Megz in America, England and Russia 2003

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...

posted by Megz @ 7:02 pm