The past year ended up to be everything I have expected and thanks to my personal commitment and more importantly the support from my friends who often thought that drinking PBR for a year was the most ridiculous thing, I was able to pull it off. At the end of it, looking back I have accomplished everything I set to mind to.

First, I was able to keep in touch with all my friends back home and everywhere else around the world. Second, I had an opportunity to document my life for my second year living in New York. Third, as inconvenient as it was at times, I got to write, which I enjoyed at times and at times I had to rush through especially during February and March. And finally, next time, someone asks to tell them something interesting about myself, I’ll have something pretty great to say.

When it comes to things that I didn’t intend to accomplish, few come to mind. One, this experiment often ignited conversations with friends and strangers that almost always turned out to be great. Next, by drinking PBR
only, I know I have saved quite a bit of money. A 12 pack of Pabst goes for just under 10 dollars, at the same time when a six pack of Dale’s Pale Ale or any other microbrew can run you about the same. And let’s not forget about for profit alcohol serving establishments, where I probably saved myself a lot of cash at times even resorting to a glass of water whilst everyone around was drinking other beverages.

When it comes to my relationship with the beer and a spark of excitement that came every time I saw a Pabst sign on a window, I definitely appreciated the taste and the cultural importance that this beer from Milwaukee came to signify. I don’t forsee shaking off the feeling that came with this memorable red and blue logo though.

It has been a great year in my life that I shall remember forever, but at this point, 888 Pabst Blue Ribbons later, I am ready to move forward and enjoy other drafts and mixed beverages to their fullest.

Everyone, thank you for reading the blog and your continued support!

PBR Sold in Russian Grocery Store in Brooklyn

Rossiya Air on the way to Moscow

As soon as we arrived, we were lucky that my aunt was away at the family’s dacha (russian word for a summer house), so we ended up having her Soviet style apartment all to ourselves. Oddly enough, it was the same apartment
as I stayed at during my first visit to moscow 22 years ago.

Once we all settled in, it was time to head to my uncle’s for a traditional russian ‘zastol’ie’, which can be remotely equated to a dinner party with certain traditional items such as a bottle of vodka and food to chase the shots of it. That night we ended up splitting 2 entire bottles among 5 of us. ‘Beluga’ was going down too easy that night but luckily the next morning when it was time to get up for the next adventure, surprisingly, we were not hungover.

View from Aunt Sofa's Apartment

Our plan for touristic activities next day included the trip to the Red Square as well as the Mausoleum where the very well preserved remains of the father of communism – otherwise known as Vladimir Illiyich Leninlaid on display.
After waiting in line for about 20 minutes and getting a deal on bag check just for speaking Russian, we made it to the front wall of the Kremlin which has transformed into a burial ground for the Soviet leaders during the past century. We spent the rest of the day strolling around moscow’s landmarks including a commercial drag way – Arabat as well as the VDNKH which was a convention showcase ground similar to the one built in @ueens for the Worrld Fair in 1950s.

Kremlin and Red Square

The next day we were up to go visit my uncle’s dacha, a summer getaway for many Russian families. In the 70s and 80s, families received several acres of land to develop. All and all, it was great to get away from the smoky and hot summer city. Unfortunately, that trip took longer than expected due to poor infrastructure that has plauged Russia for years and now that has strived to drive a car, every possible roadway in and around Moscow has been jammed the vast majority of time. It is important to understand that the large portion of overall Russia’s population lives in the region around the capital.

Later that day we went to a dance club, ironically or appropriately named “Propaghanda.” Despite reading about extensive ‘face control’ which sadly involves someone at the door deciding whether to let certain people in, the
club ended up letting all of us in without much difficulty and without paying a cover, which came as a pleasant surprise especially after we paid close to $30 to get into a club in the northern capital. The club itself turned out to be everything that an Eastern European dance club is so legendary for – loud music, hundreds of people packed in a small space, and naturally cheap drinks. Not being much of a club goer myself, the night turned out to be quite fun. We capped it off with shots of espresso at 5 in the morning.

Moscow Metro

As much fun as it was to stay out that late, the next morning proved quite difficult to get through especially since we had travel up to St. Petertsburg and then out to Tallinn, the famous Estonian capital. The main part of the trip was over but we still had Tallinn for dessert.

Tallinn was just a 7 hour bus ride from st. Petersburg, about the same time  it takes to get from new york city to montreal. Despite thinking of Tallinn as an extension of former eastern bloc, it proved to be more western
european than eastern. The old town resembled a small midevil village and the people spoke a lot of estonian, and only the minority spoke Russian. The old town was very memorable especially the old church to the top of
which you had to take the stairs that were built at least 5 centuries ago. However, after that steep climb the reward was the panoramic view of the city which ended up quite memorable.

Lookout from the Tallinn's high point

Nonethless, the best part of the trip came during lunch. As we were lounging around on the patio of the street cafe eating pea soup, we saw no other than the legendary PBS travel guru – Rick Steeves, whose book we
actually used to navigate through scandinavia. What were the chances that we saw the person that we kept joking about during the trip. Apparently, Rick Steeves happened to be there to top off our trip with a big hoorah.

After a brief stay in Tallinn, it was time to head back to our arrival point for the 8 hour journey back to New York for me at least.

To sum up, it was an incredible trip that I will defintely remember for the rest of my life. I became closer with my best friends, I experienced many cultures and in a way re-aquited myself with the culture that I grew up in for 14 years of my life, and for the sake of this blog, I drank a lot of great beer and liquor including shots of vodka it was almost customary to take when in Russia.

Red Hook Garage Door

At US Open

Down to the St. Petersburg Metro (Courtesy of the Pearl)

After an afternoon in the charming Helsinki, we took a Russian run ferry through more of the Baltic Sea into St. Petersburg (also known as Leningrad and Petrograd at one or the other point of its short history as the city).

White Nights of St. Pete

Naturally, my first contact with the Russian culture came on the ferry.

The Russian bartender in the family friendly casino with one blackjack table growled when we asked for some tap water. And then our below the water line suite had a dent in a ceiling for one reason or another. Speaking of the suite, we were one cry away from being called in to shovel coal in the engine room. We could literally feel the vibrations of the engine propelling us through the cold Baltic Sea.

We arrived in St. Petersburg the following morning. Due to certain degree of drinking the night prior and the unexpected by all three of us time shift as we moving further to the east, we woke up moments after the ship docked and the majority of the passengers has left the vessel for the customs. We were greeted by the cleaning crew as we exited our cabin. Luckily, customs presented no problem and our visas worked! We were in Russia and in one or the other I was home.

We took a 300 ruble cab from the pier to our hotel on Canal Griboedova. A classic St. Petersburg facade eloquently masqueraded a 10 story Marriott. Rooms were just like the ones in the Stamford, CT hotel I stay while traveling for work – a flat screen, a bed, and the holy script (apparently, Marriott is promoting Christianity in still more or less spiritualess Russia).

Right after finally settling down in our relatively luxurious dwelling for next few days, it was time to re-discover Russia, and enjoy one of the most spectacular cities I have never traveled to before.

Our agenda included going to Hermitage Museum, which ended up being stunning. Along with classical and some contemporary art located in all of the hundreds of rooms of this former Russian palace called “the winter
palace.” Definitely a fine collection worth the rivaling halls of the New York’s Met and the Parisian Louvre.

Hermitage

After this fine cultural experience, it was time to enjoy Russian football at its best – devoted, fans, drinking, and militaristic police presence. We were sitting opposite the fan section of Zenit’s fan base, which meant we sat right next to the human wall of police encircling the fans of the opposing squad – Sibir. The atmosphere of light-hearted and corny fun that is so often present at sports events in America was replaced by overwhelming presence of the various enforcement agencies. Luckily, the game ended with Zenit’s dominating win and without a shot fired (by Sibir naturally).

Next on the list was to enjoy the “white” and often sleepless St. Petersburg nights. The city is so up north that for a certain period of time, it does not get dark for weeks. The night often resembles a dimly hours before the sunset in pretty much any place south of St. Petersburg. Personally, I thought that was one of the coolest experiences. It certainly messes with your mind and in a way gives a new perspective on days. Getting out of a nightclub at 4am felt like a lunchtime in Midtown.

To conclude, St. Petersburg was an extremely enjoyable city to visit. It’s relatively small size, incredible architecture (after all the city was built to mimic all of the Europe’s great with the help of a number of Frank Geahrys of the time), relatively contempt culture, and naturally the unforgettable “white nights” has made the city quite memorable in mind.

Moscow was next..

Tallinn

Halls of Hermitage

No it was the fact that at the post speech all hands company banquet the bottles of Pabst had been served among the likes of Bud Light and lower shelf wines. Perhaps somebody that makes catering decisions at the firm has been reading this blog or may be it is the fact that business executives have finally realized that value of the best beer for the buck.

Nonetheless, when I went to the bar to get myself a bottle of mineral water, and I saw the following picture, I couldn’t help but think of last Friday as one of the unexpected events in the life of this blog.

Open Bar at the Firm's Promotion Day Banquet