| Perfil de Tozzia running journalFotosBlogListas |  Ferramentas  Ajuda |
|
30 de julho short of words?ive come across a few odd "situations" this week. first, Monday met Irina for coffee. We talked for a while, parted and I adjourned with "we'll chat soon" ... her response being "as you wish" ... kinda stuck for a while... as you wish? like a command, or as a dismissal, perhaps an open end...not sure.
the second was this article on sexual harrassment in Russia... entitled "Sexual harassment okay as it ensures humans breed, Russian judge rules" at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/2470310/Sexual-harrassment-okay-as-it-ensures-humans-breed%2C-Russian-judge-rules.html a very funny read ... "According to a recent survey, 100 per cent of female professionals said they had been subjected to sexual harassment by their bosses, 32 per cent said they had had intercourse" ... fabulous... just imagine being a woman in Russia... eaakkss... 29 de julho infrastructure that worksits been ages since I've had to make changes on the Intdev firewall, but I am proud of our lil hosting environment. Indeed, our firewall with various interfaces, bound IP addresses, VPN server and other functions reports lovely. I dont want to jinx the boxlet but its sure purring like a kitten. 27 de julho back in Mockbafeeling horribly! Thursday was till 4am in Milan, Friday arrived in Geneva at 9pm only to find out that we're going out again... this time a group of 7 friends and didnt even get to bed between catching the taxi to the train station, the train from Morge to Geneva, the plane to Moscow, the taxi home... dead!
hey hey! still had my wits about me... managed to negotiate a ride home from Domodedovo for 1000 rubles!!! yeah, take that! ok ok the guy was from Afghanistan, his car was quite battered and he was playing unbearable Russian techno)))) milanoSpent two days in Milan from 23rd till 25th July, actually cant do that city any justice...need to spend more time there, perhaps two weeks to really get a feel for the place. It is a lovely city though: fair pace, small enough to navigate, fabulous and fashionable relaxed people ... was kindly put up by IT Software at Hotel Zurigo near their offices, convenient and central to the city. we had a fantastic dinner on Wednesday night at (?): soft raviolis to start, seared cob as main, caramel tiramisu for desert, deep red wine with great company. shared some stories on Moscow, discussed a bit of business, the nearing August holidays, fashion in Italy etc etc. Federico, Alessandro and I continued partying into the night, attended an out-door open air stadium with make-shift summer club, and experienced Old Fashion. Had a great night out, was kinda tired inbetween but found energy again around 1am to keep going till 4am.
geneva for my visaits been a mad week, having to pressingly leave Moscow on the 20th as the visa expired. Flew into Geneva and got to spent two more days with my sister in Lausanne, mostly in Morge at her boyfriends place. Took the comfy train into Geneva each day to meet with our potential investor at their offices in Rue du Rhône. Actually, I've never taken a train in South Africa, it would be impractical and way to dangerous. In constrast, nobody seems to work Geneva ... its quaint, quiet, slow paced and very orderly. There is no good reason to change the pace))))) The Russian embassy was of course a struggle, a South African on a German passport trying to renew a Russian visa in Switzerland...yeah, thats the look I got from Mikael behind the counter. Anyway, got it sorted... first pic is summers day view from my sisters apartment, the other two of the promenade central Geneva. arbatwent on an excursion with Tatiana to see Arbat. this district and main street has historic significance....obviously more on wikipedia) had fun, will still want to have a portrait made by one of the local artisans. visited one of three Starbucks in Mocsow, and admired the local pavement performers entertaining the passing crowds. we also came across a statue of Puskin and his flirtatious wife)))) tsaritsinoOksana and I met "early" one saturday morning to explore Tsaritsino. This place is near to her house, and she had wanted to show me the gardens of the old Tsar estate, home to Catherine II of Russia. The excursion was lovely, calm amidst the bustling city primarily host to the many couples to be wed and photographed in the landscaped park.
krisis genereMaria showed me this fab underground live music venue, very much local and isolated. tucked away with a small side entrace, this Bugys look-and-feel layered music room was filled with colour accoustic fans singing/dacing to both popular western (U2, Oasis etc) and Russian (?) songs. pics of Maria and Irina posing with уериыщевский
breakfast at tiffany'sin being foreign, one has to be open to new ideas. Tatiana arranged for a birthday breakfast with a novel theme: breakfast at tiffany's. i've certainly never tried this at home and fondly accepted the invitation to join for pastry, champaign and celebrations out at Tiffany's)) a fun idea, an event I much enjoyed)) I recall glasses falling on the pavement, a good sign and positive superstition of the Russians when dishes shatter at a birthday.
friends from croatiain trying to balance work and play, found a good opportunity to arrange for a night out. while my knowledge of the city is still limited and i've yet to develop a sense on what is considered quality, i suggested to Jalena that we meet at Oxygen on the rooftop of Ritz-Carlton, overlooking the Kremlin. As girls would be, they were notably late ... yet well worth the wait))) Jalena arrived with her entourage of friends Anita, Mirela and Josipa. With such company, the evening far extended beyond just a drink and we had a super time chatting bout various, mixing languages, sampling the vodka and sharing on travels...and dance till late at Propaganda. this definitely puts Zagreb next on the list of travel destinations... will miss these fabulous grrls...
16 de julho ashanti, propaganda, denis simachev, opera etcfab night out with Chris Helmbrecht, toured the night sights of Moscow... we started at midnigh, and hit the pillow around 5am. great to having made this new contact, a regular on ASW, German and 5 years experience of Moscow. It certanly makes it easier travelling with a local who is out to have a good time.
the venues in sequence were ashanti, propaganda, denis simachev, opera and another, of which the first three were great. after exchanging numbers with local lead, the evening faded into the morning trans...
museums in mostrying to settle into a new world without having even a single point of reference is actually, in retrospect, near unthinkable. blessed that i actually didnt have enough time prior to packing to consider the consequences of arriving in a stranged place without even a single contact, massive language barrier and still unrefined interests. working on the latter and quickly formalising these into art, sport and culture...these include rollerblading, squash, tennis...contemporary and modern museums..and food and geography.
by strange coincidence I was able to meet up with Oksana who enthusiastically toured the Pushkin museum with me. Prior to last week, I had no real sense of how influential Pushkin was, only to find myself dining with Dmitri at the Pushkin Restaurant...needless to say, much vodka was consumed. Oksana wanted to see "Futurism", an exhibition about the many works published during the early 20th century with views on the future. Alot of exact, detailed, high contrast, far fetched and ueber-design art... but fun and interesting. We had a few good laughs about language, art and concepts, and about our culural differences.
moscow part I of manygot into Moscow... feels like entering a new world.
my Professor told me a few stories about Russia, including how "people used to keep their wind-screen wipers inside their cars, aparently due to petty crime", and how "purchasing groceries was a three step order-pay-receive process"... Russia today (and not referring to the media channel) is seemingly something completely the opposite. I will admit that I've entered into Moscow, described by locals as an island within Russia, yet I am truely facinated. It has age old history, amazing architecture, bustling pavements and high-street shopping. The centre is decorated with shops, cafes, bars, etc and the parks filled with people, kids, dogs etc. If you we'rnt constantly reminded by one of the 7 sisters in view from almost anywhere, one could forget that this was Moscow-with-its-stigmas.
Fair enough, first two weeks have been interesting. It is clear that this city is filled with both the good and the bad. The good includes sushi at 2am, grocery shopping at midnight, partying till 5am, wonderful open spaces, friendly people, good looking girls, fabulous museums (such as Pushkin and Tretyakov), easy transport etc. The bad like drunk Russians and guys getting beaten by bouncers.
Got my lil 1 bed apartment on Gruzinskiy Val near Belaruskaya Vokzal, and near to work in Mayakovskaya. Finding my way around town, the metro and the many parks.
sis in Lausannecaught up with sis in Lausanne to see how she is putting up. seems she settled in fantastically well, has a cracker of a room to share with a fabulous view, and further made some quality friend. it was my first time on Lake Geneva, we visited Montreux, Evian and Morge. Not that the Frensh speakin Swiss like the English speaking folk that much, and German gained a bit more traction, it was fun spending a bit of time in this picturesque place.
Also got to meet her boyfriend Stefan, equity and fixed income trader for Cisco treausury, a great guy and company I much enjoyed. We had some good laughs about the 130m2+ balcony shadowing his 100m2 apartment, his wiltering plans in a make-shift green house and a the various purposes of his large patio, not limited to: a cricket green, putt putt course, ice ring etc.
If you look closely at the first pic, or so my sister says, you can see Mont Blanc.
fabulous days in Parmaonly catching up on a few stories now, in particular as i've been taking all these pictures yet still pondering where to publish them...FB too pretentious, ASW not for personal pics, a blog is right.
|
|
|
