Tag: rain

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.

Moscow at night

SDSpivey

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.

Oh vey!

Muckross and Castle Ross

SDSpivey

Another rainy morning finds us on a 2 hour drive to Muckross Manor House and Castle Ross, in Killarney, County Kerry.

This finishes off the southern half of the island. We have visited 13 of the 33 counties, with at least 12 more definite, in just over a week.

Once in Killarney, we arrived at the Castle Ross and walked up the hill to it. Everything on this island is uphill.

All tours are by guide, and the next available wasn’t for about 2 hours, so we browsed around outside and then decided to head over to the Muckross house until the tour was ready.

At the Muckross house, there was a tour shortly available, but we already paid for the other. We would have to jump back and forth. Oh well.

We walked the gardens for a bit before heading for the castle tour.

They didn’t allow photos inside the castle, but I took one quick one at the end. What where they going to do? Throw us out, we were leaving anyway.

It sucks a bit, this was the first castle that had decent windows for lighting, but couldn’t take photos. Plus it was really nice inside.

Going back to Muckross, we find that they were sold out of tours for the day. With the rain picking up again, we called it quits for the day, not arriving back until almost 8pm.

Long day for so little done.

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Just a bunch of Blarney

SDSpivey

We went down to Cork, to the Blarney castle, home of the blarney stone.

It was rainy all the way down, worrying us about being too wet to spend the time out side.

Just inside the park, I saw a sign stating that they were employing anti-drone technology. Strangely, I haven’t yet heard of any, barring that of shooting a net over it as it flies low enough.

You have to walk over a short bridge that crosses two rivers at once. More remarkable, the rivers cross themselves, one goes through a tunnel under the other.

After entering the castle and starting the 100 step climb, I noticed that the walls are around 8 feet thick. The inner walls weren’t that thick, but you wouldn’t have to worry about noisy people in the next room.

There were small rooms off the spiral stairway, so we could make short breaks from the long climb. None of the rooms in the castle had privacy (or windows to close). Even the lord and lady would have slept in a communal room.

There were two “garderobes”, small rooms where you did your “business.” Yes, in front of whoever also happened to be there. It was the place where you would “guard your robes.” The ammonia flumes would kill fleas.

We made it up to the tippy top of the castle, wind blowing strong. there are slots running the battlements, where you would drop stones or shoot arrows down upon invaders at the bottom. Even with steel bars running across, you feel as if you’d fall through. I managed to crawl up and stand on the battlement to take a photo. It was only knee high, but extremely hard to do, without anything to help you balance, and a very long view of the ground below. I tell myself I was mostly scared to drop my ipad, even with the best case, it wouldn’t make it.

Watching others get out and kiss the stone, we realized that our backs really wouldn’t bend that well. Especially after all the walking we’ve been doing.

Plus, who wants to put their lips on something that thousands have already put theirs on. Eww.

The park is large, with plenty of flowers and trees. What caught my attention was the Poison Garden. There are lots of poisonous plants like hemlock, wisteria, and poison ivy, but many I didn’y know that were poisonous, like rhubarb and rosemary… wait, we just ate both of those things this week. Ah, good bye sweet world.

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