Wandering North

Europe Russia Russia Trip 2007

An Evening at the Ballet

Another day in Moscow and it was a thoroughly Russian day.

We spent several hours at the Kremlin exploring the numerous churches, many of which are about 500 years old and filled with tombs and iconoclasts and all the usual Catholic bells and whistles. (They certainly did favor some violent imagery, those Catholics.) Everything was so beautiful.

We visited the Armory Museum (also at the Kremlin), which houses all of the riches of the Romanovs. The carriages were particularly impressive, as were the coronation gowns.

After that we were quite fatigued, so we wandered over to Theatre Square, where we had a leisurely dinner before going to the opera at the Bolshoi. On our way in we stopped by the cocktail area of the theatre and Betty Lou spontaneously splurged on some caviar – the perfect pre-show treat at the Bolshoi.

A side note: One odd thing we have noticed is that Moscovites seem to have a penchant for ice cream. There are ice cream vendors on every corner and every 50 feet or so in the mall. They eat ice cream at breakfast and stroll leisurely down the ulitsa (street) licking cones even in the most frigid of weather. Weird. What else can I say?

We’re tired. That’s all, folks. Thanks for checking in on us.

Europe Russia Russia Trip 2007

Mastering the Moscow Metro

Good Day.

We awoke this morning after a surprisingly restful and cozy sleep in our somewhat shabby room. Much to our surprise it was snowing. That’s right, snowing. Fortunately the snow did not last long and it was atmospheric; it IS Russia after all, and it wouldn’t feel right without a little snow.

We ventured onto the Metro (the subway) today to transport ourselves to Red Square. It was quite an adventure, but one, I am pleased to say was without incident. Of course, none of the ticket sellers spoke English, so we had to rely on our rough and rudimentary Russian. Amazingly, we were able to purchase our tickets and made it to our destination. I must note, first of all that the signs in the Metro are entirely in Cyrillic. I must also comment on the stations themselves, which are quite ornate and extremely clean; some of the stations had chandeliers, other had stained glass and sculptures.

We arrived in Red Square and were greeted by St. Basil’s Cathedral, which is magnificent, so much so that it does not seem real. We wandered around the area and visited numerous churches, a former residence of the Romanovs, and the site of the (former) KGB, which, strangely is right across the street from the world’s largest toy store.

Also, at Red Square, we witnessed a curious sight: hundreds of Russian soldiers lined up like, well, soldiers participating in what appeared to be a military ceremony. We couldn’t communicate with anyone to find out what it was, but there was solemn singing and men in uniform.

At some point the sun came out and it was actually beautifully warm…for about 20 minutes.

My great moment of triumph came when I stumbled upon a shop selling candy, coffee, tea, wine, and…..cigars! Despite the fact that the sales people didn’t speak English, I successfully made my purchase. Victory!!

Tomorrow we head to the Kremlin, where, sadly, Lenin is unavailable for viewing. [insert our pouting faces here] That’s right, the old guy had better things to do apparently. Truthfully, I don’t know why his tomb isn’t open, but it is closed until the 15th. Tomorrow night we head to the Bolshoi to see the ballet.

That’s all. Happy trails,

dale & lou

Europe Russia Russia Trip 2007

So Much for Sensible Shoes

It is a very sunny morning here in Moscow.

Betty Lou and I have just awoken.

A random tale which I forgot to mention in the last post:

I had been congratulating myself for wearing my sensible Doc Martens on this trip (or rather, I had been thanking Betty Lou for urging me to wear them rather than the more stylish shoes I had originally selected), it seems however that even the most cautious and sturdy of footwear was not enough to save me from my own innate clumsiness. Yesterday as we were entering the rather posh and famous GUM department store I tripped and fell on my face, losing both my balance, my grip of my guidebook, and my pride. The security guard, standing on the other side of a window, looked at me, placed his hand over his heart and shook his head. I laughed.

Dawn, I knew you would appreciate that story.
Later, d

Europe Netherlands Russia Russia Trip 2007

From Amsterdam to Moscow

Please forgive me for this being so brief, but it is quite late and others are waiting to use this computer.

We flew via Stockholm to Moscow and arrived this evening. It is cold. About 6 degrees. I have to admit this is a bit intimidating. Most people don’t speak English and all of the signs are in Cyrillic. I am, however, pleased and proud to report that this evening BL and I managed to find a restaurant, order food and pay for it in Roubles. She had borscht. I had vodka.

Our hostel in Moscow (The Godzilla Hostel) is…well, it’s no Hotel Brouwer, but it is clean and has all of the amenities we could need.

We will post when we can. Tomorrow we are off to Red Square and to view Lenin’s body.

That’s all for now.
Da svidanya.

Russia Russia Trip 2007

Introduction

Betty Lou suggested that we create a blog to document our adventures and keep friends and family informed as to our whereabouts while we are on our trip. This is it. We do not leave until the end of April, but I wanted to post this introduction to test out the site. I have no idea how often we will be posting, but check in often for updates. If you would like to email either Betty Lou or me while we are away, you may do so at drnorth@telus.net