A Taste of Home

Over the past few days I've been having a bit of a hard time with Moscow. I can't quite put my finger on it but I believe it's a combination of missing home, missing Saint Petersburg, and being all the way out in the city suburbs here in Moscow. In addition, some of the people in the other dorm have been behaving in a less than desirable manner this weekend. So since it's Sunday, Hannah and I decided to put in a load of laundry and go out into the city. Someone had told us about the Hard Rock Cafe in Moscow, so we decided to go check it out. We had to take the metro across the city to Smolenskaya and then walk down the Starii Arbat Ulitsa. We've been feeling a little off, so imagine our absolute and total delight when we encountered the holy grail of American-ness: STARBUCKS. I paid 211 rubles ($7-8) for a caramel frappuccino and it was the best damn thing I have ever tasted. The taste of home was just the thing to pull us out of our Moscow induced funk!

Following our epic Starbucks adventure, we hunted down the Hard Rock Cafe where I ordered what was probably the best cheeseburger I've ever had in my whole life. A real cheeseburger with lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, and fries was just what I needed today. There's nothing like some good old American food to perk you up in a foreign country. See below my extremely satisfied face...

And on the way home, after purchasing a Hard Rock Cafe Moscow t-shirt (hell yes I did), we encountered another one of the Seven Gothic Sisters built during the Soviet Union. It pretty much dominates the skyline of the Old Arbat, and with good cause, it's ridiculous! This particular sister currently houses the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the end of it all, today was a good day. I got out of my "I hate you Moscow" funk (mostly) and I'm feeling less homesick. Funny how the cure for that is food... So now it's one week in Moscow down, four to go! Wish me luck!

Love and hugs to all! xoxo