Kremlin Cup.

I am back in Moscow. Sorry I didn't write for a while, had to many things to do lately.

I am at Ritz Carlton Hotel right next to Kremlin Square. I love it! In front of the hotel is "Zara",the store I love to shop at. Maybe I go visit it later today.

I also love the toiletries in my bathroom it's "Bulgary" and I LOVE Czar's breakfast menu for a very cheap price of 90.000 rubles (3.103 dollars)! I want to have it every day now! NOT!

First couple of days I stayed with my brother. We had a lot of fun together going shopping for 6 hrs, going to restaurants and riding bikes in a near by park. My brother is a nature lover, so if there is an outside activity he always joins in.

This is my second time playing Kremlin Cup after my knee injury. My knee is OK now, but somewhere in the back of my mind I am still cautious when running. So the first couple of practices I try not to run full speed.

I love playing in Moscow! It's my home town, so all my family and friends are coming to watch.

And this year it was more special then ever because my brother came to watch me play for the first time ever. He was asking a lot of question in regards of rules and lines and score and I was more then happy to answer them.

Even though I arrived five days before the tournament I had hard time falling asleep. I have noticed that the older I get the harder it is to overcome a jet leg. And unfortunately no posh hotel or hot bath with aroma therapy can help.

So when time has come to play my first round match I mentally prepared to run for every ball and fight for every point despite the luck of energy. I wanted to stay in my favorite tournament as long as possible.

I struggled at the beginning of the match but then picked it up and looking at players box filled with my family gave me a lot of energy.

The next round was a bit tougher and luck of energy and sleep won against my desire to win. And as tough as I can be mentally my body just shot down on me in the 3rd set. Falling asleep every night at 4 am for a week is a bit tough. But I was happy to be playing in Moscow once again and hopefully I can do it again next year.

Palermo.

I felt better after all the pills I took during Budapest week, so I decided to go to Palermo.

This year I chose tournaments I have never been to. And Palermo was one of them.

I took Alitalia flight together with C

atalina Castano. We were warn by some italian tennis players that Alitalia looses bags, so I took some stuff with me on the plane just in case if the bags didn't come. And as it turned out it was a right thing to do. Our bags were lost.

And by "lost" I mean nobody at the airline could tell us where they were. So for two days me and Catalina were washing one t-shirt, a pair of shorts and a pair of socks and putting it to dry on a balcony under hot Palermo sun.

A couple of time at breakfast I was asked if I am here to coach, or went out the night before because of my casual look. I really started to hate my favorite jeans and shirt after wearing it for three days straight. And just as me and Catalina decided to go shopping for new clothes our bags came as a surprise. I was never happier to see it!

Our hotel was originally a hospital and was

transformed into hotel. And I assume when that transformation has happened nobody really thought about updating the inside of the hotel.It was still stuck in 1960's.

While the inside of the hotel was not impressive and the price of the room was 160 euro

, at least the breakfast was great. Nothing can beat Italian Latte Macchiato and Nutella!

Also the hotel was located almost right on the beach and many players enjoyed warm crystal clear waters and white sand.

Matches started at 3 pm because of the heat. And I was happy to play 2nd or 3rd after 3 pm. At that time heat went down and it was nice and cool.

I felt a little better in my first round and managed to win it, the 2nd round was a bit more difficult. I was coughing again and my energy was only enough for one tough set.

And even though my stay in Palermo was short, I really enjoyed it. There was great Italian food, free all you can eat gelato at the courts and beautiful beach with warm clear water.

Boat Ride.

Almost every WTA tournament has a Player Party for players. Most parties are organized as dinners or cocktails at the official hotel or tennis club. Budapest Player Party was on the boat.

I think it's a great idea, well, that's if you don't get motion sickness of course.

By the time we got all the players on board, the sun set in and the lights came on the bridges and buildings around the river. It was a beautiful site and very relaxing.

Inside the boat players set at the dinning tables, enjoying Hungarian food and the ride. And before desert was served everyone came outside on upper deck to enjoy beautiful views. It was a bit chilly but such a nice change from a hot muggy day weather.

I was looking around the deck thinking how lucky we are to be able to do things and see places other people dream seeing.

Budapest.

I thought I would never get out of Pozzoblanco. After airline ticket saga of canceling, re-confirming and ending up calling Canada to book a new ticket to Budapest, I was on my way.

Very early morning we got picked up by an old man, who despite his age drove a car like a formula one driver through curvy roads. I didn't have a seat belt, but I wasn't worried, I was stuck in the middle, between two huge bags and two other girls, so even if we had an accident I wouldn't even move.

At the Budapest airport me and Sharon found out that we play each other the next day. It's never pleasant to play someone you know well or share a room with, but it it what it is and you have to do your job.

Sascha surprised me with driving down from Vienna and meeting me at the hotel. It's only 2,5 hrs drive from Vienna to Budapest. I was happy to see him there, he loves surprising me like this.

My condition was getting worse and worse, I coughed the whole night and my chest felt like it was going to explode. So I had to retire in the second set against Sharon because I just couldn't breath. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with bronchitis.The doctor was surprised to hear that other doctors I saw told me I had a flu.

I took the medicine but refused to stay in bed all day. I was in a city I have never been to and I wanted to explore it. So on the first day we went to a bridge market.

One of the main bridges over Danube River was closed for the weekend, and people set up small booths, selling everything from stuffed animals to food. I love markets like this, you always see different things you don't see in stores. Like animals made of grass, I thought it was very inventive, you don't have much overhead because the grass is free.

When it got dark the music came on. People set around a small stage eating food that was cooked outside, in huge fry pans. And when it came to desert I have decided to try "Kurtskalacs"a traditional Hungarian pastry.( If you want to read more about the history of this desert check out this site Pinch My Salt )

After watching a fascinating process of making "Kurtskalacs" I got in line, excited as a child to try something new. And when I finally had it in my hands, it looked like a small volcano with fumes coming out from the top. It tasted like sweet bread with cinnamon and sugar, and lasted me two days.

Our next adventure in Budapest was visiting medieval "Sir. Lancelot" restaurant. Every person who works at the restaurant was dresses in medieval times clothing and the food is intended to be eaten by hand and is served on huge wooden trays.

Before your meal a waitress puts a napkin around your neck and you get aperitif in a clay cup.

And then comes meal! It's a lot of food, so if you are not hungry or not a big eater, you are at the wrong place.

After food there is a show. Knights have a fight over a girl involving people in it. Victorious knight chooses a man out of all the men in the restaurant and raises him to "Knighthood."

It's fun, it's different, and I totally recommend visiting "Sir. Lancelot."

Pozzoblanco.

Still sick but thinking that it's just a small flu, I went to a second tournament in Spain.The fact sheet said it was in Seville but the truth was it is an hour and a half by train from Seville and then another hour and a half more by car. Thank God I wasn't traveling by myself! Sharon Fichman and her coach were with me.

When we got to the train station I don't even remember the name of, we were supposed to be picked up by an official transport. But! We waited for three hours and nobody came. And when we called the tournament transport, we were told that we are lucky to wait only for three hours! What???? Apparently some other players waited all day to be picked up! Nice! We decided not to wait all day especially at 10 pm! So we took a taxi.

At midnight, after getting lost two times, we finally got to our destination. I must say it was an interesting place. In a whole week I was there, I only saw 3 people on the streets and a total of 10 including hotel stuff.

The taxi parked at the beginning of a long narrow street that was closed for fiesta or something, we got our bags out of the car and dragged them along the antic stone surface of the street.I was laughing, I wished my camera was close by.

At the end of the street we found a small opening that revealed a plaza with a small church and our hotel. I don't know how old the hotel's building was, no one could say for sure and if it wasn't for a modern interior of the hotel it felt like we went back in time.

The next morning after a late 11 am breakfast we went to the tennis club. Apart of 100+ degrees weather outside we got to see a lot of dead grass and many cows on our way to the club. And again-no people!

We also discovered that it was high altitude and courts were as fast as ice. I think my body was a bit confused, I was coughing like crazy, sweating like crazy, couldn't breath and needed

to run and hit the ball that was flying like a bullet as soon as I touched it. Lets just say the first practice was not good!

Our second day in Pozzoblanco started with weird sounds coming from outside. It sounded like a crying animal with a police car siren. We looked outside our window and came face to face with a donkey! For a few seconds we were speechless and then we broke out in laughs! Someone parked a donkey outside our window! How many times can you see something like this?!

While we were taking pictures of a poor donkey, his owners came back, a man with a small boy. The boy got on top of the donkey giving us a happy smile, his father took the leash and they walked away leaving us a small "gift" to remember that donkey was there.

That was the most interesting moment of our stay in Pozzoblanco, a town in the middle of nowhere. The other adventures include: looking for food during the day and founding it at a "Senior Men's Club." Where everyone was so friendly to our "backs" when me and Sharon turned to the bar to order food. They even put their glasses on so they could see better.

Then there was a moment of scare that we will never get out of Pozzoblanco, when our flight reservations were canceled and then re-confirmed again all in Spanish without us knowing. And then of course there were tennis matches that started at 5 pm. And feature matches not before 10.00pm. How does it feel to play second after 10.00 pm? Just ask Sharon, she played two of those! I got lucky enough to play right at 5 pm! In the smack of the heat!

Spain.

Bilbao.

Lets just say Spain was an interesting experience. Besides the worst case of bronchitis that came out of nowhere a night before my match and being hungry from morning till night (because we just couldn't find an open restaurant during "siesta time") Spain was nice. But lets start from the beginning.

We arrived to the first tournament in Bilbao on Friday evening. And just as we stepped outside I felt cold air. I didn't expect it to be that cold. My Google research told me Bilbao had an oceanic climate, so I assumed it was going to be hot. But the weather kept surprising me with its highs and lows in temperature, so when I got a sore throat I blamed it on the weather. Little did I know that my sore throat would become a bronchitis and would last for a month.

That Friday evening we walked to the center for a dinner. But eight o'clock in the evening is to early for dinner in Spain and the only places that were open were tapas bars.

So after 30 min walking around. I've decided to use my Spanish and ask local people where we could get good food.

Luckily for us there were lots of people on the streets because of the "Fiesta of the People", and a small flea market going on. We stopped right in the middle of the market and started to look for a person who would look "local." I must tell you that there were lots of people who were wearing same color t-shirts with a name of their groups, who looked very local but I chose to ask a couple of older men who were dressed up in suits.

When I finished my question, the men looked at each other and then spoke very fast in language that didn't sound like Spanish ( I found later it was Basque) and then told me to follow them.

We couldn't believe that these two men were taking us to the restaurant instead of just telling us where to go! And while doing it they were telling us about the " Fiesta of the people" and where is the best food to eat. "How nice are they."- I told Sascha.

Our food was typical Spanish. Big salad with everything in it and a piece of meat with lots of french fries. It was good but to much food to late at night. I don't know how Spanish people do it. They eat so late! We were always the first ones at the restaurant when it opened at 9 or 9.30 pm.

The night before my match I started shivering. My throat was hurting and I felt feverish. But I told myself I am here, I worked hard and I will feel good tomorrow. But when tomorrow came I felt the same. So after, I don't know how many Advil's and throat lozenges I went on court and pushed through it, ending up winning the match. But the next day my body didn't want to listen to me. I played against a Spanish girl who's game was to run everything down and hit it back with a lot of spin. If I would be feeling well I would beat her but I was straggling to breath.

And it wasn't only my opponent and my body I was fighting, I was also fighting my opponents mother, who would yell "Vamos" on my mistakes. And every time I would look at her she would give me " I am watching you" sign, like Robert De Niro in "Meet the parents" movie.

I eventually lost that match and gave every last drop of my energy on court.

Week 2.

Week two was all about practicing and eating more Russian food. Like my favorite dish "Sirniki."

"Sirniki" are small pancakes made of cottage cheese which  you eat  with lots of sour cream and honey. In my case is butter and fruit. Its a great dish to eat for breakfast or as a desert.

Chernoglovka has four outdoor clay courts, which are located in a park next to the lake. They are not the most perfect ones but I like playing there, it reminds me of my childhood club "Spartak." Which was also located in a park.

As children we used to run in the park for our fitness exercises. 

Many Russian players come from "Spartak", Dementieva, Safin and Safina, Kournikova, Myskina and many others. We all grew up together there, in a small tennis club in a park.

Before leaving Russia we visited our "Dacha" one more time.My father is a community director so while he was working me and Sascha were relaxing outdoors.

We visited nice forest lakes divided by a narrow passage. And I picked up some wild flowers for my mother. 

The peacefulness was interrupted by my cell phone ( I can't believe I had reception this deep in the forest!) it was my mother, she said that we should be heading back because the storm is coming. I looked up at the sky. It was dark.

We hurried out of the forest hearing a threatening roar from above. And just as we walked  into our gate the wall of cold water came down on us.

After two weeks it was time to say Goodbye.

I was sad to leave, I was already missing my parents and Chernoglovka. But new adventures were waiting , new places to be visited, tournaments to be played.... I waived to my

 parents through an open car window, seeing tears in their eyes. " I will be back soon!"- I yelled. Hoping that it will be SOON.