Sunday ~ A Day of Rest

Since I came down with a really bad cold, we figured today would be a good day to stay "home" at the apartment and just take it easy. We even arranged to have breakfast delivered at 10am so we could sleep in ~ especially since those days are winding down FAST!

Around 4pm, I was getting stir crazy. I looked out the window frequently and just wanted to start walking the city amongst the locals. This is truly a once in a lifetime trip and although Kristina is our primary focus, I didn't want to lose sight that we'll never be here for such an extended period of time again and we must make the most of it!

Some pictures of the US Embassy in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Nice to see our flag!!

Around 5pm, we armed ourselves with scarves, gloves and boots and set out to find the US Embassy and St. Ann's Catholic Church. If you followed last week's episode of "The Amazing Race -- Ekat", you'd think "They've been there, done that" -- or so we thought. We learned this week that Andre (our young, non-believing driver) gave us misinformation and the church we were at last week was **not** St. Ann's!! St. Ann's is located next door to the US Embassy -- which is about 5 blocks from our apartment. We couldn't attend mass this week but we will try next Sunday -- our last Sunday in Ekaterinburg which happens to be Mother's Day! Now we'd like to know now what church it is that we were at last week, but as far as we know, there is only one Catholic Church in the city.

St. Ann's Catholic Church, nestled behind an area next to the US Embassy in Ekaterinburg

As we left church, it started to snow (oh, that's new news....eh?) and the wind was bone chilling. We decided to stop at Greenwich -- a large mall near our apartment. In addition to the usual shoe stores, apparel stores, and technolgy shops, the mall also has a huge grocery store -- with the main aisle signs in Russian and English. Funny thing is that you know you're in the "Dairy" aisle, but if you don't have a dictionary to translate, good luck knowing what anything else is!

The main entrance to Greenwich Mall.

Some sights around the mall, including the entrance to the Grocery Store.

Jon checking out the "Cakes" aisle. All the staff wear blue uniforms and hats.

Upon returning back at the apartment, we made some dinner and started making plans to see Kristina tomorrow afternoon. I wonder if she misses us on the days we don't see her. In almost 3 weeks, we've only missed 3 days and there's definitely something missing in our lives when a day passes and we don't feel her hugs or hear that tender voice say "Papa," "Mama."