SUNSHINE for a change

We hadn't seen the sun since London, and were beginning to wonder if we ever would.
Then today, the snow stopped and we took out our sunglasses and went for a long walk down the Prospekt Mira, our street. We also finally made it to the Starlight Diner, which we hadn't been able to locate in a snowstorm earlier in the week. We didn't score any playdates for Sasha, but we enjoyed it. But not to get too cocky: we then tried to buy train tickets for St. Petersburg for next week. Despite being at the train station, it didn't happen. Agents told us to go to other buildings, other ticket windows, and up a flight of stairs, all to no avail. Sasha, meanwhile, staged several sitdown strikes.
In other news, Sasha managed to get a 5-ruble coin stuck in the soft cast of her broken wrist. And we managed to get it out. Her cast is due to come off on Monday.
--Larry