More for the sports fans...

The past 2 weeks have been physically difficult.
I keep getting sick and it feels like I have lost the ability to take care of myself. Times like these I feel like I need to be back home in my childhood room, receiving the hot washcloths, ginger ale and saltine crackers from mommy.

I had some mild food poisoning that passed after a couple of days, just in time to welcome the nastiest cold I have ever had.
Mostly I have just been bed-ridden. Too tired to walk to the store even. I had a small temperature, coughing up lots of gooey stuff, not sleeping well, sore throat, and the most impressive amount of nose-blowing. Yesterday my wonderful french doctor gave me some antibiotics. I really hate taking medication, but the pain I am feeling all over my head with this sinus pressure is pretty unbearable.

I should be better just in time for my September trip to Nice, France. Oh yes my friends. I am going to the beautiful French Riviera for "work"
I will be there for 10 days, afterwards I am sure I will have some great pictures to share.


Before that, I want to show some pictures/share some stories about two things that we did this summer that are of interest- the Eurofolk festival and the Russian Railways Cups with Chelsea, AC Milan, Sevilla FC and Lokomotiv.

In the previous post with aerial shots of Moscow, I included two pictures from Tsaritsino Park. We visited this park for a Eurofolk Festival.
We only stayed for a few acts. First was an Irish duo, then a soloist from Czech Republic and we left after a quartet from Sweden. It was a pretty cool experience to see famous folk musicians from all over Europe.

Festival:


Park:


If you look at the center left, you can see a newlywed couple taking photos.




The other side of the bridge from the last picture.



For the most part, the pictures of the castle didn't work because the sun was on the wrong side, so everything is dark.



The glass museum.



The music-cued fountains.
A youtube video I found of the fountain at night:


Like I said in the other post about this park, it was built and used by Catherine the Great and other Tsaritsinas during the 16th-18th centuries.


So, "more for the sports fans"

If you remember my previous post about the Champions League Final 2008 that took place here in Moscow, between Chelsea and Manchester United.

Again we were able to see Chelsea and other equally as talented teams.

Lokomotiv, the football club in our neighborhood in Moscow held a tournament called the Russian Railways Cup.

Sevilla FC from Spain, AC Milan from Italy, Chelsea from England (a Russian favorite) and Lokomtiv played 4 games in 2 days.
We went the second day for the finals.

Chelsea and AC Milan played for the 3rd place spot. I was hoping that AC Milan's recently signed player(and my absolute favorite footballer), Ronaldinho would be there, but he was away for the Olympics.

They were all friendly matches, more of the second-string was played, and there wasn't a very competitive spirit, but knowing all of this did not prepare me for this game. It was quite possibly the most embarassing game of football I have ever seen adults play.
Chelsea beat AC Milan 5-0. At least 2 of the goals were completely fudge ups by the big goon of a goalie.

Here is a video of the 5 goals. It isn't very clear and the audio is a little bit annoying, but you can see that the first goal goes between his legs and the third one he completely misses the ball as he kicks it, falling on his ass and the Chelsea forward just tapping it into the goal. That is maybe the worst and most embarassing way to mess up in a game, especially for a keeper.



Really, it seemed as if AC's defenders were paid to give these goals up. The first goal none of the defenders even try for the ball, and the second goal is assisted by the defender heading the ball to the top of the 18. WORST!

Ok yeah so pictures:
Vasili, Sarah Beth, and our Russian friend Dima outside of the stadium



SB and I







The incredibly elaborate Lokomotiv mascot



Fans of Lokomotiv



Lokomotiv vs. Sevilla




Cute kids do a victory lap with their trophy after winning the youth Railway Cup.

So cute!

The stadium and the train





Something interesting about the stadium- there is a story that it was built to cover up the construction of an underground bunker during the Soviet Union.
There is also a bunker underneath the Kremlin and our family's neighborhood in Taganska. They are all connected by a secret metro system. Their purpose is partly for the fear of nuclear attack, and I think partly because they were sneaky.
This is all according to a television show I watched in the U.S. a couple of months ago with my dad. The only Russian I talked to about it said that it's all rubbish.
The bunker that is supposedly underneath the stadium looks like a beautiful palace inside.

Actually, I just found this article about one of the bunkers being opened up to the public:

"Underground Marvels

A once-secret bunker, located 60 meters beneath central Moscow, opens to the public and may soon contain a museum devoted to the Cold War.

By Anna Malpas
Published: April 20, 2007

The entrance to the Tagansky Protected Command Point is concealed in an unassuming 19th-century building a few minutes' walk from a busy intersection. Given a paper pass by the guard, visitors take a high-speed elevator down to the formerly secret headquarters located 60 meters -- almost the height of a 20-story building -- underground. At that depth, conversation is drowned out every few minutes by the roar of metro trains passing overhead.

Sold off in an auction last year, the bunker now belongs to a private company that plans to turn it into an entertainment complex with a museum about the Cold War, a restaurant and even a spa. But it is already possible to book excursions around the 600-meter-long network of bare, cavernous tunnels."
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/04/20/106.html

I must go, as soon as possible.


Now, my stomach is growling and I think that the banana bread has finally cooled off enough to eat.... I'll be back in a week and a half with pictures of the beautiful French Riviera.