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I attended a rally at the Israeli embassy today in support of Palestinians crossing the border with Egypt. Here is the news package.

Here are some photos from Christmas at Emily's Mom's house and from my trip to Moscow.

I'm back in Moscow after my tropical vacation in Kalinigrad (where temperatures got above freezing). Here's the recap:

I flew into Kaliningrad on Thursday with Ellen, a Bloomberg TV reporter. Our hotel, the Baltica, is located on the edge of the city. We had dinner at the hotel's French restaurant, which we dubbed "the best French food in Kaliningrad". It was awful.

Yesterday, we ate a surprisingly decent breakfast at the hotel, consisting of tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, salami, yogurt and tiny pancakes. All of the other journalists on our trip were staying at the same hotel, so we were picked up in a large bus. Our first stop was a local government office, where we were searched and detained for an hour.

Next, we were driven to a soy manufacturing plant on the Baltic Sea. Dmitry Medvedev (likely the next Russian president) and his entourage showed up an hour later. He was met by the owner of the plant. The two stood around talking while the press swarmed around for pictures. The photo op was suppose to be of him looking at the sea, but he faced the wrong way, so it looked like he was in a parking lot. Medvedev then joined a group of business people and government officials in a board room, where they gave boring speeches and he occasionally mumbled into the microphone. He certainly does not have the charisma of most world leaders.

From there, the procession moved to a brick making plant. I got some nice b-roll of the plant, but when Medvedev arrived he stood facing a large yellow dumpster. Again poor planning led to a poor photo op. That night, Ellen and I asked about the "best Italian food in Kaliningrad". We were directed to a restaurant near the center of town. This time it was actually good.

Catching a cab in Russia is more like hitch-hiking. Anyone can be a cab driver, so when you stand by the road you are often picked up by the first passing motorist. This time it was a man and his sister, who were out looking for the sister's husband. The husband had just stormed out of the house after one month of marriage. We drove slowly as the sister searched the side of the road. Eventually we dropped her off at an apartment building and were taken back to the hotel.

Now I am back in Moscow, hoping to find one more decent meal before leaving tomorrow.

I woke up late today. I just didn't want to get out of bed because my room was so cold. The heat is still not working, despite my complaints. I got dressed and went outside to warm up (just kidding). Anya told me about a pedestrianized street that runs from just across the river to near Red Square.

I took a walk down Old Arbat St. and stopped in a small cafe for breakfast. Hardly anyone speaks English, but luckily they had an English menu. The waitress and I worked out my order by comparing each item's position on the English menu to the corresponding position on the Russian menu. It worked! I got my pancakes (very thin, rolled-up and served with jelly) and cappuccino. The pancakes did not fill me up at all, so I had to order an omelet as well. After picking up a gift for Emily, I headed back across the river.

I don't know how anyone affords to live in this city. There are clothing stores everywhere, but the prices are astronomical. I could hardly afford to walk into the stores near the office.

In the afternoon, I met Anya and found out that my trip with Dmitry Medvedev (most likely the next president of Russia) is on! Tomorrow, I will be traveling to Kaliningrad as the Bloomberg cameraman.

Anya, her friend and I went to a Georgian restaurant for dinner. We ordered about ten small dishes and shared everything. The food was great and we stuffed ourselves. Anya's friend spoke only limited English, but she could understand it. So we mostly spoke English, with Anya acting as the translator.

I met Anya (the FSN correspondent) and Dana (the Fox News correspondent) for breakfast at an American style diner. I couldn't believe that I came all the way to Russia, just to eat diner food. The walls were covered by old Americana signs like Ford and Coke advertisements.

After breakfast, Anya and I went to the FSN office. It is large, but mostly empty. I spent a few hours looking over their camera gear and trying to figure out how much of it I could take back to Washington. People from other bureaus routinely use the DC office as their personal gear warehouse, so we are left with the stuff no one wants.

I went to the enormous mall near my hotel to eat dinner. This city must have the highest concentration of malls per square mile in the world. Every time I open a door, I find myself in another one. Anyway, after wandering around the mall for a while, I got pizza, because I could order by pointing.

I am getting better at reading Cyrillic. It is actually not that difficult. You just have to remember that the 'B' sounds like 'V', the backwards 'N' sounds like 'E', the 'P' sounds like 'R', the 'H' sounds like 'N', and so on.

I'm in Moscow! I got sent here last minute by my company to fill in for some cameramen who are on vacation. I got my visa Friday and jumped on the plane Saturday.

I sat next to the stereotypical Russian grandmother on the plane. She was very friendly and smiled broadly with her cooked yellow teeth. I practiced my Russian phrases and she helped with the pronunciation.

I was met at the airport in Moscow by a taxi driver, who held up a poorly written sign with my name. My last name was spelled Z3rivitz. He spoke no english, but Anya (one of the FSN correspondents) told him in advance where to take me. I am staying at the Radisson, across the river from the Russian White House.

After dropping off my luggage, I walked two miles to Red Square. Along the way, I tried to pick out the buildings constructed during Communism. I passed the Foreign ministry, one of the 7 Skyscrapers built during that time.

The Kremlin was difficult to get into. Not because of security, but because I couldn't find an open gate. Finally, I made my way into Red Square (which is actually made of black bricks). I felt very strange standing in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral (the ice cream cone looking church). It is a building I had seen so many times in movies and photographs, that it almost didn't seem real.

Recently, St. Basil's was opened to tourists, so I ventured inside. I expected a large, open cathedral. Instead, the building is a series of curvy tunnels with small rooms for worship. I became quite lost as I wandered through the chambers. The tunnels make up a strange labyrinth. Now I understand why Ivan the Terrible forcibly blinded the architects (the legend isn't actually true).

It was becoming dark by the time I left Red Square, so I decided to take the Metro back. There are almost no English signs in the city or on the metro. My map was written in Cyrillic, so it did little good. However, I carefully studied the characters on the map and compared them to the signs. Eventually I figured out which train to get on, and I made it to the hotel.

Look at me at the State Department! I had to ask the technical guy something about the lights and I caught it on camera.