Moscow

During this, my first PC vacation, I was in Moscow for about 36 hours before hopping on board the Trans-Siberian Railway to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. I set out to make the most of my short time in the capital city and I think I did a pretty good job. Like everyone else, I went to Red Square and saw St. Basil’s Cathedral, took a look inside Christ’s Church, and then basically walked a marathon all over the city. On my second day there, I took a 3-hour walking/bus tour with a company called Capital Tours and I highly recommend it to anyone else visiting Moscow. It really explains a lot of the history, gave me a good layout of the city, and helped me to identify areas I’d like to explore further on my own in the future.

Some interesting factoids I learned:
1. To stress the Communist independence (or disbelief) in God, the original Christ Church was destroyed by Stalin, who installed a swimming pool where its foundation once stood. The Church you see today is an exact replica that was completed in 1995. You can’t take pictures inside, so there are none posted here, but it’s beautiful and definitely worth the (free) trip inside. [Incidentally, the Russian subway system is also beautiful and every station is different. Sadly, you’re also not supposed to take pictures there and I didn’t want to risk my camera being confiscated.]
2. The Kremlin is a 60-acre complex surrounded by high red walls. Inside, there are three churches, a couple museums, and the actual building where Putin works everyday. During WWII, when the German Luftwaffe was within range of Moscow, the Russians covered all 60-acres with a giant camouflage tarp and built a wooden replica of the Kremlin in a nearby park. The ruse worked and the “park” was bombed while the real Kremlin survived.
3. Moscow is a city of many architectural styles, which is due inadvertently to Napoleon. When his troops conquered the city, they got pretty drunk off the Russian vodka and started a fire that burned down almost 80% of the city. As a result, much of it was rebuilt in a Renaissance style. Each future leader of the city placed their own stamp on the city when new buildings were erected.

My stay in Moscow was made even better by my first stay with a fellow Couchsurfer. This website, linked to on the right, helps people willing to host someone for a night or two on their couch meet one another. I met Dmitry and his wife, Lena, at their metro stop and spent a fun evening trading my American songs on the guitar with Dmitry’s Russian ones.

Some miscellaneous observations: I think during my first stay in Moscow I was going through a bit of a culture shock. I arrived at the airport, was able to stow my bags for a couple dollars, figure out the mass-transit shuttle system that brings people to the nearest metro station, and then ate a sushi lunch at a place where the wait staff seemed generally interested in my welfare. It was almost as if someone saw a need and then figured out a way to fulfill it – that tourists might want a place to store their luggage while walking around, that they might need easily explainable directions to mass-transit instead of paying $50 for a taxi, and that they might want prompt service at a restaurant. Crazy, eh?

Who are these guys?!