Finally in Vladivostok
Day one


What a charming city this is.  The airport shows remnants of the old Soviet military.  The airline crew apologize because the officer has not boarded the plane  yet.. She was referring to this gentleman who has a camera and took photos of every passenger disembarking...

First Russian words we said... Dasbe danya... (Sp?)  Thank you to our guide Ilyana  and thank you to our driver who met us at the airport.  Learning to read Cyrillic is quite a challenge  From Korean characters in Incheon to Cyrillic in the entire Soviet Republic would be enough to confuse me.  But I will try my best speaking and not be bothered by the written words.

Question:  Population  600,000 or actually 800,000

Question:  Meaning of Vladivostok.. Vladi is rule.. Vostok  East  Rule of the East..

Question:  Weather   Answer:  Whatever happens in the Pacific affects us too.

35 miles later we were at our hotel.

The feeling we have is ....still our trip was such a long haul so more napping today.  and dinner was at 7:30.. Food is delicious.  In the restaurant's

cafe, there was a lot to choose from.  I chose an appetizer of thinly sliced beef tongue with cucumber and olives...

I was attracted to this dish with Chicken livers, hearts, gizzard and giblets and cooked like menudo.  It was good and as pointed out by Don Juan... it must be really good if you have runny nose and I did.  Enjoyed this dish.  Get this..served on a palayok... Who knew they have palayok in Vladivostok.

For dessert, I chose this crepe and it is so attractive.  It looked very rich,but I like it because sweetness is not overpowering.. 

                                                                                    

I got my act together.. I borrowed a transformer from the concierge and they were kind enough to lend me.. Don Juan wants to buy one and reminded me to ask the concierge where to buy one. I can then take it with me n the rail journey. 

More preparations to be done.  Will pick up meds today and hoping I can finish packing.  Bags are almost full.  I can always weed out anything that I think will not be needed for the trip.

The storm knocked down my corn.  This is unexpected of course and will be staking them tomorrow. Will have to take pictures so the friendly house sitter will know which plants to water and does require critical care.

Trying to prepare electronics.  Will be bringing my French lessons.  I  will allocate some time for that.  It might be hard to do that.  I can try.

A terrible thing happened today.  I fell off the sofa and landed softly on the floor.  I am feeling the pain all afternoon and into the night.  Heating pad helps but it is such a struggle to move around and pack things.  Am moving pretty slowly.

Hubby asks,  should we  be going on trips if I have so much pain...  Did not answer that one.  I know I will complain less and enjoy the trip more

It will be next Sunday, August 9... we will start our rail journey into Siberia..

What do I expect to see.. I suppose mostly wilderness like Alaska.  But maybe not.  I am hoping it will not be cold and no snow.. I saw on the the news yesterday or was it Friday, there is snow in July in Montana.  I am hoping we will not see any snow.

I will try to learn Russian or whatever dialect they speak in the places where we stop.  This time, I will write down those Russian expressions and will speak it so I will not forget and I will speak it more often.  I will also try to spot some fabrics produced or woven locally.  I do have plenty already and am I going to buy some more.. Will see.

In the home front, all the taller sunflowers have bloomed and they are so coloful.  The smaller ones were eaten by the deer and hardly is there any flower.. I do not understand how they are able to pick the sunflower plants.. They have eaten some of the hostas too.  I hope they leave some so I can enjoy them when I get back.

Pretty hectic preparations for us and for the family.. Lil boy and Dad coming home from New York and early pickup from the airport.  Second Son is also starting his journey back to his home with his dog.. A lot of dog hair to sweep up and clean up or someone will be sneezing a lot....

Will have a final instructions to our friend who will be house sitting... I am hoping that the vegetables, the flowers and the fish   all will be all right..

Starting to pack my bags and read the instructions on what to wear and what things to use for what.. Name tags are done, but I will still make my own so I can spot my luggage easily on the conveyor.  Will be doing a lot more.. Hope I won't forget anything.

Eleven Days till V-Day

Eleven days to commence a very long journey of a lifetime..  We will be leaving for Vladivostok (V-Day) on the eastern seaboard of Russia and join the Trans Siberian Rail Journey.  I am getting excited already because I am starting this blog so I can do some more along the way.  There are just so many preparations that I need to do so I can have peace of mind while I am away..

First... my plants. I have to make sure that all the sprinkler heads are working fine so water goes to the plants and not to the gutter and so much water wasted.  A couple of spots I need to fix.   Then, I need to have some plants hooked up to the system by installing drips so they get watered.  Our friend will be around almost everyday to check on things.  I should not worry or should I.  When I get back, I want to make sure that my malunggay is still alive, my precious kampupot is still alive.. Just those two.  Of course I also have papaya and I hope that too will survive the heat.  Well if they don't time to check the internet and purchase a replacement.  I wish I do not have to do that.. Now.. insects will have a field day since I can not inspect the plants everyday.... they will just help themselves to anything..

beanstalk growing taller everyday

Corn Cucumber and malunggay..Hope I can have some when we return home

Jicama..I am hoping I can have some.  Last year they were growing but nothing underneath.

Summer is not so bad because there are no pipes bursting just like in the winter time... But still, I like to travel and I still worry too much.

Clothes that i need have been picked and reading the travel packet.. some areas have lows in the 40's.. Siberia without the snow!!!!!  Are they still cold in the summer?  Will soon find out.  I should be prepared.  I love wearing cloggs because it is easy to take off.

Got to prepare myself for the time difference as well.. I believe we will be traveling at least 7 time zones.. (from what I know so far.. it could be less).  Taking medications would be cumbersome so I will carry a watch with an alarm and with my local time at home.. that would help.  I wonder if it is similar to Alaska where daylight in the summer time is 20 hours!!!.  The body clock ticking...