Москва, Россия

Well, the time has come!  Here are my pictures from Moscow!!!  I kept a written journal during my trip, so I'll type it here and set pictures within it as I talk about the things I did.  Also, there are some places where I've written some extra information in italics which I didn't put in my journal.  Here we go!  Enjoy!

July 7, 2011

At the airport - it's strange to see it at night.  My juice stand looks lonely in the dark.  I thought it would be cool - the airport at night.  That wore off quickly - nothing is open!  Can't get a Starbucks coffee or a beer from the bar.  Admittedly, I was quite hoping to endulge in the latter pleasure.

My plane is "en retard" by 35 minutes - will take off at 11:40pm.  Probably arriving in Russia around 5am.

Anyway, whatever the delay, I'm still very excited.  Russia is probably the most exotic place to which I've yet traveled.  That takes into account, of course, many factors.  Strictly speaking in terms of location, one might have chosen China, Morocco, Korea or Japan for such a label.

The main difference is the fact that I'll be traveling alone.  That's right - seul.

Russia - a country which was communist until after I was born - is a place where many things remain taboo.

It has been brought to my attention, by several sources, that I should avoid the police at all costs.  They are not paid well in Russia, and prey on the naïve tourists.  They will demand your passport (that much is legal) and insist there is a problem with your visa.  (As of 2011, every foreign visitor is in need of a visa & invitation letter to enter the country).  I'm prepared though.

I'm told it's my right to ask them their name & badge number (which should be visible anyway).  Also I should call the Canadian embassy.

After going through such trouble, they will move on to another tourist who doesn't know any better.

Luckily, I have connected with a girl from couch surfing named наталя (Natalia).  She will meet me tomorrow morning, in the rain, at 8:30.  I've bought her a box of chocolates - Leonidas - from Belgium to say thanks.

Yes, I've learned the Russian alphabet (in fact it's called Cyrillic) because I thought it wise and that it may come in handy should I get lost or stolen.

Generally speaking, I do hope neither of the aforementioned things come to fruition - perhaps I'll limit my regular proclivity of taking postprandial walks to simply pacing in my Godzilla's Hostel.

Alright.  It's nearing boarding time and I still wish to solve my rubik's cube once more.

The sun has begun its daily nocturnal absence, and when its rays reach me once again, I shall be in
-Москва-

July 8th, 2011

Here I sit between the Red Square and the Bolshoy Theatre, with the formerly mentioned sun beating relentlessly on my poor skin.  The same skin, incidentally, that 2 days ago would have made Casper look like Obama.

I've bought sun screen, so I do hope that helps.

I've done so much more than I had expected.  Natalia & I completed many of the things on my whole trip's itinerary!  That said, I can now fit things into my schedule that I originally had no time for.

Moscow is a fascinating city.  A mix of old and new, rich and poor, shiny polished buildings visible to the tourist's eye, but near-shanties if you dig a bit beneath the surface.

The journey from the airport to the city reminded me of Canada in a way - forests of birch trees, ponds & nature.  The brutal reminder that I wasn't in Canada was shown in the countless apartment buildings - sickeningly rotting away - windows missing, rust & dirt replacing most of the surfaces which I presume were once presented as a generous gift of the government.

For now, I continue my journey.

My journey continued and before I list what I've done today, I should mention I'm in a supermarket at the moment, sitting at what I thought was a restaurant, but turns out they only sell drinks.  I have decided to try Beluga - a Russian vodka.

Well, the day is over.  I don't even know if I can list everything I did, but I'll try.

Took the train from the airport,

saw a bus that uses electricity like trams,

met Natalia, visited сад Hermitage (a park),

visited the red square,

Resurrection Gate

 The Resurrection Gate was built in 1995.  It is a copy of the original 17th-century gate which was demolished by Stalin to allow parading troops easier access to the Red Square, which lies just behind the gate.

Standing on the spot from which all distances in Moscow are measured

Kazan Cathedral

 Kazan Cathedral was re-built in 1993 in the style of the 17th-century original.  It too was destroyed by Stalin to allow parading soldiers to enter the Red Square.

National Historical Museum

The National Historical Museum was founded in 1872 and has over 4.5 million objects.
 

GUM state department store

 The GUM state department store was built in the late 1800s on a site where market stalls had existed since the 15th century.

National Historical Museum

Lenin's Tomb

saw St. Basil's Cathedral,

St. Basil's Cathedral was ordered to be constructed in 1552 after Ivan the Terrible captured the Tatar stronghold of the Kazan.  It has escaped destruction twice.  During his conquest in 1812, Napoleon ordered its demolition, but rain dampened the gun powder they were to use.  Afterwards, Stalin wanted to knock it down but was stopped by the architect Baranovsky who threatened to cut his own throat.  It saved the church, but put him in jail for 5 years.

St. Basil's Cathedral with the statue of Minin and Pozharskiy, which depicts the two legendary Russian heroes who drove Polish troops out of the Kremlin 1612.

visited the GUM state department store (pronounced GOOM),

Sitting on the steps of GUM, Kremlin in the background

Inside the GUM

 saw the tomb of the unknown soldier, saw a changing of the guards,

went to a "walk through" McDonalds,

"Cheeseburger"

found an English bookstore, toured the Scriabin House Museum,

Scriabin

saw the Epiphany Cathedral,

Epiphany Cathedral

walked down the touristy Ulitsa Arbat street,

Ulitsa Arbat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs looming in the background

Visited the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour,

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

Tsar Alexander I commissioned the construction of Russia's largest Orthodox cathedral to mark the defeat of Napoleon in 1812.  It was completed in 1860 but demolished in 1931 to make way for the Palace of the Soviets, which never ended up being built.  They filled the spot with the world's largest outdoor swimming pool.  Afterwards, in 1991, a fundraising campaign raised enough money to rebuild the church just like the original.  The cathedral that stands there today was completed in 2000.

went to the Polytechnical museum, then the grocery store (with the vodka), came back to hostel, napped, went back out with Natalia (this time with her boyfriend who's from Georgia - the country, not the state), went back to the Red Square, and came home again.

It was intense.

Tomorrow I will visit Lenin's tomb (it was closed today), and do other stuff which I'm too tired to write about right now.  I'll sign in again tomorrow!  First day in Moscow - Great success!

July 9, 2011

Second day in Moscow - equally successful.  The Red Square is closed for something, so I couldn't do the Red Square things.  I'll try again tomorrow.  Today I walked & took more pictures of St. Basil's, found the Church of the Resurrection in Kadashi,

The Church of the Resurrection in Kadashi was used as a furniture factory during communism, but has recently undergone restoration and functions once again as a church.

happened by the Ostrovskiy House Museum,

Russian playwright Aleksandr Ostrovskiy was born and raised in this house.

visited the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea - witnessed a baptism, strolled through the Socialist Sculpture Park (the sort of dump they put all the communist statues after communism),

I'm not sure why the sky looks weird in this...

meandered through an open-air art market, visited Novodevichiy Convent - my favourite part of the day,

The Novodevichiy Convent, a UNESCO listed world heritage site, was founded in 1525 to celebrate Grand Prince Basil III's recapture of Smolensk in 1514.  It was occupied in 1812 by Napoleon's troops and later used as a female prison before it became a museum during Communism.

went for dinner, took pictures of the most famous spa in Moscow,

and took a walk through the Upper Monastery of St. Peter.

The weather has been so good.  It was supposed to thunderstorm my whole trip, but has only rained on and off.  It's very, very hot & especially humid, but it's not the end of the world.  The Novodevichiy Convent (A UNESCO listed world heritage site) was, as I mentioned, my favourite part of the day.  It was difficult to find though; my Moscow book didn't have streets labeled that far out of town.  I asked some people, drank a Red Bull, and eventually found my way.

There's really nothing like wandering around a new city, map-in-hand, discovering & learning.  It creates a buzz of excitement - reading signs, learning phrases, figuring out the subway systems.  Being lost like this forever, in an endless state of discovery, has to be the definition of pure happiness.   

The only dangerous element of travel addiction is maybe your wallet ending up feeling abused!  Oh well, it's well worth it.

Plans for tomorrow?  Red Square, St. Basil's, Lenin's tomb, Kremlin, Museum of Modern History, and maybe a boat tour if there's time.

À demain, Москва.

July 10, 2011

The weather has finally decided to do what it was supposed to do.  Rain!  I'm still at the hostel, but I'll leave shortly to do the stuff I have planned.

I'm also pleased to announce that I've bought a new satchel.  It's bigger than the one I had before and therefore better.  OK, I'm off.

So - back home for the night.  Today I visited Lenin's tomb (He looks like Jack Layton), went inside St. Basil's Cathedral,

went to a mall filled with Russians (no tourists really, it was cool), went on a boat tour of the Moscow River,

visited the Novopasskiy Monastery,

came back, and watched The Hangover with some people at the hostel.  

The rain let up after St. Basil's so the rest of the day was hot & sunny.

Tomorrow I'll visit the Museum of Modern History and head back to Brussels.

Moscow has been really amazing.  The time has flown by.  I can't believe it's almost over already!  Just when I was getting the hang of the alphabet...

July 11, 2011

The museum is closed on Mondays, but there was still lots to do.  I decided to spend 28 rubles (about $1) and go see some of Moscow's most impressive metro stations.  I went to Mayakovskaya (Маяковская),

and Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Площадь Революции)

The first won an award at the 1938 New York World Trade Fair for being the most beautiful metro station in the world.  The second was Stalin's favourite, had 80 life-sized statues of soviet citizens.  The dog in the picture is very popular - almost every person passing him would rub his nose for good luck.

Now I sit here at азробар at the Павелецкая station, waiting for the Аэроэкспресс to bring me to Домодедов.  

My trip to Moscow has come to an end.  First impressions - the city is much less crowded, the people much happier, and the streets much less dangerous than I had expected them to be.

Last impressions - after spending 4 days exploring, I can say - I'm glad to have come, I might come back (but if I were to return to Russia I'd go to St. Petersburg), but I'm ready to go back to Brussels.

Well, that's that.  I wonder what the next trip will be that I write about in this book.

Time will tell.