Saturday, June 18, 2005 11:45 am

I wandered about the garden a bit yesterday afternoon. I saw the tomb of the unknown soldier with the eternal flame. A bridal couple were there, and the two guards let them pass to place a bouquet on the monument.

The ticket office at the Bolshoi was crazy--busy, packed with people. The only ballet tickets available were for a Gala event--scenes from various ballets. Megan and Kelly bought tickets--and got one for Erin--but I decided that, as I couldn't really afford two tickets, I'd rather see Boris Godunov.

Afterwards, we three girls went with Dasha, Tom, and Bill to a small coffee shop where we helped Dasha study for her English comprehension exam. It's really hard!

When Marisa got off work and joined us, the group (minus Dasha) rode the metro to Arbat Street to go to the Hard Rock Cafe. It's a bit wilder of a groupp than I'm used to, but still fun. We discussed pop music, especially Madonna's horribly unnecessary "American Pie" remake. The restaurant was rather expensive. I ate a BLT sandwich and saw a picture of Peter Tork [heart]. I had a strawberry daiquiri and a margarita and was feeling rather, um, high-spirited. It was very hard not to start dancing as we left. The streets were filled with musicians, and it was just beginning to rain. It was lovely. I am passionately in love with Arbat Street.

Everyone wanted to buy t-shirts sporting canned political cliches, so we stopped at several kiosks and souvenir shops. I was eager to go home, so when everyone else (except Megan) went to a bar, I returned home and cleaned up and went to bed and dreamed of opera.

This morning I slept until 10:00. It was an unhurried morning, which was nice. Nina showed me a bus stop I had never noticed among the trees that took me directly to Izmailovsky Park, from where I came directly on the metro to Park Obedy. This is a beautiful station...