Things I’ll miss:
- Pan-fried potatoes with mushrooms and sour cream
- Descending 100 feet deep into the Metro
- Not having to confront my mortality every time I cross the street
- Saffron and shrimp risotto and the softest burrata salads
- The smell of my grandmother’s perfume
- Crumbling yet preserved 19th century architecture
- Starting every sentence in Russian with “Excuse me please, do you mind… “
Things I’ve missed:
- FamilyMarts on every block (seriously, what does a girl have to do to get an umbrella in Moscow?)
- Water pressure
- Hot showers, in general
- The sense of feeling at home in Shanghai, knowing how to behave in restaurants without giving off the impression of being shell-shocked, how to hail a cab, or how to act in public in a way that pegs you as a local and not a tourist.
Why oh why you had to mention the potato dish!
But yeah the metro is something else in Russia. I remember last time in St Petersburg that it felt like descending into hell as the ear pressure even changed a few times 🙂
Ahhh the potatoes were my favorite part of being back!!
And i agree about the subway, i’m rarely so scared about being underground
How about the blind man massages in Shanghai? They’re really good. I miss them lots 🙁
Yes, absolutely the massages! I’ll also miss the cheap chinese facials, but maybe not, because I fear they secretly put whitening products all over my face during them.
Wahahha what? I didn’t risk any Chinese facials. You were brave. ???
hahah i was swayed by the price tag :O