Dear Zazz,

Now please let me answer the questions you asked in your last message.

Yes, I left the Post for downtown Asmara all the time when I was in town.

This happened once in approx. six to seven weeks and my stays varied from two days to two weeks. Sometimes I did it on my own, but more often there were two or three of us. First stop usually was at the bar we used to call Red Corner. It's on you right when you leave the Main Gate and walk some 100meters. We had a beer there and bought cigarettes. (On the opposite side there was a dry cleaning, I guess).

After refreshment we decided where to go next. It was either on foot or we took a taxi. For some ideological or practical reason, it was not advisable for the Soviet personnel to use taxi, but we normally did when we could afford it. As it was very cheap, the only time when we couldn't afford a cab was an end of a stay with little or no money left. At my time the cabs were old Italian Fiat-style cars, but once we happened to experience sort of nostalgic feeling when we got into a Russian GAZ-21 VOLGA of 1969 which brought us to Hotel Keren. We used to patronize the place, among others. They served very delicious muttonchops there.

Speaking about the restaurants I can't help but mention Hotel Amba Soira, which during my days and to those fond of European style service was the best place in town. Sometimes we visited Nyala Hotel restaurant, more often Caravella. There was also a place run by a Greek guy, which we called Mariana's. The guy had a very pretty daughter all of us tried to flirt with. Her name was, I think, Antonella. But when we were after "the real stuff", the destination was either The Blue Nile Bar, or Eden Bar, I mustn't tell you there were dozens if not hundreds of joints.

Among our favorites in terms of local food was Madame Abeba's. (To my regret, sometimes and more often then not, I'm just unable to give topographic reference points. I believe if I got there, I could easily find any place. But I don't remember the streets' names). Coming back to Madame Abeba. When I met the lady first she must have been in her late 50s. And one could imagine how beautiful she had been thirty or twenty years earlier. Back in 1981-82 she run a local food restaurant where one could enjoy first-class "yindzhera" and all sorts of "typs" and "doro whott" an "ketfoh"and... just name it. I used to be a great fan of all these local dishes washed down by Melotti in form of either Gin or beer. Madame Abeba died, I guess, at the end of 1982. Once we came to her place just to find dozens of mourning ladies and had to look for some other place, but the day was spoiled. We really felt sorry for her. Some six months or so later I met one of her sons, I didn't recognize him, he did, and he said that he and his brother decided to reopen the Madame Abeba's.

I don't think I ever heard of Mama Kathy, although I used to know a couple of similar characters. (I do agree, some stories from Spook's Alley are not for family reading). Yes, I did view your Homepage and liked it. I wish we, the Russian lovers of Eritrea, had one like that as well.

As you understand from the above, my visits to Asmara were neither very long, nor numerous. Most of the time I was with the 3rd Infantry Division advisors' team. The 3rd infantry belonged of course, to Mengistu forces. My military specialty was interpreter. The Ethiopian guys weren't too familiar with the Russian language, to say nothing about Soviet colonels' and majors' ability to speak Amkharic or Tigrynya. Thus our means of communication was mainly English. The 3rd infantry was constantly deployed in operations against the Eritrean separatists. My superior, let's call him Col. Ivan (it was his real first name by which the Ethiopians called him, too), was the advisor to the division commander. It's clear that where the guys used to be, one could find Lt. Berets.
Period...

Best regards,

Sergei