Moscow

Sorry about the lateness of this post, I’ve been busy the last few days, more homework than usual (Plus I’ve fallen asleep several times, oh well). However, here I am and I have much to tell of my journey to Moscow.

First off, yes I would love to live here (maybe next semester). I love the big city and the city life. In addition, all the churches and historical sites reminded me of Rome. Rome is the kind of place where are can’t walk two steps without tripping over a relic or Church or ancient Roman thing, and Moscow is more like 5 steps, which is still pretty good.

To get there, we had a 4 hour bus ride; there is always some much traffic on the road to Moscow. But when we got there, we drove right to the Moscow River to take some pictures of the Kremlin. Actually, my first impression was how small St. Basil’s Cathedral was. I guess the hype suggested to me something like St. Peter’s in Rome. Honestly, it’s smaller than the Basilica in D.C. But I should say that after I got up close, I was pretty amazed, the colors, the architecture, it was extraordinary! Definitely worth seeing. Anyways, the hotel we stayed at was the one built for the 1980’s Olympics, very big and very Soviet, which was pretty cool. The rooms were nice and the came with bidets (Don’t know how to use them, but they’re so weird!!). From the hotel, we went straight to Red Square. That place is amazing. It’s enclosed by the Kremlin, Lenin’s Tomb, St. Basil’s, and the GUM (huge expensive mall). I must have 30 pictures of Red Square alone. That was pretty much what I did last Friday. Moscow is great, and more western than I would have thought. There are ads everywhere and tons of expensive places to shop. Although many of the stores keep a distinct Russian feel. I doubt it looked like this 15 years ago. And gees in the GUM, one store was selling T-shirts for about $100.

Ok so, that night I stayed in talking with my tutor, Ivan, and a few others (and a beer, Baltika #3). Saturday I got to ride the Moscow Metro for the first time. That was fun. Now, I have ridden the Metro in D.C. and New York. Moscow impressed me. The feel of the Metro was a cross between NY and D.C., The trains looked and felt like the NY subway, but the station was more like D.C., not as clean, but a whole heck of a lot more architecture. Everyone says the Moscow Metro is so beautiful, I didn’t really notice. There is a lot of faded marble and a lot of statues, but nothing to impressive. That being said, I only saw like 5 or 6 stations, so don’t take my word for it. Still what it was very nice, it was pretty. On nice thing is that once ride costs about 15 rubles no matter where you go and you can save money by buying more rides. That was much nicer than D.C. ever was, plus there really is a train like every 2 minutes, also much better than D.C.

The Metro took us to an art museum. We walked around there for about and hour and a half. The art was very good, but it was an art gallery, not my thing. So by the end I was pretty tired. But after the museum, I got to eat at McDonald’s! Now before you judge me and say, “Oh gees who goes to Russia and eats at McDonald’s?” you ought to live in Vladimir for a month. Fast food does not exist in Vladimir, save for the Mister Gamburger, which is a far cry below McDonald’s. I’m sorry but I wanted a Milkshake so bad. I hardly ever eat McDonald’s, even in the States, but oh man was it delicious! I can still taste my milkshake! Prices were about the same as in America for anyone who cares. After McD’s, we had some free time so we hit the Arbat (market place) It all down one street, which is closed for cars. Lots of souvenir stands, not much to say, but it was fun.

After all of this, we headed back to the hotel for diner, a friend and I stopped at another large souvenir market behind are hotel. We had some interesting discussions about prices there; bartering is fun. Next, we were off to the Moscow Circus. This was a great circus. I have not been to a circus in like 10 years and now I don’t know why I waited so long. This circus had everything, Elephants, bears, horses, cats, dogs, and a juggling monkey. Oh man, I even got to see a bear ride a motorcycle. And that clown, oh man, ya. That night I traveled back to Moscow center and had a late dinner at TGI Friday’s. I know, another American joint, but the girls I was with were apparently dying for a good margarita. It was so weird, you’d of thought they would put Russian stuff all over the walls, but no, it was very American.

Sunday, was Lenin and the Kremlin. Yes, I saw Lenin, and for 80 years dead, he looked pretty good. It’s pretty amazing to say that I have seen the body of the Father of the USSR and Communism, as we know it today. I still can’t believe it, it was weird. It is also a very serious business, no cameras, no bags, nothing that could possibly be a weapon, very solemn. When you see Lenin, you also walk by the graves of revolutionaries and famous Soviets. I also saw the grave of Stalin. That was interesting, pretty freaky. After this, we headed into the Kremlin. This was also awesome. Inside there are several big Cathedrals, a giant bell, and the huge Emperor’s Cannon. The Assumption Cathedral is entirely covered in fresco on the inside, which was pretty neat. Oh! I also saw the Bolshoi Theater, of course. It was closed for renovations, but man it was very, um well bolshoi (which means big).

Ya so that was Moscow for me. It was great and I highly recommend a visit to the city to anyone, interesting or not. Don’t worry about the language, too many people spoke English there (I’m trying to learn Russian!)