Back in St Petersburg

Phew!  What a trip!  I can't believe I am a mother again!  It is a bit bittersweet being that my son is on his way back to the orphanage and I am without him.  I keep telling myself he is just at camp with people he know and is comfortable with and who will take very good care of him.  Nothing better happen to him in the next 30 days that's all I've got to say.  We did not get the extended money back guarantee with him.  Just kidding.

So Ed and I arrived back in St Petersburg last night at about 7:30PM.  A driver was waiting for us and Allison when we got there and he drove us to our respective hotels, ours being the "Mini-Columb Hotel" again.  Ed and I chilled out at our hotel for a bit and then ventured out to grab a bite to eat.  We found a restaurant just down the road called "The Rock Inn" and I figured if it had an English title they might have a menu in english.  I was right.
 
We sat at the bar and the bartender, thank goodness, spoke english.  He offered us some beer made in St Petersburg.  It was pretty good.  I got the Beef Stroganoff over mashed potatoes and Ed got some sausages with Bbq sauce and onion rings.  The food was pretty good and they were playing an old Queen concert on the TV's that was good.  Ed proceeded to order some blini (thin pancakes or crepes) with sour cream, we paid the bill and left.

 Nothing much more exciting after that.  We went back to the hotel and I went to bed.

This morning, the hotel attendant, Valeri, prepared us a nice breakfast of fried eggs, bread with butter and jam, some yogurt, juice, coffee and a choco pie.  Seeing as we were staying in the "Mini-Columb Hotel" it was only us at breakfast.  I don't know if I mentioned this but the hotel only has six  guest rooms!

Veleri was leaving after her 24 HOUR shift (Ugh!) so I went to thank her for the breakfast and her hospitality and she said she had a gift for me.  She drew "The Little Prince" on a piece of paper and wrote a very nice message on the back telling us "you are doing a very good job.  Good luck! With best wishes, Valeri."  That was so sweet!

Now I am making an effort to catch up on the blog as Ed tries to catch some more zzzz's as he did not sleep last night. We have a late checkout so that we can just relax in the room as we need.  Later, we will be picked up and taken to the airport to catch our 5:45 flight to Germany!  Today is our 20th wedding anniversary!!  Wow!  We are celebrating with an extended trip to Germany and to visit our friend, Ina and her family.  I am excited!  It will be a nice distraction from the fact that we do not have Grisha with us.

So, I think I will venture out to find a nice cafe and get some coffee. 

 До свидания, пока! (Goodbye, for now!)