a little bit of everything

MarKuel Hotel, Khabarovsk, Russia
Local time: 4:41 pm Sunday, August 27th

Just got in from our first adventure. We set out from the hotel without a map or a clue, but we did take our handy picture chart for tourists. It is a pocket chart of icons for things commonly needed. We accosted a nice lady (she had a nice dog, so we knew she was nice) and pointed at the food section of our chart. She must have thought we were idiots as she pointed to the food kiosk across the street. Things don’t look like what we expect them to look like. Even when we know this, we still are surprised.

With our handy chart we bought our eggs and cheese and bread and butter and milk for the morning coffee. We paid and left without mishap: mission accomplished. We then made our way to the playground nearby where we ran into C and A and C.’s new little person. They showed us the bigger local store, right to next to this tall apartment building (utterly typical in upkeep and appearance, by the way).
They also pointed out the way to the more commercial area. We were happy to see a cute little garden along the way.








We find the pipes fascinating. Jamie says we need a UT crew to take a look at this elbow on this expansion loop setup. I think you have to be an NDE guy to fully appreciate the elbow. As Jamie works with pipes each day, he has a special appreciation for the miles and miles of piping and the time and care that goes into maintaining them.









Pretty kitty probably likes the pipes in the winter, as they are warm. She was so nappy she kept dozing off during her photo-shoot.


We then found this lovely little pub that was empty, smoke-free, air-conditioned, and had dark beer. Budweiser, actually, the orginal Chekoslovakian sort.



Here we are, cool and relaxed.



We took some menu shots for your amusement and edification. The salad page is presented merely because we think it is amazing how many names they come up with for dishes that vary by only one ingredient. The “Hot Fish Dishes” page is presented because I think the fourth item, as punctuated, looks very labor-intensive. The German wine page is a riddle. Can you tell us the name that the first wine is sold under in the US? Let me know if you need a hint. (Click the pictures to make them bigger.)















On the walk home, we found this laundry out to dry, and a couple of kitties,









as well as some cheerfully painted buildings.