Catherine Palace

Thursday, April 27th

Today we had about four hours before we had to be at the airport so we hired a tour guide through the adoption agency and went on a tour of Catherine Palace.  It was a gift to Catherine from her husband, Peter the Great.  It was beautiful!  I cannot believe the richness of the decor with silk wall coverings, porcelain vases, parlayed floors and gold everywhere.  Meanwhile, the rest of the surrounding neighborhood and country is dirt poor.  Our tour guide was Toli, and he had been a political history professor by trade and was very knowledgeable about the history of Russia.  Ed loves history and politics so he enjoyed talking with Toli.  I am not so interested in such things so I just enjoyed the sights.

the spires are where the church was located

one of the ceilings

porcelain vases that were gifted

handcarved wood trim

The Great Hall (ballroom)

notice the guilded wall carvings

inlaid parquet floor

restored original ceiling painting

another ceiling painting

porcelain fireplace (these were in just about every room)

ceiling with original paintings

view of the servant's residence

hand carved out of mahogoney

made of crushed red rubies

made of crushes emeralds

silk wall covering

The Green dining room

silk wall covering

fireplace

a bedroom

Study of Alexander I

Ed, Toli, me

The Hermitage Pavilion

a bride (several weddings were happening that day)

Train Ride #2

After we arrived back from the orphanage, Ed and I were a bit melancholy.  We just did not like the idea of having to go back home without Grisha.  But, we didn't have a choice so we proceeded to pack up and went to the grocery store to get food for our return trip that night.  We were taken to the train station by another driver and at this point I can't even remember her name.  We got settled in our car and settled down for our long ride back to St Petersburg.

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post about the train was that when the train made its stops, the bathrooms were locked.  This is because the waste empties directly onto the track and I suppose they don't want stinky waste building up at the stops.  Well, on the way to Kotlas, I was not aware of this and had a very stressful situation at one time when I REALLY needed to go to the bathroom.  I will not get into what I did to resolve the situation but I did learn my lesson and on the return trip made sure to amply relieve myself frequently.  (Too much information?)

Anyway, the trip to St Petersburg was uneventful and we arrived the next night at 9:30PM  Sergey picked us up and drove us to our hotel, we checked  in, and went in search of a place for dinner.  We found a nice sushi restaurant that had menus with pictures, in case the waiter didn't speak english.  After dinner we walked down the street a bit and checked out a WWII memorial that was across the street from the hotel.

Then, it was time to get some sleep for our plane journey home the next morning.

A Rope and a Wrench

Wednesday, April 25th

Today we had some time in the morning before we were to meet Dimitry, so Ed and I walked a bit around town.  It had rained last night so the roads were very filthy and muddy.  We ventured into a couple of shops, a toy store and a couple of computer stores.  Then, we browsed in the grocery store scoping out what we would buy to eat on our train ride back tomorrow.  We stopped in at a cafe that we were told had internet and grabbed some coffee and at 11:00 we met Dimitry in the lobby of the hotel. Alexander was our driver again and we headed out but first stopped at a baby home nearby to drop a delivery off.  When Alexander got back into the van and tried to start it it would not turn over.  He kept trying the key, but no luck.  He hopped out and grabbed a rope? and a wrench? out of the back.  What was he planning on doing with those?   He disappeared for a few minutes and when he came back, a delivery truck was backing up to the van. Alexander took the rope and tied it to the other truck and then rigged it to our van with the wrench so that the truck could tow it.  When we saw what he was planning, Ed and I quickly got out of the and watched.  Alexander hopped back in the van and as the truck pulled the van he was able to start it.  Ed and I laughed, hopped back into the van and we were on our way to the orphanage. 

As I mentioned before, many of the roads were dirt roads including the road leading up to the car ferry.  Well, with all of the rain last night, there was thick, pudding like mud down by the ferry.  It was disgusting!  But worse than that was that once we arrived at the ferry, the van stalled again!  Alexander tried to turn it over several times again with no luck and Ed and I just looked at each other in disbelief.  Then, Alexander and Dimitry were conversing in Russian and Alexander gets out of the van and goes up to one of the other cars waiting to go on the ferry.  We see him talking for a few then he walks to another car.  That car pulls around right up next to us and Dimitry says we are to get out and hop in that car.  What?!  Basically, Alexander asked the stranger in the other car if he could give us a ride across to the orphanage and then take us back to our hotel after our visit.  Wow!  Well, thank goodness he agreed but, we had to step out into the muddy mess to get in his car and Dimitry, Ed and I all had to squeeze in the back seat of the car because the gracious stranger's daughter was also in the car also and she had to hold a small flat screen television in her lap that had been in the back seat.  I can't make this stuff up, people.

the gracious stranger and his daughter holding a tv

So, we made it to the orphanage and once again they had lunch prepared for us.  Some kind of fish soup (eh, it was ok), sausage, peas, mashed potatoes and apricot juice.  Then, we were taken to the small playroom again where we could spend time with Grisha.  A girl who looked about 15 years old came in and we were told she was the doctor and would review Grisha's medical history.  She had an unorganized pile of papers that supposedly was his medical file and she pointed out some things in  she thought might be of interest to us. She did say Grisha needs to have his adenoids out but everything else in the report was pretty insignificant, thank goodness.

the doctor

Sadly, soon it was time to go.  Grisha said something and I asked Dimitri what he said and he told me he was saying he did not want us to leave.  My heart melted and I told Dimitry to tell Grisha that it may be a little while before we come back but, be patient because we will be back and can't wait to take him home with us.  Grisha smiled and gave me a big hug.  He accompanied us to the car and waited with Irina on the orphanage steps as we pulled away.  I waved and blew kisses to him and he did back and all I kept thinking was how I needed to get him home. 

Visit to Orphanage

The orphanage

Once we arrived at the orphanage we were led to an office to meet with the director of the orphanage, Irina. On our way, we passed by one of the kids rooms and we were going up the stairs when a little blond haired head peeked out and yelled "Hi! Mama!" It was Grisha!! He ran up the stairs with a big smile on his face and gave me the biggest hug. It was so awesome!! All of my worries about how he would react were all for nothing. I cannot explain the warmth and tingling I felt in my heart at that moment. And that all of the papers we filled out and fingerprints we had done were all worth it for this moment.

Grisha was able to accompanying us as we talked with Dimitry and Irina and at one point we were asked if we were sure we wanted to adopt Grisha. I responded with Da! Da! Da! Which means Yes! Yes! Yes! in Russian. And we signed the papers to petition to adopt Grisha and name him Grisha Edward Francis.

Dimitry, Irina, Nina

After the formalities we were taken to a room that was set up for lunch. There was Borsht soup, which was pretty good, mashed potatoes, peas, and some sort of cooked ground meat patty. Grisha got to sit with us as we ate as he had already eaten. Had we not been there he would have been in nap time so he said he was happy not to be in nap time.

After lunch we were given a tour of parts of the orphanage, including Grisha's playroom and nap room. All of the staff was very friendly and I think a bit curious about us. We met Grisha's main caregiver, Svetlana. I could tell she truly cared about him as she enjoyed telling us about Grisha and his likes and dislikes.

Svetlana

Then, we were taken to a small classroom and offered a kid size seat at a kid size table. It was there that we were given time just to be with Grisha. So, basically we watched as Grisha played on my iPad because I have lots of kids games on it and he loves to play on it. In fact, it amazes me how quickly he learned how to use it and how to play the games. He is so smart!

They brought us a folder full of Grisha's artwork and some photo albums that had pictures of when he visited America last summer. One picture he drew was of a family and my heart was moved. The Director said he has been wishing for a family. And as we were looking at the picture he said I was the Mama, Ed was the Papa, and Grisha was the little boy. (Oh! Boy! Did my heart melt). Grisha gave me permission to bring the artwork home and I feel like a proud Mama and wish I could hang them all up.

Soon our visit was over because we had to catch the car ferry. I was sad to leave but couldn't wait to go back the next day. So, we went back to the hotel and invited Dimitry to dinner with us. He obliged and took us to a restaurant down the road. We told him to order for us since the menu was in Russian and I had some baked turkey, and Ed had what looked like fried cube steak. We also shared a bottle of wine and had some good conversation. Then, back to the hotel to get some rest from our busy, emotional and wonderful day.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Planes, Trains, Automobiles and a Ferry?

Tuesday, April 24th

Dimitry and his driver, Alexander, took us to our hotel in Kotlas. There, Dimitry checked us in and showed us to our room. Our room was bigger than I thought it would be. It was actually more like a suite with a separate bedroom from the dining room. I was also surprised to see a queen bed as I was anticipating a double.

living room

bedroom

bathroom

After a quick shower and change of clothes, we were driven to Solvygegosk, where the orphanage is and I have to say, Russia has some of the WORST roads. Most of the roads in and around Kotlas seemed to be dirt roads. I thought I was going to get whiplash with all the potholes and bumps. Then, we reached a river in which just across to the other side was the orphanage. So how to get across? A car ferry. I guess if the river had been frozen we would have just driven across it. Yikes! But, it was mostly thawed, so it was either take the ferry or drive another hour to a bridge or something. So on the car ferry we went.