THE OLD GUARD

Don't take this as an ad. Although... what (as the Ukrainians would say) is the point of hiding it! For me, this is just a monumental event! Sylvester Stallone is making a new movie, "The Expendables"! It will be damn interesting to watch. Although in such cases, there is always a fear of being disappointed. On the other hand, Stallone has never let my expectations down in recent years. On the contrary! He did everything even better than I could have imagined.

Therefore, I trust him and will go to any movie he makes, with any plot and cast. AND WITH SUCH A CAST!!! Even Arnold Schwarzenegger will make an exception for Sylvester, returning to the movies! And yet, for more than five years, since he became Governor of California, he hasn't acted in a single movie. What's remarkable is that he will play himself — the California governor.

The film will be about an attempt by a group of mercenaries to stage a coup in a Latin American country. The director and screenwriter of the film is Stallone himself. He will also play one of the main roles. The project also features Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Forest Whitaker. Just a constellation of actors!

LATEST EVENTS

Alexey left on a ship on February 19th. At one o'clock in the afternoon, he called to say goodbye, reporting that the "Akademik Fyodorov" would pass by Sea Point in about ten minutes.

I went out to the shore to see them off. They were already at a fairly distant range from us, and I, of course, could not make out the people on board. However, I still waved goodbye to them, wishing them a good voyage.

On Friday, Kirill and I planned to go to a beautiful place. Not long ago, he went to the mountains at night by car with some work colleagues. They were at a certain pond there, which, according to Kirill, is extremely nice. And from where a stunning view of the city opens up.

— I was blown away when I was there! — Kirill said enthusiastically. — I didn't know there was such a cool place here!

Kirill said that we would surely find this pond on our own.

Before our trip, I told Kristina about it, and she expressed a desire to go with us. And so, on Friday, from ten in the morning until two in the afternoon, we wandered around Signal Hill, trying to find this mysterious place, which is strange because I hadn't seen it before, having climbed three mountains already and not seeing this pond from the side, from above, or from below.

Our efforts to find the pond were unsuccessful, which puzzled Kirill the most — our Susanin. However, we weren't too upset, because we had a good time anyway, in each other's company.

And in the evening of the same day, Kirill and I went to an outdoor pool — the very one where a party was held by SASTS for Christmas, which I didn't make it to. Remember my story about that?

We spent about three hours there: swimming, sunbathing, talking about this and that... When suddenly...

— Good day! — An elderly man sitting nearby addressed us, having listened to our conversation and realized that we were speaking Russian.

I have long since stopped being surprised to meet compatriots abroad. And Kirill often meets Slavic tourists at the Waterfront.

— Hello! — We greeted him.

We chatted, after which we were surprised to discover that the grandfather was French! And his Russian was learned, and only a little bit. Nevertheless, he spoke clearly, without any accent. That's why we mistook him for a fellow countryman in the first minutes of the conversation.

— And what are you doing here? — We asked him.

— It's cold for me in France in the winter! Every winter I come to Cape Town and live here for three months.

— Great! And do you need a visa for this?

— No. Bought a ticket, and just go!

— Cool! And we, for now, need one!

We told him about ourselves.

It was very interesting to talk to him and so unusual to meet a Frenchman in South Africa who speaks Russian. He said that he had flown to Moscow several times in his time. Once he stayed there for two whole weeks. He says he admires the beauty of the Russian capital every time! And that he really likes Moscow. Also, he says, he has been to Kyiv. He went there by car. He says he liked Kyiv too. And I told him that I was in Paris two and a half years ago and that Paris is good too. Kirill, in turn, shared that he is also planning to go to the capital of France this summer.

ROBBEN ISLAND

The next day, on Saturday, Ira, Mahmoud, their good friend, and I bought tickets to the island — an open-air museum prison where the great and legendary Nelson Mandela was once imprisoned.

From the shore, it seems that Robben Island is not far away, but we sailed for forty-five minutes. From the boat and from the island, the most fantastic view of Cape Town opened up to us, which I had seen before. And I have seen quite a lot in the last six months! As they say: "life sometimes brings us surprises when you least expect them!"

We had a great walk, we were taken around the island on tour buses, and then we were given a tour of the prison. We even saw the cell where the future president spent his time.

February 23, 2009