Nicole writes:
After arriving Moscow in the early morning, we both slept in and had an easy morning. While we still had a few hours of daylight we headed directly to the Kremlin to check out the Diamond Fund, a unique collection closely associated with the history of the Russian state. It includes masterpieces of jewelry art of the 18th-20th centuries, rare gems, insignia, gold and platinum nuggets of historical, artistic, scientific and material value. It took us a while to get our bearings, but we managed to get to the museum with tickets and English-language audio guides.
While we were at the museum, we met Tatyana, the worker who dispenses the audio guides. Tatyana started asking us about where we were from and how Nicole comes to speak Russian. We made a decision to always say we are from Chicago which is 1) true and 2) simple to explain. Tatyana was very curious about us, especially about Bonnie. When she learned that Bonnie is a 77-year-old American who speaks no Russian and is visiting Russia for the first time with her daughter just for fun, she began heaping praise on Bonnie. [this is a theme that will continue throughout the time in Russia.]
Tatyana told Bonnie how special and wonderful it was that she was visiting Russia and to further drive home the point she gifted Bonnie with a photo book about the Diamond Fund and wished her everything good for ever and always. It was a very sweet beginning!
Next we walked over to Red Square and laid eyes on the beautiful buildings there as well as the tomb of Lenin and the GUM department store. We got Nicole’s phone outfitted with a Russian sim card and marvelled at the inside of the luxurious former state department store, now luxury shopping center.
We ate a delicious dinner of traditional Ukrainian food at a restaurant next door to our apartment building. Since neither Nicole nor Bonnie are familiar with Ukrainian food, and since we were both overwhelmed by the choices on the menu, we took guidance from our server: cold plate of aspic and salo (cured slabs of fatback) served with mustard and horseradish on black bread, roasted eggplant with tomatoes, cheese, and parsley, and poached salmon with roasted vegetables, and two different traditional cakes.