Day 8 - Moscow

Saturday, 11/29 -

Oddly enough, I slept pretty good on the train considering this was the one place I assumed I would get no shut eye. I had booked a 2nd class kupe and catching the train was easier than I imagined it would be. My roommate was an older woman who was deep in thought almost the entire trip writing. I had hoped it would only be the two of us. Then, a cute guy arrived, but the smell of vodka on his breath ruined all chances of my ever fantasizing about him again.

Both the man and woman pretty much ignored me, speaking only to one another, except for the man who asked where I was from. I replied, "United States", and he was confused. I told him, "New York City", and he said "Oh, America". Oh, and the man was super strong, hauling my suitcase up into the overhead space. With all the books I purchased at Dom Kingi, I'm surprised he didn't put his back out. Once in awhile, as they were talking amongst themselves, they would both glance at me. I'm sure, by the looks, they were talking about me. A lone American woman without much knowledge of the language must've been a curious sight to them.

We arrived at Moscow Station on time. Russian trains run timely to a fault. I had another experience with squat toilets in the station restroom, thinking I'd left that behind for good in Taiwan. As I was leaving, the most gut wrenching incident occurred - a kitten. Someone must have recently dumped a kitten in the station and it was left to defend itself. Russia has a huge stray problem and it wasn't unusual to see dogs and cats allover the place. However, seeing a kitten scared and crying was too much for me to take. I bought a chicken wing and placed it behind the timetable board where it was hiding out. Talk about your heartstrings being pulled.

Getting to the hostel was a chore, especially now that I had a suitcase that weighed a ton. I didn't read the directions properly and became lost once I got to the Kitai Gorad stop, which has several different exits. Eventually, I found the hostel and was met by silence. There was no reception person around. Instead, on the sofa lay many individuals sleeping, including what I was later to discover, the reception person. I was getting anxious, I had only one full day in Moscow and the clock was ticking. I met C, who had also just arrived from St. Petersburg, and he had also stayed in the same place I had, although we never crossed paths.

I searched for, and found, a clean towel taking it upon myself to take a shower and get ready - some of it in the middle of the reception room. Finally fed up, I called the customer service number on the wall and complained in such a snotty way. Then, several phones began ringing and the reception person was roused from her slumber. Acknowledging C and I, she told us flat out that check-in time was at 12 noon and we were to put our luggage in the hallway. C asked if I would mind a travel companion. I was hesitant at first considering he saw me at my bitchy worst, but I decided I could redeem myself and agreed. Besides, I met so many people, and didn't want to pass on another opportunity to get to know others.

Our first stop was Red Square, Lenin's mausoleum. The security for gaining access is a chore. Once you enter it's dark, and military personnel are lining the entire route around Lenin's body. There is no opportunity to stop, you must keep walking. You basically walk around Lenin. He's so weird looking and incredibly waxy. It's no surprise that there's a debate over whether that's really him in there.

One thing I noticed is that one hand is formed into a fist and the other is out casually. You can't see his legs and he's a bit propped up. C commented on all the marble inside the mausoleum but I couldn't take my eyes off Lenin for a moment, it was so eerie. You exit into the Kremlin Wall Necropolis which is a burial ground for past Soviet leaders and famous people. Later on, while we were waiting for photo ops outside the mausoleum, a woman took a photo of her dog after she had posed it outside, in front of Lenin's Mausoleum. I wished I had taken a picture of this, but missed it.

C and I went into the State Historical Museum realizing only afterwards that it wasn't the Armoury museum. In my confusion of the day, and lack of proper map, we didn't realize that the Kremlin entrance was something different entirely until a few minutes after it closed. I was upset but considering all we saw, it wasn't the worst thing in the world. St. Basil Cathedral held my interest more outside than inside. The amount of brides arriving to get their photos taken in front of everything in Red Square ran into double digits in the time we were there.

The walk to Christ the Savior Cathedral was freezing cold. Once there, we both got pushed around by a babushka, unhappy to see us wear gloves inside. She actually reached and yanked at them, indicating that they needed to come off...immediately. The rules for entering a Russian Orthodox church are: hats off for men, heads covered for women, and hands out of your pockets. Apparently, wearing gloves is disrespectful as well. All these rules!

We walked the famous Arbat Street from beginning to end where I broke down at Starbucks and bought a hot Tazo tea, welcoming capitalist American normalcy! We stopped in a few stores for souvenirs before moving on to tour the metro system a bit. The metro stations are amazing works of art. I couldn't remember at the time where I had read about the dog statue you're supposed to rub for good luck, but the stations we did see were all dazzling. We checked out a building of Stalinist architecture before grabbing a bite to eat.

It had been suggested to me previously that the food court in GUM was cheap and it was considering how expensive the city is. I finally indulged in Beef Stroganoff which tasted like it does back home, but at that moment felt oh so Russian.

It was a long day; by the end we felt it completely. I had to be up early the next morning if I wanted to have time to do a bit more and make my flight home.