Europe again!

Europe!!!!

I thought I was going to be in Europe for a few weeks, but it became almost 2 months!

I started in Moscow, then Vienna, Ismaning, back to Vienna, Bratislava, back to Vienna, Moscow. WOW! To long!

I will tell you right away that out of all those places I really enjoyed Vienna and of course being with my family!

Ismaning, Germany is a small and very expensive city close to Munich. I couldn't figure out why is it so expensive until saw a big new football arena just 2 miles away. The Aliance Arena, home of the famous soccer team of Bayern Munich. So that's why! It's a small soccer town! Other then that I don't know what people would be doing there! And the bad fall weather didn't help my impression of Ismaning. Little to say- I am not be going back there! No disrespect to people who live there!

Bratislava!

It is only 45 min away from Vienna however its a different world! Even though Slovakia is a European Union country now, it still feels like it needs a lot of improvement!

There is a lot of crime and leaving the car on the street over night is a big risk. We left our car in parking a garage and still lost a chrome tire! And one of the players (Sandra Klemenschits) got robbed of everything she had with her.

But I must admit, Bratislava's center is very nice and the food was very good and inexpensive!

Vienna!

One of my favorite cities in Europe! And not because my boyfriend is from there but because there is a lot to do and see. During my previous visits I got to see lots of historical parts of Vienna and did it all by foot. This time I have decided to try something new-rent a bike and ride around Vienna!

It's a great system, bikes are parked all around Vienna and by simply creating a profile for yourself and entering your credit card information you get to rent a bike for 1 euro an hour and return it at a different city location.

In the evenings my boyfriend and I usually took walks in the city center. It was a month before Christmas and that meant Christmas Markets were opening all around Vienna. So we would

walk from one to another and drink some punch or snack on fresh bread with home made cheeses and meats! Yummy!

One of the days we decided to research traces of Da Vinci Code in Vienna! It took us almost the whole day to find the church that held mosaic replica of "Last Supper" and when we finally found it I was very impressed by it!

The church was empty and silent when we walked in.

So I whispered to my boyfriend: "Where is it?"

"Here"-he whispered back. I turned to my left and saw a huge mosaic of the "The Last Supper" in front of me. I didn't expect it to be so big! I stood in silence taking it in. I wonder how long it took to make it?

The original Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" is located in Milan, Italy at Santa Maria delle Grazie dining hall. After the original mosaic, Vienna is the only place that has the one to one replica of "The Last Supper."

After Vienna I flew home to Moscow to visit my family for a few days. As always my brother would pick me up from the airport. Usually it would take us an hour to get to his house

But this time it was different. We were in traffic for five hours! It took me less time to fly from Vienna to Moscow!

The next day my brother drove me to my parents house outside of Moscow where I stayed four days.

As always I had nice time being home with my parents. However this time around the weather didn't cooperate with our plans being more outside. But I went to my parents concert, did I tell you they sing? Yes, they do. And they are quite good at it.

I also spent some time helping my mom doing house stuff and looking forward to returning to Florida, to warm sunny weather, because all I saw in Europe was rain, low dark clouds and cold.

So when it was time to fly back to America I was excited to go!

Mexico.

Before Moscow I went to Mexico City, Mexico. I love visiting Mexico, I always have great time there.

Usually, during the tournaments I stay at the hotel, but because of lots of kidnappings, and swine flu I asked to stay with a family. Families in Mexico are always friendly and make you fell like you a part of their family.

My "Mom" for a week was Graciela or Grace in English. And although she spoke English I asked her to speak Spanish to me so I could practice it. ( I speak four languages: English, Spanish, Italian and of course Russian).

Grace and I got along very well, speaking about everything in this life. I also told her my life story, how I became a professional tennis player and all the hurdles I had to overcome along the way. Grace listen with tears in her eyes as I was telling her how I got out of Russia and how my family struggled during the Communist Era. And when I told my parents that I must leave Russia in order for to have a future. When I was finished Grace asked if I ever thought about writing a book. "Maybe one day I will"-I answered.

My story is one of many incredible life stories on tennis tour that should be told, so maybe one day I will share it with everyone.

Smaller ITF tournaments are usually not well organized, but people in Mexico really care about their organization. The tournaments are usually held at private clubs and people really come together to put up a great event. All week long we had everything from ball kids to TV commentators.

Mexico City is in high altitude so if you are not in good shape and try to play a long point your lungs will feel it big time! Even for me it was hard to breath for a few days, not talking about putting the ball in the court. But I did ok in the tournament getting to quarters in singles and doubles final.

During the week, my host family took me to different Mexican restaurants where I got to try all kinds of Mexican food. And it was great! I must say though, I was very courageous to eat

Mexican food the way mexican people do. And I must say it was SPICY!!!!

Here are some pics of the foods I enjoyed during my stay in Mexico City.

Back to USA!

And I am back to USA!

Since my last trip I spent time home in Florida relaxing a bit, training and trying to get rid of remaining symptoms of bronchitis I suffered from the whole European trip.

I played LA on the way home, where I flew in from Istanbul (the last tournament in my European and I guess a bit Asian tour).The decision to play Istanbul was made at the last moment, a night before the tournament start.

I was feeling very sick and haven't hit in fours days. But even though I didn't hit for a while and kept coughing like crazy I did well there. I qualified, beating good players and even coming back from being 3 match points down in my past round of quali. I also got to play doubles, getting in at the last moment with a partner that was also picked at the last moment. I got some points and enjoyed myself. And what not to enjoy! When I stayed in 5 star hotel, ate all day at 5 star buffet and even had time to visit Istanbul a bit. Of course I didn't go alone, I went with two other players.

We visited The Grand Bazaar! So much excitement and anticipation of something GRAND, but when we got there....well...we were not so impressed.

There were rows and rows of stuff! Some was not good quality and some very expensive. And because most of sellers were men they didn't like bargaining with three young women dressed in short shorts. Although we got lots of compliments which came in some sort of invitation to their shops. The best ones were: " Did you come from heaven?" " Are you miss Universe?" and

being call Angelina Jolie and Julia Roberts.

I haven't bought anything at the Bazaar, even though I saw some nice pottery and lamps. I was just happy to find the way out of there, thinking that for me, China is still number one for shopping at the markets and bargaining!

After Istanbul I decided (also at the last moment)to fly to LA and play a big tournament there. I knew I was tired and battling bad cough but I was happy to be playing well again and wanted to continue in this good path.

I bought tickets, reserved hotel and left Istanbul on time thinking I was going to arrive to LA just on time to have a day off and practice too.

But the first hiccup started in Paris where my flight was canceled! "Ok"-I said-" I just fly the next day.

The next day I got to Chicago late and missed my flight to LA. I asked to put me on the next one. It was full. And the flight after and the next day. The only way was to fly to Las Vegas. And from there to LA. "Ok"-I said-" it will take longer but I still get there a night before my match." Haha!

Not a chance! My flight from Chicago to Las Vegas was late and I missed my LA connection. It was the last flight of the day and I was offered to fly at 7am next morning! I wasn't even offered a free hotel room. Just a discount. And there was no food because it was 11.30pm. I was trying to stay calm, it was kinda easy, because I was SO TIRED!

The next day, deprived on sleep but still trying to stay strong I took a flight to LA crossing my fingers to get there on time to play my match!

I got to LA on time and tournament transportation dropped me off at the tennis club 3 hours before my match. One word "Zombie", that's how I felt!

I played Melanie Oudin, who two weeks later got to the quarters of US Open, I had a lot of chances to win the first set but didn't use them. And when the second set started my body just said "enough is enough".

That night I just dropped in bed fully dressed at 7pm and slept for 14 hrs straight. I don't think I ever had such a long travel, even the Bali trip was shorter then this!

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."