Thursday-Final Day

This will be short as we are finishing packing and will be leaving in the morning for the airport back to the US. We hung around the apartment until noon today. Our translator was registering Thomas as a Russian citizen living in the US, which is the final step in our required paperwork process. For our agency, its a requirement to do it here in Russia, but it can be done by contacting one of the Russian Embassies in the US for others. She had to pick up the finished form at 3 so we all drove to Victory Park.

Victory Park is a very large park directly west of downtown Moscow. It is filled with tanks and other military equipment along with a Military museum. We went through quickly but could have spent many more hours there. Lots of WWII display cases and pictures of other Russian cities during the war along with some incredible dioramas of different battles. We missed seeing all of it as we had to leave to pick up our paperwork.

We had dinner back at the apartment, using up the last of our food. After dinner we strolled to Tverskaya and I wanted to see if we could find Gastronom #1 or now called Eliseevskiy Gastronom. According to our guide book, the building was built at the end of the 18th century but it became a grocery in 1901. It has a long history of supplying forbidden goods to the Communist Elite and the owner was executed in 1984 for corruption charges. I remember it from one of my textbooks in school and have always wanted to see it. It did not disappoint. It was everything I wanted it to be: crystal chandeliers, beautiful plaster work and fabulous display cases filled with every kind of food. I quickly took 3 pictures as fast as I could, since I didn't know if it was allowed. People were busy shopping. I bought some tea and found their website on the grocery bag. Until I can get my pictures posted, you can go here to see the company website pictures http://www.eliseevskiy.ru/home.htm

On the way home, we bought ice cream from a kiosk. We then Skype both sets of grandparents, gave Thomas a bath and got him in bed about an hour past his bedtime. Tomorrow, we have the 11 hour flight home with a 9 month old, a 3 hour layover and then a 35 minute flight to Nashville.