From Russia with Love

Remember the James Bond film, starring Sean Connery as 007?  I’ve just borrowed the title.

There’s a recent BBC documentary Our Man in Moscow describing a year in the life of Steve Rosenberg. He is one of the few western journalists who have managed to stay on the right side of the authorities. He posts regularly on YouTube. All this has set me thinking about my own experience in Russia.

In 2000 I had been attending a library conference in Stockholm. When it was over, I decided to take a trip to St Petersburg, via Tallinn in Estonia. Fortunately I met some Brits who warned me to be especially careful about my currency declaration. It was vital to declare everything to the last cent with no rounding up or down.

On the St Petersburg train, in the middle of the night, there was a tremendous banging on the door of my single sleeping compartment. I was to prepare for a currency check. (This, by the way, was the only time that a Russian spoke to me in English). In the next door compartment, I could hear a Canadian traveller being intimidated by the guard. When it came to my turn, the guard seemed surprised that I was not shaking in my shoes as I handed him the form and displayed my currency. He went away disappointed, unable to fine me like the Canadian. On reflection, this seemed to be a scam that would only work with people in single compartments.

In St Petersburg, I stayed in an international youth hostel near the Moscow Station. There was a 5-exit roundabout and I had to be careful to take the correct exit or I would be completely lost. The hostel served breakfast, which was a poor imitation of a western one. There were cornflakes which appeared to have less nutritional value than the packet. There was some pale pink watery jam, supposed to be strawberry. 

The highlight of the trip was finding my way to the Hermitage Museum, two days running. I had free entry with my students pass (I was doing my PhD at the time). All in all, it was quite an adventure. I still have these souvenirs, depicting Russian folklore:

Friday Night Dinner

Cooking dinner for the family on Friday, I’m always on the lookout for inspiration. Vegetarian or fish dishes are always on the menu. Sometimes it’s paella, with a long list of ingredients. We also like creamy fish pie, topped with mashed potatoes. A recent dish was fish parcels (which I first enjoyed at a Parador on the Camino). This is my version:

This was barramundi, served on a bed of onion slices and topped with lemon and red capsicum. It’s foolproof because the steam from the veggies ensures that the fish is cooked to perfection.

The lemon tree in the garden at Como is absolutely full of baby lemons. There are far too many to do any good:

Some Fridays I run out of inspiration and just resort to F and C from Johnny’s Fish Bar.

Lunch by the Sea

Val chose the venue. It was the best! We went to Floreat Beach Kiosk: not an actual kiosk, but a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating:

We both chose a Caesar Salad. There was also free sparking water on tap, which I’ve never seen before. What a good idea.

After lunch we went for a walk south. All along this coast, the views are lovely. The cranes of Fremantle docks are just visible in the distance. A few wildflowers were out:

Hardenbergia

Looking out to sea

Can this really be the middle of winter?

Burswood Bridges Bushwalk

It was a good turnout for the latest bushwalk: 15 people. It started literally just down the road from where I live, so there was no excuse! We met at Taylor St Carpark and set off eastward, crossing the bridge to Heirisson Island:

It must be years since I explored this island, even though it’s just on my doorstep. It’s bigger than I remembered:

Looking back across the river

There was a lot of standing water after all the recent rains and several people wished they had brought better footwear.

We all decided on the shorter version of this walk. We did around 11,500 steps or 6 kms. It’s a while since I walked so far, so I felt very pleased with myself at the end.

A group getting prepared for the zipline: no thanks!

Lunch at the end of the walk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirisson_Island

Winter Sun

The TV weather forecast suggested that today would see the last sunny day in Perth for a while: so  make the most of it!  There is something called SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder which is best avoided. I took their advice and drove to Cottesloe Beach.

Normally it’s hard to find a parking spot in summer, but there’s no problem in winter. One issue was huge piles of stinky seaweed which recent gales had brought ashore;

Working on their tan!

A few brave souls were in the water, though the waves were reminding us that this was not a summers day:

Looking south towards Fremantle.

I was content to observe everything from the shore, though I did have my shorts on to soak up the sun!

"Perth weather: City records hottest July day in 32 years as temperatures almost reach 26C"

Home

When you come home from holiday, you sometimes feel like you need another holiday to recover from the first one! This year was no exception. The first problem I had was that my heating had broken down. We had some very cold mornings, down to 3 degrees, and the coldest of every state capital in Australia. I suppose it was a shock to my system especially as I’d just come back from Broome.

The next thing, to add insult to injury, was a speeding fine in my letter box. This was from Dongara on my way up north. How could this be? I never speed? What’s more, I had been going slow in order to conserve fuel. I can only think that there is a speed trap near Dongara where they catch motorists on the Brand Highway as they come into town. JL used to shrug off speed fines, saying they were an “occupational hazard” for him. I am still annoyed, but if I managed to drive all those kilometres up north and back, I should just consider myself lucky.

Now the good news: E has celebrated a big birthday! She was born in England on the longest day. In Australia she celebrates it on the shortest day. She has taken up baking and produced a spectacular cake:

My portion

The strawberry collapsed just as I took the photo! 

On the day, we went out for lunch at a nearby Japanese restaurant:

Everything was delicious!

It's called Sumeshiya.

Geraldton to Home

My last day was lovely and sunny: blue skies allthe way! Quite a change from the downpours in Carnarvon. I stopped several times to stretch my legs and enjoy the scenery.

Beekeepers Road is one spot where we were taken on a wildflower walk in the past. Today it was all about the Banksias:

Beekeepers Rd (all gravel)

There is also a particularly good 15 minute circular walk through the bush at this rest area:

It was a pleasure to arrive back home to discover that the Cleaning Fairy had visited in my absence. What a wonderful surprise!