So far, for our anniversary venture, we had breakfast at the Bad Waitress Restaurant, went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts then to the Minnehaha Falls and next we went to the Museum of Russian Art with dinner later at the Chiang Mai restaurant in Minneapolis.
First, I need to let you know that I don’t have very many pictures of the Museum of Russian Art as they don’t allow pictures (with or without a flash). I was disappointed in that “rule” but, it is what it is.
Having said that, this museum is amazing! It has a collection of Russian art from the 20th century, especially Soviet Art.
And – the art is beautiful! I could not believe how much I enjoyed the paintings — even more than I enjoyed the ones at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. They currently have an exhibit by Eva Levina who was exiled to Sibera during Stalin’s regime. Now — those pictures are “dark” in nature but that is to be expected because of the intensity of her feelings.
My favorite paintings were by an artist called Geli Korzhez. He had two paintings that depicted Adam and Eve — one as Adam carried Eve out of the garden of Eden after they were asked to leave and a second one of Adam and Eve in their elder years. Both scenes brought up strong feelings as if I could sense what they were going through. Quite powerful!
The gallery is not large but spacious enough to house quite a few pieces.
From the outside, the museum doesn’t look inviting but I must learn not to judge a museum by its building.
The museum is located at 5500 Stevens Ave S in Minneapolis. The staff is friendly and quite helpful. This is a must-see if you’re in the area.
After our museum tour, we headed over to a restaurant called Chiang Mai Thai in Minneapolis.
We arrived shortly after 4:30 p.m. so there was hardly anyone in the restaurant. Lighting is very low throughout the restaurant.
We were seated quickly enough and our orders were also taken quickly. Then our vegetarian egg rolls were brought to the table and the waitress walked away. Uh, okay — how about some plates? We could not locate a waitperson and finally when a gentleman headed our way I started to ask him something but he said he didn’t work there. Â He did offer to get someone for us and they came quickly and apologized for not bringing us the plates.
My husband ordered a salmon entree and I ordered a cashew chicken entree. They were both served on large platters so my husband and I were able to share them. Problem is, there were no cashews in the cashew chicken entree. I didn’t realize this until I had eaten my first serving (I didn’t think to check the platter to make sure there were cashews). So again, I had to flag down our waitress and she took the plate away and brought it back to the table. By then though the food was cold — but it had fresh cashews. Sigh …
Service should have been better as we were practically the only ones there having arrived before 5:00 p.m. Â Oh well …
And that was the end of our first day of touring Minneapolis as an anniversary gift to ourselves.
