Bars, Bargains and Freezingly cold!

Hello world from FunnyNotesBlog!!

So today I asked my seven year old daughter to read my blog name, or to say - former blog name. I think you now understand why I changed it. This name is actually my daughters idea, and being a bit superstitious, I feel the name is lucky.


Reentry to a club: Success!!

We already live a year and a half in Moscow. And I have to proudly say that I managed to get two times into a club, after my misfortune this summer. Yes it was the same club both times, but lets not split hairs. The club was actually great, because you have a place to have dinner and a place to dance, so after few drinks I was ready to hit the floor. I am just not sure if I got old, or if the DJ was bad, but it was a REAL workout. First, the music was like techno dance fast, and just as I was starting to catch the rhythm, it shifted to slow-motion but still keeping the techno beat. Or maybe you lost me here, since the names for the music genres come from a decade ago. The point is, after ten minutes, every part of my body ached and I had to get another glass of wine sitting down.

Cutting down prices like a machine!

I also discovered a new passion: bargaining. Moscow is the best place to do it. No, not in the center. Tried last New Year. I bought fifteen shirts with Putin in different poses for friends in Croatia, and I though I would get at least five percent discount. But no, stone called Russian lady just pretended she did not even hear my question. This year I was smarter and I got some intel from few friends. The place to go to is Izmailovsky market.

The first good thing was that me and my friend went during the week and it was minus fifteen outside. So as market is outside and everybody is at work I knew we had a good shot at getting really low prices. For me, it was going back to my young days, working at different kind of promotions, dragging people by their arms - that you have just what they miss. First, near the entrance was a guy with scarfs. HOW MUCH!!! 500 RUBLES FOR A SCARF!!!! I immediately started to explain how I come from a very poor country and I need it. End price 350 rubles (Last year, I bought same scarf in the city center for only 1500 rubles!!!). And I was just getting started. Best experience was with a guy who tried to sell me Matryoshkas for Christmas tree. I really did not plan to buy any. But we got into a long discussion about which country is poorer - Croatia or Russia. In the end he even invited me to stay eat lunch with him at his stand, since he saw I do look a bit out of money. But he also managed to charm me into buying his Matryoshkas, but for a smaller price. In the end I do come from a country half the size of Moscow.

I had so much fun that I dragged my husband and kids just a week after to go on Sunday. I saw it is going to be minus eighteen, so more bargains possible. And we did well, although not all the Russian sellers understood my jokes. One lady said that for Ushanka, which my daughter wanted, we need to pay 3500 rubles. I immediately told her to give me for 1000 rubles and that I will write her name on the hat and market her around the world. Her face stayed seriously frozen (and not from the cold) so we left.

Just above the market is a wonderful place with museums and different attractions for kids and grownups. In the end we chose a blacksmith, who was freezing in the square. He made a dragon tooth together with our kids. And I truly admire him. Because standing there whole day and being friendly is not an easy task. I did ask him if he is still there when temperatures go to minus thirty. He said - yes and then explained in Russian that he drinks something from the pot. I am not sure if he said tea or vodka, or maybe both?.

In the end we took our loot and headed home. fingers nearly black from
frost. And if anybody knows great places to bargain in Moscow, please let me know. I am even thinking of offering the guys at the stands to help them sell. I just love that simple selling talk and the adrenaline when you score!!!!