Москва: 8.25.09

I fear I am already hopelessly addicted to the traveling life... :)

While walking back to our magnificent hotel, Jon and I had a lovely discussion about the ideal of a life spent traveling, a fantasy that we both seem to keep tucked snugly away in our hearts. Just envision it...a month here, a month there...speaking multiple languages...experiencing the food and customs of countless different cultures...acquaintances across the globe...studying poetry in Paris, philosophy in Greece, art in Italy...making a living by publishing the tales of my travels...becoming a true citizen of the world.

*wistful sigh*

Perhaps someday!

The next morning did nothing to curb my fantasizing about my future life. Breakfast was incredible... The space looked like the perfect formal dining room, or perhaps even a ballroom. Everything was mirrors and murals and gilded gold (yes, I am an awful alliteration addict...my sincerest apologies!). We chose a table near a fountain filled with large grey fish and wandered to the buffet.

Oh the food...

Coffee, tea, fruit juice of all sorts, an espresso machine...

Cereals, yoghurt, cottage cheese...

Pancakes, sausages, bacon, eggs smothered in cheese...

Grilled vegetables, tomatoes with melted cheese, salads of all kinds...

More bread products than you could ever name - slices, rolls, croissants, tartes...

Fruit, sliced and whole...

Cheeses, meats, jams...

And the fish: salmon, boiled beluga, herring...

Even chicken liver pate on crackers which, I must admit, was quite good!

We gorged ourselves, lacking only some caviar and a mimosa or two. We will be spoiled brats in no time at all. :)

After breakfast we visited the gym, pool, and sauna, before sadly bidding farewell to our extravagant digs. That place was so nearly a ream come true, though frankly I feel no need for the excessive wealth. Once again, Jon and I found ourselves painting a picture of a rather desirable future life. It has been decided that when he one day builds the mansion on 14th street in Manhattan, as he's long wished to do, I will have one floor to myself, to decorate as I please, whether or not we're together! I'd like it to appear as though you've been transported through time (though with all the indispensable conveniences of modernity, of course), back to the 18th and 19th centuries. A robin's egg blue room for me, a lavender bedroom for guests, a red music room, a pink tea room, a green "gentleman's club" styled room, and a room with the central panel of Hieronymus Bosch's triptych "The Garden of Earthly Delights" painted on the wall (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en-us&q=garden%20of%20earthly%20delights&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi). A library, of course, will be of the utmost importance as well.

After settling the details of the home, I'll need to fill it with all the accoutrements of my anachronistic life. Claws-foot tubs, velvet arm chairs, massive beds with imposing headboards, lacquered screens, vanity tables with silver mirrors and brushes...antique writing desks and ancient books...letter openers, quills, decorative stationary (peacock themed, preferably), seals and a multi-colored assortment of sealing wax. *sigh again* It's beautiful, isn't it?

Next comes the wardrobe...an amalgamation of men's and women's fashions the 18th and 19th centuries, the 1920s, '30s, and '40s, and the styles of the glam and punk rock movements. I'll find a designer who shares my vision, and together we'll create a closet (walk-in, of course) of sartorial masterpieces. Jon even agreed to let me dress him on occasion - waistcoats, pocket squares, watch chains - he'll be a very dapper gentleman. :)

I know, I know...it's all rather eccentric. But it suits me, does it not? The hotel convinced me of the idea's perfection all the more.

Of course, we began to build on the idea in ridiculous ways...

• Breakfast will sometimes be served in bed, and always with champagne.
• We will somehow acquire posh English accents.
• We will employ servants, but only ones that enjoy beatings.
• We even took time to look down our noses at all the plebs scurrying off to work below our windows. "I don't understand work...it's so bourgeois." --Jon

Someday, I'll have it all!

But not today. :) Today we've moved to another hotel in Moscow with peeling wallpaper, ancient appliances, a carpet and drapes that look as though they haven't been replaced since the '70s, a toilet that won't stop running, a shower that can't be used without drenching the entire bathroom, and two uncomfortable tiny twin beds that would be perfectly at home in a 1950s sitcom...I'd gladly give them back to Lucy and Desi!

Then again, this kind of thing, this breadth of experience and adventure, is really the heart of traveling...so I am quite content. :)