Coffee in Russia

I love a good cup of coffee in the morning.  Just one is fine, but it has to be made very specifically.  I prefer iced coffee, with one Splenda (shout out to you Tara) and some of that flavored coffee milk.  Like Coffeemate.  Once I have that coffee I am good to go for the day and usually in a better mood for having it.
When me moved to Moscow it became clear to me that coffee was going to be a problem.  It is very hard to find any type of Coffeemate product here and to be honest with you I just do not like the coffee very much.  Russians are more of a tea drinking people.  And they do tea very well.
After we had been here for a couple of months, my very lovely husband found some flavored coffee syrup at Metro Cash and Carry.  (Moscow's version of Sam's Club).  It was great timing because John had just been born and after a night of being up with a newborn and then waking up at 5:30 or 6am to feed the other three kids I really needed my coffee.  Problem solved and I have been happy ever since.
Last weekend we ran out of our coffee syrup and we asked our driver to pick up some for us while we were at mass.  When we got back in the car after mass our bottles of syrup were waiting and we thanked and paid our driver, Valeri.  Valeri then said to Jesy and I, "You know the coffee syrup is not near the juice aisle, like you told me.  It's near the wine section."  Well, that was good to know, because next time it will probably be Jesy buying it.  "You also know that the syrup you buy contains alcohol," he said to Jesy and I.  WHAT????????????????   I have been spiking my coffee every morning!   The syrup contains a bit less alcohol than a beer, but of course I only use about a tablespoon every morning.  Still, I have been laughing about this all week.  Only I would drink spiked coffee every morning in Russia.  No wonder why I feel so relaxed after a cup.

And you know what- I am going to continue drinking it.  Life is not always that easy in Moscow, and there is still snow on the ground for goodness sakes.  What an adjustment I will have to make this summer in the US.
John always keeps me company while I write.  Last night he did some great giggles and his siblings were quite amused.  This morning they kept on asking me to make John laugh.  He is not laughing in these pictures, but trust me, this kid can let off some very high pitched squeals.

Pippi Longstocking, ABBA, and Chocolate Balls- AKA Why you should take a visit to Sweden

Have you ever thought of taking a trip to Sweden?  If you are like me, probably not.  I mean, you wouldn't pass up a free trip to this northern country, but it might not be the first country on your to-do list.  Maybe you should reconsider because I know I am glad I did. 
But first, some facts about me.  I love friendly, nice people.  It's so refreshing.  I also love big cities, but I am not a fan of crowds.  As a child I adored the Pippi Longstocking series of books.  They made me laugh out loud, and when I reread them as an adult teacher, I still laughed out loud.  I love 7-11.  It reminds me of growing up in Vegas.  ABBA might be my favorite singing group ever.  When I was pregnant with Colin my mom took me to see "Mamma Mia" in Vegas.  What a fabulous night.  And when the movie came out I waited until Jesy went on a business trip, got a babysitter for the kids, and about cried with happiness at being able to see the movie version.  I LOVE chocolate, and I especially love it as a treat when you have spent many hours walking around a city and being a tourist. 
I know all of this information about me has fascinated you, but what does this have to do with Sweden?  Let me enlighten you:
Every year Jesy makes me take a trip on my own that is away from him and the kids.  (Jealous?  Yep, he's a pretty awesome husband that realizes his wife needs a break every so often.)  This year my sister Suzanne and I decided to meet in Stockholm, Sweden.  Neither one of us had ever been there before, we had heard very nice things about the country, and we were able to get decent flights.  And before anyone thinks that we are horrible, of course Tara and Sean were invited.  But Sean is a very new fire fighter and Tara had her second son at the same time as I had John, so she just came back from maternity leave.  Even though we missed them, Suzanne and I moved forward, packed our bags, and met in Stockholm.
ABBA is from Sweden, so before we even went I had a feeling I would like the people of this country.  What I did not put together, though, is that Pippi Longstocking is also!  I was delighted.  On Saturday Suzanne and I went to a children's museum dedicated to Swedish stories and I was able to visit Villa Villekulla.

At the museum Suzanne and I rode on a little cart and got to see many of Sweden's fairy tales come to life.  They were a  little bit off center as a boy died in the story and there was a girl hanging from a flag pole and a giant mouse, but who am I to judge and it was all in good fun.

7-11 is all over Stockholm.  The stores are super clean and Suzanne and I made friends with the cashier at the one near our hotel.  They had really nice chocolate there and we were able to buy some to take home to our friends and family.  Who would have known?

The people of Sweden are extremely friendly and nice.  To be honest with you it was a breath of fresh air to be there.  And it also helps that the city has lots of fresh air.  I read that in the guidebook.

Stockholm is a great city to walk around.  Suzanne and I walked the whole time and the city is beautiful.  Lots of old, pretty buildings and you are always near the water.  Stockholm is also the least populated European capital city, so the streets are not overly crowded and you do not feel like a silly tourist with your map out all the time.  No clogged sidewalks- my kind of place.

And after all that walking around, a girl deserves a nice treat and a cup of coffee.  Like so many European countries (and Russia), the Swedes know how to make a pastry.  My favorite find in Stockholm were chocolate balls.  And I know you think I made that up, but in the display cases under the Swedish name is the English name of chocolate ball.  And they were delicious.  Kind of cakey on the outside and smoother on the inside with a hint of liquore.  Is your mouth watering?  It should be. That's the chocolate ball in the back. 

Suzanne and I also went to the Vassa Museum.  Three hundred years ago a ship sank of the coast of Stockholm.  It was the maiden voyage and it sank after only 30 minutes in the water.  Yikes- you know someone was in big trouble for that one!  Anyways, they pulled the boat out of the water and because the waters around Stockholm are very brackish, the boat was still mostly intact and not rotted.  It was amazing.

Suzanne and I visited an ice bar one night.  A vodka drink from an ice cube glass is an experience not to be missed.

The best part of Sweden- seeing Suzanne's pretty face.  It had been too long and I was really missing my sister.  One of the funniest parts of the trip was how the people treated Suzanne and I.  I wear sneakers all the time and everyone always knows I am an American.  Suzanne looked like a Swede with her boots and jeans.  All of the salespeople immediately spoke English to me.  And they all spoke Swedish to Suzanne.  Even after she answered them in Swedish!  It was too funny.  I cannot wait to see where we meet next year!  Thanks Jesy and Josh.

And of course I had to add in a random photo of Kathleen and Johnny.  This was taken yesterday.

Lovely Turkey

It has been awhile since I have written a blog.  It seems like Jesy and I have been running a sick ward ever since we came back from Turkey.  I think the kids are just passing the same bug around and around.  I am hoping this ends soon.
The country of Turkey was wonderful.  It's really the people that make it so lovely.  They are very nice and friendly and they love children. We had been warned that they would touch the girls' heads alot (because of the blonde hair) and they did, but it wasn't a creepy kind of touching, but rather a "how sweet are you" kind.  And they LOVED John.  John smiles and makes eye contact with everyone, so he was quite a hit with the Turkish people.  And they told me that John means "the heart" in Turkish, so that made him even more special in their eyes.
What struck me the most about Istanbul was how old of a city it was.  Of course Athens is a very old city, but there is alot of modern that has been built up in Athens.  Not so much in the historical area that we stayed in while in Istanbul.  You would just be walking along the street and Colin would point out a building that looked over 1000 years old.  It was amazing.

And when I say Istanbul was an ancient city, I mean that as a very nice compliment.  I love old buildings and houses.  Jesy knows that my dream house is a much older home with lots of small, weird rooms.  Not that I want the kids to live in closets.  There should be normal sized rooms also.  But a few small, strange rooms would really make a house for me.
What I also found fascinating about Istanbul was the evidence of other ancient cultures in the city.  The first picture is so Egyptian, and the second is so Greek.  Jesy has gotten me very excited for Italy because he says we will see more evidence of all of these ancient cultures merging many years ago.

I also enjoyed going to a middle eastern country with Jesy, since he had been in Iraq.  It was fun to hear him point out the similarities between Turkey and Iraq.  Jesy was very excited to have tea there (a ritual he experienced many times with the locals in Iraq) and he found a lemonade drink that he had had many times in Iraq.

Amalie loved to drink the apple tea with her Daddy.

The Blue Mosque is the most famous attraction in Istanbul and it was really pretty.  I was a bit nervous about bringing the kids inside because it is a working mosque and they are very serious about how visitors should act while inside.  The kids did great, though.

We spent alot more time at Topkapi Palace then I expected us to, and it was worth it.  This is the palace that the sultan lived in and it was beautiful.  The attention to detail was amazing.  We especially enjoyed the harem and I had a really good time explaining a eunuch to Colin.





There were also some rooms dedicated to beautiful jewels and gifts given to the sultan, clothing, and thrones.  Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures in those rooms.  We got audio guides at the palace, and this was a fabulous idea for Colin.  He really paid attention and enjoyed himself. It is so nice to see him maturing and enjoying history like his mother and father.  We stopped for a snack inside the palace, and I also took some pictures of the sultan's bedroom so you could see how intricate the rooms were.

Hagia Sophia was built as a Christian Church and then later converted to a Mosque.  Now it is a museum.  It was very Muslim,

but then every so often you would see a portrait of Jesus.  Which was lovely- kind of like seeing an old friend.  At one point Colin told me "oh Jesus, there you are".

The Basilica Cistern was one of the coolest attractions I have ever been to.  It is an ancient underground aquaduct built during the time of Justinian, a Byzantine Emporer.  You tour through the Cistern,and at the end find two heads of Medusa, which the kids knew about because of our trip to Greece.  They were very excited to find Medusa and to be underground in this very "spooky" place.

Another two favorites in Istanbul were the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar.  The Spice Bazaar was lots and lots of yummy food, and the Grand Bazaar was more shopping than you can imagine. I got a lovely lamp at the bazaar, Colin got a chess set, and the girls got some much needed new shoes.  And Jesy did a great job bargaining on all of it and getting us a really good price.

Above- the Spice Bazaar.

The lamp shop and the girls in the lamp shop bargaining with Jesy.
I had to include these pictures of Amalie.  In keeping with my father's tradition, we walk our kids till they drop in the cities we visit.The best way to see a city is to walk it, right Dad?  The first picture below is of Amalie conked out at a restaurant one afternoon. The second picture is an all time favorite taken by Jesy.  Amalie actually fell asleep on Jesy's ipad while she was watching a movie.  You can tell she has siblings- no one is going to take that ipad away, even if she is asleep!

You also might notice that there are more pictures of Amalie then of the other children, and let's not start with the Mommy playing favorites bit.  If a camera is on, Amalie is right there posing.  Colin was so busy running around in Turkey that he could never stand still for a picture.  And Kathleen, well you know Kathleen.  She will only take a picture if it suits her.  But I did think this one of Kathleen was quite funny and fits her little personality.  And I love the one of Colin- Jesy really captured him doing what he does best, jumping and running.

I also had to include this picture of a typical street in Istanbul.  The sidewalks do not fit strollers and the streets are rather steep.  Jesy and I pushed two strollers around this city and we really earned the baklava and rice pudding we had for dessert at night.  And it was GOOD.

Turkey was lots of fun and we also learned alot.  The best part of being an expat- the travel!

John says goodbye from Turkey, where his four month old self thoroughly enjoyed being adored by the Turks.  See you soon in Italy!