Moscow, Russia
After leaving the UK I spent two and a half days in Moscow staying with a friend. My good luck with the English weather didn’t stay with me, and Moscow was grey, wet and bleak for the whole time I was there, despite Tara’s assurances that it is usually stifling hot at this time of year. For Kiwis who imagine Russia to be a cold, desolate place anyway, it probably comes as no surprise. But the weather did have a bearing on my mood and experiences.
It was my first time in Russia so the first full day I was there I did the typical tourist things. Visited the Kremlin, Red Square and St Basil’s Cathedral. St Basil’s is neat. The outside is spectacular enough, but you can’t even imagine what is like inside. There is one central chapel in the middle, surrounded by eight other chapels under each of the domes. The walls are all colourfully painted, and the brick floor is so old that the bricks have worn down leaving you walking on the mortar that holds them together.
Within the Kremlin walls you have to be careful not to stray off in the wrong direction or else you get told off by the guards, as it is the working offices of the President. But there are four different cathedrals to visit, and a few other buildings you can see. The Russian cathedrals are such a contrast to the English cathedrals I visited the previous week. Small, cosy buildings, not much light inside, and the walls and ceilings are completely covered in religious images and icons. Unfortunately nothing is labelled in English so I didn’t really have much appreciation of what it was I was looking at.
If you want any kind of confirmation that Russia has thrown off the shackles of communism and joined the capitalist west, you need look no further than the GUM department store. Built by the Soviets, it now contains 1,000 different stores including all of the big expensive western designer brands – Gucci, Armani, YSL, etc, etc. I didn’t buy anything but it was a good place to shelter during one of the frequent downpours outside.
My second day in Russia I went shopping for typically Russian souvenirs. And then went to a Russian Art Gallery to soak up some Soviet culture. Not exactly propaganda, but lots of idealised images of Russian daily life, peasant life, etc. Very interesting. That evening Tara and I had dinner at her Siberian friends’ house. I got to try home made borsch and blinis. Oh how I wish I had the recipe. It was so delicious. Cabbage soup may not sound exciting but oh it is so tasty and hearty. And such an enjoyable evening with the locals.
My last day I only had half a day available and spent it just wandering round the streets of Moscow. A lot of people drive cars in Moscow and as a result it is quite dirty and polluted. But they do make an effort to keep things clean. A lot of the buildings are brightly painted in pastel colours and I did see several that had been freshly painted or cleaned. It’s a rather old city, and reminds me of the older parts of other European cities. Outside of the city centre everyone lives in apartment blocks, and things look a bit newer but not as pretty.
I caught the bus to Moscow airport at 2.30pm local time, and arrived home exactly 36 hours later...
Oxford, England - Part II
Towards the end of my stay in Oxford, Tina and I took a two day trip down to Dorset on the south coast of England. Tina took Friday off work and we headed off early that morning, trying to avoid all the long weekend traffic, with the following Monday being a bank holiday.
We headed west to Bristol and down to Cheddar Gorge, origin of cheddar cheese and the biggest gorge in Britain. Compared to say the Manawatu Gorge it wasn’t so big, but the cliffs were pretty spectacular towering above us. We parked halfway up the gorge and walked back down to the township, along with dozens of other tourists. But despite being crowded it was a pleasant little village. We went to a cheese factory and sampled some real cheddar. Much tastier than what we buy as “cheddar” cheese. We were keen to climb the 100+ steps of Jacobs Ladder up to the top of the gorge, until we found out they wanted to charge almost three pounds for it. So we passed on that.
Then it was off to the town of Wells, where we ate our cheddar sandwiches in a sunny park, overlooking the moat around the Bishops Palace and the cathedral. While the cathedral wasn’t as large as Salisbury it was almost as impressive. Wells town is very pretty and looks quite European with flowers hanging everywhere.
Next stop was Glastonbury where we looked around but as it was nearly closing time at the Abbey we didn’t stay. Glastonbury Abbey is said to be the burial place of King Arthur and Guinevere, and the town is full of new age, spiritual, hippy stores. Not really my cup of tea.
Then we drove by the well-endowed Cerne Abbas chalk giant on our way to the small village of Osmington, just along the coast from Weymouth. We left our trip planning a little late and consequently had to ring round at least 15 B&B’s the night before until we found one with a room available. But we were not disappointed. We found our B&B situated down a side lane in an old stone cottage with ivy growing all over the walls, and neighbouring houses with thatched roofs. So cute!
The next day, Saturday, we explored the Dorset coast, starting with Lulworth Cove (an almost circular cove surrounded by cliffs and perfect hideaway for smugglers) and Durdle Door (similar to NZ’s hole in the rock), joined by a 2km walk up and over the cliffs and affording stunning scenery of the cliffs and English Channel.
Drove through Weymouth and were surprised to find it teeming with holiday makers and the beach covered with people and deck chairs. It was even more of a seaside town than Brighton. We followed the small country roads back to Glastonbury, where we finally saw the ruins of the old Abbey. Pretty amazing to see how much is still standing considering it was abandoned almost 500 years ago. Then it was back to Oxford again.
Spent a bit more time in Oxford but there isn’t really a lot for the tourist to do. Didn’t try punting, but we did have a picnic down by the river and watched other people trying to punt. Probably almost as much fun as doing it yourself! Visited Blenheim Palace, which was gifted to the Churchill family by Queen Anne as thanks for John Churchill (the Duke of Marlborough)'s role in defeating the French, and was where Sir Winston grew up. Didn’t go inside, but the grounds are lovely and stretch for literally miles.
The 10 days I spent in Oxford just flew by. It is a really good place to base yourself to be able to see the surrounding areas. The Cotswolds are literally just outside the city. Salisbury is an hour and a half drive to the south, Bristol and Bath are an hour and a half to the west, and London is an hour and a half to the east. And although I didn’t go there, I think Stratford on Avon would be just as close to the north.
