was. 
December 2007 - January 2008
Two weeks in Russia (and a day in Switzerland)
 |
 |
 |
 |
| more alps. | |||
| This is me "flashing" Adrian in the airport, from the plane. | Taking off | The Alps! |  |
| Spent a day and night in Geneva. Oh, and without my luggage! More on that later. Here's the UN. |  |
 |
 |
| that's right. A giant chair. God needs a place to sit outside the UN? I just can't think of a better reason for it. |  |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Don't know what building that is, but I believe the statue is of Ghandi | The Red Cross Museum | Much recommended. | |
| The town of Geneva. I walked around for like 10 hours. |  |
 |
 |
| Climbing Santas. No way they could do that in NY without the Santas getting stolen or graffitied |  |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Some important church --> |  |
| The city's phallic symbol (above) | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Chess! |  |
|
 |
And checkers, even! |  |
I watched a bunch of Chechs fighting it out until the end, cursing at each other, yelling at the players which way to move... reminded me of our coaching in pool. |
| Oh right, about the luggage. So my flight was to Moscow, with a stopover for a day in Geneva, via Swiss Air. Apparently, they automatically put your luggage on the second flight, if the stopover is for less than 24 hours or something like that. But of course, no one told me that, so I spent a few wonderful hours trying to find my luggage (and even then, no one told me where it was, they just reported it lost), and then had to call my father to get his address in case they find it so they know where to ship it to, and call adrian in NY to see if he could make some phone calls to try and locate it, and buy an extra pair of socks, and other fun stuff. I'll spare you the rest of the details, but just don't expect airline workers to inform you of certain important information. | |||
| Onwards | Moscow | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
One fat cat |
| Anna's mom's birthday |  |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
| And afterwards, drinking vodka to keep us warm while waiting for our ride. |  |
 |
 |
 |
My dad And his animals |
 |
 |
| New Year's Eve at my grandma's |  |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
And later at Anna's It's tough to coordinate on New Years |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Karaoke contest Hint: sing really loudly into the mic and don't miss any words. Actual talent not necessary. |
 |
 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Me and my weird dancing and face-making |  |
 |
 |
| More |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
<- Church of Christ the Savior, I think |
 |
 |
Ice Skating in Gorky Park! Is it still called that? The whole park was one giant ice skating area... can't really call it a "rink". All the paths were covered in ice. |
|
| Piano concert in museum |  |
 |
 |
| Bowling and billiards with Anna and others |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
<-- Gutter-ball. My pool skills did NOT transfer to this game. |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Finally, pooooool! |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Another night. Russian billiards! |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| And more regular pool |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Rows of houses | Flying back | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |