So, the hotel that my hosts have arranged for me to stay at is a very nice hotel. It is probably nicer than I would normally stay at when traveling on my own. It is certainly nicer than almost any place I can think of staying when traveling Europe with mom and dad in the past. Having said that, it was close to the train station, it is close to the "campus", and they arranged for a discounted rate (which is probably still close to $100 a night for a single). However, the breakfast buffet is incredible and a nice way [View Full Entry]

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Ah, Italy. It is nice to be somewhere where I feel more comfortable. I joked before that I always question whether I would want to live in places I visit. THIS is a place I could live for a little while. I love this town. It is many of the things that I missed in Russia along with some things I didn’t even notice until I got here. * People are friendly. They smile and greet you as you walk down the street. No pushing, no shoving. One guy approached me and I was concerned for a second. I suddenly realized [View Full Entry]

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I have a lot of empathy for the Steve Martin character from the movie in the title of this blog. Like his character, I have taken a BUNCH of transportation options today in my effort to get from Moscow to Bolzano-Bozen, Italy. Let’s see. In order they were: Car, plane, bus, bus, plane, bus, bus, train, and a seemingly long hike from the train station with my suitcase on my back. From the time the driver picked me up in Moscow to the time I unpacked in my room in Bolzano was 15 hours. To be fair, unlike Steve Martin’s character, [View Full Entry]

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Two things happened after I posted the earlier message today that has given me just that much more faith and respect for Russia. They are tiny things, but since I had expressed negativity in the earlier post, I will make sure that I present some positive things as well. First, riding the subway is an incredibly rude experience (although, it is in Washington DC as well and I can only assume not much better in places like Chicago and New York). I got on a busy car today just behind two older women. The car was packed. Both women were immediately [View Full Entry]

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Well, it is my final day in Moscow, and in fact, my final day in Russia after fifteen and a half days. Today I did the last thing on my list of musts for Moscow - visit Lenin. And, like many things in Russia, it wasn't without it's harrowing moments. It turns out that Lenin's Masoleum is only open a limited number of days/hours each week. The last times I was in the area I either just missed it or it was the wrong day. Today it was open from 10:00 until 1:00. I arrived about 11:15 and got in the [View Full Entry]

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Today was another long day of walking. I am going to be disappointed if I don’t come home a few pounds lighter given the increased amount of exercise that I am getting and what SEEMS like a decreased amount of food (although not necessarily calories I suppose). I was on my own for the first of two days today and I thought that I would just go walking. I had a good map, and a general plan, but I just decided to go wherever my feet took me and not worry if I got lost for a little while (and at [View Full Entry]

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The hottest spot in Moscow (at least the hottest one we found) appears to be the Russian version of heading “South of the Border” And let me tell you, they know how to have fun. Tuesday night several of us walked a block or two to a place called Pancho Villas for dinner, which is the Russian equivalent of a Mexican restaurant. Their menu had some Mexican standards (burritos, fajitas, quesadillas, nachos) some American standards (spicy chicken wings, burgers), and some strange additions. Some examples of this last category include a clam, squid, fish soup that a colleague tri [View Full Entry]

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Today was a day without my hosts (as a matter of fact, so is every day for the rest of this stay. They didn’t set much up for me in Moscow for some reason). In the morning I met one of the faculty members from the University of Iowa who is traveling with us, and we decided to get adventurous. We took the subway out to the Western suburbs and walked about a mile to “Victory Park” This is a long fountain lined, monument lined parkway from the Triumphal Arch (celebrating the Russian victory over Napolean in 1812) down to [View Full Entry]

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Ok, I only have two and a half minutes left on this computer before it locks me out. However, just wanted to post I am alive and well and have several longer posts ready to upload when I can get more computer access. Remarkably, time in Moscow has been hard to find. This cafe is no where near my hotel, but we stumbled across it while being tourists (it is just across Red Square from the Kremlin!). I am having a lot of fun in HOT Moscow and you can read more and see more when I get better access! [View Full Entry]

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While I may not have lived through arguably the scariest part of the Cold War - the Cuban missile crisis - I think that it is fair to say that the Cold War was still alive during the Reagan years and they managed to hold their share of tense and frightening moments and images. I recall as an 8th or 9th grader they made a mini-series called “The Day After” about a period of time after the Soviet Union and the US have bombed the daylights out of each other. We were forced to watch it in Social Studies class, [View Full Entry]

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