2008-08(Aug)-18 Beach

http://picasaweb.google.com/terricallaway/RussiaEmailGulfOfFinlandBeach#

In the next email, you will see pictures of a beach on the Gulf of Finland. Our Russian friend, Elena was excited to go to the beach and we were glad to join her and others. We had a full van of us. This trip was actually the weekend before we went to Vborg (I sent out the Vborg email first - who knows why). Both places are north of St. Pete, but this beach is near Zelenogorsk, 30 minutes closer to St. Petersburg. The beach here reminds me very much of Wind Creek on Lake Martin: the trees are close to the water's edge; families picnic and camp in the trees; the sand is brown, not white like at Gulf Shores. Of course the water is very cold - remember how far north we are. We ate at a 'Fishing' restaurant where a pond is stocked with fish. The fish was smoked, served whole, and was delicious. We ordered potatoes (boiled as the Russians like and French fries which have become popular too) and 'vegetables'. Vegetables means tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, dill, maybe olives - all fresh and delicious. Of course the beer was great - served in big pitchers. We girls enjoyed a mixed drink with mint and fresh strawberries in it- very yummy, but potent. Two was enough! A very fun Sunday afternoon.

I have not had good luck making tossed salad here - the first 'head' of lettuce I bought at a supermarket looked like a small package of green leave lettuce - but it was still planted in a small cup of dirt and alive. "Very fresh", I was told by the interpreter. I didn't think it tasted like anything special and it was rather pricey. I did get one good head of iceberg lettuce at a fresh market (a farmer's market held inside a big building). But the next time I bought 'lettuce' at the grocery store it was actually a leafy cabbage, and yesterday I found iceberg lettuce and took it home only to find it was full of bugs on the inside - into the trash it went. So obviously lettuce as we know it is hard to come by here. I guess we'll just eat the tomatoes and cucumbers instead of salad. Since most are imported, I assume they will be available in the winter too.

It is already getting cold - a high today of 54 with no sun and wind - kind of scary!! I noticed the leaves were turning on some of the trees in the park today. Traffic is much worse now than it was in August. Those on Holiday (remember Europeans take long vacation, no matter what there occupation is) have returned; the families with dachas in the country (suburbs) are back in town. It is interesting that most regular people live in high-rise apartment buildings - dull, depressing things. these buildings are gathered together on the outskirts of the city center and called 'sleeping districts'. Many, even some with limited means, have dachas where they go to escape the city on the weekends, holidays and summers.