We took the high speed train from Moscow to St. Petersburg this morning. Maybe it was the smooth traveling, the precipitous drop in temperature (from high 80s to high 40s), or the delicious lunch we had a cafe Amanda took us to when we got here, but we were quite giddy in the van on the way to our apartment. The driver told Irina (in Russian) that we were a “joyful group”: “you ladies are a fun bunch, so there are some dance clubs around here that you might want to know about.”
Despite the 4 flights of stairs and persnickety lock, we are delighted with our spacious new apartment–with two bathrooms! We unloaded our baggage and went out to the little market across the street, where Irina picked up some meat dumplings, spicy mustard (Shelley looked at the container and said, “What’s that ham drink?”), and “Korean carrots.” She cooked us a delicious late afternoon dinner, which you can see her serving here. She’s giving us what she insists is the typical Russian expression for photos: no smile.
But if you were here, you would see lots of smiles, hear gales of laughter, and have trouble, as I am, focusing on what I’m writing in this post.
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