We are celebrating Uzbekistan’s independence with a 4-day weekend in Tashkent. President Mirzoyoyev declared both Monday and Tuesday, September 2-3 to be national holidays. The actual day of independence is September 1. Uzbekistan declared independence on August 31, 1990. This was after the failed coup of communist hardliners in the Soviet Union led by Mikhail Gorbachev. The first secretary of Uzbek SSR communist party Islam Karimov was elected the new president and led the country until he died in September of 2016. His longtime Prime Minister, Shavkat Mirzoyoyev took over in December of 2016 and is still in power 8 years later.
I had a nice day of yoga and riding my bicycle. I rode the main canal in the city. Cooler temperatures are finally here with mornings in the 60s and highs in the 80s. I also caught up on yard work and taking care of things around the house. Our big activity was eating at a new restaurant in the city, Kaspiyka. It is a Russian-owned seafood restaurant with restaurants in Moscow, Baku, Kazan, and now Tashkent. Russians have improved dining experiences here in Tashkent. It is nice to have fresh seafood in a double-landlocked country. It must be flash frozen. My favorite dish was солянка (Solyanka) which is a traditional Russian sour soup. We finished the night with drinks at the Hyatt rooftop bar.
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