Regardless of our sketchy neighborhood, we were able to convince our friends from Cambridge, Chris and Bronwyn, to come stay with us for the weekend and explore NY. We went to Brighton Beach where they got their first taste of the Russian soda, tarhun (Тархун), we wandered around the beach at Coney Island and of course got some hot dogs, and then walked through Soho and took a water taxi all the way around Manhattan. To top off the day, we went to the UN Building, where we accidentally (seriously!) walked in on a Senegal conference.
Oh! And we also took a look at Grand Central Station--very reminiscent of Russia's train stations.
After church, we decided to wander around Wall Street and the Financial Center, as well as Ground Zero. Quite the contrast between the tragedy of September 11th and the thriving finance world.
We went to Coney Island to wade in the ocean, explore the amusement park (including their 80-year old roller coaster, The Cyclone), and get a world-famous Nathan's hot dog or two (they sponsor the the annual 4th of July hot dog eating contest; this year's winner ate 66 in 12 minutes)
Then we headed to Brighton Beach, where the NY Russians dwell. It was amazingly comforting to see everything written in Russian. A pharmacy will always be an аптека to me. Brandon bought a Soviet comedy and a Russian Harry Potter (#6--we're a little behind), and I marveled at how big all the Russian groceries are in the US. We ended the day by eating at a Russian restaurant, with the typically wonderful service. Ah, how we miss Russia!
Our friend, Ben Weiner, gave us two tickets to see a percussion group perform at the Lincoln Center. How could we refuse? The concert was a lot of fun. There was a lot of water dripping and soda cans clanking, but the talent involved was obvious. One of the highlights was when they raised the curtain behind the band, revealing an entire wall of windows and a great view of Manhattan and Central Park. Afterwards, we were spectators to a VIP Harry Potter party--featuring hundreds of costumed fans, wizard ice sculptures, and a performance by Lifehouse. Only in NYC, right? We stuck around long enough to get the general gist and then decided to head home before Flatbush got too crazy.
Hooray for the weekends! We were able to go see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island--which ended up being an all-day event because of the long lines of tourists. We weren't able to go inside Lady Liberty, but we did enjoy Ellis Island, which has been turned into a giant museum. It takes you through the process that the immigrants had to go through before being allowed to enter the US. The best part was seeing a mock board of review for a "Russian immigrant." He needed to work on his accent.
To wrap up our Russia trip (yes, we are in NYC now) I thought I'd post some of the randomness that is Russia. Here are some pics and random Russian-ness that didn't really fit into any of our other posts. Enjoy!
One of the Seven Sisters that was up the street from our first apartment.
The Moscow mayor lives here on Tverskaya, just down the street from our second apartment.... Or I could be making that up and this is just a pretty building.
Gotta give the props to Ukraine (on Red Square).
We thought this was clever.
A couple of metro pictures. Not all of the stops are decorative, but the ones that are are usually beautiful. The trains come by so often, you don't get much time to look at the station.
The doorway to our building of our second apartment--we moved to a much nicer (read: expensive) area of Moscow. Did we mention the casino and male strip club just two buildings down from ours? Avert your eyes to the life-size advertisements on your way to the apartment and you'll be fine.
Left over from WWII, these are now apart of a children's playground
We accidentally found the stadium used for the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics!
Wandering around Red Square:
A quick word about the food: Most of the food was very good (although I would avoid the ketchup and/or tomato sauce. They taste way too similar to eat either). Even the things we wouldn't think we would like (ie fish) was usually pretty good. But I did maintain a list of the most memorable: - liver pâté - lamb dolma (I think it was the lamb that killed it. I blame this dish alone on both Brandon and I getting sick after Shesh Besh) - bacon-flavored potato chips (they tasted just like how it sounds) - pickled garlic greens - smoked whale from Norway (Although I am somewhat offended, Brandon swears it was really good. Let's face it, I would probably have eaten it, too, if I had had the chance)
We finally got Dima's explanation of Russia on video. Priceless!
Novodevichy was talked up so much by my Medford friends, the Gish's, that we had to make a stop to see it. It was like a mini-Kremlin with all of it's churches and towers and icons. Of course, we also liked the cemetery.
Afterwards, we went to the circus done Russian-style. It was the best circus I've ever seen with acrobats, trapeze artists, dog, horse, bear, and tiger acts (not all at the same time), clowns, live musicians, dancers...Brandon and I were usually leaning forward in our seats and saying 'did you see that?' Put that one on the list of things to take our kids to when we head to Russia again.
What could be more fitting than celebrating America's independence by going to the center of Russia's bureaucracy? Who needs fireworks?
The Kremlin's churches are an icon-lover's dream! Each church seemed to have more icons than the next. Too bad we couldn't take any pictures inside, but we did catch a mini concert by some of the Orthodox priests. Those guys can sing!
(Btw--Check out Felicia's 150 ruble sunglasses she got off the street. People thought she spoke Russian when she wore those.)
Brandon standing next to the world's largest bell. Russians do things big.
Once again, the Wilsons were vagabonds, traveling around Russia. For our last excursion, we went to Nizhny Novgorod--the city where Brandon spent 8 months of his mission. We took the train overnight and arrived in Nizhny with time to take a nap and eat a Russian breakfast (mmmm for hot dogs and blini, блин) in our Soviet-style hotel overlooking the Volga.
We then met Ilya Bugrezov, his girlfriend Natasha, and Rita and Olya Bugrezovi for a guided tour of the city. Brandon knew the Bugrezovi when they were investigating the church. First we headed to the city's Kremlin, which has been around for centuries. It has giant walls and guard towers and sits atop a hill above the Volga.
The view from the Kremlin with Ilya and Natasha
Inside the Kremlin walls--Ilya, Natasha, Olga, Rita, and Felicia
We walked around Nizhny a bit before heading to the river for a boat cruise.
This street had a lot of fun statues. Of course, we picked the angry-looking one to take a picture with.
The 450ish stairs to the Volga river below the Kremlin.
Aboard the river cruise
We spent the rest of the day in the Bugrezovi home, being fed wonderful Russian food, catching up and getting reacquainted.
On Sunday we went to church at one of the two Nizhiny branches. The call of "Wilson" was soon heard throughout as many of the members who remembered Brandon came to say hello and meet his "American wife."
Outside the church building. We were walking along a typical Nizhny street and out of nowhere, this beautiful building emerges. Lo and behold--it's one of ours!
The Bugrezovi family, including our Russian Mama
We had dinner after church with the Korobenikovi--Anatolii and Ira--another couple Brandon knew from his mission. Ira made us the best fish we ever had, let us have as many mashed potatoes as we wanted, and gave us some killer tea (fruit tea, that is)!
Finally, it was time to head back to Moscow after a great trip to Nizhny. We'll be sure to come back to this city the next time we're in Russia! It's one of our favorites!
Don't they look excited?
