Last day...

Today I worked my last super short (3.5 hours :) ) shift, watched Endeavour undock and flyaround the ISS, and then headed back to the hotel, where I met up with Erin and we headed out to take the Moscow River Boat ride. It had been 6 years since I last did the boat ride here, and Erin never had, so we figured it was a good excursion. After just a little difficulty finding the "kacca" (ticket booth), we bought our tickets and boarded the boat

Excited for our boat ride!


Some sights along the way - Red October Candy Factory


Christ our Savior Church


The Kremlin - river view


One of the Seven Sister Stalin buildings

After some miscommunication between us and the boat captain (well, no communication really, just gesturing...we thought we had paid for a round trip ride). Apparently, we did not pay for the round trip boat ride, so we got off the boat and started walking back in the direction of Red Square. The nice thing about Moscow, is that as long as you know where the nearest metro is, or can see one of the many familiar landmarks, you are never lost. We found a place to eat lunch and then attempted to find Gorky Park. Alas, the only metro stop that I knew of to get to Gorky Park was closed. We could have attempted another stop, but that had the makings of wandering around for a good hour until we stumbled upon the park, so we decided to head to Arbat street to finish some last minute shopping. Arbat had some new things to show us. Such as this:

Texas Chicken. We think it's actually Church's Chicken. Maybe "Church's" wouldn't draw Muscovites and "Texas" does? Interesting.

And this:

I am saddened that Moscow understands the necessity of having a Dunkin' Donuts within its boundaries and Houston does not (okay, I think there is ONE on the waaay north side of town).

We then headed back to the hotel in time to meet the rest of our coworkers for a big meal celebrating the end of the mission (salad, borsch, and creme brulee, YUM). It's been a good trip.