Russia Day 2
Appointed meeting time was 10:30, but I met Lorelei and her mom to walk around beforehand. Crossed over to the space monument – little museum underneath was closed for renovation. Cool little market area around the monument and the metro station. Jeraldine looked a little concerned that we were being watched.
On the bus to start the day. I decided to stick with the group at least at first, as there were several things that were new for me. First stop – Red Square. All good, until we learned it was closed. No explanation, no guarantee as to reopening. So Plan B arrived. Drove to the Koskovo estate, which was a Versailles-like receiption place. Wooden little palace, grotto building, other things. Nice setting, but nothing jaw-dropping.
After that, on to Arbat street, which is a pedestrian area with stores, stands, etc. Had about an hour, and I took off on my own after the group stopped at the first stand. Nice to just walk a bit. Grabbed a pepsi and a snickers bar for lunch, then caved and grabbed some French fries from McDonalds too. Then it was over to Red Square via the metro. I though Karel was going to have a heart attack worrying about people getting separated and lost. And they were moving too slow – I have first-hand experience with how fast those doors shut. I think we did three stations before getting out just north of Red Square, the walking in through the gate. Just 30 minutes there – the shopping center GUM got cut out, which didn’t bother me at all. After a quick jaunt through St Basils, it was back to the bus and off to the circus. And did I mention that the box wine was cracked open fairly consistently during the time on the bus? J
Circus was interesting. Some acrobatics worthy of Cirque Du Soleil, but with no safety lines or nets for several of the acts. The animal acts were disturbing, even though I’m not a huge PETA-type person. The trained bears in particular were just strange to watch. They looked like stoned, old, hairy people with osteoporosis. The kids in the audience loved it all, and Karel explained that this was fairly authentic, and that the circus was one of the only acceptable forms of entertainment during the communist era. Many laughs on the bus during Sergei’s long, drawn-out explanation/apology about the need to leave the hotel at 8am the next morning.
Late dinner that was fairly good (not at a hotel, thankfully). Stroganoff, mashed potatoes, and a crepe-like desert. And of course some vodka and beer. Got the “Russian Standard” brand, which was Sergei’s recommendation, and it was great. Extremely smooth. I think I can recognize the bottle if I see it in the store here. Don’t know if it’s available for export, so I want to grab a bottle while I’m here.
Hit one of the hotel bars (the less-prostituty) for a last vodka before hitting the room to pack. Not a wild night – I think everyone was still tired. Maybe in Novogorod or St Petersburg.
P.S. Sergei identified the picture of the market I went to in ’95. “Izmailovo”. Said it was much more developed now, with some more permanent booths. Pretty far out on the metro, and I’m not really shopping for anything interesting.
Overall a good day, but it has me questioning the tour group thing again. Maybe because I’ve been here before, maybe because I know Moscow has a great metro, maybe because I don’t mind walking, it just felt more constricting today than any time in Turkey. Maybe that will fade once we leave Moscow proper. And I want to come back and actually go to all the subway stations individually – time to add that flight from Newark.
On the bus to start the day. I decided to stick with the group at least at first, as there were several things that were new for me. First stop – Red Square. All good, until we learned it was closed. No explanation, no guarantee as to reopening. So Plan B arrived. Drove to the Koskovo estate, which was a Versailles-like receiption place. Wooden little palace, grotto building, other things. Nice setting, but nothing jaw-dropping.
After that, on to Arbat street, which is a pedestrian area with stores, stands, etc. Had about an hour, and I took off on my own after the group stopped at the first stand. Nice to just walk a bit. Grabbed a pepsi and a snickers bar for lunch, then caved and grabbed some French fries from McDonalds too. Then it was over to Red Square via the metro. I though Karel was going to have a heart attack worrying about people getting separated and lost. And they were moving too slow – I have first-hand experience with how fast those doors shut. I think we did three stations before getting out just north of Red Square, the walking in through the gate. Just 30 minutes there – the shopping center GUM got cut out, which didn’t bother me at all. After a quick jaunt through St Basils, it was back to the bus and off to the circus. And did I mention that the box wine was cracked open fairly consistently during the time on the bus? J
Circus was interesting. Some acrobatics worthy of Cirque Du Soleil, but with no safety lines or nets for several of the acts. The animal acts were disturbing, even though I’m not a huge PETA-type person. The trained bears in particular were just strange to watch. They looked like stoned, old, hairy people with osteoporosis. The kids in the audience loved it all, and Karel explained that this was fairly authentic, and that the circus was one of the only acceptable forms of entertainment during the communist era. Many laughs on the bus during Sergei’s long, drawn-out explanation/apology about the need to leave the hotel at 8am the next morning.
Late dinner that was fairly good (not at a hotel, thankfully). Stroganoff, mashed potatoes, and a crepe-like desert. And of course some vodka and beer. Got the “Russian Standard” brand, which was Sergei’s recommendation, and it was great. Extremely smooth. I think I can recognize the bottle if I see it in the store here. Don’t know if it’s available for export, so I want to grab a bottle while I’m here.
Hit one of the hotel bars (the less-prostituty) for a last vodka before hitting the room to pack. Not a wild night – I think everyone was still tired. Maybe in Novogorod or St Petersburg.
P.S. Sergei identified the picture of the market I went to in ’95. “Izmailovo”. Said it was much more developed now, with some more permanent booths. Pretty far out on the metro, and I’m not really shopping for anything interesting.
Overall a good day, but it has me questioning the tour group thing again. Maybe because I’ve been here before, maybe because I know Moscow has a great metro, maybe because I don’t mind walking, it just felt more constricting today than any time in Turkey. Maybe that will fade once we leave Moscow proper. And I want to come back and actually go to all the subway stations individually – time to add that flight from Newark.
posted by pantherman at 10:56 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home