Happy (Belated) St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Anyone who knows my family knows that St. Patrick's Day is close to THE most important holiday in the Hoffman household. Although Russian's know March 17th is St. Patrick's Day, they don't know much about why and how it is celebrated. In Ryazan, we did not see any celebrations or indication that it was a holiday. In fact, some people didn't know that Jeff and I were wearing green to celebrate, not because we are that creepy couple that likes to be matchy-matchy. However, we did some research online and read that in Moscow the holiday has gained popularity since the fall of communism and that there is at least one parade in some area of Moscow (I don't think we are talking the Boston Parade by any means) to celebrate the day. There's an interesting history of the holiday in Moscow if you follow the link above.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day Jeff and I ate at a Mexican restaurant :) It may sound odd, but there are not a lot of really nice restaurants in Ryazan, and there are even fewer that have an English menu (believe me, it takes forever to order when you are trying to use a Russian Phrasebook to translate the menu.) Jeff asked around to find the best restaurant in town that also has an English menu, and when we told people we were going to the "Gin Mill" restaurant they were like "Ohhhh, that's so expensive!" It was a cute place that reminded us of a Chili's back home. The food was really good (nachos, tacos and chocolate milkshakes), and it was so nice to have something different for a change. We then returned to the hotel to watch NCAA basketball online while enjoying a few beers (no St. Patrick's day would be complete without them). All in all it was probably the most fun day we have had since we were here!