Moscow Architecture

The spires and cupolas of the city capture Moscow for me. But Moscow also has majestic commercial and artistic buildings.

St Basil's Cathedral  at the end of Red Square fits my image of Moscow.

A monastery off Red Square completes my image.

Other buildings are also most impressive.  This is the Mayor of Moscow's residence and office building.  In the 1890's it was the palace of the Governor General of Moscow.  The incredible thing about this building is that in the Stalin era the government decided to widen the main street of the city upon which this building stands.  Our guide told us engineers somehow put the building on rollers and moved it back 50 square feet.  I think that is a marvel of engineering!

This is the main street today with the Mayor's building safely 50 feet back.

Stalin asked for a hotel to be built that would be a national hotel and impressive to all the foreign guests who came to the country.  The architect he commissioned sent plans of the final design to Stalin with two options: build the hotel with the design on the left of the buillding or the design on the right of the building.  Stalin looked at the blueprints and signed off "OK"  Rather than go back and tell Stalin he did not answer the question of which option he wanted, the architect built the hotel with both options.

The darker concrete on the first floor of this building is actually red granite that Hitler ordered to be brought in from Finland to build a monument to his defeat of the Soviet Union which he thought was imminent. It now adorns a nondescript building on Moscow's main street.

This is the famous Metropol Hotel, the site of many heads of state visits and background for numerous movie spy dramas .

This is the home of the Bolshoi .We think of the Bolshoi as the Bolshoi Ballet but there is also a Bolshoi Opera and a Bolshoi Drama company.  Unfortunately for us, the building was under renovation. It is a living museum.

The Palace of Delegates, built in 1961, is on the Kremlin grounds.  This 6,000 seat hall was built to be a meeting place of the Communist Party and also to  serve as a second home for the Bolshoi.  It is now used only as a concert hall.

Our guide told us a great story . He said Nikita Khrushchev gave long speeches here but always "kept his shoes on, "a reference to the infamous shoe pounding incident at the UN in 1960.   He then added Khrushchev was partial to expensive Italian designer shoes.

At the time of the incident, was he using one of his designer shoes to denounce opponents of communism ?

The cause of the outburst were remarks made by Lorenzo Sumulong, the Philippine delegate, who said the Soviet Union had swallowed up Eastern Europe and deprived the people of their civil and political rights.  An enraged Khrushchev denounced Sumulong as a "jerk, a stooge, a lackey and a toady of American Imperialism"

Medi's Birthday in Moscow ( with commentary by the celebrant)

I celebrated a very special birthday in a very special city  - Moscow all arranged by my wonderful husband.

We started with a champagne toast in the executive lounge of the hotel.  When we first arrived at the Marriott Hotel here  - the Aurora - our room butler knocked on the door with two glasses of champagne.  It’s not really our favorite drink but this kind of champagne could change our minds.

A toast to start the evening.

Veronika of the executive lounge was happy to be part of the birthday celebration.

We took a cab to the Ritz Carlton where we headed  to their bar ,the O2,  with an incredible view of the Kremlin.

Another birthday toast.  The weather was simply gorgeous as you can see from our attire.

Another view from our table.

Another toast for the birthday girl.  Mind you while we had many toasts, we only had one glass of wine at each place.  

At our unique and wonderful restaurant, Ray took my  picture in front of the fireplace at the CDL which  stands for Central House of Literature (Restaurant) . It is a seven room mansion, the former  home of Countess Olsufieva.   We learned  French President  Sarkosy and  President Putin and the Premier of Russia recently dined in the room we were in.

Ivan, the breadcaptain,  offered us a selection of eight different breads . I chose Italian and French while Ray chose Rye and Eight grain.

Sergei, the head waiter,  paid special attention to making our Caesar salad. He said he had been a cook at the Ritz Carlton before coming here.  He emphasized “cook” not a chef.  He said he got his start in the restaurant business when he worked as a counter man in the first McDonalds to open in Moscow in 1990.

Another birthday toast!  Yes,  I know there were a lot of toasts but did I mention it was a special  birthday?

The duck I ordered had such great presentation that I did not want to break up the artwork.

It was the nicest birthday of my life and all thanks to my wonderful husband!  He makes me feel so special.

The Irish Famine ,the Jenny Johnston, the Famine Statues

Between 1842 and 1852,  there was a famine - the Great Famine - that saw the population of Ireland drop by two million people. One million starved to death and one million emigrated to the US and Canada.  The population of Ireland dropped by 25% and during this time the population of New York was 25% Irish.
The ships the immigrants took were called "coffin ships" because so many sunk in the Atlantic storms. Also there was disease on board and when the ships landedm the Customs Official put the sick into quarantine where many died.

The one ship that differed from the others was the Jenny Johnston , a replica of which is pictured above. Not a single person died on the 17 crossings.  In fact, there was a birth .  The ship sunk off Montreal when the famine was over and it returned to hauling lumber. Even then, the entire crew was rescued.

The key to the ship's success seemed to be an excellent captain and an experienced ship's doctor who insisted on total cleanliness and as much exposure to fresh air as possible.

There was little room for all the people who sailed and large families had to share one bunk.  The least number of passengers was 190 and the most was 250.

The replica is an actual sea-going training ship today. It has a legal capacity of 40 passengers.





Imagine weeks on sea keeping body and soul together.

Signs don't lie.

There are statues about 500 feet from the Jenny Johnston depicting the famine victims. I heard the statues described as "disturbing".  I could not get the images out of my mind for days.

What is it like to have no hope?

The Jenny Johnston provided hope for some.

Dublin - The Pubs

Colorful Pubs are everywhere.

This pub is not afraid to state it is new.

This pub claims to be the oldest in Ireland.   Hmmm.....

We spent hours in the Brazen Head trying to verify its claim that it was the oldest pub in the city.

Legalize Marijuana

Well, each to his own.  Maybe not every Irishman spends some of his free time with friends in a pub  having a pint or two.

Dublin - The City & Its History

Dublin was originally a Viking city.  In fact until 900, the Vikings ruled Ireland.  The symbol above is a representation from an Irish bible trying to depict Noah's ark and the best they could do is picture a Viking type boat with a bird.  Today this symbol is the trademark of the Allied Irish bank, the largest bank in Ireland.

The Irish rebelled and took control from the Vikings in the 900s and stayed in power until the 1200s when the british  took power and stayed in control to the early 1900s.  In the 1540, Henry the 8th decreed that in all the lands he ruled the only religion that could be practiced was that of the Church of England.  That is when the problems between the Catholics and the Protestants started.  A new profession arose known as  "priest catcher" where men were given high bounty for telling the government where the Roman Catholic priests lived.








Dublin Castle Ireland, was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland. The Castle served as the seat of English, then later British government of Ireland under the Lordship of Ireland (1171–1541), the Kingdom of Ireland (1541–1800), and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1800–1922). Upon establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the complex was ceremonially handed over to the newly formed Provisional Government led by Michael Collins  (from Wikipedia)

The British had their seat of government in the building right next to the Dublin Castle.  In 1922, they turned power over to the Irish provisional government and to Micahel Collins.  When he showed up late for the ceremony, the British official in charge said to him

"You are late. We have been waiting for you to get here  for seven minutes. 

Collins replied : "We have been waiting for you to leave here for seven hundred years"




Our guide, Pillar ,  was wonderful and seemed to know every street, nook and cranny in Dublin.  "Pillar ? , you ask "That does not sound like an Irish name "   It is not. She came here six years ago from Spain to study archeology and now is doing graduate studies on World Heritage Cities.
Ireland is most cosmopolitan now that the EU allows residents of any EU country to live and work in any other EU country.  At our five star hotel, the restaurant staff was all eastern European and the housekeeping staff was Filipino and African. 




Our guide asked us to name the most romantic city in the world and quickly added "If you say Paris or Rome , you are wrong."  She said Dublin was the most romantic city because it housed the relic of St, Valentine.  In the early 1900 when the Irish Parliament passed a law granting religious freedom to Catholics the Pope sent the remains of St Valentine as both a thank you and a celebration.  Our guide noted that even with freedom , worship was low key and many churches were known by the street they were on rather than an obvious Catholic name.

Our guide told us that many of her friends call this church the "Adam and Eve" and not all know its real  name which is actually the Church of the Immaculate  Conception.  It stems back centuries to when the Catholic religion was outlawed so people had to be careful and creative to have a place to hear mass.  Many times mass was held in the room behind a pub, a grocery story or a bakery.  People would say they would meet at the pub or the store on Sunday meaning that was where mass would be held.  The Adam and Eve is the pub next door to the church.

Amman # 1 - The Ancient City

The Citadel

The Hill of the Citadel (Jabal al-Qal'a) in the middle of Amman was occupied as early as the Neolithic period, and fortified during the Bronze Age (1800 BC). The ruins on the hill today are Roman through early Islamic. The name "Amman" comes from "Rabbath Ammon," or "Great City of the Ammonites," who settled in the region some time after 1200 BC.

Amman has a bit of scandal attached to it. The Bible records that King David captured the city in the early 10th century BC; Uriah the Hittite, husband of King David's paramour Bathsheba, was killed here after the king ordered him to the front line of battle.


A Different View

The Temple of Hercules, today also known as the Great Temple of Amman. The temple was built in the reign of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD).

Read more:

http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/jordan/amman/citadel.html

The Palace

The most impressive building of the Citadel is known simply as Al-Qaser (the Palace), which dates back to the Islamic Umayyad period around 720 AD. Its exact function is unknown, but the building includes a monumental gateway, cruciform audience hall and four vaulted chambers. A colonnaded street runs through the complex and to the north and east, ruins of the palace grounds are visible.


The Bagpipers

As I approached the Palace, I seemed to hear bagpipe music.  It could not be bagpipe music of course so what was it ?  The music got louder and louder and then I knew it  had to be bagpipe music for sure .  But in Amman?  At the ancient Citadel?
Then, I remembered seeing the Jordanian Army Band when I was here in '84.  The band had bagpipers as part of its musicians.  Shades of the British Army that once ruled the area.  Shades of Lawrence of Arabia !


The Roman Amphitheatre

This is the Roman theatre and it is on Phildalphia Street, named after the ancient city of Philadelphia , not the one in Pittsburg.

The theatre was built during the reign of Antonius Pius (138-161 CE). The large and steeply raked structure could seat about 6,000 people: built into the hillside, it was oriented north to keep the sun off the spectators.

Read more :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_theater_(Jordan)

Unlike the rest of Amman where everything has changed, the area near the Citadel with its homes and shops has not changed.

Far from the Citadel, you can see the future Amman with its skyscrapers and multi storied buildings.

The Shawarma Shop at the Second Circle still has the best shawarma in town. My embassy colleagues and I would have lunch there at least once a week. The old embassy was located between the second and third circles.

This type of fast food did not exist when I was in Amman 1982 - 1984.

The very changed face of Amman at the fifth circle.