Moscow Chronicles, Day 1

It's spring break! I'm finding it unbelievable that the semester is half over. I'm trying to not think too much about the end, and instead savor all the time I have left in St. Petersburg.

However... I'm in Moscow! The entire AIFS group is on a weekend excursion to Moscow, and my spring break plans are to stay here for the rest of the week. I'm extremely happy that I get to explore Moscow more thoroughly than these short 2 days; however, I'm also a bit bummed that almost everyone is going to a warmer climate for break. The weather has actually been pleasant, though, so I can't complain too much.

I came here by train, which was my first experience on an overnight train. The compartments were quite tiny, with four people to each cabin. I got the top bunk, as well as some pretty nasty bruises. Nonetheless, I had a wonderful time, and am enjoying my Moscow experience so far.

The first day the group got a private bus tour, and we got out to explore places like Red Square, Novodevichy Cemetery, and Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.



State Historical Museum

Austin and I in front of Lenin's Mausoleum



Inside ГУМ, or GUM (pronounced 'goom') -- a large mall which functions mostly as a sightseeing attraction. It's quite lavish for a shopping mall. I hope to come back later and just sit, people watch, and drink coffee.





After seeing the Red Square, we walked over to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.



Boris Yeltsin's grave at Novodevichy Cemetery.

Just a picture of the gorgeous snow falling.

Later that night we went to the circus. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it immensely, but I was pleasantly surprised. There were plenty of acts with various animals, but my favorites were with the contortionists and trapeze artists.

I've had a lot of fun so far in Moscow, although I would agree with something that my friend Glenn said, "There's more to see in St. Petersburg, but more to do in Moscow." That might be too hasty of a judgment, but I'll definitely have more of a feel for the city by the end of the week. Adventures from today will be posted soon!

"она сказала!"

Happy International Women's Day! It's not officially Women's Day in the US yet (besides... we don't even celebrate it, sadly). Here, it's a huge affair -- flower distributors heaven. It's not only a celebration of the women in your life, but also an unofficial Valentine's Day. I've seen dozens of men and women with heart-shaped balloons, elaborate bouquets, fancy chocolates, and other small tokens of regard.

On Saturday I had a chance to explore the city quite a bit with Sharon, Austin, Glenn, Renee, and Taylor. First, we headed towards Kazan Cathedral.

Glenn, me, and Renee in front of Kazan Cathedral.

Out of respect, many of the women covered their heads and the men took off their hats. Additionally, no photos are technically allowed -- it's a very holy place. As we walked in, we saw dozens of portraits of patron saints; the locals praying. There are marble columns that stretch up for what must be hundreds of feet, and painted/inlaid flower design ceilings.

The Church of the Savior on Blood was next on our list. I felt acutely that this place was more of a tourist destination than a sacred place for prayer and forgiveness (although it still is). It also isn't as subtly decorated as Kazan Cathedral, as you can see for yourselves:



If you think the outside is impressive... the inside will blow you away.

Voilà! Mosaics cover every surface: walls, ceilings, domes, arches and columns.

Then, on Sunday we had an excursion to the park and palace in Pavlovsk (fifteen minutes away from Pushkin which is where Catherine's Palace is). So far, the Pavlovsk palace is my favorite. It doesn't make much sense, but I'll say it anyways: I found it extremely livable. Sure, all of the rooms were extravagant, but it wasn't over-the-top like the Hermitage or Catherine's Palace.

The palace... that I will own one day.

Scene from Don Quixote

The desk that I will sit at... one day. Plus, take a look at the floor -- it's made ofhundreds of hand carved wood pieces.



Amazing ballroom/dining hall that I got to waltz around in!

After the tour, we had several hours to explore the grounds. It was still масленица, so there were blini stands, shish kebabs, chocolate croissants, cakes, and hot drinks. There were also miniature horse sleigh rides for the kids. That's one of the best parts of the fair/celebration -- the Russian families having a weekend of fun. As Taylor says, "This is the only time of year they are allowed to have fun... all other times, only frowns, no smiles." No...the Russians I've met have been quite friendly, but smiling all the time is definitely not at the top of their agenda. Next time I'll write more of a comparison between our two cultures.

We actually missed the burning of the effigy for масленица, but managed to have a lot of fun nonetheless:

The tower of death -- I climbed up twice.

Austin and I enjoying our triumph -- if wee babes and women in stilettos can do it, so can we!

Victory at the bottom, with Glenn!



масленица!

Hola to everyone! Yes, I know I just said something in Spanish instead of Russian… but that’s the way it’s been around here lately. For some reason everyone falls back upon Spanish when they forget a Russian word. Thus, in class my friend Glenn might say (imagine this in Russian): “My wallet was taken by a …. a…. oh what’s the word for hombre?” Immediately, everyone will yell out, “Man/мужчина!” The teachers are getting exasperated with our haphazard Spanish-English-Russian way of speaking.

I will definitely never let so much time go by between posts. However, it is a testament to how exciting Russia has been so far. I’ve been to three museums thus far: Political Museum, Dostoevsky Museum, and Menshikov Palace (I will write about that next time). The Dostoevsky Museum had mostly modern exhibits about his life inside, so the really interesting part was just standing in the square that he walked on every day. Right outside that museum was the Kuznechny Market (кузнечный рынок); this used to be the best market in SPb, although now it’s very expensive. The fresh dairy department was the best I’ve seen so far… there’s luscious sour cream and tvorog (sort of like ricotta cheese).

Dodgy little army/navy store -- the place where I have to get an army knife.

дом книги (Book House) at night.

New entrance to the Dostoevsky Museum

This is where I purchased pickled cucumbers and green tomatoes. I probably got over-charged for it, which may account for her adding on some extra pickles and garlic.

Fresh honey and beeswax

These past few weeks have been wonderful. I’ve been going  to the gym regularly with my friend, Austin. Besides that, I’ve managed to explore Nevsky Prospekt quite a bit more. That's one of the main streets in SPb; I usually go with a friend or two, and we explore side streets, stores and restaurants. The Galleria was interesting, but it reminded me too much of the malls back home -- nothing terribly special or unique in the stores, everything overpriced, and mostly typical American food.

I enjoy going to the predominantly Russian events here. For instance, this entire week is a holiday: масленица. It’s literally a “Pancake Week”… rather, Blini Week. Part of the big celebration is to eat blini, burn an effigy of Santa Claus' daughter, and generally celebrate the first official days of spring. Tonight I went to a Russian Club gathering where we danced, chatted, learned the history of the holiday, and ate enormous quantities of homemade blini with sour cream and freshly made jam. On Sunday we have an excursion to the park and palace in Pavlovsk, where we'll see them burn effigies and do Russian folk dancing. Oh... and did I mention that we get to eat blini?!

One of the most important things was also last week... we went to a hockey game! When I watch the Winter Olympics, I usually end up seeing the hockey matches the most, so I was naturally anticipating the game. I imagined having a good time, but I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did. It was <<CKA>> (SPb's team) against <<Ак Барс>> (Kazan)... CKA won, thank goodness! It was very tense by the end, as it got down to penalty shots, and everybody was chanting, "Питер! Питер!" (Peter! Peter!) throughout.

We had pretty great seats, front row of the second tier.

Stephanie, Taylor and I... we're excited that CKA is winning. Hurrah!

Last but not least, a huge shout out to Jake -- he’s got a wonderfully descriptive and exciting blog. We’re on the same program and you can compare our experiences, especially since he's been posing more frequently than I have.

I have a four day weekend coming up, which will be spent studying for my midterm and exploring the city. We have plans to go salsa dancing soon, so let the sexy salsa dancing commence!