Lost in the (American) 50's in Moscow

Hi Everybody, I had breakfast yesterday at the awesome-looking 1950's Beverly Hills Diner! The interior is filled with neon lights, checkered tiles, jukeboxes, puffy vinyl bar-stools and even some booths shaped like old Cadillacs! The waitresses wear polka-dot dresses with white collars and tall stockings, the busboys have red and white striped shirts, bow-ties and neatly parted hair, and the speakers play wonderful doo-wop songs and other music from the past -- the atmosphere is very complete!

I ordered Eggs Benedict with hashbrowns, pancakes with strawberry syrup, and American drip coffee :-) The Eggs Benedict was great: the Hollandaise sauce was creamy and fresh, the egg was cooked perfectly to be just a little runny, and the toasted English muffin was very tasty. One complaint I had was that (unlike a real diner in the US) when you order Eggs Benedict, you only get one muffin and egg set on a tiny bed of hashbrowns in the middle of an otherwise large, empty plate. All sides are extra, even toast. The hashbrowns were not the best, either. They were a bit soggy and gray. They didn't really detract, but they didn't add anything, either. The pancakes, however, were fluffy and excellent, and they came with both strawberry and maple syrup, so I could try both. :-)

Compared to the "Starlite" Diner, another old-time-American themed joint here in Moscow, Beverly Hills is relatively unknown, but it shouldn't be! Beverly Hills is at least as good or better than Starlite.

And here are some facts:
The Website with cool music, menus and other info.

There are two Beverly Hills diners in Moscow:
м. Chistye prudy, Sretenka 1: +7(495) 625 42 21  
м. Lubyanka, Nikol'skaya 10: +7(495)221 78 01 (I visited this one!)

There is also a kid's room! With Spider Man and other famous American idols :-)

It is open 24h!

Breakfast prices:
~ Egg Sandwich 270 Rub/ $8.85
~ Steak and Eggs 420 Rub/ $13.70
~ Breakfast Burrito 390 Rub/ $12.80
~ Four Cheese Omelette 250 Rub/ $8.20
~ Pancakes (recommended by Michael) 240 Rub/ $7.80
~ Waffle with Vanila Ice Cream 150 Rub/ $4.90
~ Eggs Benedict 220 Rub/ $7.20
~ Tea 120 Rub/ $3.90
~ Coffee from 100 Rub/ $3.30

Michael's Rating: *****/5

Well, the breakfast was great and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Moscow. I'm looking forward to going back to try Beverly Hills' lunch and dinner menu!

I do New York

Whew, I've been settling back into life in Moscow.  Now I finally have time to share some more about my trip to New York!

Firstly, I'd like to say that New York is truly impressive!  From far away, it seems almost like all of the talk about it must be a legend, but it really IS a great city.  People from all over the world live there, and there are always things going on! Here are some of the cool things I saw.  I really liked the contrast between the tall buildings and the smaller neighborhoods :-)

Looking across the water toward the Statue of Liberty

The new World Trade Center - Building 1

The Empire State Building, seen from the Highline walkway

The Trump Tower, wheeee!!!

Central Park

I loved the lily pads!

Yours,
Michael TheMonkey

Michael Meets the Bull

Hi everybody, I met a new friend in New York! Here's what happened:

He let me go, though! :-)

I also jumped off the Trump tower!

Yours from New York,

Michael TheMonkey

Hello Irene!

Hi everybody, I just went through a hurricane in NYC!!! I didn't go outside and actually it wasn't as bad as everybody thought it was going to be, but it was still exciting and a little scary to have to hide inside without knowing how bad it would get.

Here are some pictures of me outside after the storm had passed, it was still a little windy up on the end of the bridge, I didn't cross it because I was a little worried.

A broken window!  I'm not sure it was from the storm, though.

Me on the street.

This pigeon looked a little worse for wear after the storm :-)

Mountaintop Surprise!!!

Hi everybody, I've been exploring some more in Idaho.  I went up a mountain called "Scotchman's Peak" and I found a surprise at the top :-)

A view of lake Pend Oreille on the way up.

A stack of stones to mark the trail

Almost there...

There's the top!  (And some snow!)

Oh, hello goats!

Happy goats :-)  They were very calm and nice to me.

 

The view from a goat's front porch.

I made it to the top!!!!

The goats are very friendly and almost always visit with anybody who hikes to the top of Scotman's Peak :-)  I also wanted to share a little video I am in, I felt like dancing :-)



Yours,

Michael TheMonkey

Mountain Day!

Hello!!!!  Today I went hiking on a mountain called Schweitzer that looks down on Sandpoint, Idaho.  From the top you can see Lake Pend Oreille.  It's a huge lake surrounding the town that was created during the ice ages by the lake Missoula floods -- it's called "Pend Oreille" because it's shaped like a big ear :-) Here I am jumping over the ski resort building and the lake!

On the trail I found some deer tracks!!! I didn't see the deer who made them, though, but he must have come just before me.

And I found some beautiful flowers called "Indian Paintbrush."

And last but not least, I found some huckleberries!!! Huckleberries are like mountain blueberries, they are a little smaller and they have a slightly different but extremely yummy taste!

Mountains!!!!!

Hi everybody! Today I took a trip just over the Idaho border to western Montana! I floated down a river in the bright sunshine and saw mountains and fishermen and trees!

The water was so clear and clean in the river I could sometimes see fish swimming right below me.

It was great!  I definitely recommend making a trip to Idaho and Montana!!!  More coming soon!

Yours,

Michael TheMonkey