St. Basil’s Cathedral
Hi Everyone!
Moscow is great and we’ve had some busy days. One strange thing here is that every car can be a taxi. If you want a ride you just wave to every car that passes. If someone stops, then you negotiate your fare. Kind of like paid hitch hiking.
Thursday morning I went to the tradeshow with Michelle, and after lunch we met our unofficial tour guides. One of Michelle’s colleagues knows a guy in Moscow and he arranged for son of his friend to take us around. We were debating on if we should go with them on Thursday or Friday, but when we got back from lunch the guy had dropped his son and a friend of his off at the booth so Thursday it was!
Having them show us around was fabulous! They were both 20, spoke excellent English, and knew tons about Russian history. We were hoping they didn’t ask us that much about American history – I’m sure they could have stumped us! Their names were Kirill and Stas – Kirill was in the linguistic school and Stas was an excellent photographer. He took tons of photos and is going to send them to us.
First we took the metro to Novodevichy monastery/cemetery. The metro is unbelievable – the stations are works of art and look like museums. It’s strange to the that one of the prettiest places in Moscow is underground. The metro can also hold entire city of Moscow in case there is an attack on the city.
Metro – Absolutely Beautiful!
Novodevichy monastery is for women only and was pretty – our tour guides, Kirill and Stas had never been there before. I really wanted to go to the cemetery – Jonathan, my boss, raved about it. When we got there they were closing so we walked away. Before we got too far, the security guard came up and said for 100 rubles each he would let us in. We had to go into a corner to pay him – apparently that’s pretty common.
The cemetery was amazing – each headstone was elaborate. Mom, one even had a math equation on it (see attached picture!) Famous Soviet leaders, artists, scientists, and others are buried here and each headstone told the story of who the person was.
After that, we walked and walked and walked and walked. It was great to see all of the side streets and learn about everything on the way to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. I never saw a single house in Moscow. It’s the most expensive city in the world (why am I here??) Everyone lives in flats (apartments) and then they have a dasha which is a house in the country that you build yourself (typically).
It was interesting to get Kirill and Stas’s point of view on the change from the Soviet Union to current day Russia. They were both young when it happened but said their parents never speak badly of the way things were and that they felt education was much better then.
Along the way I spotted a Coca-Cola Light (diet coke) at a stand (hadn’t seen one yet). I pointed to it, and asked Kirill, how do I say that. He said “Coca Cola Light.” Everyone got a good laugh and now I know I can order at least one thing in Russian!
We finally stopped and had dinner at a great Italian restaurant that was near Kirill’s school They were both so excited that we bought them two beers! We were in much need of a break after hours of walking. We then went to Cathedral of Christ the Savior and then to the Red Square. The architect who built St. Basil’s cathedral was asked if he could do it again and he said yes. The government didn’t want him to replicate it so they gouged out his eyes – interesting fact.
This morning Michelle worked and I sat at Starbucks and read. It rained most of the afternoon. Tonight we went to the opera – interesting experience. The driver dropped us off at a busy intersection, and I kept trying to find someone who spoke English so we would know where to go. We crossed the same street several times following different directions but finally found it. We don’t have a clue what it was about and dozed off in a few parts but were glad we went.
Tomorrow we are going shopping and then headed to St. Petersburg in the afternoon. We still don’t have a train ticket to Helsinki (the Delta lady somehow didn’t book my ticket) but are hoping to get one there. After tonight, it’s no more comfy beds and our own bathroom. We are staying in hostels and will be wearing shower shoes – I’m sure we will meet some interesting characters!
Below are some more photos of Moscow!
sallysuesees.com 
February 18, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Em!
It looks as though you are having the time of your life! I will have to admit I am a bit jealous at this moment. Haha! 🙂 I love that all cars can taxi people around…what a cool concept! It’s a great way to make a few extra bucks. I wonder if there is a lot of crime from everyone doing that? The pictures are beautiful…keep them coming! Stay safe and enjoy!
<3, Ashley