Moscow

Alright everyone, time for a long-awaited up date! Sorry I haven’t been better about keeping up this blog, but life is crazy!! Ok, well, let me start at the beginning. Almost three weeks ago, my program and I took a trip to Moscow! We took an overnight train from Petersburg that arrived in Moscow at some obscenely early hour (it was 7 a.m. or something like that). Anyway, we spent our first day on the bus, touring around the city. I saw so much!! We drove by the Kremlin/Red Square, we made our way into the communion line (by accident, I might add) at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (which Stalin originally had demolished and served as the world largest swimming pool for awhile), МГУ (Moscow State University – which is a freaking monster, let me tell you), and a bunch of sights. Afterwards, some of my friends and I went to Izmaylovo Market, for the first time, which was fun to see. There weren’t all that many vendors out because it was a Friday, but it was still interesting. We only ended up staying for an hour because we were so cold. Anyway, we stayed in a hotel that was also a casino, which made for an interesting combination. There were a bunch of shops in the bottom of the hotel, which were fun to look at, but way to expensive. The next day consisted of a walking tour of Moscow, which was fun, but super long. We started the day at the Kremlin and walked around it and had the buildings explained to us. While it was interesting to learn about all the different churches and buildings, it was uber cold and windy, which didn’t make for a super fun time standing outside. So we went into one of the churches to check out the interior, and a bunch of Russia school kids from Novosibirsk ranging in age from 10-12 found out that I was American and they thought that was so cool so they started to ask me all sorts of questions in the little English they had learned in school. It was kind of funny to be surrounded by 15 school kids asking you about America. One kid really wanted to know if I had seen the White House and when I told him yes, he just about died because he thought that was the coolest thing in the world. After touring around the churches of the Kremlin, we went inside (thank goodness) to the Armory, which was awesome. They had a really cool collection of dresses that tsarinas like Catherine the Great wore (she was not a small lady) and other cool jewelry. Also, there was this amazing collection of carriages. They were so ornate and had such detail in the decorations. It really blew my mind. They also had some of the crowned jewels and some of the thrones some of the tsars used. It was super cool. I also got to see some original Fabrige eggs, but sadly, they were closed. Nevertheless, they were still beautiful. After our tour ended there, walked to the Red Square, which is just breathtaking. St. Basil’s is just as pretty in real life as it is in pictures. After we finished the tour in the Red Square, and couple of my friends and I went into GUM (a.k.a. my shopping heaven) and got some lunch at a small pizza place they had. GUM is filled of all sorts of amazing stores that I can’t even begin to afford, but it was still fun to window shop. After our lunch, we walked over to the Old Arabat, which is an old street in Moscow that is a must-see if you are there. There were all sorts of artists on the street selling all sorts of souvenirs and there were really pretty buildings and most importantly, a Starbucks. Okay, okay, okay. I know it sounds bad, but really, I miss American coffee and they don’t have one in St. Petersburg so I treated myself to one latte, and it was GLORIOUS. After warming up with a cup of coffee, my friends and I set off again in hopes of finding the Russian White House. By this time, it was dark outside (and it was only 5) and the city looked really cool all lit up. We eventually found the Russian White House, where in 1991 Yeltsin rallied the opposition to confound the 1991 hardline coup and then in 1993 where he sent in tanks to blast out the conservatives rivals who were in there. So now I can say I have seen two White Houses. I think that’s kind of cool. Anyway, as we were walking back to the metro, we stumbled upon the COOLEST playground ever right behind the White House. The child in us couldn’t resist, so we went and played on the awesome playground! Oh it was so much fun. And then we walked back towards the metro so we could head to the Red Square. We stumbled upon one of the most amazing metro stops I have ever seen in my life. People really aren’t kidding when they say that Moscow has one of the most beautiful metro stations in the world. So we arrived at the Red Square, and it was beautiful! Everything was all lit up and looked gorgeous. Of course, we took loads of loads of pictures, but then started to get hungry, so we found some food and ate. Then we took another walk around GUM, mainly because it was so cold outside, and did some more window shopping. After that, we headed back to our hotel and went to sleep for the night. The next day, I went back to Izmaylovo Market, and I’m glad that I did. There were seven times as many vendors there that Sunday then there were on Friday. They also had women pushing carts around with food in them for sale, along with tea, coffee, and something else that I don’t remember. The market was so cool. People had all sorts of things for sale, ranging from nesting dolls, to amber jewelry, to leftovers of pieces of life in Soviet era. We spent a fair amount of time there, just wandering because it was just so cool to look at. Afterwards, we headed towards Novospassky Monastery, which was super pretty. We walked around there for awhile, and then went back to the hotel, got our things, and then got back on a train to St. Petersburg. After our weekend in Moscow, I must say, I like it better there than in Petersburg. The people were nicer, the city was cleaner, and the fashion was WAY better. Too bad there is a HUGE price tag that comes along with living there. I’m going to end this post here, but don’t go away because I still have a lot more to talk about (my week in Poland, the snow/ice/mush covering Petersburg, etc.,).