happy birthday

to me.

This isn't actually my cake, I just found it online..but it's actually my birthday. Even though I'm not in the States, go ahead and celebrate. Take the day off. On me.

I thought I'd spend some of my day here.

This is Patriarch's Pond, which might be familiar to those of you who read the Master and Margarita, as it was the opening setting. And in keeping with Bulgakov tradition, there's a cafe on the corner nearby with depictions from the book on the dor and walls. It's a living room sized place with live music at night and a very festive atmosphere. It's called Cafe Margarita - here's a little clip from the other night I took.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CcVfDQ_0DQ

I tried unsuccessfully to scan the room (it was pretty dark). And also try to ignore the last shot of my cheese platter. I'm not sure why I thought that was important.

This is a short, self-congratulatory post, so I'll just add this picture of Russia at 11pm at night. White Nights (the time of year where, because St. Petersburg for example, is so far North, if the sun sets at all, it's only for a moment) was not long ago - end of Spring, beginning of Summer. So the sun still sets pretty late and breaks around 3am or so.

And another picture - one of old architecture next to a new building. Neat.

Have a good Tricia-day : )