Greetings from Moscow

My schedule has had me traveling quite a bit. A couple of weeks ago I wrote from Korea. Then I spent the next week at home wrestling with a Russian visa application. It finally went through correctly and I'm writing to you now now from Moscow!

Moscow is cold. Right now it is 14 degrees Fahrenheit. I grew up in Texas, so I don't get really cold weather very often. Even when I travel to the northern United States it's not usually this cold. I am happy to say that I adapted well.

I ran into a friend at the airport who was also bound for Moscow, so I actually have a known face here. (I'm really starting to believe that there are no coincidences!) He knew someone in Moscow he'd met through MySpace who was going to show him around. They were kind enough to let me tag along.

We went to an old-style Russian restaurant featuring live gypsy music. I ate wild boar with fresh cranberries and a pastry filled with grain that I think were called (phoenetically) "gritchka." It was all very good. We strolled the Kremlin at night, were challenged for our identification but treated very politely and professionally. All of the old Stalinist buildings are massive. They are not skyscrapers like you find in the US, but they are built on a grand scale. It really is overwhelming and beautiful.

When I return to the US I'll be joining up with the Bad Cat Band to celebrate the grand opening of Wine Styles in Austin on March 3rd. In April I'll also be appearing at the Founders Day Festival in Dripping Springs. More on those events later.

For now I'll try to keep warm and keep you up with my adventures.