Tag: park

Expo Park?

SDSpivey
Tower of the Sun

This morning I went to Expo Park, no, not that one again. This was Expo ’70.

The park is now just the remnants of the expo, the buildings have long been removed, just engraved stones tell what pavilion used to be there, for such a short time.

Now, there are large open expanses where kids can run and play. There are some more recent additions, such as “the Beast”, a rope suspension obstacle course. Unfortunately, it was closed when I was there, but there was an outing of young kids, running and screaming and just having fun. They look cute wearing their matching colored caps. White caps were at the field next to the Beast. I also saw red, lavender, and green in other areas. I don’t know if this was a special day or just a semi-regular occurrence.

As I walked around the park, I saw many trees and plants that we also have in Florida, azaleas are rampant here. I suspect that many of the ornamental plants we have originally came from Japan and east Asia. There was a hill that was sectioned off, which I presume is allotted to different individuals to plant whatever flowers they wanted. Perhaps it was some sort of flower gardening club.

Next to the path, I spotted a snake, just sunning itself. I had to do a search and yes, Japan has poisonous snakes. Luckily, this didn’t look like one, but I kept my distance anyway.

I saw a strange mesa with a circle of rocks, the only thing I found to explain it was a small engraved stone that said “Hawaii”. This still makes no sense, as Hawaii is not circular, nor was it a country in 1970. It wasn’t even near the USA pavilion site.

I found a monument showing where the East Germany pavilion was located. Strange to find something for a country that doesn’t exist anymore. There are many stone plaques on the ground showing where each county’s pavilion was, but who cares? They are gone now.

A group of school kids heading out to the park

I found an observation tower, so I decided to go up, just to see the area a bit better. At the top, I couldn’t really see much, as the trees have had 5 decades of growth. There was a walkway extending off into the trees, so I followed it. It lead to other towers and more walkways, until a much taller tower at the end.

Apparently, this was a one-way trek and I happened to pick the correct place to start. Had I started at the other end, a “do not enter” sign would have stopped me and I would have presumed it was unsafe to proceed. It was indeed looking a bit rundown, having only the bare maintenance in its long life. In the middle, I had to cross a very wobbly rope suspension that was definitely past its prime. It had several signs from COVID times, so regular maintenance probably is not high priority.

One of the other few items that still remain is the “Tower of the Sun”, a tall statue of the Expo’s mascot. I really do not understand why this is something they wanted to keep, much less build in the first part, it is rather ugly, in my opinion.

To get to the park, I got onto the brown Sakaisuji line, indicated by “K”. WTF does that stand for?

My first train, I realize is going to the wrong branch of the line, there are 4 terminal stations. So I get off and wait for the right one. I was to exit at Yamada station, which is one of the few places I could read and understand the meaning of. Yamada (山田) comes from “yama” meaning mountain (which you’ll hear sometimes when referring to Mount Fuji, as Fuji-yama.) and “da” meaning field. So Yamada means “mountain field”, also a very common family name. “Mr. Ninja Warrior” is named Yamada.

I made the choice to get the metro day pass, so I could get on and off wherever all on one ticket. But on exiting, I got an error and the arms closed in front of me. An attendant directed me to the “fare adjustment” machine, where I had to pay an extra 240 yen.

The stations north of one of a river are marked as HK for Hanku line, so maybe that is where the K came from. I guess Hankyu line is not part of Osaka Metro, even though it is the same train cars.

I exited through a different gate than where I entered the park, this one leading to the Osaka monorail. I quickly held up my metro card and asked about monorail access. Nope, can’t use it. So I walked back to Yamada station. A long walk, as I was nearly on the other side of the park.

After spending a day at the Expo 2025 and another at Osaka castle, I seem to have gotten a sunburn on my head. I guess cutting all my hair off wasn’t the best idea. As I exited Yamada station, there was a shopping center attached. I found a clothes shop and found a cheap hat. It wouldn’t help the burn I have, but will stop additional damage.

After finding the station, I headed back to the room. All this walking is really causing a lot of pain in my shoulder, for some reason.

I saw signs at the park about Expo ’70, but I started to wonder, was this a generic expo, or was it a World’s Fair expo? Wikipedia to the rescue!

Yes, it was the location of the 1970 World’s Fair, but wasn’t the only other in Osaka. There was another in 1990, only this was a “horticultural” expo, one of the in-betweener fairs. This location was nearby my room, maybe 3/4 mile away, but I’m tired and sore, so I took the metro. After all, I do have a day pass, so I might as well use it.

As I understand it, and I’m no expert here, the horticultural expos have fewer pavilions and more gardens. In a sort of “who can have the best looking yard in the neighborhood” competition.

Many of the garden spaces remain, but very likely not the same plants as 35 years ago.

This park is very popular with dog walkers. I even found a small hill where a bunch of tiny dogs were running around loose, play fighting. A small black dog started walking towards me, so I knelt down and it then ran to me for a bit of petting. This instigated a chain reaction, causing more to come over.

All the dogs here had on “outfits” which I wonder if this is a cultural thing or just a way to easily spot your dog vs other similar ones.

There were all sorts of dogs being walked through the many pathways. I saw many “shiba inu”, being one of the few native dogs to Japan.

Food and parks

SDSpivey

After re-awakening, I took a shower/bath.

There is a faucet that fills the tub and a shower head, but it is handheld. It has a wall mount, but it wouldn’t be pointing in the right direction. So I sat in the tub and lathered up. There is shampoo, conditioner, and liquid soap here, so I didn’t have to buy any.

After a few minutes, I decided to put in the drain plug. The tub filled quite fast, although the tub was small, it was tall, so I was able to submerge.

The water was nearly perfect in temperature, from faucet and shower head, which is a hard thing to accomplish.

I had sent a message to the host asking about the WiFi. Apparently there was supposed to be directions on a paper on the kitchen table, but there wasn’t

I did a quick search for restaurants, but decided just to walk around until I found one. I went into a small restaurant and closed my eyes and pointed to the menu. If you don’t know what to order, then random is just as good and any.

I got a bowl of rice topped with cabbage and a very thin cut of meat (bacon???) and a side of miso soup and some sort of greens.

The greens didn’t taste good, but the rest did, and I got full before finishing.

I wandered a bit, aimlessly, until I found a small park. I sat in the shade and watched the kids play.

There were the usual items; swings, slide, monkey bars, etc.. But they also had a sort of moon-shaped hill, that had wall-climbing handholds and the inside part was a large slide.

There are a lot of parks around and I just roam from one to another. In one, I sat under an arboretum and watched the huge bumble bees flit around the flowers.

Before heading back, I remembered to find a shop to get a fanny pack. As I walked, I found a Makita store.

It smelled of machine oil, it was wonderful. But I did manage to not buy anything. How would I get it home anyway?

After a few more misses, I got the idea to search for a purse store. Luckily one was nearby.

It was a general purpose clothing store, but did have a large assortment of purses, and I found a fanny pack that was simple and cheap enough. More important, I could put my iPad in there and stop carrying it.

I also realized something, while I can count out the change I need, it can be a pain if I don’t know if I have enough to start with. The smallest bill is ¥1000, so it is easy to end up with a lot of change. I realized that since most stores have a machine for you to pay with coin, cash, or credit card, you don’t hand the money to the clerk, I can just insert the change I have, then insert cash, and the register will just spit out the minimum change.

Cheating, yes, but I don’t care.

The problem being, the metro machines don’t accept ¥1 and ¥5 coins, so I have to try to rid myself of them at regular stores.

More foolishness

SDSpivey

I woke up around 3am. I browsed around the room a bit, took my first dump since Georgia. The toilet has a heated seat, and fortunately, there was toilet paper.

I understand the need in many places to use bidets as the plumbing is not good enough to move paper through, but I don’t want to have to sit there while air is blown on my backside to dry.

Morning view of Osaka and Yodo River

I don’t think I will use it, but I did bring my Amazon Fire, so I could watch some TV or movies if I wanted, but there is no TV. I thought there was supposed to be, so I will check the listing.

There is nothing anywhere I can see that says what the WiFi is, and there are a dozen signals I am detecting, so I have to use my precious mobile data.

The listing doesn’t say there is a TV, so I must have imagined it.

I also notice, that I had searched for places with 2 beds and 2 bedrooms, but I only have 1 bed. Apparently, since I am only paying for one person, I shouldn’t need the other bed, so that room is locked off.

Even if I didn’t need the bed, I still would want it so I can lay out my suitcase, instead of having it on the floor.

Being bored and hungry, I start looking for an all night market. The closest I can find is an hour’s walk away. Oh, what the hell, I got nothing else to do.

It is cool inside the room so I put on my jacket, but it doesn’t take me very long to remove it. Great, now I have to carry it as well as my iPad. I suddenly realized as I was pulling into Atlanta airport, that I hadn’t brought my fanny pack.

Fanny packs are ridiculous looking, but they are super convenient.

I had to cross over the Yodo river, the bridge being really high above the water. They must have ships coming through. Maybe though, it is just because the river banks are so far apart.

As expected, very few people were out at that time of night. Other than a road crew repainting one of the roads near my room, I might not have seen anyone for 40 minutes.

Following the directions, I made it to the store, and it was open. I would have been really angry otherwise.

It wasn’t very large, barely larger than many convenience stores back home.

I ended up selecting a bunch (4) of bananas, a box of grapes, and some sort of apple drink. I can’t read it, but the label has too many ingredients to just be juice.

One thing I had forgotten, Japanese stores don’t give out bags, normally. So I used my jacket to wrap up my purchases, tying the arms together.

I made another mistake, I had opened the apple drink and drank some, so as I walk, it splashes back and forth. Although I would have been more upset had I waited until getting back and then finding out I had carried it all that way for something that tasted bad.

The Japanese brag about how much they recycle, but they also waste a lot. The bananas were wrapped in a cellophane bag, despite not needing one.

The grapes also were wrapped, but that makes more sense, as grapes don’t have an outer coating that we remove before eating. You wouldn’t want random people touching your grapes before you eat them.

Along the way, my wrist was beginning to hurt from the awkward carrying of the stuff. I had the idea to call an Uber, but after waiting for 15 minutes, I still had not been connected with one, so I canceled and kept on walking.

In China, there are lots of Lawson stores, which are branded just like 7-11 stores are. In Osaka, I see Lawson’s, but they are more blue and greenish-blue logos. There are also 7-11 stores here too, maybe that’s why there is a difference.

The also have some restaurant chain called MacuDonarudo’s. It looks familiar, but can’t place why.

As I was arriving, dawn was breaking, so a good time to go back to bed. 🙂

Last day

SDSpivey
Tiny, tiny flowers

I have nothing left to see, but I scrolled around the map looking for anything. I visited Gorky Park, but only the northern most part. So I took the subway to near the south side and went in.

Actually, I find that I’m not in Gorky, not even near it yet. This is Neskuchny Garden, a pleasant wooded area with paths going every direction. It is wooded, so how is it a garden?

The paths are hard packed, and meandering. It doesn’t matter which way I go, I’m just exploring.

Quack!

I pass soccer field, tennis court, basketball court (in a cage), and a bunch of ping pong tables. At a playground, there’s a building, so I use the camera translator. It’s the chess club. I would not think a playground would be the quietest place to play chess, but I’m not that good either.

More ponds with ducks, this one had a duck and drake protecting the ducklings from an ogre trying to take their photo.

Peahen

I find a cage with a peahen inside. Don’t know what the point was.

Another war memorial, this had a fountain, but you can tell it hasn’t operated for years, not in the budget.

There is a bridge across the river, but I find it is just a pedestrian bridge. Geez, that’s a lot just for a few people to walk across.

It doesn’t matter where or when, I keep running into groups of kids on field trips. This must have been an easy day for the teacher, I can’t imagine they are really learning anything looking at fountains.

I see a bunch of balloons on a building, must be a party or wedding, nope, just some people doing tae bo, but no Billy Blanks.

I’m looking at a fountain for a bit, before realizing it is the same one I saw a few days back. It looks different without the stage and all the kids around it.

I meet a UK lady walking her dogs, so I ask her if there’s anywhere with Russian food. She tells me of a place, Grand Cafe Dr. Jhivago. Obviously, named for the famous movie.

It only has two $$ on google, so I decided to splurge, I don’t have to worry about keeping to a budget anymore.

I was seated on the sidewalk, I don’t know if I would be comfortable inside, it was still a bit fancy. The wind was ok, but it did pick up before I left.

Fortunately, the hostess and waitress both had English comprehension, and the menu was multilingual.

I had an appetizer of mushroom “dumplings,” really ravioli, with a wonderful sour cream. I could have just eaten a bowl of the sour cream.

Then I had a Siberian cod, covered in French fried onions and a cream sauce. It also had potato chips, made themselves. This feels like the kind of place where you don’t use your fingers to pick up food, but there is no other way to eat crispy thin wafers.

It had a side of grilled broccoli, almost an entire head, way bigger than I expected. It had a mustard seed and vinaigrette coating.

Everything was so good. I don’t know if it really was Russian or not, but I’ll pretend it was.

We are on the road next to the Kremlin. A large motorcade goes by, but can’t see into the cars, maybe Putin.

An expensive Maybach, a sub brand of Mercedes-Benz parks right next to the sidewalk, the hotel doorman places cones around it. That’s what being rich is like, you just park your car wherever you want. To hell with those poor people trying to get to work.

Total 2410₽, I paid in hundred ruble notes, which I suppose is the equivalent of a stack of $5’s. I’m so low class, I made a faux pas.

As I eat, it is getting colder and windier. As I leave I begin to feel drops. It could have remained nice out, I only need another 24 hours.

Tomorrow, I have to checkout by 11, but my flight isn’t until 9:20pm. I could roam around, but I’d have to lug my bags around, no fun. So I guess I’ll have a nice long day at the airport. Hurray!

I need it to not be raining while trying to get to the train platform. After that, pour down, it won’t bother me.

Long pedestrian bridge.

Rainy Morning

SDSpivey1 Comment

When I awoke, I could hear rain falling. Good, I can just stay in bed.

I tried to sleep, watch videos or browse sites. Finally I noticed the rain had stopped.

First thing I had to do, my metro card expired, so I had to get another. I entered the station, but there’s no one at the ticket booth, the ticket machines do not have any language selection. If you can’t read Russian, you can’t use the machine.

The next station is on the other side of the road, seems simple, but cars are much faster than bikes. I don’t feel up to dodging vehicles. I have to go down to the next major intersection, cross, then come back down to the other station. Only about a mile, just to that side.

I enter the station, but they don’t even have a ticket window. I should have bought one yesterday, while I still had access to move around, but I didn’t.

Now I have the choice, walk to the next station, or walk everywhere. The next is a 3-line intersection, so busy enough to have someone on duty, please.

This ride only takes 5 minutes, how long will it take on foot? Too many.

I finally get to the metro station and get my ticket. I only need two days, but it is cheaper to get the 3, maybe I’ll give it to someone when I leave.

I can now get on the subway back to my room. Fortunately, I didn’t shower yet, so I’m not wasting a change of clothes walking station to station, actually, its more the stress than the walking. I do shower once I return.

Glass design at the US Embassy

Now, where to go?

I’ve done all my saved places, except one, the US Embassy.

It lies between stations, so I have to walk there anyway.

It is an unassuming building, which is fine, it is just an admin office, after all. The only thing interesting is they have a glass barricade (bulletproof?) that has a really cool “space” motif.

I walk down the front, then one side, and the back. There is nothing interesting about the rest, just a tall reddish wall with cameras every 10 feet or so and guard stands at entrances.

Rather disappointed about the guard stands, I don’t know if any marines were in them or not, likely, but not definitely.

Walking on randomly, I came across the Moscow Zoo, well what the heck, might as well go in, I have nothing better to do. Tickets are from a machine that only accepts credit cards. Again, thanks Biden.

I find out I could have stayed at the Crazy Monkey Hostel. Dang, an opportunity missed.

There were reports of paintings in some of the metro cars, but I had seen no evidence of that, until today. I lucked out and got on a very old car that had a bunch of seats removed. In place there are artworks displayed.

They appear to be reprints of water colors, none too spectacular.

To see all, you’d have to get off at each station and run up to the next car and re-enter. That seems too much effort. Better would be if the art was on one of the trains that allows movement between cars.

I randomly decided to get off at station Park Pobedy, as it is named for the park it stops at. Pobedy is Russian for “victory” and the park is all about the victory over the Germans.

This must be the worst park in Moscow. It is just a huge expanse of granite, 700 yards long, barely a plant anywhere. Also, I have to walk directly towards the sun, so I can’t really see the other end very well.

There is the required sculpture depicting the victorious soldiers and one side of the plaza has a row of columns with wreaths on them. The other side has fountains, but the water just shoots upwards a few feet, not spectacular at all.

Off to one side, I entered a small church. Very small, my bedroom is about as big as the inside of the church. There were many depictions of various saints for you to prey to.

Down a sidewalk, I find a small playground and I sit in the shade for a while.

I must be getting old, my new favorite thing is to sit.

Moscow at night, take 2

SDSpivey

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
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.

Nuns and monks

SDSpivey

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.

Gorky Park

SDSpivey
I call this “Mom’s toil”

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.

 

CSKA

SDSpivey

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.

Duck Pigeon and some swallows

Rockets

SDSpivey

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.