After breakfast and having said goodbye to that couple Russian couple Mike and Yuliya (yes, I spelled it Julia yesterday but I was wrong.) They are so sweet and we exchanged emails.
I had the Cleopatra Relaxation Bath which consisted of a scented oil placed in a warm bath with red and pink rose petals scattered on top of the water and for 30 minutes you just relax in your own nicely scented treatment room lit with lots of votive candles about. And after you've gotten all prune-like and your muscles are eased of all tension you step out of the bath and the women wraps you in a large sheet and then has you sit on an anti-gravity lounge chair and then wraps you up in a cocoon of warm blanket. So nice!
I had about an hour before my next treatment so I went up to the room and did some computer work then just had to take one elevator a few floors to the Blue House treatment rooms where I had a back and neck message. It was less than a half hour but still nice. These treatment rooms are like revolving doors; one patient in and then as soon as that one leaves another is lined up outside to get in. But everyone here is taking part in either a wellness program or one like us that is just focused on relaxation. Either way that's a lot of treatments to schedule in one day for the staff and they seem to do the transitions seamlessly but there is clearly no time for talking; you get in and do you treatment and then you move on. Elke had the chocolate wrap like I did yesterday and then an Indian head message which I have on my schedule for tomorrow.
We had water aerobics at 1:30pm which was fabulous the teacher was so high energy but she never uttered a word the whole time. She just performed the actions on the land and we imitated them in the water while she had great American pop music playing loudly. At one point she wanted us to hold on to the side railing with both hands while laying on our stomachs and kicking furiously behind us and to demonstrate what she wanted she got down on the ground on her stomach and lifted up her arms and legs and kicked. It was funny to see but we all got the message and did as she did. I think most of the 20 people in the pool were Russian but I guess it's just easier to not speak since, like us, not everyone speaks Russian. It was so fun to be back in a water aerobics class, I miss mine at the YMCA in New York so much and there was even a man who looked just like our wonderful friend Jim who is part of our YMCA family so it was a little like being home.
After a quick shower it was time for a long walk around the city center and a little bit up on the hillside. We found a wonderful art piece on a side street leading up to one of the nature trails and as you can see from the picture it's a water wheel with some fun, eclectic artistic accents that is taking the water draining from the hill top and making sure it makes it to the drainage hole quickly and efficiently.
We then passed a wonderful residential area with some interesting apartment buildings and one large Villa at the top of a hill with an incredible private garden on the side and even a watch tower with the sculpture of a cat at the top. It's a great place to take pictures of the city and the private garden made for a few good photographs as well with the unique Dr. Seuss inspired pom-pom trees.
After about 10 minutes we were at the tiny cemetery that sits so beautifully on the hillside overlooking the Mill Colonnade and main town area. There are about 20 headstones from different time periods some with lettering no longer visible after hundreds of years. And when you look at the picture you see a large brown memorial in the middle of the curve of headstones and that is the grave of Mozart's son who was named after him, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and died in 1844 at age 53 and according to what Elke read of the memorial which was written in old German verbiage he was a composer and musician like his dad and it said something about how proud he was to be like his father. It's a very nice memorial and on such a beautiful spot in the city.
From there we walked past the Thermal Hotel which is the only really unattractive building in the city, dark cement and dark windows and just too modern for the rest of the city. But at the top of the hill where the Thermal Hotel outdoor pool is stands three very interesting ceramic and stone sculptures that I remembered from my first visit and although a little more weathered with time, still very beautiful.
The walk continued past the Park Colonnade and up the hill to St. Peter's Russian Orthodox which is stunning with a gold, blue and white exterior and dark brown wood interior. I'll have more on it in the coming weeks but it was nice for Elke to see it before she leaves on Friday.
And then a walk back into the town center past some of the most exquisite hotels in the city. They look like massive doll houses to me and so beautiful you can't believe people live or stay in them.
Dinner was fantastic partly because I was famished when we got back and mostly because they had some wonderful choices with really great veggie dishes and an odd, but delicious looking mini hamburg.
Now as I write this a Russian man came up to me as I as sit here in the usually quiet lobby using the wifi and he started spouting off in Russian and even after I explained in English he still kept talking and pointing to his camera and then handing me a piece of paper with an email address on it. I, having worked in a busy New York City hotel for 10 years pieced it all together quickly that he needed me to email some pictures to someone for him. I put the scandisk card in my computer and found lots of pictures of him and his wife in the city center and out and about and then came to the pictures he wanted emailed as he got so, so excited when they came up on my screen. Two pictures of a piece of jewelry he was clearly going to buy for his wife and was emailing to some man named Oleg who I guess he wanted to get his opinion on them. Elke was using her lap top near me and started laughing and after I helped the man and he ran off to call Oleg I told her that this is not unusual for me, people have done odd things this for years and years to me and fortunately I am able to figure out what is going on most of the time. I've included one of his pictures since I don't think they're secret and it is pretty jewelry.
But Elke and I both laughed that like a few other Russian people we've meet here even when you clearly explain you don't speak Russian they insist on continuing to talk like you do. A man in the sauna last night did the same thing to me. It was just he and I and he started chatting but I could not understand a word but he just kept talking animatedly at me and then finally to get his point across he started making gestures and even animal noises. He was trying to explain that he lives in Russia near where you can connect to Alaska from the continent and how he goes dog sledding like they do in Alaska. And then he talked about moose hunting and he cooks the moose. Trust me that was a stretch to get that one but after a while you kind of get the gist of this way of communicating and it's not so strange. Well it's strange but what can you do when you don't speak the language. But it really is so funny that they just keep talking like maybe if they say something enough times you'll just spontaneously understand.
So that was the day, very relaxing, lots of fresh air and good walking exercise and great food. What more can you ask for!
