Part 4 of 4: Cobblestones and Hobbled Hooves

As we mentioned in parts 2 and 3, we returned to Moscow (on the train from Kirov) on Thursday, June 17th. Rather than return to the US at that time, we stayed in Moscow until the following Monday. This extended vacation was courtesy of our friends at Delta, who felt they should charge $1600(!) more per person if we flew out on a Saturday or Sunday. Rather than spend $400 a night for a hotel downtown, we rented a 3 room apartment located in the heart of the city, on "Novy Arbat Street".

Our first impression of the building was not a good one. As we got off the elevator, there were locked doors to either side of us. A man wearing flip flops came out from one side, handed us a key, and showed us how to unlock the hallway door. The hallway to the apartment looked very scary, and we were a bit worried that we were overpaying for a bad room. Once we were in the apartment, our minds were quickly changed. The apartment was very spacious (compared to a hotel room), had a great view of the street, and provided all of the functionality we needed. The building didn't have running hot water, but there was an instant heater attached to the shower head, so we were able to have hot water for our showers.

After a quick settling in, our flippity floppity neighbor was nice enough to show us around the neighborhood. He showed us where some of the local shops were, and pointed out the location of a supermarket about 1/2 mile down the street. He also pointed out the signs for the Metro, and showed us one of the most innovative features of downtown Moscow. Rather than slow down traffic with pedestrian crossings, major Moscow streets are slightly raised, allowing pedestrian walkways to pass underneath them. One use was enough to convince us that every major US city should look into doing this.

Moscow is a city of 14 million, that is laid out similar to a wagon wheel. Major "Ring" streets circle the city, with highway-like spoke streets fanning out from the center. The innermost ring contains Red Square and the Kremlin, two of the most iconic Moscow locales.

Our first day was spent exploring Novy Arbat, and searching for the supermarket that our neighbor had pointed out. We never did find it (Kathy finally found more information online after we got home). Eventually we turned South, and entered Old Arbat Street (very similar to Nicollet Mall in Minnesota). Here we ate a wonderful meal at a street side cafe, looked in a few souvenir shops, and eventually found another supermarket, about 10 minutes from our apartment. We loaded up on food, wine, and water (LOTS of water), and headed back home.

Rather than watch TV while we were on Novy Arbat, our time was spent watching the street 22 floors below us. Rush hour started at about 5:30, and lasted until well after 10pm. The picture above was taken at about 9:30 at night, and the traffic heading down did not move for about 15 minutes. It was also very interesting watching the center lane. Police cars, ambulances, and government vehicles (traveling both directions!) all used the lane, often at high speeds. On more than one occasion, we saw two vehicles speeding towards each other, just barely wedge their way into traffic, and then accelerate once again.

On Friday, June 18th, after we had completed our 8-doctor medical, Kathy decided that we were going to go to a German pub called "Beer House". We weren't quite sure where it was, so Alan used his web scanning skills to find the address (on a fully Russian language page of Google Maps, no less!) We put on our walking shoes, and set out for some German Beer. The walk to and from Beer House was very nice. We walked along one of the Ring streets, in a parkway that divided the north and south driving lanes. There were many fountains and statues, dedicated to various Russians throughout history.

Once we arrived at Beer House, the atmosphere was unfortunately... let's just call it ambivalent. The greeter showed us into the restaurant but then forced for us to go ahead of him(very odd), the waitresses avoided eye contact with the patrons that wished to be served food, and Kathy's entree - grilled cheese (literally, a large flat piece of cheese that was grilled on either side) was brought to the table almost 10 minutes after Alan's Schnitzel had arrived. We were getting used to some of the differences in Russian culture, but that place stood out as particularly unfriendly. After the walk home, it was time for more relaxation and watching the Novy Arbat channel.

Saturday morning, we decided to make the big trip: Red Square, the heart of Moscow. We knew that Novy Arbat led to the center of town, and we were able to see the towers of the Kremlin from our apartment, but otherwise we were ill prepared for what the day held. The closer we got, the more the red castle walls of the Kremlin towered over us. We weren't quite sure where Red Square was, so we first tried going south. Soon we were at the river, and still the Kremlin walls blocked our path. Kathy went inside a ticket building (Alan stubbornly refused to get directions), and had soon purchased 2 tickets to tour the Kremlin. After an aborted first attempt to enter (no large bags are allowed), we eventually made it in.

The Kremlin is still the functioning seat of government in Russia, but it is very different than any other place we had seen. Originally a fortress built to repel invading forces, there were many government buildings and churches concentrated in a small area. The churches were absolutely breathtaking. All of them were at least 400 years old, with two dating back to the early 1300s. Inside, every inch of wall or ceiling was painted or gilded. One church housed the tombs of the Ryurikovich and Romanov families, another featured a gigantic mural of the apostles. As an American, it was very overwhelming to know that the floor we stood on had been laid 100 years before Christopher Columbus was even born.

We were surprised at how beautiful the Kremlin gardens were. Very large, stretching almost the entire length of the eastern wall, flowers were planted to form very ornate patterns when viewed from above. We also saw the Tsar's Bell (a bell so large it wouldn't fit in the cathedral it was built for) and the Tsar's Cannon (too large to move into a firing position). After a few hours, it was time to leave the Kremlin, and continue our search for Red Square.

As we continued our walk further north, nature began calling us. We saw signs for a Water Closet (WC), and began heading down flight after flight of stairs. When we reached the WC, we found out they were pay toilets. There was an attendant stand, and we each paid 20 rubles (about 70 cents) to proceed further. Just beyond the stand, there were signs for a food court. We decided to go that way, and discovered that we had taken a back entry into a large underground mall. The ceiling was at ground level, and had huge skylights which let in plenty of natural light. However, this wasn't Red Square, so we continued on our journey.

I've just noticed how long this blog entry is, and realized that the time has grown very late. Will we ever make to Red Square? What did we do on Sunday? Did we make it home okay, or was our plane pulled out of the sky by a freak electromagnetic event caused by a bearded British guy not entering lottery numbers into a computer? Find out tomorrow in part 5 (of 4): Overtime.