Okay so later we got back to the hotel, but as usual there was a guard there, so we had to register Joseph as a guest and they told him he only had until 12. So then we had to figure out something to do. I could go through this whole story but it’s not that interesting or important. Long story short, Joseph went down and paid for a single room. Then he wrote in his journal while Ivan and I used the free wifi and surfed facebook for like 2 hours.
So the next morning we had a fairly unappetizing breakfast before setting off for the regional museum of Tatarstan. This was much better than the regional museum of Yekaterinburg, and had very interesting things. I got tired of reading by the end though. Joseph and Ivan also endured like an hour long lecture from some guy who had this theory that all words were somehow linked to their corresponding gestures. And that it would be impossible to learn language without gestures. Which is probably true, but I don’t think the actual word can be linked to the gesture. Especially because not all words are the same in each language (although sometimes similar).
So then we went back to the Kremlin to see the museum of Islam. The woman at the front of the Kremlin let us in free a third time, which was really really nice of her. She said she was so glad that we liked it so much that we were coming back a third time, that she would just let us in free. There were way too many “that”s in the last sentence. The Islam museum was okay, not really very informative. Actually it sort of was, I just was way to tired to read everything and I sort of read, but didn’t really soak in. It’s okay.
So then we searched for a Café for lunch and found one that was not very good at all. And walked around some more, trying to find the Volga, but found the Kazanskaya instead. Actually we didn’t even find it, we just found its general direction. Took a taxi to the train station, which was amazing since it meant I didn’t have to drag suitcases everywhere. Our train was delayed. But we had a system in place at that point. Joseph stood at this little place at the entrance of the compartment where we could hand him all of our small bags, but was out of the way enough that other people could still get on. Then Ivan and I stored our giant suitcases, and came back for Joseph and all the little things. And even more exciting…WE DIDN’T HAVE A COMPARTMENTMATE. I don’t think you all understand how amazing that was to me. Like, SO amazing. Especially after how tired I was and how not amazing our last compartmentmate was. AND it wasn’t too hot, even a little on the cool side, enough to warrant using the blanket at night.
So we got to Moscow at 6:15, took an overpriced (but not gypsy) cab to our hostel. More like to the side of the road, where we then stood for about 5 minutes before someone working on the street directed us to the hostel. Oh, by the way, Moscow train station? WHOA. Like, way fancy. The place where you have to pay to sit (that was a bunch of rubber chairs and a little TV in Kazan?) was like, leather couches and a big screen TV and internet. They also had a pilmenia (aka a place that sells pilmeni). However, the Kazanskaya, Yaroslavskaya, and Leninskaya train stations were all right next to each other. Wouldn’t it make more sense to just have one gigantic train station? Not really sure.
Moscow is very big. A legitimate city. More like a gigantic wifi zone. EVERYWHERE has wifi. There are car dealerships with wifi. The McDonald’s has wifi. This is madness.
So we accidentally woke up the guy next to the hostel, and the actual hostel owner, with our 6:45 AM arrival time. And I think he wasn’t actually sure who we were until I asked if he received our reservation, to which he responded “probably…” and turned on the computer. But once I said something about hostelworld.com he remembered. Really nice guy. Speaks English well, I think. I’ve only spoken to him in Russian. So we made macaroni and cheese, had some tea, and just chilled out for a little while. Then we headed out to find wifi (which we found in, like, 3 seconds) and Joseph found a candy factory in Ivan’s Moscow guidebook. Ivan has the best guidebooks and I don’t know how I would have traveled around Russia without them. Anyway so the only problem is that this guidebook has completely wrong metro maps…like COMPLETELY. So we did a lot of circling around the Kremlin (we could see it from, like, every stop). But finally we found the Red October Candy Factory, which was really just a small chocolate store. However, I bought a box of chocolates that are actually quite good, which was surprising, because Russian candy on the whole is…less than fabulous. We also ran into the Church of Christ the Redeemer. I almost forgot the T there, which would have made it the Church of Chris the Redeemer, and we know that that just isn’t true.
So then Joseph only had about 40 minutes left, so we made our way back to the hostel, made more macaroni and cheese, and then Joseph left. Ivan and I sat around for a little while before heading off to find Arbat to do some souvenir shopping. They have some FANTASTIC stuff. A lot of it is souvenirs that are really cool, but I would never buy (the really fancy looking samovars, or the lacquered spoons and plates, etc) but some of the stuff they have is AWESOME. Like the strange kinds of matroshka dolls they have. Oh my GOD. I would explain them here but I’m buying some as gifts so no one’s allowed to know just yet! But AH. SO great. And then they have some cool T-shirts…I want to get one with Cheburashka on it. But they also have one that says “Che burasha” (as in Che Guevara) and Cheburashka’s holding an automatic. I’m sorry, that is hilarious. They also have one that says “I have been to Russia. There are no bears.” It’s not really that funny, but somewhat amusing.
Oh and THEN we met the most fantastic woman EVER. So she was selling these matroshka dolls and Ivan wanted one in particular (I won’t say which one, I don’t know if it’s a gift for someone? Anyway) and the woman didn’t have it, so she ran around to other stands trying to find it. So she found it for him, and was talking to us for awhile. But anyway she was SO nice so then I bought a matroshka from her, and then as we were leaving she gave us two little matroshka keychains as gifts! I don’t know. She was just SO nice it was crazy. And anyone that’s, like, friendly by American standards is a GEM in Russia. (Do people still use the word “gem”?)
Then we saw a Starbucks. This was insane. We went inside to look around. They’re exactly like starbucks in America, only the prices are more than twice as high. So we just sort of walked around and then walked out. I would say it was a good experience.
We also saw TGI Friday’s. Then went into a bookstore so I could buy some city guides to Moscow and St. Petersburg, since I’m on my own without Ivan’s Lonely Planet at this point. And I was excited because I found one that wasn’t too expensive for Moscow, and figured I’d get the identical one for St. Petersburg too. And then I went to pay for it and when she said the price I thought she said something different, (--60 instead of -600) and ended up paying way more than I wanted to. It turns out the St. Petersburg guide was twice the price of the Moscow guide, and then I was REALLY sad, and when I realized my mistake and asked if I could return it they said no. So I went from being really thrilled to really really sad. And then on our way back on the metro we got on at a different Arbat, went one stop, walked to the other arbat, went one stop, walked to another stop, went one stop, and so one. We probably walked just as much as we rode the metro. Also I love my furry boots but they are NOT comfortable to walk around in.
So then we went to the McDonald’s with the wifi which was fabulous. And wandered back and went to bed. However, IVAN, you did NOT wake me up before you left like I asked you to which means I didn’t get to say goodbye and THAT IS SAD. I’ll forgive you.
So I woke up at like 7:15 and sat in bed for about half an hour before getting up, brushing my teeth, and trying to find some sort of food store. I was really hoping for a “Bcyo Budet OK gypermarket” but there wasn’t one. So I walked for a long time before finding a place where I could buy bread, eggs, and an apple. Came back, took a shower, made breakfast, sat and talked to people, read. I’m probably going to check my email, read some of my Moscow guide, and go see things. Maybe later I’ll post this. Probably will call home tomorrow night, as it will be tomorrow morning’s Christmas in America.
I love this hostel, by the way. The owner is AWESOME and all the people here are really cool. Even the Australians, who complained about getting robbed by the police after they were dumb enough to go and smile and say hello when they were in Irkutsk. Who smiles, let alone greets, Russian police officers? It’s when I hear stories like that that I’m really glad I can actually somewhat speak the language. Although knowing the laws about fines and passports and embassies isn’t really that hard to do.
Oh, I forgot to mention, that the street vendors on Arbat are the easiest people to haggle with in the WORLD. In fact, you don’t even have to, they’ll do it for you. Like, I ask how much something is….well here’s a sample convo:
Natasha: How much?
Street vendor (of matroshkas): 450.
Natasha: *is in the process of inhaling, which is part of breathing, which is necessary*
Street vendor: Well okay I guess I could do 400.
Natasha: *looks at the street vendor*
Street vendor: Well, you’re what, a student? And students are usually on a budget. Okay, 350.
*pause that is longer than a second and a half*
Natasha: 300?
Street vendor: well….*pause. Probably 2 seconds*…Okay. *smile*. Here you go. Do you need a bag?
Natasha: How much?
Street Vendor (of T-shirts): 300. But I guess if you wanted we could go cheaper.
No, I’m going to turn down the cheaper offer and stick with the 300. Like, what?
Later:
So today I read my Moscow guidebook and decided that I want to cover the Kremlin, Red Square, and Kitai-Gorod areas before leaving for St. Petersburg on Wednesday (also I don’t know if I mentioned this, but the hostel where I’m staying is located in Kitai-Gorod, which I guess could be translated to Chinatown. Except the only part of China that is here is the guy from Hong Kong staying at this hostel. And a picture of a yin-yang on a poster. And a sushi restaurant, which is technically Japanese, but I guess it’s part of Asia, which is closer.) Anyway so I left today and just sort of wandered around. I started off in the direction my guide told me to, and came across this building that looked quite important. Turned out it was the ГУМ, so I went and walked around there for a bit, as I felt it was a necessary tourist activity. Turns out it’s more like the ritziest mall EVER. 3 floors of stores I would never go to. And lots of fancy cafes. But I guess it was pretty. I had to walk around like a Muscovite so as to conceal my foreigner identity, meaning that I had to look as if I was unhappy, knew where I was going, and was planning on getting there in a timely fashion. But I couldn’t walk too fast, or else I wouldn’t have been able to see anything. This was really all carefully planned and quite successful.
So as I wandered the streets I saw a lot of pretty buildings. It’s funny, there are a LOT of gorgeous buildings in Moscow. And I haven’t even been to that many parts of Moscow yet. But there are SO many. And then there’s also a bunch of Soviet-era ugly buildings. And ugly city-ness. But there’s so much that is SO pretty. And you can just be walking down the street and there are a bunch of ugly buildings and cafes and right in the middle of it all is an Orthodox Church. And if you’re not paying attention, you won’t even notice it, because it’s almost buried by commercialism.
I may not have mentioned this before. I LOVE ORTHODOX CHURCHES. I love the sound of the bells, of the people when they sing (choir? They’re usually sad sounding. Actually I think they’re always sad sounding, even when the Russians in the Orthodox Church rejoice, they aren’t entirely, or even partially, enthusiastic. In my experience anyway.), the smell of the candles and the incense, the icons, etc. I LOVE IT. Which makes Moscow a particularly good place to be, because there are like 18,000 Russian Orthodox cathedrals and churches. I always feel awkward though, because it’s not my church, and to be totally honest, I’m still not entirely sure about Orthodox Church etiquette. But anyway.
So I saw like 10,000 of those and they were all really pretty. I’m going to St. Basil’s tomorrow. As I was wandering around the Kitai-Gorod I found Moo-Moo café, which has cow prints all over it, and has all kinds of Russian food. Tatiana gave us a menu to read in class one day, so I wanted to go and experience the real thing. But then it looked sort of busy, and I was by myself, and I didn’t want to be the loser eating dinner by herself. 95% of the time I don’t care but every once in awhile I do. I was also sort of sad as I was walking around Red Square and watching the people ice skating (they have a rink in the middle…a Chocoladnitza is attached) and kind of wishing that I had a travel buddy, because ice skating alone just isn’t very fun. I actually like traveling alone, and doing a lot of the sightseeing stuff alone, but every once in awhile I feel like it would be nice to be with someone. Speaking of which, Denis’s phone isn’t working or something so I can’t get ahold of him, which is sad.
So then I was cold and a little bit tired so I stopped in a different Chocoladnitza (they are EVERYWHERE), but contrary to what I thought, it’s like a REALLY nice coffee shop chain. They have comfy chairs and a totally fabulous menu. I had some raspberry thing and some tea and was very, very satisfied with it. Their blini looked good too.
So then I wandered around trying to find other things…mainly more churches. But ended up taking a wrong turn somewhere and not understanding why I had made my way back to the Kremlin. I just figured that it wasn’t really important, since the Kremlin seems to be everywhere, instead of seeing it for what it was-a sign that I had taken a wrong turn. But I found this souvenir market, which was actually a bunch of kiosks (half of which were closed, since it was like 7:30) and looked around. I think I might go back tomorrow or next week when everything is open. This market was also right next to Red Square.
Okay. The experience of walking into Red Square is something that just absolutely cannot be recreated. Especially at night. Coming through the Resurrection Gate, and then seeing ГУМ and Kazansky Cathedral on the left, the Kremlin/Savoir’s tower and Lenin’s tomb on the left, and as you keep walking St. Basil’s comes into view. And it is all so big and so full of history gorgeous and SO BREATHTAKING. EVERY TIME. I hope you all one day come to Moscow just to experience this, because it is worth it.
I like Moscow a lot.
1 comment:
Natasha. Bez controlya.
I bought chupa chups.
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