Formula 1 and Indian Curry what a treat.
We read in the Moscow times that there are a few F1 cars going to race around the Kremlin this Sunday. Well they are individually going to race half way around and then back again. This is too much of an opportunity to miss so we are planning to go. It starts at 12:30 with practice and 2:30 – 5 pm for whatever they are calling the “main” event. Fine not a problem we can walk to where all this is happening. First I have to explain to Judi how the washing machine works given I am away next week. Now regular readers will know there is a 57 page manual which goes with this contraption however I have managed to condense it into “whites on this one and colours on that one Ok?” which Judi commits to memory whist muttering something about “I thought you said it was complex, looks easy enough to me” she is such a sweet girl at times. I bet she phones me to ask how to open the door “ha”.
So out we go cut through and over the bridge of locks and the fountains. Left past the 24 hour American diner and onto the bridge and not until we are half way across do we spot the large police presence restricting our path. Ok not really surprised we are shepherded into the “allowable” direction and soon end up at the town hall which is affectionately know as the “white house”. This is where the course of history was changed. This is where Boris Yeltsin climbed on top of a tank and talked his way out of being deposed. If you search the web you can probably get the full details but the building had been fired on and it was probably his last throw of the dice. Well today he would be proud of his Muscovites as there are thousands of them sitting on the grass in front of this very building. The girls in their D&G rip-offs the boys all with their shirts off (it’s a local thing they take their shirts off for almost any showing of the sun).
There are lots of high powered cameras and 3 out of every 4 people are on their mobile phones. We find a spot which works for us and settle down. There are a couple of policemen on the pavement below us with a couple of portable metal detectors. They are checking people’s bag’s which is fine however whenever the queue builds up people just step onto the grass and go around which sort of seems to defeat the objective but I doubt there will be trouble. People are here to see the cars which duly arrive. An RBS, Vodaphone and the Red bull teams pass by as does the “Luxury car club” which includes the Mercedes McLaren I saw parked on the street last week. The Moscow “drift” club create a lot of excitement and smoke doing spins on the road outside the Kremlin. Something which would probably get them put away for 6 months if they try it on Monday. There is a Lotus group and a few more which keep us entertained before the F1 cars com back on what is a sort of time trial. I have to say it is very well organized and is designed to raise awareness of F1 which is already high here as Moscow has been trying to get its own race for a while. Given they try and drive like this most days I am a little surprised there are no Russians leading the championship. It will come trust me.
It is getting hot now so we move on our plan is to walk through the Kremlin garden out across Red square and down the side of GUM. Then straight up the road to an Indian curry house. Judi says it is unlikely to be busy at 4:15 on a Sunday afternoon and of course she is correct. Only one other couple in there and we order from memory. It is a while since we have had what we might call a decent curry. The ones in the US (no offence intended) seem to have some of the bite taken out of them. I think this is to make it more acceptable. Out come the poppadom’s with “lime pickle” which has been a distant memory for so long. It almost brings tears to the eyes but I have survived the Liver & Kidney sausage so this will not defeat me. A good meal of favorites ends with a take home bag which is a nice touch. We got so used to only eating half a meal in the US and most of my lunches for the last year or so have been the leftovers from some gargantuan dinner we could not finish. Some weeks I could get 3 lunches out of what we carried home. There is less of that now and in the main we can finish a meal and leave without and little bags, except for today and it is due more to the fact that we ordered too much in our excitement than the size of the portions.
So out we go back into the bright sunshine find the nearest metro and home in 30 minutes. No late night as I am off to England in the morning and need to be on a train at 6:30.
Pictures of the Formula 1 cars from Sunday http://picasaweb.google.com/nolanste/MoscowF1July19th2009#
(It is Friday today so I had better get my act together or lose my audience)