Saturday, July 05, 2008

From Russia with Love 3

My third trip to Russia. I love this country.
I got to Rostov after a connection flight I took from Kaliningrad. The flight was bad, and we arrived in Rostov on Don at 0300 AM, but I wont dwell on it.
We went to Vadim's apartment to sleep it off and woke up to a beautiful and warm day.
We went to eat in my favorite place in Rostov. The Azerbaijanian market. There is a small workers resturant, all dirty and rough, and I love the simplicity and taste of their foods. They served us with a lamb stew, fresh cut veggies and some delicious lamb chops. The meat was to die for. In the end of the meal they served us with a spicy black tea, I liked it a lot. Tea should be drank bitter, in its natural form, no sugar or additives.
In the market here you can buy blueberries in a very cheap price. I couldnt believe it.
This box of 6 Kg of blueberries costs here 10$.... In Israel we pay 8$ for 350 Grams... And frozen, not fresh! People here dont value their berries. Antioxidants for free...

After the Azarbaijanian market we had to use a couple of hours of the day to register my passport as required by the Russian Federation. You think Israel has a lot red tape? Russia is much worse. Many forms to fill out, all for foreigners and not even one of them in English.... Amazing.

After completing the registeration process we went ahead to the country side to a 'Dacha' (Spring house or Villa in the countryside/seashore) of Vadim's friend on the bank of the Don river. It is a beautiful place, very quiet and I started to wonder how will life be living in a natural place like this. I got to the conclusion that you either choose to live in the city and vacation in the village or vice versa, but for a city born person, the combination essential if he wants to maintain sanity.
We went into the river for a short dip and went back to the house's garden to pick up fresh, organic berries of all shapes and colors right there from the bushes. I was like a kid in a toy store. Those berries were delicious and full of taste and I enjoyed it very much. We drank some tea made from mint and berry leafs and it was heaven.
We went home to rest a bit and we are just now going out to drink some tea. Stay tuned for more, I only leave for the seashore Monday morning, more to come...










5 comments:

Rachel Deri said...

I'm glad to see you're still having fun. When do we get another visit?

Ido Portal said...

Hey, Racheli... Just about to head home. I'll be in LA sooner than you think, like stench on a shit. See you there...

Anonymous said...

Nice blog Ido. I am glad to have found it. You are so lucky to have met Coach. Are you ever going to New England?

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Anonymous said...

Nice to read about your life Ido!