Here and There Blog

Well, who knew? Dmitri Mendeleyev of Russia wrote down and set in place in 1869 what would haunt me more than 100 years later. Dmitri has a statue here in St. Petersburg. I only saw a photo op of statue with snow and I ran off to snap the picture. Upon returning to my group, I asked, so who is that statue? They pointed to the big wall on the side (previously un-noticed by me) and replied "that guy, who did the table." Sure enough, to the right was a big, giant periodic table. But before I could do anymore, our hitch-hike luck had worked and a car was ready to take us to the next work stop.

Baltica 7 really isn't a good beer. More along the lines of standard Central and South American stuff but it's local and I had to have the photo. I didn't even drink in the bar but preferred the warmth of my hotel room. Tonight I'm so tired from lack of sleep that no beer will be needed at all.

The upside of Russia in the winter is the lack of tourists and hawkers. No one to fight to get to the statue, no one waving stuff in your face. Well, a little bit of the latter but still, I was able to walk up to Catherine's statue with no hassle as the snow continues to gather about the square.  This is the thick, fluffy, stuff. It comes down in the nice big flakes and without wind the cold is survivable when you are wearing the many, many, layers of jackets and hats that I had on. Saw a few women looking stylish in short skirts, stockings, and boots. Anything for fashion! 

Woke up to snow. Brrrr!!!!  That's not fog on the window but fresh snow and the stuff is still falling. That's St. Issac's Cathedral on the left.

Dining in Istanbul is a treat, especially when with friends. We had dinner at Poseidon, a seafood restaurant where the fresh catches are on display as you walk in.  This was the most fun looking fish but the one I ate (or it's fish brother) is on the far left.  Not so much a sardine fan but the jumbo shrimp were looking good.  I have no idea what the big fish are along the wall but I'm told this is not the season to eat them.  These are some big fish!

Istanbul, St. Petersburg, Beirut. All places I like preferably when it's warm. But business goes on even in the winter so off I go again today. My flight should have left 10 minutes ago but in the wondrous world I live in, the plane broke down and all connections were going to be missed. I'm now rerouted to a later flight to Frankfurt, the airport that just dealt with a two day strike. Russian winter - today the high is 34F and snow. What an improvement from a week ago when the high was 3F. Good thing since I've forgotten my brand new cold weather jacket twice this week with yesterday watching it drive away in another car and me back to REI to buy one again. Pictures later this week. The next 48 hours will be the world of airports/flights/customs.

I had a 6:30 am flight out of San Diego recently and after clearing security I plopped myself down at 5:30 am at the gate to wait. I kept hearing a bird and was looking up in the vents, at the windows, and could not figure out where the chirping was coming from. Then I looked at eye level at the across from me and this little guy looked as sleepy as all the travelers. I think the chirps were more of a half hearted effort to greet the day but like me, all he really wanted was more sleep!