Today is a big day for us as the AirConditioner plumber arrives to bring our home a new and better AC. It will be a 2 day job. NOISE!
The difficult part of this scheme to beat the heat is that we must sit in the kitchen with the door closed in order to keep the Taco, the cat, from escaping and bugging the workers. We have a big fan to help us survive, but nothing else will be available. So for the next two days were are prisoners of our own demise.
A lot of the news lately is about Ukraine and Russia. I have wanted to tell you my story about my trip to Russia in 1991, which was two years after the wall fell in Berlin. Some of you younger folks are a bit clueless about this, but I am sure you have heard of it. (Remember I am 78.) The Soviet Union had kept half of Germany basically trapped behind a wall with guards who were instructed to shoot anyone attempting to cross over into West Germany. Many dug tunnels and some also pulled off an escape over the wall. Many failed badly.
When that Berlin wall came down it was a big moment in history, a triumph of freedom. Now the German men on the East German women's swimming team would have to find another employment. Fear of being blasted by an atomic bomb by many countries lessened. People were now allowed to own a bible without penalty or jail.
The Soviet Union began to have parts of it breaking off, and people began to feel a bit of democracy and freedom there.
I organised a trip for students of my middle school where I worked to travel to Russia and we had 16 on the trip. My daughter who was in the 7th grade also joined the group.
We were supposed to fly to St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Kiev. I had always wanted to see Kiev as the symphony that I performed in had presented Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and within this piece was to be found "The Great Gate of Kiev". I figured that famous Gate was worth a look. However, one day before our flight to Europe, the travel company was informed that Moscow did not want us to visit Kiev, Ukraine, but instead we would go to see Krasnodar near the black sea. Moscow was evidently not wanting tourists to go to Kiev and help that cities economy.
You must remember that two years after the wall fell we were able to see the changes being made in Russia. A new McDonalds, for instance, was a big thing and the line to enjoy a first ever burger went calmly around the block, hundreds of hungry diners, with a burger in mind, waited hours to enjoy their first. There were no fast food places back then, but we we did see a Pizza hut near the famous Arbat Street.
Our group were taken to visit a tea house in Moscow and inside it was very hot, sweaty hot. They served cute cookies and hot tea. There is nothing like quenching hot tea in the middle of a deadly humid and scorching day. My daughter and I took a walk outside and behind the small tea house. There was a fountain and the water spewed out and fell into a round pool. As we were standing there we were shocked to see a worker come out of the tea house and fill a large tea pot with fountain pool water. We looked into the pool and there was nothing clean about it. Evidently their tap water was not functioning. We did not mention this to our group back in the tea house.
Later, back at the hotel at the buffet I viewed a large piece of fried carp. That fish's eyeball stared at me, and I passed on it. No one chose that lonely fish in the three days of hotel dining experience. I imagine it to be still there after all these years.
The two elevators stood in the lobby, one functioned, but the other was just an open hole, no cables, and a long way down. There was nothing to keep people from falling, nothing blocking it. (I looked for hidden microphones in our room, but I guess we weren't worth the trouble.)
Krasnodar, as I see it now on google images, is not the same as we saw it. There are so many new large buildings and shops. We stayed in a hotel very near the center. A walk along the street revealed shops with almost nothing on the shelves, One had a pile of wrapped butter, but no milk or cheese. The Pharmacy had almost nothing on their shelves, just a few tiny boxes. A clothing store had clothes that reminded me of 2nd hand stores in America. They took us in a bus to see the Changing of the Guard at a cemetery. Cemeteries are always interesting to me. The changing of the guard had two teenagers dressed in uniforms and marching out of time with each other. They needed practice. I don't think many tourists were in Krasnodar back then.
We had free evenings so I took a walk in a Krasnodar neighborhood filled with one story small houses. Many had their windows and doors open to beat the heat and I could see in. I saw many people sewing clothing or other items. It was around 9:00 and they were working to make extra money. They had well kept yards and nice vegetable gardens.
When we flew from Krasnodar to Moscow for our flight back to California we arrived very early, around 7:00. In the center of the big airport building someone had built a wood fire to cook food. Seriously! There was a line of people along one side, sitting, sleeping and standing. We saw several fist fights, over seats available, and believe me these people were plenty angry. This past week we have seen some interesting fistfights over gasoline in Russia. Imagine a campfire in the middle of the main waiting room of a fairly large airport. Believe me, the Moscow Circus we saw later did not hold a candle in comparison. Even the dogs and cats walking a tight rope couldn't beat the spectacle.
I want to invite you to google Kiev, Ukraine and take a look at what a beautiful city it is. I am sorry we were kept from going there. It is amazing, and I hope the war will stop soon and save many lives being wasted there. I also hope you might go view the Great Gate of Kiev some day. When you travel you learn so much about other cultures. You also see how we are not being shown enough about countries and its people. Make a bucket list of places.
People the world over just want to be free and enjoy their families and good health. It is many of the politicians that keep that from happening.
Now for other items...
Let's have some fun. I will send a free painting to the first person (not Italian) who can identify this famous scene. Just write me a facebook messages or whatsup.
I will pay the cost of postage.
Now go have a nice day and thanks for reading.
Ciao!
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