16 April: It has been about five days since I started taking antibiotics and I am feeling much better; no chills but the Chinese chronic cough continues. These seem to be two separate issues, about half our group has “the cough”, it seems to come in spells for most of us.
Today we visited the Tretyakov Gallery, a branch of the State Art Gallery which is one of the world’s largest museums. In the afternoon we left Jennifer, Fran, Linda and Charlotte at a large outdoor market while Betty, Jerry, Steve and I went on a Vodka Tour. We learned a lot about the history, making and marketing of Vodka but none of this made it taste any better. They had free samples after the tour, supposedly “all you can drink” which was meaningless because one or two shots was all we could drink. Later, Jennifer informed us that the brand makes all the difference. She recommends “Baluga”.
By late evening we were in the Moscow Railway Station boarding Train #56 to St Petersburg, an overnight trip. We were in car #10 with only two berths per compartment, it was clean and nice; western toilets.
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We have a free morning, so Betty and I hop on the subway to try to find the Moscow Harley Davidson store. We find it, but it doesn’t open until 11:00 and it’s only 10:30 —so— tea time. At 11:00 we are there! Betty finds a cute little top for Kaylee, and I’m trying to pick out t-shirts. She calls me over. “Do you know this t-shirt for Kaylee is $78.00, American?” The short sleeved men’s t’s started at $80.00. We left. Who knew??? We get back on the subway and meet our group at the Tretyakov Gallery. Many art works, dresses and outfits of royalty, religious artifacts, and a floor dedicated to carriages and horse equipment. Lunch. Then an outdoor market and the vodka tour, and back on the train for St. Petersburg. Fran