Day One

This morning, after a breakfast of smoked fish, pickles, and kefir (having this every day could turn me into a breakfast person!), I went out for a walk. First walking along the river, and then turning into small side streets. This gratuitous picture of breakfast is for Dan Warner, who I wish could share it with me. I know how happy it would make him.

Oh wait, before that, at breakfast, a very drunk, very beautiful asked me for the bathroom. She tried first in Russia, and then when I said I didn't speak Russian, in English. It turns out that she'd been drinking since Victory Day, which is why she was in a fabulous and possibly uncomfortable outfit with short skirt and stilettos at 9 a.m. on a Sunday. It was still Saturday night, for her.
When I finally found her the bathroom, she asked if it was my first day. I realized she thought I worked for the hotel. Extremely amusing. A brief conversation where she gushed apologies ensued. Then more kefir.
The part of Moscow we're staying in is an historic district, with older houses, and quite beautiful. And at 9 a.m. a gentleman was cleaning off graffiti from a building. Slowly painting green over letters that seem to read, "computer." Only after seeing that, did I notice that the wall painted to match the surrounding homes (while blocking construction) had a mesh barrier up above graffiti range. Haven't seen any other graffiti in Moscow. Perhaps they've read the broken windows theory?

A few obsessions (and not prices, I promise to stop talking about that, I noticed that I already mentioned it several times. I can get over it!)
The walk signs in Moscow have these incredibly long legs and they are taking these insane strides. They look…purposeful. I don't know why it cracks me up so much, but I really love it. It's not just "go," It's like, "go boldly forth!"

We passed Putins campaign headquarters.

We were also chatting about accessibility for people with disabilities, after noticing these little metal ramps on the sides of steps, my colleague noted that that's their ADA accommodations. I figured they might be for people to walk their bicycles up steps.

So I asked. Both wrong. they are so people can push carts for carrying stuff up and down the steps. A beautiful moment of surfacing our assumptions!

So we visited the Kremlin, saw the equivalent of the crown jewels, visited the Red Square, and then hung out with this statue of Karl Marx. That's him, the big guy. All of that is too much to process, though now I've seen one of the seven wonders of the world. So there's that.

At the end of the day, I finally found my graffiti, as part of a wall set up for people to write their feelings about victory day.

And then, at dinner, found out that one of our main guides in this process doesn't have health insurance.  No public system of healthcare, except for free emergency room care. He asked why were so obsessed with healthcare in our country. Good question. Looking forward to what comes next on day….two!