Day 53 of the 47th year of my personal chronology

We got up fairly early in the morning, and I made breakfast. By the time we had eaten, Katya, Leah’s nanny, had arrived. Masha and I quickly bought tickets for a lecture and breakfast at the high-rise on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, where we had been before, called a cab, and rushed off to listen to a talk about the development of panel housing construction. Don’t laugh—it really is fascinating. My wife and I surprisingly share both a love of and a genuine interest in architecture. In my case it makes sense: I’m an engineer, I was raised by engineers, and I grew up reading engineers. But Masha simply loves construction and really knows what she’s talking about. She’s brilliant.

There were few people at the lecture, which was wonderful. Mostly women. Other than me, the only men there were the organizer and one young guy who works in construction professionally. What draws women there is probably the apartment with the best view of Moscow you can imagine. And the view really is incredible: it’s the central section of the 22nd floor looking straight toward the Kremlin. Zaryadye Park, the Moscow River, the Kremlin, Moscow City, Stalinist high-rises—everything is right there before your eyes. A fantastic place. The apartment has preserved its Soviet spirit. The doors, parquet floors, stucco moldings, chandeliers—it all remains from those very years. Everything is solid, beautiful, and nostalgically familiar from childhood. The lecture itself was very engaging, and the speaker presented it with enthusiasm and energy. Good for her.

Afterward we wanted to go home for the car on rental scooters, but Whoosh would not allow more than one scooter per phone, and Masha’s phone had died. In the end we decided to walk and get something to eat. We stopped at a nice Georgian restaurant with khinkali in Taganka. The service was excellent, it was inexpensive, and the food was delicious. Then we went home, picked up the car, drove to a car wash, and for the first time I decided to wash the car by hand with a rag—great exercise =) After that we went out and bought a few household odds and ends and drank a lot of vegetable juice. In the evening we took care of things around the house. Before bed I finally got to lie quietly in the bathtub and watch the show Stars. Hilarious. I went to bed around 12:30.