The apartment sure is nice with 4 kids; especially after reviewing the footage from the hotel in ARK on video. We were taking drastic measures to entertain ourselves…good thing we brought that air mattress. Although, I am sure the people below us were looking for another room to stay in.
While we have had much more space in the apartment it has been a trade off. Since the second night here we have been dealing with plumbing issues. This is somewhat ironic given our plumbing issues with our first house, so we have taken it all in stride. The evening of the second night the downstairs neighbor came up and asked if we had left the water on? “No” we replied and she went on to tell us that she had water leaking into her apartment from ours. At the time it was raining outside and had been for days so we were thinking that with too much rain and old apartment building…. you do the math. We called Alex though to let him know and he talked to the owner, who replied that she was aware of this problem, but not to worry.
Okay, well we continue to use the tub…for six people (also, Americans who bathe everyday), and by the next day water is backing up in our bathroom. My handy husband investigates by looking through the cracked tile with his flash light. Yep! Big crack in the pipe and water standing under the tub, so we call Alex again who calls the owner who then sends a neighbor 2 apartments below us…speaks only Russian except for the word “sorry” which he told us repeatedly—a nice man. Apparently, as best our hand signals and limited Russian could decipher he comes to the same conclusion as we have that there is a leak in the pipe that runs to the tub. He calls the owner back and then Alex calls us back later to tell us that repair men will be back tomorrow to “destroy” the bathroom. At this point I am hoping that is a translation error but it turns out it wasn’t.
Russian time is a lot like Mexico/Cable company time. When they say 7pm they mean anytime from 7-9pm. After a late night of bathroom “destruction” we were told that the plumber “a large Russian man” (their description) would be back in the morning around 9am, 10am or 11am—turns out to be 2pm. This time we were the wiser and went out (Red Square trip) instead of waiting around. It took them another 2 hrs to complete the job. Alex said that we could move to a hotel and that the owners were very sorry…we said we were fine and did not want to move. No other apartments are available in the city and hotels are in short supply, small and very expensive. We decided to stay put…plus I do not want to move again until we are leaving for home! Setting up camp is too much trouble with 6 for a few nights. We think this place is great and worth it for the space. Well, now I was just informed by the owner’s son who has been part of the demolition crew that we will not have hot water after today for the duration of our time here. Good to know ahead of time. Wow!...am I ever ready to come home. It has been great with the sun out finally, but there is no place like home!
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