Location:Russia
Saturday, 10 March 2012
Thursday, 8 March 2012
A day or two off
It's International Womens Day today apparently and so it's a national holiday in Russia. They also have Friday off as a bridging day to make it a decent 3 day break if you include Saturday as most return to work on Sunday to compensate for having Friday off.
Are you with me so far??
We've had a lie in, sorted out the laundry, done a bit to do with work on the laptops and watched a film. It's an exciting life we have and no mistake.
We weren't aware of the impending holiday weekend until the day before, so if we had known would probably have made arrangements for a change of scenery for a few days - a weekend in Perm perhaps!!
It's a thought for the future though.
Are you with me so far??
We've had a lie in, sorted out the laundry, done a bit to do with work on the laptops and watched a film. It's an exciting life we have and no mistake.
We weren't aware of the impending holiday weekend until the day before, so if we had known would probably have made arrangements for a change of scenery for a few days - a weekend in Perm perhaps!!
It's a thought for the future though.
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
What's on TV?
As you know - well you probably don't! - but Russian TV is not our first choice of an evenings entertainment.
So after a delightful evening meal together, theres nothing better than the two Als enjoy more than a night at the movies.
Don't worry, no male bonding going on here I can assure you, but Al B has 200 or so movies on his laptop and we manage to get two a night in after catching up on reports, preparing a delightful supper, phoning home, wash & brush up etc. At the moment we are working through the TV series "The Pacific" and it's tempting to watch it all start to finish in one go. Next on the list is "Boardwalk Empire" season 1 which none of has seen.
All on Al Gs 46" TV.
It seems that when we get back to UK we will do nothing but try and catch up with season 2!!
Don't think that will be appreciated.!!
So after a delightful evening meal together, theres nothing better than the two Als enjoy more than a night at the movies.
Don't worry, no male bonding going on here I can assure you, but Al B has 200 or so movies on his laptop and we manage to get two a night in after catching up on reports, preparing a delightful supper, phoning home, wash & brush up etc. At the moment we are working through the TV series "The Pacific" and it's tempting to watch it all start to finish in one go. Next on the list is "Boardwalk Empire" season 1 which none of has seen.
All on Al Gs 46" TV.
It seems that when we get back to UK we will do nothing but try and catch up with season 2!!
Don't think that will be appreciated.!!
Monday, 5 March 2012
It's not what you do....
.....it's the way that you do it.
In this case it's what we brought with us this time. To make our meals a bit tastier Al B was 8 kg overweight on his baggage allowance - tins of beans, tesco tikka and jalfrezi curry, various other delights, and Al G tended to gravitate towards the Mexican sphere with fajita mix and sauces plus a dash back to europe for pasta sauce. It's not that it's not available in Russia, it's not available where we are!!
So we are sorted for tastier meals, but again all with a pasta, chicken, spud, egg, bread, tin veg, banana or whatever fruit looks ok, rice combo you can think of. We are pretty conservative in our tastes so recipe suggestions on the back of a 500 rouble note please. We are not averse to trying something new but we have to work out what it is in the shops!!!
The remains of chicken jalfrezi and rice - as you can see enjoyed by all and weve resisted licking the plate.
In this case it's what we brought with us this time. To make our meals a bit tastier Al B was 8 kg overweight on his baggage allowance - tins of beans, tesco tikka and jalfrezi curry, various other delights, and Al G tended to gravitate towards the Mexican sphere with fajita mix and sauces plus a dash back to europe for pasta sauce. It's not that it's not available in Russia, it's not available where we are!!
So we are sorted for tastier meals, but again all with a pasta, chicken, spud, egg, bread, tin veg, banana or whatever fruit looks ok, rice combo you can think of. We are pretty conservative in our tastes so recipe suggestions on the back of a 500 rouble note please. We are not averse to trying something new but we have to work out what it is in the shops!!!
The remains of chicken jalfrezi and rice - as you can see enjoyed by all and weve resisted licking the plate.Sunday, 4 March 2012
"Back in the USSR......."
As the song goes we are back in Yayva again for another month. We actually came over a couple of days ago before we were scheduled to make sure we were on site for the start of a shut down and the associated work that comes with it. It's what we are really here for, to give the benefit of our experience with these activities as we have done this a few times before, and this is pretty much the first time for our Russian colleagues.
This is Al B having successfully blathered his way through Immigration Control at Perm airport
Been a full weekend, been at work for all of it since we landed last Thursday in fact.
One change is that our driver now has a new car to transport us in - out with the Toyota Camry and in with a Land Cruiser no less. However, the weekend is his days off, so we had the pleasure of the works bus at our beck & call for transport. To be fair, it was organised just for us so that's good of them as the alternative is the 2 mile or so walk in the snow.
Talking of snow, weatherwise it's a bit warmer, -15 to 0!!!. This means it's does snow and we've had about 4 inch or so fallen since Thursday.
Were back in the Usadba guesthouse, Al B is back in his old room, but Al G is now in the penthouse a floor above which has a 50" tv and a shower that works with the bonus of hot water!!!! (trust me, it's not quite as palatial as it sounds but its fine).
We have a Russian colleague from Eon staying in the guesthouse, and he is saying that the locality is renown for alot of wolves in the vicinity, the population being sustained by interbreeding with the local dogs to some extent. Bang goes our plans for treks in the woods when the weather improves, and I'll not be wearing anything with red in it that has a hood.
"Oh what big teeth you have", as someone once said.
This is Al B having successfully blathered his way through Immigration Control at Perm airport
Been a full weekend, been at work for all of it since we landed last Thursday in fact.
One change is that our driver now has a new car to transport us in - out with the Toyota Camry and in with a Land Cruiser no less. However, the weekend is his days off, so we had the pleasure of the works bus at our beck & call for transport. To be fair, it was organised just for us so that's good of them as the alternative is the 2 mile or so walk in the snow.
Talking of snow, weatherwise it's a bit warmer, -15 to 0!!!. This means it's does snow and we've had about 4 inch or so fallen since Thursday.
Were back in the Usadba guesthouse, Al B is back in his old room, but Al G is now in the penthouse a floor above which has a 50" tv and a shower that works with the bonus of hot water!!!! (trust me, it's not quite as palatial as it sounds but its fine).
We have a Russian colleague from Eon staying in the guesthouse, and he is saying that the locality is renown for alot of wolves in the vicinity, the population being sustained by interbreeding with the local dogs to some extent. Bang goes our plans for treks in the woods when the weather improves, and I'll not be wearing anything with red in it that has a hood.
"Oh what big teeth you have", as someone once said.
Friday, 3 February 2012
Tourists
Reports completed and delivered to the big chiefs at HQ, we meet up with a Russian acquaintance of Arthurs who gives us a quick tour of the sights. First is a trip to a vodka museum - free sample- and then something to eat Russian style. Caviar, pickles, sliced tongue and chicken, chips.
A trip on the metro - what a place- spotless, marble and heroic bronze statues.
Next stop Red Square, then a few drinks in a bar and back to the hotel.
It's been a long day, and Friday it's all day travelling again as we fly home via Dusseldorf and Birmingham.
Going to be a bit quiet on the blog for a few weeks, but we'll be back to Russia 3rd March
A trip on the metro - what a place- spotless, marble and heroic bronze statues.
Next stop Red Square, then a few drinks in a bar and back to the hotel.
It's been a long day, and Friday it's all day travelling again as we fly home via Dusseldorf and Birmingham.
Going to be a bit quiet on the blog for a few weeks, but we'll be back to Russia 3rd March
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
To Moscow
Left Yaiva for Moscow this morning which meant a 3 hour drive to the airport at Perm. It's -35 degC and it still only took us 3 hours for the 230km drive. Like I said before "God bless studded snow tyres".
Transport cafe for a fag & coffee break.
The road to Perm, doing 140kmh here and its warmed up to -28 because the sun has risen.
Get to the airport for 11:30 and check in eventually. Girl at desk then points us upstairs where the VIP lounge is - we are fortunate enough to have business class tickets- so up we go. The next lady at the VIP lounge then informs us that we do not have to check in with the other 'class' of passenger and in future we should check in at the VIP lounge where we will be looked after and escorted to the plane when boarding. We must ignore the tannoy messages about boarding etc as you are business class and will be escorted! Well, that's us put on our place and very nice it is too. It's certainly an extra level of service that we didn't experience with Lufthansa.
Also, travelling with Siberian Airways was a very pleasant experience on the 'plane as well - at least in first/ business class!!
Once at Domidedovo Airport, we have no problem hooking up with our driver as he's prepared and is standing at arrivals with a big Eon sign. We still ran the gauntlet of the 'unofficial' taxi drivers and there was some dodgy looking characters in that lot.
What can you say about our first impression of Moscow? From the drive in I would say they are in desperate need of an orbital motorway. They seem to have a type of inner ring road 10 lanes wide (5 each way) but that was solid both ways all the way to our hotel. Took us nearly 2.5 hours to do about 35 km - manic.
The hotel is very grand, especially the reception & lobby areas, but the equivalent of £8.75 for a pint of Stella makes you wonder where you are. I thought Norway had the gold medal for rip off bar prices. Then again it is a posh hotel, and a pleasure to have a fully functioning and hot shower plus someone else other than Al B cooking my tea for me.
We meet up with Arthur - our oppo in Surgut, and have a good chat over dinner a beer.
Tomorrow it's the monthly report to the Moscow big chiefs. We finish that around 4pm, then we're planning a trip to Red Square, followed by a visit to a vodka museum and then a meal Russian style, all courtesy of a Russian contact of Arthur.
Friday it's homeward bound back to Blighty for 28 days, then we do it all again.
Transport cafe for a fag & coffee break.
The road to Perm, doing 140kmh here and its warmed up to -28 because the sun has risen.
Get to the airport for 11:30 and check in eventually. Girl at desk then points us upstairs where the VIP lounge is - we are fortunate enough to have business class tickets- so up we go. The next lady at the VIP lounge then informs us that we do not have to check in with the other 'class' of passenger and in future we should check in at the VIP lounge where we will be looked after and escorted to the plane when boarding. We must ignore the tannoy messages about boarding etc as you are business class and will be escorted! Well, that's us put on our place and very nice it is too. It's certainly an extra level of service that we didn't experience with Lufthansa.
Also, travelling with Siberian Airways was a very pleasant experience on the 'plane as well - at least in first/ business class!!
Once at Domidedovo Airport, we have no problem hooking up with our driver as he's prepared and is standing at arrivals with a big Eon sign. We still ran the gauntlet of the 'unofficial' taxi drivers and there was some dodgy looking characters in that lot.
What can you say about our first impression of Moscow? From the drive in I would say they are in desperate need of an orbital motorway. They seem to have a type of inner ring road 10 lanes wide (5 each way) but that was solid both ways all the way to our hotel. Took us nearly 2.5 hours to do about 35 km - manic.
The hotel is very grand, especially the reception & lobby areas, but the equivalent of £8.75 for a pint of Stella makes you wonder where you are. I thought Norway had the gold medal for rip off bar prices. Then again it is a posh hotel, and a pleasure to have a fully functioning and hot shower plus someone else other than Al B cooking my tea for me.
We meet up with Arthur - our oppo in Surgut, and have a good chat over dinner a beer.
Tomorrow it's the monthly report to the Moscow big chiefs. We finish that around 4pm, then we're planning a trip to Red Square, followed by a visit to a vodka museum and then a meal Russian style, all courtesy of a Russian contact of Arthur.
Friday it's homeward bound back to Blighty for 28 days, then we do it all again.
Location:2-й Красносельский пер.,,Russia
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