Snow! Moo-Moo Bazaar McDonalds

This morning at 8:30, the ground was completely dry. Two hours later, my flatmate says, "Hey, look out the window!" Sure enough, the ground was a nice blanket of fresh, white snow, and flakes filled the air. During the afternoon, about 5 centimeters (2 inches) of snow fell, and stuck to the ground, cars, trees.

Currently, at 02:00am it is 4°C (40°F) and the rain that we had this evening has stopped.

I went with some friends to visit a monastery in Moscow today; it was very beautiful with the fresh snow. We also took a stroll through Russia's most famous cemetery, which is adjacent to the monastery complex. Tomorrow morning, I will have the pictures in my gallery.

After being out in the cold for a while, we warmed up in the dairy cow-themed restaurant "Moo-Moo". For my dinner, I enjoyed a salmon coleslaw salad, then a milky rice soup, and mashed potatoes and fish. That whitefish and spinach dish was just wonderful!

Also, I want to tell you about my experiences buying clothes in Moscow's huge bazaars. These massive (several blocks square) bazaars are in covered buildings--which is good, it was pouring rain last Sunday--and are run mostly by Vietnamese or Caucasian (from southern former Soviet areas) merchants. Each small booth has three very high walls just covered with apparel. Almost no prices are marked, and they are doing all they can to lure you in to buy their stuff. Often, they will offer a price which is quite high, but with a little haggling, cothing can be found for a decent price. The language barrier is a major difficulty, and I think I will bring a Russian speaker with me next time I decide to do this.

On Sunday, for about 1300 rubles (USD $45), I managed to purchase a very nice, thick sweater, two warm sweatshirts, a pair of gloves, and a winter hat. Today, I was very glad I did that! For a few dollars more, I had cherry pie and an ice cream sundae at McDonalds. Alaskans and Russians are the two peoples I know of that will down copious amounts ice cream, regardless of how bleak and cold the weather is.