I haven't told you about the Chicago Russian meet-up yet. The loml and I took the train from Aurora to downtown Chicago. We got there about two hours before the dinner meeting, so we took a cab to the Corner Bakery by Millenium Park. There I had coffee and the loml had a caramel something. We shared a piece of cake. I waited there while the loml strolled through some nearby stores. When she got back we took another cab to the Vermillion restaurant. We got there at 5:30, a half an hour early. 6:00 came, then 6:10, then 6:20, and no Russian speakers. Finally at 6:30 a small group showed up. At first they were speaking English, but after a little bit they started speaking Russian. Too fast for me to understand much of anything. They did humor me while I talked briefly, and it was nice that they at least understood me. Eight of us wound up sitting around a small table in the waiting area, and then we were joined by four more when we finally moved to the restaurant proper for our meal. There was one guy from Spain amd a woman from France (both of whom spoke Russian fluently) and the rest were all Russians. The loml and I had a great time. The fellowship was marvelous. When we left to head back to the train station we told the group we'd be back for the next month's meet-up.
конец