Crystal in Russia

Moscow in One Pair of Shoes

Last Saturday we took the overnight train to Vladimir, a city outside of Moscow. Vladimir is actually the size of Columbia, SC, but after spending the summer in SPb we were unimpressed. I eventually grew to like it, though I would not have done the ACTR program there.

The Russian train is like camping. I could go on, but I won't. Most of the time we were asleep anyway.

We spent two days in Vladimir, looking at lots of churches. At this monastery for women I was confronted by gypsy children. A little girl pointed at me and yelled, "indeyka!" which I'm pretty sure means an Indian woman. Then she and her brother ran up to me and demanded kopecks. The tour guide pushed them away and told me to go to the bus. Not terribly dramatic, but still strange. That night we found the BBC News channel and gathered to watch the news in English (SPb has no channels in English). The news was quite depressing, so we switched to VH1, where they were showing old American videos.

The second day of Vladimir we went to Suzdal, a town that has been preserved from industrial development. It looks like a very nice country town. They have an "open air museum" of wooden houses and churches. It reminded me of Gastonia's Back Country Farm, except there were no animals. And it showed how rurals Russians lived before America was even discovered. That night in Vladimir I went to MacKing, which is supposed to be Burger King. It was so wonderful. The restaurant was quite nice (=American standards), but they basically ripped off the Lion King and Disney. Then we went to this club with hardly any people. No one was dancing, so I made up a few new moves that I really hope the Russians don't copy. I don't want to come back and see them doing the hula and the Electric Slide to techno.

The third day, we went to Sergiev Posad, the first home of the Orthodox church. It is a monastery with lots of churches.

Finally we moved on to Moscow. Our hotel there was very nice--it was where the Olympic Village was. Here's what I did, then a few comments on the city:

Tuesday 8-1: Red Square at night. Awesome. We walked around GUM (a huge mall) and ate at Sbarros.

Wednesday 8-2: We toured the Kremlin, but all of us were exhausted. I may not have mentioned it, but every time we have an excursion the tour guide speaks all in Russian. By this day I was ready to give up trying to understand, especially when we went into yet another cathedral. Then we split up, and I found the Polytechnic Museum. It is Russia's version of the history of technology, with exhibits on telephones, computers, oil and mining, and electric, water, and nuclear energy. I loved it. That night I went to the Hard Rock Cafe, and it was like stepping through a stargate into America. I ate a really good bacon cheeseburger.

Thursday 8-3: We stood in line to see Lenin for 2 hours. His body has been preserved and is on display three days a week. It was very creepy, but cool. Then I found the first McDonalds ever in Russia, and then I went to the Museum of the Contemporary History of Russia. Since it started as a history of the Soviet Union, it showed the revolution as the greatest moment in history, but it did a fair job of showing all the problems that resulted, and ended with the collapse and the elections of Yeltsin and Putin. Then I ate at KFC, and the chicken actually tasted like KFC chicken. Last I went to this place that was once the exhibition center of the Soviet Union. Now it is a mall. The clash is very apparent.

Friday 8-4: I went to the market and bought souvenirs for everyone. I had fun bargaining. Then I went to the park of sculpture, which had some old sculptures from the Soviet Union that were taken down. Then I went to the Museum of Music and Culture and saw stuff that belonged to Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Rachmaninoff, and others. Then we got on the train and arrived back in SPb this morning.

I loved Moscow. It is very Russian. Where SPb has a lot of tourist information and signs in English, Moscow is completely foreign. I can't imagine not speaking English and trying to get around. A lot less people (in the stores and museums) spoke English to me, I assume because they don't know any. Moscow has more hills, and the buildings are taller and closer together. The metro is crazy. Every street is busy with people and cars. There is this loop around the center where I counted 7 lanes of traffic going each way. The cars are newer and more expensive (=foreign) than in Petersburg, too. The biggest difference was that you could still see Soviet Russia. SPb has done a good job of getting rid of the stars, sickles and hammers, and basreliefs of Lenin. But they're all over the buildings in Moscow. I was surprised, but it has only been 15 years.

I can't say which city I like better. I only have three more days in this country!

posted by Crystal @ 3:41 PM