***UPDATE: All Moscow posts now have picture slideshows, so scroll back down!***
The other day we went to the VDNKh ("vay day en khah"), the Memorial Cosmonautics Museum (which was closed, but neat sculptures outside) and then the Agricultural wonderment place right next door. I'll try to find out the name of this joint and fill it in here later. ***UPDATE: Name is the VDNKh and PIX!***
Today was my last day off in Moscow since the STS-128/17A mission launched this morning (Moscow morning), yay! Chris and I went to Tsarytsino and saw the amazing grounds of the Imperial summer home of Catherine the Great - though she never lived at the place (see link for details)! Beautifully architected buildings and grounds, quite the sight to see! We also went to Novodivechy Convent and Cemetery which we walked around the outside and inside. Really neat buildings and again, hte architecture here is phenomenal!
I must say that there was an ABUNDANCE of weddings going on today - probably every Saturday in the summer. It was interesting to see their dresses - a lot of creams - and to note that the bride, groom and "wedding party" traveled with them to take all their pictures. The biggest difference was that this wedding party was comprised of people dressed like they were going to their friend's weddings and also included family, from what I could tell. No matchy-matchy, just a band of friends and family tagging along to share in their experience with them. Seriously, I think we probably saw at least 20 brides today. Beautiful day for a wedding (or at least wedding pictures).
Lastly we trekked back to Red Square and went inside of St. Basil's Cathedral. It is a collection of 9 teensy-weensy churches all in one building. Cool stuff, though construction was going on in many of the areas. One quirky thing to note: The first, ground-floor church we went into had a lady in a smock (looking like one of the maid people) standing on a little wooden stool PAINTING (touch-up style) the mural on the wall! What the heck people? That kinda defeats the purpose of the "old style" and history of the cathedral if you ask me...so bizarre! I wonder if they do that in a lot of places? Something to think about :D
All in all it was a great day (beautiful weather again!) and I am glad the shuttle slipped enough that I could be here to have another day off. I will upload pix soon - I hope :) ***UPDATE: PIX!***
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Quickly Now...
Quick update:
-Launch scrubbed (bummer!) so I took today (Weds) off. It was my first day off since arriving in Moscow.
-Woke up at 0630, back to sleep until 0741. Lolly-gagged until 930 when I was finally out the door to sightsee solo.
-Navigated the streets and subways of MOCKBA by myself, successfully, with no wrong turns. Yay!
-First stop: Victory Park (Metro: Park Pobodi). Walked around the grounds for a long while amazed by the humongous monuments. Didn't do the museum for time's sake. Amazing place!
-Second stop: Pushkin Museum of Private Collections (Metro: Kropotkinskaya). The most impressionist artist's work I have ever seen! An amazing collection of Manet, Monet, Degas, Picasso, Renoir, Dali, Matisse, and more! So many artists, so many works from each. Phenomenal! My favorite was an Odilon Redon, titled "Rebirth (Spring)" - check it out sometime!
-Third stop: Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Metro: Kropotkinskaya). I must admit I enjoyed the private collections better, but there were some outstanding pieces in this museum! I saw at least three mummies (and even a jaw and toe!) and other artifacts (so MANY) dating from up to the 30th century B.C. (i think)!! The sheer volume of their collection of truly OLD artifacts is dumbfounding!
-Fourth stop: Kremlin State Armory (Metro: Borovitskaya). Actually I got off a metro stop too early I think and couldn't quite figure out how to cross the vast ocean of road that lay before me. So I backtracked and used a perehod (under-street crosswalk thingie) and popped up right next to the Kremlin. At some point I'll take a tour of the rest of the inner-Kremlin grounds, but today was for the State Armory only (no time!). A-mazing! Jewels upon gold upon jewels upon magnificence. There were crowns and thrones and armor and weaponry and carriages and outfits and...well, you can google it too :) It was a very interesting place! Plus, it came with a free self-guided audio tour which was awesome. *Note: I also stopped outside the Kremlin and read a book in the warm sun today for about 30 minutes while I was waiting for my Armory tour to begin. What a lovely thought...sigh.
-Fifth stop: Red Square (Metro: Kitai Gorod). I have been here before a couple times (a few years ago and the other day), but today I thought I'd stop by on my own without pressure to leave on someone else's time - PLUS the weather was super gorgeous today, so it was worth it to hang out for a while. I took some pix of St. Basil's Cathedral (going to try to get in there before I leave if possible), Lenin's Tomb, the Kremlin walls and the State Historical Museum. They are preparing for a huge parade/celebration in September on the square, so there was construction/scaffolding and work going on all around.
After Red Square it was time to head home. Got back to the hotel (after only slightly getting lost in the next street over from my hotel) at 1800, ate some leftover spaghetti carbonara, cherry tomatoes, cheese wedges and ice cream. Mmmmm. Now I'm watching "The Life Aquatic (with Steve Zissou)" and am going to bed. Pix to come, so hold on to your hats!
Back to work tomorrow and hopefully for the shuttle launch on Friday. Today was a good day.
-Jaime out.
-Launch scrubbed (bummer!) so I took today (Weds) off. It was my first day off since arriving in Moscow.
-Woke up at 0630, back to sleep until 0741. Lolly-gagged until 930 when I was finally out the door to sightsee solo.
-Navigated the streets and subways of MOCKBA by myself, successfully, with no wrong turns. Yay!
-First stop: Victory Park (Metro: Park Pobodi). Walked around the grounds for a long while amazed by the humongous monuments. Didn't do the museum for time's sake. Amazing place!
-Second stop: Pushkin Museum of Private Collections (Metro: Kropotkinskaya). The most impressionist artist's work I have ever seen! An amazing collection of Manet, Monet, Degas, Picasso, Renoir, Dali, Matisse, and more! So many artists, so many works from each. Phenomenal! My favorite was an Odilon Redon, titled "Rebirth (Spring)" - check it out sometime!
-Third stop: Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Metro: Kropotkinskaya). I must admit I enjoyed the private collections better, but there were some outstanding pieces in this museum! I saw at least three mummies (and even a jaw and toe!) and other artifacts (so MANY) dating from up to the 30th century B.C. (i think)!! The sheer volume of their collection of truly OLD artifacts is dumbfounding!
-Fourth stop: Kremlin State Armory (Metro: Borovitskaya). Actually I got off a metro stop too early I think and couldn't quite figure out how to cross the vast ocean of road that lay before me. So I backtracked and used a perehod (under-street crosswalk thingie) and popped up right next to the Kremlin. At some point I'll take a tour of the rest of the inner-Kremlin grounds, but today was for the State Armory only (no time!). A-mazing! Jewels upon gold upon jewels upon magnificence. There were crowns and thrones and armor and weaponry and carriages and outfits and...well, you can google it too :) It was a very interesting place! Plus, it came with a free self-guided audio tour which was awesome. *Note: I also stopped outside the Kremlin and read a book in the warm sun today for about 30 minutes while I was waiting for my Armory tour to begin. What a lovely thought...sigh.
-Fifth stop: Red Square (Metro: Kitai Gorod). I have been here before a couple times (a few years ago and the other day), but today I thought I'd stop by on my own without pressure to leave on someone else's time - PLUS the weather was super gorgeous today, so it was worth it to hang out for a while. I took some pix of St. Basil's Cathedral (going to try to get in there before I leave if possible), Lenin's Tomb, the Kremlin walls and the State Historical Museum. They are preparing for a huge parade/celebration in September on the square, so there was construction/scaffolding and work going on all around.
After Red Square it was time to head home. Got back to the hotel (after only slightly getting lost in the next street over from my hotel) at 1800, ate some leftover spaghetti carbonara, cherry tomatoes, cheese wedges and ice cream. Mmmmm. Now I'm watching "The Life Aquatic (with Steve Zissou)" and am going to bed. Pix to come, so hold on to your hats!
Back to work tomorrow and hopefully for the shuttle launch on Friday. Today was a good day.
-Jaime out.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Tomatillo!
After a grueling two weeks in New Hampshire, I came home to this plant growing in the middle of our backyard. Turns out that something (bird, rabbit, or armadillo?) was nice enough to install a tomatillo plant for us and it's already fruiting. For size comparison, Sammie (who was 55lb at her last vet visit) is, as always, on her best behavior posing next to it. Now to find some tomatillo-utilizing recipes.
Pa Roosky
Zdrastvwechay (booyah phoenetics)! Today is day two for me in Russia, arriving yesterday afternoon. Technically, I guess I've only been in country for 24 hrs. After arriving yesterday at 11a local, a few people met up at 5p to go have Indian food for dinner. At a place called Maharaja, the Chicken Andraki is what I had and it was good. Really expensive, but good. After that, the group of us walked to Red Square for some photo ops (none from me, actually), saw St. Basil's Cathedral (I will try to go inside someday soon), the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and some old ladies dancing in the street to their boombox with 80's style hairpieces. It was pretty funny :)
I crashed out last night, woke up every hour to check the time and wonder exactly what "2:07 am" meant, then finally awoke at 6:00am to get ready for the day. Chris ("Buckles" as I call him) is over here for work on a 3 month tour, so we went a-travelin' this morning before work. First we went to Sparrow Hill which is southwest of the city center, right across from the University of Moscow - a huge, beautiful building. We hiked up this hill which is also home to a ski jump across from an olympic stadium (i think). She ain't too steep, but MAN am i winded from the climb up the hill! There was a fog over the city this morning and it's still overcast and sometimes sprinkle-y outside, but the weather is cool and lovely. Ahhhhhhhhhh. None-the-less I was pitting out all over the place in my rain jacket. Now my feet and my person stinks. Pleasant!
After Sparrow Hill we took the metro back toward the city center and stopped at Sculpture Park which is across from Gorky Park. I didn't know Gorky Park was an amusement park - I had associated it with the Sculpture Park right across from it...huh. I liked Sculpture Park a lot - walking amongst old sculptures from around Moscow and seeing some interesting spectacles. PLUS, there is the Peter the Great statue in the Moscow River (I think that's what it is) adjacent to the park and it's HUGE! Neat as well, so we got to see that also.
Next up for me today is work from 12-5, then dinner. Hope to get some of the "famous" pizza from near the TsUP ("soup", not " 'sup?") which is the mission control center in Moscow, today for a late lunch. Mmmmmm. I think I'm going to be lacking protein this trip, so I'm going to try everything I can to eat it in some form when I can - even if that means pizza! I have some basics from the grocery store near the hotel, so I'm sure I'll be eating just fine this trip :)
For now, I'm going to get ready for my first day at work and will write more later!
ps: I only brought my point-and-shoot camera, so I'll try to post some pix when I have some free time later. So far, not too many pix - we'll see how I do this trip!
**UPDATE: PIX!***
I crashed out last night, woke up every hour to check the time and wonder exactly what "2:07 am" meant, then finally awoke at 6:00am to get ready for the day. Chris ("Buckles" as I call him) is over here for work on a 3 month tour, so we went a-travelin' this morning before work. First we went to Sparrow Hill which is southwest of the city center, right across from the University of Moscow - a huge, beautiful building. We hiked up this hill which is also home to a ski jump across from an olympic stadium (i think). She ain't too steep, but MAN am i winded from the climb up the hill! There was a fog over the city this morning and it's still overcast and sometimes sprinkle-y outside, but the weather is cool and lovely. Ahhhhhhhhhh. None-the-less I was pitting out all over the place in my rain jacket. Now my feet and my person stinks. Pleasant!
After Sparrow Hill we took the metro back toward the city center and stopped at Sculpture Park which is across from Gorky Park. I didn't know Gorky Park was an amusement park - I had associated it with the Sculpture Park right across from it...huh. I liked Sculpture Park a lot - walking amongst old sculptures from around Moscow and seeing some interesting spectacles. PLUS, there is the Peter the Great statue in the Moscow River (I think that's what it is) adjacent to the park and it's HUGE! Neat as well, so we got to see that also.
Next up for me today is work from 12-5, then dinner. Hope to get some of the "famous" pizza from near the TsUP ("soup", not " 'sup?") which is the mission control center in Moscow, today for a late lunch. Mmmmmm. I think I'm going to be lacking protein this trip, so I'm going to try everything I can to eat it in some form when I can - even if that means pizza! I have some basics from the grocery store near the hotel, so I'm sure I'll be eating just fine this trip :)
For now, I'm going to get ready for my first day at work and will write more later!
ps: I only brought my point-and-shoot camera, so I'll try to post some pix when I have some free time later. So far, not too many pix - we'll see how I do this trip!
**UPDATE: PIX!***
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Whales in New Hampshire
We had a beautiful day today with blue skies, a slight breeze and gorgeous sunshine (including the super red faces with sunglasses lines to match)! The temperature was a perfect mid-seventy or so...ahhhhhhhhh, so nice! We boarded the Granite State Whale Watching vessel, a two-story boat, from Rye Harbor Marina and set off on our 4 hour whale watching adventure!
We ended up seeing over 30 different whales, which generally were traveling in pods of 2 or 3. 
At one point our boat was surrounded by whales on every side - of course, they stayed relatively distant from us. There were some really close encounters with the whales, including: 1. A Humpback doing a pirouette-turny-thing out of the water, showing off its tummy and waving a fin at us right off the bow, like 10 feet away, and 2. one of the Fin Backs swimming right toward our starboard side and then about 20 feet away from our hull, turned toward our stern and swimming away. The whales we saw were Humpback and Fin Back whales. Note: The Fin Back whale is the second largest animal on the planet, next to the Blue Whale. PHENOMENAL! I took entirely too many pictures of seemingly the same thing. I'll post them all in an album shortly, but for now just a couple of my faves :)
At one point our boat was surrounded by whales on every side - of course, they stayed relatively distant from us. There were some really close encounters with the whales, including: 1. A Humpback doing a pirouette-turny-thing out of the water, showing off its tummy and waving a fin at us right off the bow, like 10 feet away, and 2. one of the Fin Backs swimming right toward our starboard side and then about 20 feet away from our hull, turned toward our stern and swimming away. The whales we saw were Humpback and Fin Back whales. Note: The Fin Back whale is the second largest animal on the planet, next to the Blue Whale. PHENOMENAL! I took entirely too many pictures of seemingly the same thing. I'll post them all in an album shortly, but for now just a couple of my faves :)
This has been such a great vacation (more on that after the trip is over)!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Sweet Potato Soup Recipe
A bunch of people have asked me to post the Sweet Potato Soup recipe. Follow the link to the ever-wonderful Bon Appetit parent website, http://www.epicurious.com/. I found the recipe from one of my magazines, apparently from aught-six.
Few Items to Note
1. Measurements: I am not a fan of precise measurement. I like to experiment a bit, and while I don't usually stray too far from the recipe, I recommend using your best judgement and making the food in a way that makes you happy. More rosemary? Yes please! Less butter? Sure, why not.
2. Sweet potatoes: For the mashed sweet potatoes, in case you don't have any "leftover" for use in this recipe, you can take 3 good sized sweet potatoes, peel the skins off (tried it w/ the skins once, no good), then slice the potato into rounds about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Lightly sprinkle some oil on a baking sheet and spread the rounds out in a single layer. Bake for 20-25 mins at 400 F or until tender. Once tender, take out of the oven and mash them up. No seasoning required.
3. Chicken broth: I use free-range, low-salt organic chicken stock from the store and use at least 4 cups. I think in my last batch I used 6 cups total. Basically, I would recommend starting with 4 cups and adding more based on the consistency you like. It probably also depends on how much potato you stick in the recipe. Again, eyeball it to a place that makes you happiest.
4. Pancetta or Bacon?: I have used pancetta twice in this recipe and bacon once. I ate most of it before it actually got into the soup, every time. Pancetta is less greasy and more salty than bacon. I generally didn't use very much, if any, butter with the pancetta drippings. If you use bacon, you'll have to discard more of the pan drippings and won't need any butter at all. Plus, I recommend a thick-cut bacon if possible.
5. Croutons: I start out by pan-frying the sourdough cubes in the leftover grease/buttery goodness, with lots of rosemary (love that stuff and frankly, it's coming out of my ears here at the house). Then I either bake them to get them all-over crispy or I broil them. Just make sure to keep an eye on them so they don't burn in the oven.
6. Consistency: I highly recommend puree-ing this recipe in your blender after it is all completed, then back to the pot for more heat or from the food processor to the bowl.
Enjoy!
Few Items to Note
1. Measurements: I am not a fan of precise measurement. I like to experiment a bit, and while I don't usually stray too far from the recipe, I recommend using your best judgement and making the food in a way that makes you happy. More rosemary? Yes please! Less butter? Sure, why not.
2. Sweet potatoes: For the mashed sweet potatoes, in case you don't have any "leftover" for use in this recipe, you can take 3 good sized sweet potatoes, peel the skins off (tried it w/ the skins once, no good), then slice the potato into rounds about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Lightly sprinkle some oil on a baking sheet and spread the rounds out in a single layer. Bake for 20-25 mins at 400 F or until tender. Once tender, take out of the oven and mash them up. No seasoning required.
3. Chicken broth: I use free-range, low-salt organic chicken stock from the store and use at least 4 cups. I think in my last batch I used 6 cups total. Basically, I would recommend starting with 4 cups and adding more based on the consistency you like. It probably also depends on how much potato you stick in the recipe. Again, eyeball it to a place that makes you happiest.
4. Pancetta or Bacon?: I have used pancetta twice in this recipe and bacon once. I ate most of it before it actually got into the soup, every time. Pancetta is less greasy and more salty than bacon. I generally didn't use very much, if any, butter with the pancetta drippings. If you use bacon, you'll have to discard more of the pan drippings and won't need any butter at all. Plus, I recommend a thick-cut bacon if possible.
5. Croutons: I start out by pan-frying the sourdough cubes in the leftover grease/buttery goodness, with lots of rosemary (love that stuff and frankly, it's coming out of my ears here at the house). Then I either bake them to get them all-over crispy or I broil them. Just make sure to keep an eye on them so they don't burn in the oven.
6. Consistency: I highly recommend puree-ing this recipe in your blender after it is all completed, then back to the pot for more heat or from the food processor to the bowl.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Latest and Greatest
Well well well. Yes indeedy, it's been a month and a half since I've written. Charlie is really slacking, I know.
The haps with the craps is:
1. Faithie's baby Brandon is doing well, yay! (see last post)
2. My first lead shuttle mission, STS-127/2JA just finished a 17-day long journey from Earth, to the International Space Station, and back on Friday. Booyah! It was a blast, the whole thing. I'd do it again in a heartbeat for sure.
3. My brother and sister in law (Andy & Melissa) just had a bouncing baby girl yesterday - Welcome little Mia! We can't wait to meet you...hopfully this Fall (?)
4. Lieutenant Junior Grade Charlie is in New Hampster for the Navy until next Tuesday & he'll have been gone a whole 2 weeks. I go to visit him this weekend for a rousing good time of watching woodchucks eat crabapples, seagulls making noises, WHALE WATCHING (oh yeah baby! jealous?? boom!) and in-season Maine Lobster. Mmmmmmm.
5. I finished my summer grad school class today by turning in my Final paper. Technically I have two classroom sessions to watch, but without any homework due ...and my paper being finished...not likely to happen. One more class left ending in December and then I'm donesky. D-O-N-E, gradutated.
6. I got a membership to Massage Envy for a year and I am pumped iz-up. One guaranteed massage a month is what I'm gifting myself with my work bonus this year. Woohoo!
7. I'm making sweet potato soup (with pancetta and fresh rosemary and homemade croutons) all the time up in this piece. It's delicious, easy to make and quick. Num!
8. Speaking of fresh herbs, our gardens are doing pretty well. I can't tell what's happening with the tomato plants (we got some fruit, but not too much...hmmm), but the herbs are growing really well! I have more basil than i know what to do with and the thyme, sage and mint (3 kinds) are growing quite nicely. Our peppers are doing decently as well. I love to eat what we grow!!
That is the last month or so summed up as snug as a bug in a rug. Shouldn't be too incredibly long before the next post arrives either. I mean, don't hold your breath or anything, but ...it should be less than a month coming :)
The haps with the craps is:
1. Faithie's baby Brandon is doing well, yay! (see last post)
2. My first lead shuttle mission, STS-127/2JA just finished a 17-day long journey from Earth, to the International Space Station, and back on Friday. Booyah! It was a blast, the whole thing. I'd do it again in a heartbeat for sure.
3. My brother and sister in law (Andy & Melissa) just had a bouncing baby girl yesterday - Welcome little Mia! We can't wait to meet you...hopfully this Fall (?)
4. Lieutenant Junior Grade Charlie is in New Hampster for the Navy until next Tuesday & he'll have been gone a whole 2 weeks. I go to visit him this weekend for a rousing good time of watching woodchucks eat crabapples, seagulls making noises, WHALE WATCHING (oh yeah baby! jealous?? boom!) and in-season Maine Lobster. Mmmmmmm.
5. I finished my summer grad school class today by turning in my Final paper. Technically I have two classroom sessions to watch, but without any homework due ...and my paper being finished...not likely to happen. One more class left ending in December and then I'm donesky. D-O-N-E, gradutated.
6. I got a membership to Massage Envy for a year and I am pumped iz-up. One guaranteed massage a month is what I'm gifting myself with my work bonus this year. Woohoo!
7. I'm making sweet potato soup (with pancetta and fresh rosemary and homemade croutons) all the time up in this piece. It's delicious, easy to make and quick. Num!
8. Speaking of fresh herbs, our gardens are doing pretty well. I can't tell what's happening with the tomato plants (we got some fruit, but not too much...hmmm), but the herbs are growing really well! I have more basil than i know what to do with and the thyme, sage and mint (3 kinds) are growing quite nicely. Our peppers are doing decently as well. I love to eat what we grow!!
That is the last month or so summed up as snug as a bug in a rug. Shouldn't be too incredibly long before the next post arrives either. I mean, don't hold your breath or anything, but ...it should be less than a month coming :)
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