Red Square - Russia's Little Girl is Leaving

The weather was perfect for an early morning stroll through Red Square. I've been here several times but it always takes my breath away. The buildings are SO beautiful they look like something out of Disney World or a fairy tale. St. Basil's has to be one of the most amazing buildings I've ever seen.

After three weeks here, my Flip and my camera both went on strike at the same time so Toni took over as official documentarian.

We took several photos of the little miss and I decided that we had to do a couple without her trench coat. I quickly surveyed for angry babushka types and seeing that the scene was clear, shelled her out of her coat so that her Embassy outfit could be seen in all it's glory. We decided to abandon the matching sandals as they are a bit big and kept falling off her feet. I should note here that Mia enjoys taking her shoes off no matter how well her shoes fit. She's determined to be a barefoot little princess when we get back home.

It was a great day to see Red Square one last time. Afterwards, we stopped by Seven Continents which is a HUGE, expensive store located on the corner of Starry Arbat (on the McDonald's end) and picked up a couple of items that we needed (diapers, milk chocolate, a jar of fruit baby food .. not necessarily listed in order of importance :). We then headed to the Apteka which is on Starry Arbat just passed McDonald's. We found the painkillers that have been working so well on Mom's headache and picked up a couple of packages in preparation for our trip home tomorrow. I pray we don't need an entire package to get us home! If you're at the airport to greet us and we seem a little loopy, you'll possibly know why!

We decided to have a cup of coffee and a coca light for Toni at the Hard Rock. Despite their pricey lunches and dinners, their breakfasts are fairly reasonable. Their cappucino was wonderful and really hit the spot.

Slava, Toni's driver, dropped us back at our apartment. It was sad to say farewell to him. He is such a nice man and plays in a local rock n'roll band. Too bad we didn't have the chance to hear him play. Perhaps another time.

We will meet up with Toni tonight to go out for our final meal in Moscow at Molly Gwynn's. Yes, it does sound like an Irish pub but is located just below our apartment and will make it easy for us to get home and finish packing. We've started the packing endeavor (which I always thinks goes better with a glass of champagne by the way) but haven't determined if all will fit into our suitcase. We did purchase some items of course that will be life long treasures I am sure.

If you notice the dark circles under my eyes that no amount of concealer could erase, it is due to the fact that last night was the big soccer tournament between Spain and Russia. Folks started partying at about 9 p.m. The game started at 11 p.m. and ended at about 12:30 p.m. Mom was determined to watch it so we stayed up until almost the end after Spain had scored three goals and Russia had none with 4 minutes left in the game, we decided to call it quits. The photo to the left is of the billboard just outside our apartment window. It's amazing what they can do. This is the two opposing team flags with a soccer ball that bounces across the screen. Very cool.

Mia, of course not caring that we went to bed so late, got up at 5:45 a.m. so we're just beat. And, no nap for the weary since we'll head over to the Embassy at 1:25 p.m. Now there's an appointment that we don't want to be late for!