My First Impressions of Moscow

Hello Kitty on Holiday

A few days ago I left for Russia and somehow Hello Kitty snuck into my bag. I guess she wanted to go on an adventure! She was very patient during the 17 hours of traveling; stopping in Frankfurt for a bratwurst and beer, and a little shopping at the Duty Free store. Upon arrival in Moscow she was greeted warmly by Galia, Zhenya, and Rita. So far she has been to the Kremlin, the Red Square, in and out of the Metro many times, and even hanging out at the palace with the fancy guards. There was a tour of St. Basil’s Cathedral, and a monument where people throw coins for good luck. She has been getting lots of exercise the last few days. Today was a shopping tour at the flea market, which took 3 trains to get to. HK was eager to have her photo taken in most of the places, including with many statues. She would love to go have Indian food at the oldest (20 years?) Indian restaurant in Moscow.


Thoughts on Getting Across the World in Less than 24 Hours
Thanks to Caroline I was able to get a ride to the airport and arrived in plenty of time to check in. Mark arrived shortly after I did and zipped through the line due to on-line check-in, which wasn’t available to me because I had a paper ticket. Who ever heard of such a thing? It took me back to the days before computerized everything. Once I got rid of my 49.5# bag (½ a pound to spare!), I felt a huge burden lifted. The last time I traveled with this much luggage, I vowed never to do it again. However, I realized that going to Russia at the beginning of spring without enough clothes wouldn’t be wise. It was extremely difficult to pack for winter in the middle of a heat wave, sweating my ass off. But somehow I managed to get everything and the kitchen sink in my giant suitcase.
After eating a Panini we boarded our 747, lamenting that we didn’t have Business Class seats or better yet, First Class seats on the upper level. I don’t think I have ever been on such a huge airplane in my life. Two meals, three movies, a couple of Bloody Mary’s (the flight attendant gave me a hard time for wanting a Bloody Mary at breakfast – when else would you drink one? – after serving the people in the row ahead of us drinks all night long), and eleven hours later, after Mark had looked at his watch for the umpteenth time, we had finally arrived in Frankfurt. Only 6 hours to go! I was happy I went for a run the morning we left. I think my body would have felt much worse if I hadn’t. It was actually a great run, at a much faster clip than I usually do it.
Mark and I walked the Frankfurt terminal for a while which felt great after sitting for so long. We settled on a leisurely meal at a café that was serving bratwurst and other sausages, giant steins of beer, pretzels and coffee. I had a terrible fruit salad, probably days old and a delicious pretzel. Mark had a boiled, white sausage served in a big bowl of hot water, a pretzel and a beer. Honestly, we really didn’t need to eat, but couldn’t resist the temptation. The other temptation was the Duty Free store. Usually I do resist these places because they aren’t really much cheaper than at a regular store and I don’t need anything they have. This time, however, I actually needed a compact powder. I got a mini makeover at the Chanel counter and bought a few things besides a compact. She was a good sales person.
I arrived at the gate in time to meet back up with Mark and get in line to board our final flight to Moscow. The 3 hours flew by. I was mostly sleeping in between eating yet another meal and watching Mark checking his watch every 5 minutes.
It was very cold in Moscow when we arrived. I was wearing flip-flops and a skirt. After going through immigration I found a bathroom and changed into tights, a warmer sweater, a coat and real shoes. The shoes barely fit as my feet and ankles had bloated into giant elephant cankles. We were the last ones to retrieve our luggage and go through customs. The official barely looked at us.
No one seemed to be waiting for us when we walked out into the public part of the airport. Then I spotted Galia who was obviously looking for us, but had a peculiar look on her face. Apparently she was given incorrect flight information and had been waiting for us for 2 hours! Mark and I felt bad that she had been waiting so long, but relieved that she had waited rather than leaving us. As soon as we got into the taxi that came to get us, I was out like a light. A few times I tried really hard to pry my eyes open to see the city, but I could not fight the urge to sleep.
When we pulled up to Rita’s apartment, Mark woke me up and I could see Rita and Zhenya leaning over the railing of a second story balcony. We dragged our luggage up the stairs (I am truly happy I don’t have to move that thing around any more than twice!) and a rapid, excited conversation in Russian broke out. Of course dinner was made and everyone was ready to eat. Mark even said he was hungry again! I am not sure how that was possible since we had eaten 5 meals in the last 17 hours, which seems quite excessive to me. I wasn’t hungry at all but ate so as to not be rude. Later Mark and I walked Galina and Zhenya to the Metro station about a 10-minute walk from Rita’s. It was very cold, but it felt good to get outside and move my legs.
In spite of having a long nap, it was relatively easy for me to fall asleep my first night here in Moscow. I did wake up at 4:30 am of course! But again, I was easily able to fall back to sleep for another 4 hours.
In the morning, Mark and I made our way to the Red Square. We walked to the Metro station, transferred once and got out. Most of the stations are much like in any other city. Above ground it can be difficult to cross the streets, so there are underground passages filled with little shops that have everything from candy to jewelry, to flowers. Eventually after we had been walking for a good 20 minutes, Mark realized he was lost. In the meantime I was getting very hungry and cranky (of course). We got back on another train and then walked for a few blocks underground and came out a few blocks from the Red Square. As we were walking I spotted Avocado, a restaurant I had read about in my guidebook, tucked away on a side street. Our delicious meal there was an amazing deal: 180 rubles each, less than $5! It consisted of pinto bean salad, brussel sprout soup, unidentified brown grain with mushroom & onion sauce, a roll and cranberry juice.
Eating rejuvenated us and we were ready to tackle the Red Square! At the entrance there were a few little stands selling tourist junk: T-shirts, matryoshka dolls, and other kitsch. As I walked through the gate I could see the very familiar onion domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral off in the distance. It is truly breathtaking. On the right was the State History Museum and to the left the Kazan Cathedral with its gleaming gold onion domes. Further forward on the left was a giant, beautiful old building: GUM (State Department Store). During communist times it was a store with long lines and empty shelves, now it is home to Dior, Gucci, and Prada among others. I have heard it is as beautiful inside as it is outside. Directly across from GUM is Lenin’s Tomb. Although you often hear about lines to get in to see his corpse, there was no line the day we were visiting. There were plenty of flowers decorating the steps outside the tomb. Finally at the very end of the long plaza (aka the Red Square – which really isn’t a square at all) is St. Basil’s Cathedral. It is the icon of Moscow. It is beautifully painted in all manner of bright, vibrant colors. There are golden crosses on each of the many onion domes. Inside is also brightly painted. Practically every surface is painted in fresco with flowers, geometric designs, and images of holy people. They have a large collection of art that was in the cathedral, restored and preserved behind glass. Interestingly, when you enter the church it is not like entering a church with a nave and an altar. It is a labyrinth of small rooms and hallways. Apparently it was built with nine chapels, one bigger than the others.
The one thing I noticed most in the Red Square were all the newlyweds. They were everywhere. There were brides in mountains of tulle and others in short gold dresses or long flowing silk dresses. The men were mostly in very nice suits, but I did see one who was wearing a cream satin suit to match his bride’s cream dress of tulle and satin. They were all walking with friends and photographers, marking the event.
And how did that guy land his airplane in such a small space?! It feels big as you walk around it, but not that big!
Once outside the Red Square we walked over to the Alexandrovsky Garden and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. And heading back to the Metro, I stopped to take a photo of the line outside the McDonalds and a huge fabric banner with “Sale” written in Russian on it. Communism really is dead here.
We decided to head over to Arbat, a district in Moscow that has a walking street, closed to all motor traffic. The street is mostly lined with souvenir shops, cafés and tattoo parlors… yes, really! It seemed really odd to me, but there was at least one on every block. We strolled on the street, did some window-shopping, and had stopped at a café for coffee. The price of a latte, an espresso and a bottle of water was the same as what we paid for two lunches! Wow, Moscow could get extremely expensive if you weren’t staying with family who was feeding you at least two meals a day.
After a very long day, we made our way back to Rita’s apartment. We met her on the street as she was going to the Metro to go to Zhenya’s where we would meet her later for dinner.
Dinner was simple but good: chicken, rice, cauliflower, and bread. We started with a little Aram sandwich made with mayonnaise and fake crab, which were very tasty. Although I have heard of Russian food torture, I have actually not experienced that at all. Actually, the food has been very modest, not too fattening, and not as much meat as I feared. So far we have had fish two nights and chicken one. And the only place where we have been served sour cream was at Avocado; a tiny dollop on our soup.
So, today is Saturday. We made a plan with Rita to go to a flea market on the outskirts of Moscow. It is called “Izmaylovo Market” and reminded me a bit of the Renaissance Faire without the costumes and giant turkey legs. Most of the vendors actually spoke some English – enough to bargain a little. What I liked about the market is that most of the vendors were selling traditional Russian crafts: lacquer boxes, Matryoshka (nesting dolls), ceramics, shawls, leather boxes, and fur hats. There were also stands with great T-shirts, propaganda posters, and all manner of Soviet pins, medals, hats, and other paraphernalia.
We looked around for a bit and I started getting so hungry I couldn’t see straight. I was literally going to explode (or implode?). We found food stands which had BBQ’d kabobs with lamb, chicken, beef, pork and salmon. It came with lavash bread, spicy ketchup, and a few cucumbers, tomato, and onions. That and a diet Coke hit the spot. I was ready to shop.
Although the market had a high concentration of crafts in one place, it was not what I would call “cheap.” There were decent prices on some things, and totally outrageous prices on other things. All in all I was happy with my purchases and very ready to leave… before I spent all of my money! It was close!
Returning home Mark and I spent the afternoon looking for decent places to go running. We found one… in all of Moscow! I would like to go running tomorrow. The problem is tomorrow is Sunday and there are likely to be lots of people out walking around. First, because it is a weekend, and second because it has been getting very warm outside for the first time in months. Mark doesn’t like to run where there are people getting in his way and he also runs quite a bit faster than I do. He found a lake where we could run, but Rita said it was too far. On further investigation, it seems that it is no farther than we went today (actually it sounds like it is closer – two trains instead of the three we took today). But, since neither Mark nor Rita are inclined to go to the lake, I decided that I would run in the neighborhood near Rita’s apartment. Apparently, there is a park next to the Moscow River, which is about two miles away from Rita’s apartment. She was very reticent to let me go off on my own. First she stated that it was too far to go. She asked what if I got lost? She said I would not be able to ask anyone for assistance because people don’t speak English. I told her I would take a map with me. I have the map printed out. I can understand her concern. Honestly, getting around a city where I don’t speak the language and barely know the alphabet, could be very difficult. So far I have had tour guides with me at every move. At one point yesterday, when the Metro was packed and we were going from one track to another I got a panicked feeling when I thought about being separated from Mark. I realized that 1. I did not know where I was, 2. I did not know where I was going, 3. I could not read the signs in the Metro stations, and 4. Therefore I would not be able to figure out which direction or which train to take. When we were safely on the train I found out which station Rita is closest to and which line it is on. I feel fairly sure that I could find my way on the Metro now, although it would still be extremely difficult.

More for later:
Inside the subway stations – beautiful art, light fixtures, etc. Lots of references to war and revolution.
Ethnic differences and ethnic profiling. It just isn’t in their vocabulary here.
Black people – few and far between, mostly Africans.
Styles