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<\/a><\/p>\nMy hotel room is a fairly simple affair. Which is somewhat disconcerting considering this particular hotel (Nikola House<\/a>) is considered one of the best two in the city.\u00a0 Yet most European\/American folks would liken it to a nicer Holiday inn.\u00a0 Still, everything is in order and feels safe – the bed soft and the shower is hot – so it’s gold in my book. We awake and I head down to grab some breakfast – ham and cheese, sliced tomatoes, some fresh bread and a lot of orange juice.\u00a0 A LOT of juice.\u00a0 Man I’m dehydrated something fierce.\u00a0 In all that day, I drink no less than 5 bottles of water and several glasses of juice before I feel back to normal. I went a little out on a limb and ordered the ‘sea cat’ dish.\u00a0 Which from what I could tell later turned out to be a whitefish that the guys at work reported comes from a lake or river.\u00a0 They didn’t have the name handy – but I bet it was a catfish.\u00a0 It was a great dish of fish and Spanish rice-like base – tasty and filling.<\/p>\n After dinner we head back to the hotel around 10pm.\u00a0 That night I take a mild sleeping pill that my doc gave me and was suggested by my coworkers.\u00a0 They tell me that first night being 12 hours apart you’ll likely wake up at 2 or 3am and not be able to sleep – then be a disaster the next day.\u00a0 I sleep a solid 9 hours that night. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Couple of niceties about Russia in general: I awaken at 8:00am to daylight of my first day in Russia.\u00a0 The sleep was very good – albeit short.\u00a0 I got to bed around 1am and the 7 hours of sleep were well deserved after the 12+ hours of travel half-way around the world.\u00a0 I learned a lesson early in my traveling career.\u00a0 As soon as you get on the plane, set your watch for your destination, and start living exactly as you would if you were already there.\u00a0…<\/p>\n
\nWe catch the cab to work when I realize we’re actually only 1 block from the city’s kremlin.\u00a0 I make a mental note that I must return for the tour.\u00a0 We drive to work and I spend the next 8 hours in meetings and prepping slides\/etc.\u00a0 The folks here are very bright and accommodating.\u00a0 I found them to be easy to work with them and fun to hang out with.\u00a0 Their English is good overall – and communcation isn’t too difficult.<\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>
\nAfter a long day of work, we head out for dinner.\u00a0 We walk down the main walk-way of shops in town to a place called ABS brewpub.\u00a0 It’s a pretty fun place that has one side done up like a big truck and you sit on the back\/flatbed.\u00a0 When you sit down, there is a big tap on the wall hooked to piping.\u00a0 The spigot has a digital meter on it that they read when you sit down.\u00a0 then you just pour whatever you want from the spigot.\u00a0 When you get up, they read the meter and charge you for what your table drank.\u00a0 Slick.<\/p>\n
\n1. Just about every restaurant has a complementary (mandatory) coat check.\u00a0 You don’t go into any restaurant without checking your coat – which is a nice touch of class to everywhere you go.
\n2. People tend to stay dressed up when they go out.\u00a0 While not the height of expensive fashion, people might wear a simple suit coat or a nice shirt with a collar, women would dress in dresses and heels.\u00a0 I think I have seen only 2 women in anything other than healed boots\/shoes.\u00a0 Even our little brewpub looked a bit classier because of this. I think we as Americans might learn a bit from this habit to bring some class back to dining.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"