Hard Rock Cafe

Saturday we just wanted a very chill and relaxed day because we had, had a long and stressful few days and a lot of us had laundry and cleaning to do. So we chilled almost the entire day then around two we all started to get ready to go out on the town. It was so fun to take our time and spend two hours getting all dressed up and pumped for what was to become an amazing and the best night of my life!

Lexi has a friend Missy that is also in ILP but they are at different schools, well over our Vladimir weekend we all became friends with her and another girl Auriana. We invited them to come out to town with us and we were going to the Hard Rock Café to just celebrate and hang out and because it was Missy’s 20^th birthday!  So of course we were going to go all out and eat some American food and just enjoy the American atmosphere of the HRC.  We meet up with them around six o’clock which we were supposed to meet at 5:30 but we are still trying to get used to the metro and what is what and where things are. So no biggy we eventually found each other and now had the wonderful task of actually find where the Hard Rock was located at.  That in its self took about an hour of walking and wandering and “trying” to ask for directions, which really wasn’t going so well. So we finally made our way to a hotel and figured the front desk person would have to speak a little English and we could ask them for help. They told us how to get there and we were able to find it really easy. 

It wasn’t a big building with all these lights and a huge guitar in front; it just looked like a random building along one of the side streets.  We went inside and asked for a table for seven, they said they didn’t have anything because you have to have a reservation in order to be seated. We all looked at each other and were like, are you kidding me? We have just spent forever trying to find this place and now we can’t eat here? They said that we could sit at the bar if we wanted and we all looked at each other and said, ya sure why not, at least it’s a seat and a place to eat. Well she walks us upstairs and seats us at a table. It was in the “bar” area but it wasn’t actually sitting at the bar. We were so excited and happy to be out and with each other we didn’t even really pay attention to the menu or what to order. So finally after the waitress’ third time of coming to get our order we all ordered a soda and a hamburger. Wow when these hamburgers came out I can’t explain how excited we all were. They were so big and juicy looking and so American!  So after we all enjoyed our massive burgers we wanted to go all out and order a brownie Sunday for dessert. And we asked if Missy got something for her birthday. They gave her an ice cream Sunday with a candle in it.  Then this Sunday came out and it was just like another round of heaven on a plate. It was the best brownie Sunday I have ever eaten. The vanilla ice cream was so good and so creamy I don’t think anything will ever top its taste.  

Laughing, talking, more laughing, singing, a little dancing and enjoying our delicious American meal was the extent of what we thought our night would bring. But during our three hours at the HRC, one guy came to our table and said he and his friend had a bet of where we were from and then he just stayed and talked for a few minutes before heading back to the bar for more drinks! Then the two guys in the table behind us starting talking to us and asking us the same things like, where are you from? Why are you in Russia? Are you having fun? And so on with the questions, we answered to be polite and they finally left us alone. Well we just kept sitting around waiting for the waitress to bring our check and we finally asked for it and she said she would bring it out. We waited and waited a little longer till she came over and said that the guy behind us had taken care of our bill. And we were like, “our whole bill? Like paid for everyone’s food?” And she said yes.  Holy cow are you kidding me? Did that just really happen? Did we just have some random stranger buy our food for us? Yes, yes we did and it was awesome.  They were from Texas and were some big wig construction workers here in Russia building some sort of factory. So to pay for the meal was probably no big deal, even though it probably was around $175 for all seven of our meals.  We couldn’t believe that had just happened and stoked at how our night was turning out. So after we said our thank yous and left the drunken guys upstairs, we headed downstairs to the store to buy shirts. All seven of us bought a shirt to commemorate for such an amazing, memorable night!