May 11

(This blog needs a lot of backfil so got this day done.) So the day started with the breakfast buffet. After "sneaking" Michael into my room in the hotel, I "snuck" him into the breakfast buffet as well. The first act was probably more heinous as foreign visitors must been registered when they stay at a hote and have a a copyof the guests' passports, neither of which we did. My father actually left Mahine and came and ate breakfast with us, the first breakfast he and I had eaten together in at least two weeks of the trip. The group's day was to begin with a lecture, the last of the trip. I brought Michael along and the professor brought one of his students, a young woman, probably close to Michael's age. The topic was issues of contemporary Russia; his presentation included geography since breakup of the USSR, issues with immigration, legal and illegal, the economy, and challenges for the future. I think it was a good introduction for Michael to this country.

We then had a couple of hours free. We spent most of the time going from one cell phone store to the next trying to get his iphone to use the Russian data card (beyond me.) We ended up at the big Galleria shopping mall just a short distance from the hotel where there is an official Apple reseller. He took care of his business and I decided to buy a new umbrella as my $1 Borneo special had been tossed about in the wind and rain a few times too many and could not be depended on to offer any kind of protection.

We had to be back at the hotel by 2:30 PM to meet my father because Alexei and his fiancée were going to pick us up to take us to meet his father and some other relatives. Michael and I had met Alexei about 10 years ago in London. We connected with Michael Rose and his wife Susan, a distant relative we met at a wedding in Los Angeles. Michael and Susan invited their family, our distant relatives, over for dinner to meet us and it just so happened Alexei and his sister Masha (Maria) were in London, staying with Michael and Susan that night and departing the next day. I have maintained some occasional contact with Masha and knew she (now married and with a 8 month old baby) would be in Turkey at this time, but she facilitated my contacting Alexei and his father Boris. Boris Igdalov's grandfather and my grandfather were brothers, but my grandfather was the only one of his siblings to leave Russia (in 1908). Boris is well known in his world as a master stone cutter and serves as the Director of the Restoration of the Amber Room at "Tsar's Village" or Tsarskoye Selo 16 miles south of St. Petersburg in Pushkin. Our tour group had visited Catherine's Palace there and had seen the Amber Room. (http://eng.tzar.ru/museums/palaces/c_atherine/amber_room)

Alexei who speaks English and his fiancé (to be married June 1) Victoria who does not speak English were prompt. We got in the car and drove to Pushkin and then on to the next town, Pavlovsk, to a restaurant to meet the family for the day. The restaurant, Podvorie, is quite well known. The building is made of logs, the food is traditional Russian, and there is Russian folk entertainment. Apparently the restaurant burned down a couple of years ago, so the restaurant we were in was quite new. (menu http://www.podvorye.ru/index.php?lang=eng)

We met Boris, Liliana who does administrative work in his workshop and who translated, Tatiana, whose father was brother to Boris' brother, and her husband Leonid who works with Boris. Their daughter Anna lives in California in San Mateo I think, and in trying to connect with the family for this trip, I first learned of her, The meal lasted about 3 ½ hours, with multiple courses, and interludes of Russian singing and music. There was plenty of kvass and vodka and one of my best memories seemed to be when Boris who was sitting across from me would look me in the eye and call out in a booming voice, "Susan" and then we would all have a toast and drink our vodka. I thought I was doing well nursing my little shot glass of vodka until I realized that it was quietly be refilled on a continuous basis. Everyone conversed and we all had great fun and got to know each other and it was the absolute high point of the trip to date. Having put so much work into connecting with the relatives in Russia and assuring we could meet after Michael arrived and before my father left and then having so much fun when we all got together as family - exactly what I had hoped for.

When the meal finally came to an end, we got back in the car with Alexei and Victoria. As we had to drive through Pushkin, I asked if we could go by Catherine's Palace so Michael could see it. He was most accommodating. Michael was able to view the exterior and by that time there was no charge to enter the grounds so the five of us walked through the beautiful gardens with very few other people. I think Alexei and Victoria really enjoyed the setting and being there. We finally got back in the car and drove back to St. Petersburg. The group from my tour had its final farewell dinner that night, but we, unfortunately, had to miss it. By the time we got back, that group dinner was over. We saw a couple of people in the hotel lobby, but missed the official end to the tour. Most people were leaving the hotel at 3 AM for a 6 AM flight out, so were probably in bed with no opportunity to say good-bye. I had missed in the AM getting the list Tatiana, our tour guide, made with names and contact information for the group. Michael saw her in the lobby and was able to get me a copy. When he told me she was there, I went down to thank her for the trip. She was waiting to go to the overnight train to take her back to Moscow.

It had been really important to me to have my father get to Russia and meet family his there. My mother some time before she passed away asked me to go to Russia with my father. I am so glad that this part of the trip worked out, and my father did thank me. I have no idea how important this was for him in the big picture of the trip, but I feel really good for me, him, and Michael, that we made this wonderful connection.