minutes before finally falling asleep around 8:30 p.m.
Monica fell asleep in the livingroom and then after half an hour or so left Mom and me to watch a movie and went to bed. Just before the movie ended, about 11:15 p.m., Ingrid woke up and began screaming again. After half an hour of screaming (it's awful), she finally managed to wake Sam, who then complained to a miserable Monica. There was nothing for it but to take her out of her crib so Sam could get back to sleep.
So I'm writing this blog at 12:30 a.m. while Ingrid watches "Bear in the Big Blue House" on Monica's laptop. If her pattern continues she'll konk out at about 2:30 or 3:00 a.m.; after which I'll be able to go to bed.
Finally, with any luck, we'll have internet access on Monday, when "Way 2 Go Russia's" computer expert shows up for work.
Posted: Sun - June 5, 2005 at 12:41 AM
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Published On: Jun 06, 2005 12:42 PM
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Published On: Jun 06, 2005 12:42 PM