I left my room about 8pm, heading for the train station.
I wasn’t taking the train, but I wanted to know that I knew where it was when ready to leave. Easier with no bags than with two.
Good thing I did try, as the platform was under renovation, there was a significant detour across two roads. Normally, there is an exit right from the Metro station. If it rains Wednesday, I’m not going to be happy with these renovations, by far.
Some workers had half the stairway blocked off and were placing concrete “top stones” to the stairs. Which really makes no sense, the stairs are already concrete, so why bother. The workers had a large circular saw and were cutting them to size, without ear plugs or dust masks. Also, they were doing all this a few week from the passersby. No pesky OSHA here.
A building on a platform?
I verified this was the correct platform and then left, walking up the road.
It was on the verge of getting dark and I was hoping to see some building all lit up.
I passed a building that appeared to be built on a elevated platform or old roadway. Not where I want my million dollar investment.
There was a major roadway interchange. I should have used the crossing tunnel, but I didn’t. It was quite busy and took me a couple of minutes for a clearance.
As soon as I reached the other side, the lights on the overpass came on.
VTB Arena
There wasn’t much to see, except a large stadium, the VTB Arena, which hosts hockey as well as football (soccer) matches. It is also a popular concert venue.
I got on the subway, going back to my room, but I had to make a transfer right next to Red Square, so I decided to try again. Maybe with no rain, they might be more to see.
I’m in luck, I come out a different exit right at the Bolshoi Theater. There must have been a performance letting out, as there were a lot of fancy outfits, as well as fancier cars.
St. Basil’s at night
I headed towards the square, but no luck there, few lights on the Kremlin or St Basil’s.
But since the sun wasn’t directly behind the basilica, and there was plenty of ambient light, I think I was able to get a better photo than before.
I see that the concert stage and barricades are now gone from the plaza, so I take a stroll through.
Even after 10pm on a Sunday night, their are plenty of families around.
Bolshoi Theater
Surprise, the “paint” had dried on the riverview platform, amazing how that happens after the event finished. I got a few shots of the nearby scenery from the end of the riverview platform, including a photo of the crescent moon (and Venus) over St. Basil’s.
The park has so many different things, that there are maps all around. But even though the maps show toilet icons, I see no toilet anywhere. One sign said there was one, but it was just a grassy area, I’m certain I’d be able to spot that one.
As I leave, one of the church bells starts to ring, 8 minutes late. I’ve noticed that the church bells seem to not care about actual time, the one near my room is 5 minutes too early. Well, if it wakes me up, its hours too early.
Novodevichy Cemetery is the final resting place of some of Russia’s most famous, much like Père Lachaise in Paris.
The problem is, they might be Russia famous, but they’re not US famous. Plus all the names are in Russian.
Tomb of Boris Yeltsin
I found Boris Yeltsin’s (it really stands out), I saw Khrushchev’s but did not transliterate the name, at the time.
Author Anton Chekhov and Mikhail Gorbachev are also are buried there.
Next door is a convent. I was uncertain whether I could enter, but after seeing a couple of men exiting, I decided to go ahead.
It was very lovely, the buildings were painted nicely. The lawn was not mown, but it looked “kept up.” There were workers laying down a new stone walkway.
I felt wrong taking photos, but I saw others doing it too, so I suppose it was okay.
I’m uncertain if it was a working convent or not, so many churches were closed during the revolution. Being Sunday morning, I suppose any nuns would have been in service while I was there.
Next I headed to the art district.
There is a small plaza with a bunch of galleries, all were closed, being Sunday. The buildings are designed and made up to look unique. Not only do they allow graffiti, but they probably encourage it, if it is artistic.
I had nothing else planned in this area, so I see a small park on the map. It shows a toilet, not that I need it, but always good to be near.
I cross a small river, yellow from pollen, and climb a steep hill. I followed the googled directions, but it led me to a construction tunnel. They have these 2×4 and corrugated steel protective walkways around all sorts of construction sites, meant to be a safe passage. Problem is, this one doesn’t go anywhere but to a locked gate.
Being daring, I push open the construction wall a bit and pass through. It should be okay, there is a gap between the fence and storage containers.
Oh crap, I stepped in it. I will presume it was an animal’s.
Then the only way out was to climb a very thin, hand made ladder, over a concrete barrier, onto the road. I don’t mean onto a space next to the road, but into one of the lanes.
It had rained last night, so there were some puddles that I could walk through, hoping to remove some of the mess off my shoe.
Climbing another hill, I reached the small park. Then I see the sign for the building next to it. It was a monastery.
I went in and browsed around.The convent was way better looking, but this had a fat, lazy cat.
They had a display of “pieces” of tombstones. I guess they were damaged in the revolution or perhaps some war.
People were going into one of the chapels, but I was not going in with dirty shoes. I was hoping that the crushed granite walkways were working it clean.
OK, I didn’t actually see any nuns or monks, but I did see a priest walking outside the convent.
I walked to the next station to head back for lunch.
I went to the supermarket and had a fairly hefty bag of food. But I can’t cross the road because there is a freakin bike race going down the street between me and my room.
I’ve been crossing roads with really fast cars for decades, I think a few bikes is no danger at all.
Normally I would just walk through, but there are police all along the road. I don’t think there is a tunnel cross walk anywhere close, so I just go for it. As I reach the other side, I’m facing 3 officers, they don’t say anything, so I just go around.
I cook and eat then head to my room to charge the pad. Alright, my roommates have both left, I’m solo. Maybe I can get sleep tonight without the snoring.
I wanted to go back to Red Square, to get some nighttime photos. I figured it would look great with the lights on.
As I step outside, I start feeling drops on my head. I had just looked at the weather app, it said there would be some light rain at 1am. I wouldn’t be out that late, otherwise I’d be locked out of the hostel.
It is light rain and I won’t be out long, quick photos and back.
I come out of the station, and I see few lights. Dang.
I had wanted to do the same in Saint Petersburg, but never made myself do it.
On the way to a different station entrance, a guy stops me and asks something. I respond with, “I don’t understand Russian.”
Oh, he knows a little English. I’m standing there in the rain and he wants my life story.
After a few minutes, he asks if I was going to the Metro. Then he walks with me, pushing a rental bike, through a tunnel under the roadway. He parks the bike in its cradle and walks with me into the station.
At this point, I’m not certain if he’s being friendly, or going to rob me. Big city, out of towner, it happens.
Then wants to know if I have phone number in Russia. He wanted to call me and invite me to go to church with him.
I was about to head back, when I noticed one more place marked on my may nearby, Gorky Park.
Disclaimer: I originally was confusing two Robin Williams films, Moscow on the Hudson and the World According to Garp. Neither of these has anything to do with Gorky Park, but it did lead me to come. Actually, I’ve never watched either movie.
Gorky Park is a decent sized park, plenty of trees and flower beds. The Russians sure do like their tulips.
There is a large square “pond” with water jets spraying in patterns. The ducks will come to you if they think you have food.
A dark tulip, almost goth.
Some local internet or cell phone company was putting on a concert, but the host kept droning on. Shut up and play music I’ve never heard.
They had another pond with paddle boat rentals.
I wandered around coming upon a playground. This playground had all kinds of equipment the safety police at home would never allow.
The swings were really tall, so the swingers could really get up there. Most were standard, two chain and a seat, but they also had some that were just knots at the end of ropes, much like a river swing.
They had a spinning rope carousel with disks you’d stand or sit on, I’ve seen similar on Survivor and Big Brother. These were all connected so that they would spin around. I guess the rule of the game is to make the others fall off by spinning fast.
There was a climbing pit, with ropes and slides and “boulders” to help you climb up or go down. It was shredded rubber lined, but a fall from the top would certainly hurt. It looked a bit steep, but I watched a toddler climb all the way up.
The bottom was filled with gravel, which the littlest ones decided it was better for throwing down the slide.
I love watching the kids as they can have equal amounts of joy and terror, at the same time. Plus some of the moms were kind of hot.
I’m doing the touristy thing today, I’m going to Red Square.
The Metro exits right on to the square, looking straight onto the Kremlin. The clock chimes 10:30, just as I approach.
Turning left, there is St. Basil’s Basilica, in all its colorfulness. There is a barricade and an officer blocking the entrance, so no going in.
There is a race going on today, I see hundreds of people in race vests, down below. This may explain the closure of the basilica.
A stage is set up not to far from the finish line, music blaring.
They have another stage being set up in front of the Kremlin, but the signs specify a concert on May 24. Maybe I will swing by after checking out of my room, but probably not.
I see a large sign for Lenin, I spot the security entrance and doesn’t look too long. That was just those allowed up to the security, they only allowed a few from the line to pass at a time. The real line was about a hundred or so. Screw that, I ain’t waiting for no dead guy.
Walking around the side, there is a small flowery path.
The ticket to enter the museum is 1000 rubles. They call it the Armory, but there were few weapons on display. It was mostly ordinary (but extravagant) items, like bowls, platters, mugs.
There were a dozen chariots and sleds used by the various Tsars and Emperors. I’m surprised that they would have kept so many. You’d think that a 14th century wagon master would have sold off or destroyed any of them as they became worn out. They wouldn’t have had the appreciation of history we have now.
Several churches or chapels are inside the walls. Would you believe they want 900 rubles just to go it? Everything there needs a ticket.
I leave the walled area, and head towards Basil’s again, I’m just heading that way. The guard and barricade are gone, so the race did have something to do with it.
Everyone must go through metal detectors to get into the staged area, but I can stand right behind the stage outside the fence, if someone wanted to do something destructive.
Everything I marked was over 3 years ago, so I keep looking at my place marks and wondering what I wanted to see at that location. This one just gave an address, in a park. Park items don’t normally have addresses. There is a “rock” hill and on the other side is an amphitheater. I wend to the top, but I can’t see myself purposely tagging this.
Maybe what I really wanted is a walkway that goes out over the river. The sign for that says it is “closed for paint.” Sounds like a lie to me.
There are a few more items down the river bank to see,m so I walk on.
The next is a statuary sculpture “Children are the Victims of Adult Vices.”
The 13 “evil” sculptures depict alcoholism, exploitation of child labor, indifference, drug addiction, prostitution, sadism, ignorance, pseudoscience, war, poverty, theft, capitol punishment, and advocating violence. Each work is incredibly detailed, showing figures closing in on the little golden boy and girl. Besides the children, the centerpiece of the work is the statue depicting indifference to these vices, and showing a man with closed eyes, plugged ears and folded arms.
Of note is the familiar looking mouse head on War’s bomb. Propaganda at its finest.
Next was the “Love Trees,” a set of metal frameworks with thousands of locks and ribbons from travelers from around the world.
When a couple get married, they write their names on a padlock (which is often the shape of a heart), lock it to some free space on one of the metal tree frames, and toss the key into the river. Although the practice is common in many other countries, the iron trees that lovers affix their lock to make Moscow’s bridge of love a unique and romantic site.
The giant Peter the Great statue stands nearby. One of the tallest in Europe, it might not have even been Peter.
According to one prominent rumor, it was actually created as a tribute to Christopher Columbus to mark the 500th anniversary of his first voyage.
According to this version of its origin story, the sculptor couldn’t find an American buyer for the work, so his friend and former mayor of Moscow commissioned the piece. It was reworked to represent the 300th anniversary of the Russian Navy Peter the Great founded and was finally erected in 1997.
The people of Moscow aren’t thrilled they wound up with the statue—after all, Peter the Great disliked the city so much he moved Russia’s capital to Saint Petersburg. It’s been proposed to relocate the monumental effigy to the emperor’s favored city, but so far Saint Petersburg has kindly declined that offer.
After VDNKh, I remembered there is another abbreviated station name, CSKA, which is short for some Russian words meaning “sports complex.”
I noticed it was a bit cooler in my room. A check of the weather, 56F. OK, I might need my jacket, but screw it. I know that it is just a ruse and it will jump 30 degrees in an hour.
Also, it was wet outside, it must have rained a bit. Maybe it will rain later.
The Metro exit takes you right to the entrance to the park. Apparently, there seems to be a old persons race starting soon. I don’t know the rules specify an age, but everyone wearing the race vests is on the backside of 60.
They have a water fountain where the water shoots up from lots of holes, sometimes in patterns. It was too cold for any kids to be playing in it and the wind was blowing mist towards me, making me colder.
It is not a park you go to to enjoy the scenery or to sit around. It is a sports park. There are running paths, exercise equipment, and even a rope castle for the kids (but not me <frown>).
I walked to the top of a hill, big mistake, the wind had nothing to slow it down now. I noticed there are 3 types of paths, concrete brick, shredded rubber (in different colors), and gravel. I wonder if they have different uses, like this is for running, this is for bikes, etc.
They had a duck pond, with someone’s dog lapping at the edge.
Honestly, this is not the park for me, I’m already in perfect shape.
I check the map, there’s Leningradsky Park, near by. Don’t ask why that’s in Moscow and not the former Leningrad.
One thing Russian cities have if green space. I have to walk down a very narrow park to get to the next park.
Leningradsky is nice enough, but nothing to see.
Another map check, there is something I have marked, the Experimentanium. I think it is a children’s science museum, but even though I found the building, there is no sign as to the entrance.
Getting hungry, I enter a “French” bakery and choose a black bread sandwich. You know what they say, “Once you go black bread…”
This was actually the first thing I’ve eaten that did not have cucumber or dill sprigs on it. But it wasn’t cut all the way through, so the back half had very little filling.
After eating, I jumped on the subway and headed to see the “animal” house. This is a building with exaggerated animal shapes covering it, but guess what, it is surrounded by scaffolding. Under repair or just being repainted.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
As I walk about, I see a green, yellow, and blue flag. A quick search says it is the flag of Gabon. There is no writing or signs on the building, but perhaps it is the embassy of Gabon. I do occasionally see guard huts next to gates, with mirrored glass, so you can’t see them.
Yesterday, I saw the Mexican embassy and Italy’s. This is the nation’s capital, so there should be lots of them.
Seeing the Gabon flag search, reminded me that Texas has an embassy in London, yes still. Somehow I missed seeing it on our trip. Strange that I had not thought of it for 8 years.
Later I see the building for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Yes, please, sign me up).
I was right, it has gone up to 73F. Take that you dumb jacket.
I decided that if I only have a 3 day metro ticket, I might as well get the items on my list that are the furthest away. Why waste a day walking around “local.”
I headed out to visit a botanical garden. I don’t know if there is a difference between garden and botanical garden.
After exiting the station, I walked down the road. I crossed a river, then took a turn onto a new road. Problem is it didn’t have a side walk, just a bare patch where others had walked.
I see a small path through the trees and I see a bridge, so I do the dumb thing and follow the little path. It took me down to the creek. The rivers and creeks I’ve seen are small, but fast.
There is nothing special, just an area where kids probably hang out breaking rules if not laws.
The creek has a large metal pipe running across. Do I dare to cross it, or do the sensible thing and go back? It is a challenge and I must conquer.
It was easy, until I got almost halfway. There were some tabs welded on it, on top of course. meaning I had to step over them, putting me out of balance.
I made it and continued to follow the path. I expected the path to return to the road, but it diverged further out, until I was walking down a paved path going through a semi-natural park.
It was quite nice, the wildness of everything, the flowers blooming willy-nilly. This was despite the path only being 30 feet from a roadway.
A check of the map showed I needed to turn and head away from the “wilds.”
I passed a small lake and made a detour to pass around it. You could rent paddle boats, but you wouldn’t want to get to close to the fountain. The Zolotoy Kolos fountain sprayed water in a 75 foot circle. Further up, there was a former ski ramp, but I don’t see how there was enough room to get up to speed.
There was an area with sunbathers, with clothes thankfully, it was mostly older people. The younger would be at work or university.
Multiple sand boxes for the tykes, but there seemed to be a “canal” meandering though them. I can’t quite figure out what they were for. They had “locks,” but I saw no way for water to enter or exit. If they were just for sand, then what were the locks for? Curious.
There was a giant climbing rope park, just for the kids, dangit.
The area had an “Eco bridge,” which was an elevated walkway through the trees. Isn’t the ground more “eco?” It was only 6 ft off the ground, so you really wouldn’t see much extra anyway.
An acre or so of cherry(?) trees surrounded a statue of someone I’d never heard of. Wait… What is that? I see the top of a freaking rocket.
Yep, there is a Vostok rocket surrounded by a Vertolot helicopter and Yak-42 and SU-27 airplanes. They all still had the original CCCP and Soviet flags painted on them.
Elsewhere they have a Buran Space Shuttle, which NASA obviously stole, even if no Buran ever left the planet. They have a tour, but the ticket office wasn’t open at the time.
Nearby, there is the remains of a 1938 agricultural exposition, initials VDNKh, which covers an area larger than Monoco. It was similar to the World’s Fair, but just Soviet Union countries. The Pavilions are still mostly intact, but some are currently under repair. Even walking by food courts, the flower’s aroma dominates.
Stone Flower Fountain sums up the Soviet philosophy: If you can’t make it good, make it big. If you can’t make it good looking, make it sparkle.
I see a Farris wheel, so I head towards it. You wouldn’t think it would be hard to find the location of something that big, but I came across a lot of dead ends and loop-backs, but finally go to it.
Normally, I wouldn’t consider going on a Ferris wheel, but I supposed I could get some good photos of the area and possibly find something else cool to visit. Checking the price, at an auto-kiosk, they want the equivalent of $30, plus it is card only, so I can’t buy one. Thanks Biden.
New York’s Central Park is a huge single park. This area is covered in smaller parks, sort of a Park Central. I headed off to another, to see the Museum of Cosmonautics.
I entered and headed to the ticket desk, but it was a “free day.” That’s my favorite type of day. There were plenty of groups of kids being taken on tours. I noticed quite a few had cameras on their watches. I don’t know if I ever seen that before, not even Apple watches do that, do they?
There were a lot of scale models of Russian and Soviet rockets and space capsules, and some USA’s including a Saturn V.
They have a Soyuz capsule that you can walk through and a Sputnik reproduction. They provide plenty of the era’s propaganda, as well as a horde of photos.
There is a large sphere with the globe illuminated on it, showing the launch trail of one of the Soyuz. I point out Florida to a couple next to me, the woman points out Cuba. We’re neighbors. I didn’t think of it at the time, but they might be one of the only people I meet that I might be able to chat with. Poorly, of course.
They have a display showing all the Russians who have gone to space. There’s still room, so I suppose they add new photos as needed.
Getting hungry, I headed back and went to the market. I’ve given up. The Russians don’t eat Russian food. All I find are kebab, shwarma, Chinese, and American restaurants.
I got sliced meat and cheese and some peanut butter and a pouch of raspberry jam. Yes, a pouch, just about every sauce here comes in a pouch with a twist cap. Cheaper to manufacture I suppose.
Went back to the kitchen and made some sandwiches. The peanut butter is more like the “natural” types in America, you have to re-stir it before use, also it is a bit paler, although that could just be the type of peanut used.
I went to my room, to check on my money, doing good, I still have some. Then started to pass out, but I didn’t want to sleep, so I set an alarm for 30 minutes. Just enough time to recharge my iPad and myself.
Alarm goes off and I head back out. I go into the metro and scan my card and RED. I try the next one and RED. Crap. My 3-day ticket was only a single day’s. I don’t know if I was cheated or the old woman just misunderstood.
I have to then swim upstream against the river of commuters and the ticket office is closed. I don’t know how to use the machines, so no ticket for me.
Oh, well, I decide to just walk down the Arbat promenade. At the other end, is near the next station. Maybe they still have a office open.
Good, they do, so I bought one, but I don’t want to use it yet. The clock starts when I first use it, so I hold off. I can just walk back now, and save the time for later when I really need it.
My time here is up, I set my alarm too freakin’ early, but didn’t want to have to pay for subway tickets. My pass expired ~7:30, so I checkout of my room, caught the metro to the bus stop.
Oh, good, I get directed to the side for extra screening at the metro station. Could be because of my baggage or maybe just random.
There is an express bus to the airport. I did not think there would be that many people, but it was packed.
We’re dropped off right at departures and I go check in at the desk. There is a quick x-ray of baggage as you enter. The desk lady pointed out that I needed gate 2. I’ve done this a few times, I look for the big number next to the word “gate.” But I guess not everyone has flown before.
Then I went through a boarding pass checkpoint, then regular security. Man, this was a breeze. No shoe removal, no electronics removal, no sanity removal. The only downside was that I had throw out a yogurt drink that I was going to drink while waiting for the bus, but they’re too quick.
I went down the hall and found gate 2. Crap, this place is small and packed. There are only 50 seats for an entire 737’s worth of passengers. Yes, I did count them, I am a weirdo like that.
I listen to some of the intercom messages, they’re in Russian and then English. I notice, a lot of flights getting shifted to other gates. I presumed it was because of delays in some other airline, but I’m going Aeroflot, the kingpin.
After the first plane loaded, I managed to grab a seat by the wall, so I could put my stuff in front of me. Still got about 4 hours to wait, so I nod off.
At some point, I decide to check my flight trackers. Just to see if where the plane was at the time, was the flight already having small delays, etc. Wait, WTF this says my flight is at gate 18, no that can’t be right. I check another, and another. Crap.
I get up, knowing I’m losing my prime seat, and go to find a display board. Yep, it says now at gate 18. Maybe they did have an announcement, but I was asleep, therefore it doesn’t count.
Also, there are 18 gates at LED, that means I am literally at the opposite end of the terminal. No big deal, still an hour at least.
I happen to see the boarding pass of a lady sitting next to me. She is clearly Russian, but her name on the pass is only Romanised. My name is also, but that’s my name, I would have thought that a Russian airline at a Russian airport would have the original names printed, at least for domestic.
Boarding pass states loading is at 11:20, doors close at 11:40. OK, why are we still sitting here at 11:29?
Finally, someone comes and unlocks the gangway doors and we all start going in. A couple of personnel run metal wands over us, despite already having gone through security, plus I didn’t even remove by backpack, so how good a job were they doing?
We pass on down and into the plane, no one checked boarding passes. I could be going almost any where in Russia.
I do have to say, with 4 “checks” this was still the easiest boarding yet, even easier than PreCheck.
It is only an hour flight, so we got a couple chocolate cookies and choice of coffee, tea, or water. Really surprised we got that much.
I go to get off the plane and… whoa… there are stairs. Good thing I was looking. We exit the plane and have to get onto a bus, we are way out from the terminal. I was near the front so I was able to get on the bus, many had to wait for another.
When mom and I flew from Inverness, Scotland to Manchester, our plane also did not pull to a gate, but there they had a series of cones marking out a path we were required to follow, but that was maybe 50 feet. This was several minutes on the shuttle.
Airport main area
It is domestic, so no more checks, just head for the exit or your next flight.
The main area of the airport was huge. Seriously, you could have a couple full football fields in there, lots of shops and things to do. I wanted to look around, but I need to find the AeroExpress train ticket office.
I followed the signs, taking about a thousand turns, before getting there. 950 rubles for a standard 2-way ticket. Hope I don’t loose it.
Then I have to follow a few hundred more signs to the platform. There’s only a few people ahead of me, so I probably just missed one.
The display says the next is at 14:14, only 20ish minutes to wait. Only, the Russians don’t believe in sitting, there are no benches. Other than parks, I have seen very few places to sit and wait.
AeroExpress train
Finally, the big red train pulls in and we board.
“Express” is in the name, but this train was anything but fast. First we made about 4 stops. Second, I checked my speedometer app, we didn’t get above 20mph. So slow that I again began to nod off.
We reached the final stop, train station right next to the Metro. Or so I thought, it is right next, but you basically have to circle halfway around one, then halfway around the other.
Butterfly apartment building
I wait at the ticket window, of course there’s only one, and use the translator I need a 7-day pass. Guess what wikipedia lied to me about? The don’t have 7-day, only single and three day. So I get a 3, I’ll just have get another later.
The route is simple enough, down 2 stations, switch and then one more. That’s the easy part, then I have to walk up the street, cross another busy street and find the place.
In Saint Petersburg, the hostel’s name was actually different than what the booking site had, a translation error, so I could not find it on street view. Here the problem was, street view didn’t cover areas that couldn’t be driven, like alleys with barricades.
Through the translator, I ask a lady nearby, surprising she has good English, but doesn’t know the hostel. She asks a man walking by and he points around back. I give thanks to both and head around back. No signs. Fortunately, an Indian on the phone pauses his conversation to direct me to a specific door. Very helpful people here.
I get buzzed in and climb 8 flights to the hostel, still no sign, I only found it because the door started to buzz as I approached.
I entered, cautiously. It looked like someone home. I’m going to get arrested.
The hostess come in and starts to take my info and check me in. She does not know English, so we converse through the translator. I swear this must be the most used app in this country after TicTok.
At some point, she makes a call, then informs me that I can’t stay the whole week, foreigners can only stay 3 days. I can assure you it did not say any of that on the booking site.
She says she will try to find me another to move to in 3 days. OK, that’s probably the best I’m going to get.
She wants to know if I have slippers, no I don’t. Great, its one of those places. Again, not mentioned on the site. She has a box of miscellaneous ones, I grab a pair and swap for my shoes.
She takes me to the desk and I pay for three days, then she leads me to the room.
Very small room with bunk bed. That’s ok, I’ve booked the whole room, so no roommate or top bunk.
I spread out the sheets on the bed and put on the pillow case and start to organize my stuff, when she knocks on the door.
Apparently, my “registration” is expiring today and I wouldn’t be able to stay there. I got the registration from the first hostel and never looked at it. I just thought it was a receipt or something, luckily I put it in my folder with the other confirmations.
The first hostel had no way of knowing I would be staying in Moscow, or anywhere else. They didn’t ask and I didn’t know to tell.
I never did find out why she couldn’t just give me a new registration, after all, that’s what the first one did.
She is on the phone with someone and I’m looking for another place nearby, maybe they can make me a new registration. Then she states that she found me a place that can take me and gives me an address, on the other side of town.
I picked this place because it was the closest place to a metro station that I could find. The new one was nearly a mile. That’s 2 miles every time I leave and come back. In the rain, if so.
I go back down the stairs and head out towards the station, but then I have a thought, I have no idea what this new place is going to cost. This could be a bait and switch, or a murder the tourist scenario. If I don’t like the service, I have no recourse with the booking company, I didn’t book this place through them.
I had been looking at a site, right as she told me about the new location. So I stepped to the side of the walkway and took a better look at the site. They had no 2-bed rooms available, but had a 3, so I booked it. It was a bit of meandering to get to it from where I was, but it was actually mostly a straight shot from the station.
I figured if this place and any other I tried wouldn’t work, then the other place was still available.
Some army contraption
Third floor, I’m getting a work out. Plus they have signs, both outside and in the stairway, so you actually know you’re going the right way.
I check in, the lady took my registration, had me sign in and that was it. (So far.)
They have an odd set up, the toilets and baths are segregated men/women, which is normal, but the toilet rooms have 2 toilets, divided by a wall, but open otherwise. The showers are also 2 per room, but at least then there is a curtain across the front.
There are 2 other beds in my room, but only one is occupied, so far. Oddly, there are no keys. You get buzzed in at the front door, but that’s it.
I was quite sweaty after my climb up the stairs, check in, check out, down the stairs, walk down the road, up more stairs aggravation. I took a shower right away.
Other than cookies on the plane and some of my yogurt drink, I hadn’t eaten yet, so I headed out to find something.
One street over, a major pedestrian thoroughfare, were lots of shops, artists, and restaurants. Down side, they were all “fast” food. Screw it, I got me a stuffed pita at the doner place.
I found some steps and I sat to eat, dropping a good amount on my clean shirt. Then headed to the supermarket and got some juice and milk, for my muesli.
I am so tired, but I have to stay up until a proper bedtime, otherwise I’ll be awake at the wrong time and disturb my roommate. Also, I didn’t come here to sleep.
A juxtaposition of a very new car, with a extremely old one.
Since I’ve checked out everything I wanted to see, I decided to get out of town.
I took the red-line all the way to the end, outside of Saint Petersburg, to a small town called Мурино (Murino), in Leningrad Oblast.
An oblast is like a little state within the nation. Like DC or Rhode Island.
This was the first “subway” that wasn’t underground, being much like a regular train station platform. Also, every other station has the platform between the tracks, this had the tracks between two platforms, which also means you couldn’t just get on the opposite train and go backwards. All doors led out, returning requires another ticket.
First thing I noticed was these huge apartment buildings, larger than anything in the city.
I walked along, having no destination, just trying to get lost. Hard thing to actually do.
There were many single family houses. Many were interesting, but everyone had a corrugated steel fence or wall, I wasn’t going to get good pics. Whether for noise or privacy, probably both.
Despite the first real graffiti, it did seem to be a decent place to live. Quiet, not too much traffic.
I passed by a small memorial for the aviators lost in WWII, with a cemetery behind it. The cemetery had fences around all the grave sections, perhaps to show the family’s area. It was somewhat overgrown, not weeds, but trees and bushes. You couldn’t really see far away.
Between the fences, you had about a foot or so to walk through. Interesting, most of the tombstones had photographs or etched images of the deceased. That is somewhat new in America, so to see it on 50+ year old graves, is surprising.
There was a small park, overlooking the Reka River. The sketchiest bridge I have ever crossed, lies over the river. I passed a small pond, with a mallard duck. I quacked to it, but it didn’t understand my accent.
I browsed through the local garden center, not like I can buy anything. It was larger that the supermarket, the Лента (Lenta). Lenta had more beer, wine, and spirits than anything else. I suppose that tells you something about the life there.
The buses in town were very modern, but the few I seen here were 1960’s at least, if not war era. Surprising, since most everything here, except houses, looks newish. The houses do need some work.
I filled my backpack with my dirty clothes and headed upstairs to the office. Fortunately, the one clerk who knows English is working, she takes me back to the communal bathroom and shows me how to operate the clothes washer.
It is so small, I only put in half of my clothes, socks, underwear, and 2 of my pants.
It takes half an hour, so I drop my pack in the room and head out. But I realize, by the time I get to a place and order, the laundry will be done. It’s already 10 minutes just to get down and out the door.
I kill a few minutes, just watching the traffic and people. Then head up, still time on the display, so I sit in the kitchen.
Some Russian cop show is on. One of the officers holds up his hand to stop a car, flashes his badge and jumps into the passenger seat. In a real scenario, as soon as he stepped to the side of the car, the driver would’ve taken off.
Also, the dialogue doesn’t match the mouth movements. The text on street signs is Cyrillic, but maybe not originally Russian, maybe Estonian or Kazakh.
Finally, the machine has finished. I swap the loads and restart the machine. Then I head to my room, I now have to hang everything up to dry, because there is no dryer.
One window pane opens wide and I’m able to drape everything over the bed frame. Periodically I flipped everything over. There are hangers, but they don’t reach well enough to hook on the 2-by frame, resulting in frequent drops. The windows are cool, twist the lever one way and they open like a door, but twist the lever the other way and they tip inward from the top. The latter would allow fresh air, but prevent rain from entering.
My socks and underwear are now blueish. I had 2 new pairs of jeans that must have bled a bit. Oh well, it could have been worse, I have two red shirts.
Because of the wind blowing in from the courtyard, I was forced to put on my jacket.
After all wash was done, I headed out to a supermarket. I bought a 350g of sausage, yogurt drink, cheese sauce and BBQ sauce, and a loaf of flattish bread. Made this morning, it was so soft.
I grabbed a plate and knife from the kitchen and ate half the bread with sauces and half the meat. Saving the rest for tomorrow.
Not the healthiest meal, or the normalest, but it filled me and it was good.
All day I’ve had the pants in the open window but still damp.
