The Transmongolian

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Москва́

Moscow is vibrant, colourful and positively European in look and feel (well, except for the distinctive Russian churches).  The Moscowites dress very smartly and frequently speak English (once again, especially with younger people who are required to pass English exams for entrance to University).  Although many Northern Hemisphere cities can feel drab at this time of year, Moscow's gold-tipped churches and pastel coloured buildings make it colourful throughout the year.

Inside the Kremlin
The city feels very wealthy, in contrast to the villages and cities passed along the train line.  The streets are adorned with luxury European cars (more so than any other city we can recall) and luxury branded shops.


After checking into the hostel for a well-overdue shower, we proceeded to walk into the centre of town and check out the Kremlin (which houses government buildings, wide cobblestone streets and golden tipped churches - a real highlight of Moscow), Red Square which has St Basil's Cathedral at the end of it, Lenin's Mausoleum (part way along the Red Square, but unfortunately closed as Lenin is having his once in every 18 months beauty regime), the Gulag museum (the Gulag's were akin to the German concentration camps, but began much earlier and (initially) appeared to be a form of free labour for the state for massive infrastructure projects of the time), and a fashionable market (really a shopping centre), before making our way back to the hostel for a good rest.
Walls of canons greet (?) you as you enter the Kremlin

The Tsar Cannon - supposedly the Canon Balls at its base won't actually fit in


Another church inside the Kremlin



Changing of the Guard - every hour on the hour - by the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, just outside the Kremlin

The guard's march was almost straight out of Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks - it was a little hard not to laugh...

St Basil's Cathedral in the background - positively colourful


Candy floss

Jen and our guide for the first two days, Alina, in the shopping centre / market alongside Red Square
Outside the Revolution Museum
During our second day in Moscow we visited the Russian Revolution Museum, outlining the background to the two revolutions at the beginning of the 20th century and the subsequent rise of communism, and the artist's quarters - a pedestrian only part of the city which gave rise to some of the famous Russian Artists / Writers (including Pushkin) and now contains street artists, coffee houses and restaurants.  We also went to one of the highest parts of the city, near the Moscow State University, which provided an elevated and panoramic view of the city.  The lookout, named Sparrow Hill, was also home to a massive ski jumping platform (supposedly world champs were held in Moscow recently?) and (very small) ski and snowboard runs in winter.

Metro Stations in the city centre are very ornate and all different
The Ski Jump at Sparrow Hill




On our third day in Moscow the weather began to turn, with our first day of rain in almost a month.  We went to an outdoor market a little distance from the city centre.  All sorts of Russian souvenirs could be purchased here at more reasonable prices and the entire market complex looks almost like a fairground.  The weather, season and our choice of day (Friday, about 11am) meant that the market was fairly empty,  yet the market had a very historic and neat feeling about it.  The market also has a vodka museum for which your entrance price include a vodka shot (or 3 if you are me and a little cheeky) and a personalised tour (complete with a very sober guide who claimed to have never drunk vodka?!?).
The Market

The buildings inside the Market were amazing


Stalls inside the market
Later that evening we went to the Russian circus, another real highlight of our time in Moscow and an experience unparalleled by any we've had to date.  Walking into the theatre, there are multiple opportunities to buy souvenirs, toys, popcorn, and have photos with all sorts of animals (including a muzzled bear, sedated baby tigers or chimpanzees).  Although this created a fantastic carnival atmosphere, the treatment of the animals for these photos weighed a little heavy on our hearts.  However, the show itself was an absolute blast.  There were the typical juggling acts, magician acts, and clowns, but there were also camels, a great highwire act, and to finish the show 3 tigers, 2 leopards and 2 panthers who jumped from one post to another, sat up on their hind legs and weaved through obstacles.  The training of these animals was hard to fathom - we can't even get Sophie to do a trick - and didn't appear to be cruel.  The tigers were also spectacular.  Their roars echoed throughout the auditorium and were audible above all of the other commotion.

We woke up on our final day to snow outside.  Although stunning to behold, the snow (which later turned into rain) created a real mess on the ground.  The ground conditions were appropriate for gumboots only (even the designer labels seem to have ventured into the gumboot market in Russia) and my sneakers were woefully inadequate (fortunately my woolen socks kept me warm).  As we had ticked off the major sites in Moscow and the weather wasn't up for much walking around, our guide suggested we go back to her place to make Russian pancakes.  This turned out to be a great way to spend the day.  We fed ourselves to bursting point, played games, and chatted away the day.  For us, this was a 'real' Moscow experience.  Our thanks and gratitude to Masha and her family for letting us into their home for a day.
Jen and our guide for the last 2 days, Masha


Our train to St Petersburg wasn't until 1 a.m.  At about 8pm we went back into town to hit up a cafe and later one of the Russian fast food chains (a baked potato chain, where you choose ingredients to add to your Potato), before swinging back to the hostel to collect our bags.

The train to St Petersburg was essentially the same as our trans-mongolian trains, but was very new and (as our cabin mate explained to us), run by a private company as opposed to the state.  St Petersburg, and the end of our Vodkatrain tour was only an 8 hour sleep away...


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