Moscow Choir

Last night was supposed to be our service project at the Hospital, but most of the seniors were out of town, this activity was postponed until January 7, the Russian Christmas day. So, last night we just went to the Moscow Choir Concert at the central building. Last year the choir sang at a hall, but this year, for many reasons, the choir was not large enough to sing in the hall, so they opted to sing in one of the church buildngs, which, I am told because of the low ceilings is not really conducive to good quality sound. Nevertheless, the choir sounded great. We enjoyed it immensely.

We met with other seniors (those who were in town) for dinner at a Sbarros just a hundred yards from the building. Earlier in the day, we did our big shopping at Metro with the Irelands.

My day began with an early morning meeting with our hotel representative at the Metropol. Our seminar schedule is really three half days, but the seminar package that we bought includes two breaks each day (it was cheaper to buy the package)though we will only be there for one break each day. The hotel person insisted on bringing both breaks at the same time, since we have already paid for them. I tried to explain to her that maybe she could just make the one break more special, but only bring the one we need. That idea never got fully communicated, so I guess we will stuff our pockets with cookies and fruit for a late midnight snack!

Contracts are signed and ready to be sent to the Hotel. We booked our ballet tickets yesterday (our big cultural event for the seminar). We managed to get 42 tickets together and then another block of 12, still within the same area, so we were pleased with those results.

This morning it is clear and sunny and cold. That is what the forecasters are telling us for the next few days. By the time Christmas gets here it will be snowing pretty regularly and the temperatures are supposed to stay around 15-20 degrees F. However, it looks like it might be windy with some significant wind chills. If that is the case, our experience will be quite different from our previous winter, because we got very little wind last year.

The Nearons are off to Spain until after Christmas, so Chris and I are back to walking to work. That will probably be good for us. We don't want to get too soft.