Moscow, Russia

Excitement, amazement, danger...this trip had it all!!

Before coming to Moscow, I heard so many thing. Everyone said it was going to be expensive, it was going to be a hastle to get into the country. My co-worker told me to leave the airport as fast as possible as people get killed there and I read stories about priests beating up random people in the streets. For the most part this was far from the truth.

Aside from the visa costs, the price of things in Russia were quite decent, very compariable to Canada. Getting into and out of the country was surprisingly hastle free and getting to and from the airport was effortless. It was also quite peaceful there aside from 1 incident, but more on that later.

One thing that I did hear before coming that was true was the impressive metro stations. Many of them were all in marble, had nice stained glasses, chandiliers (i butchered that word) and nice carvings and designs. They were also very deep underground, probably to double as bomb shelters back in the day or something.








I started my journey on friday night, taking the free night train to Geneva airport to spend the night. Like my previous trip there, I made a b-line to the full length leather couch and made myself at home. The next day I met up with Vance and Warren on the airplane. I had opted to save 100 CHF and fly from Geneva instead of Zurich. Vance spent the night in the Zurich airport and Warren in the Zurich trainstation so I think my accomodations were a little better. The flight was good, it was nice to not fly easyjet for once and get food and drinks and chocolate (although I slept through the chocolate).

After getting into the country we headed straight for the hostel. We found a super cheap shuttle bus to take to the city and Vance randomly decided to get off at a stop, luckily there was a metro stop there and it was easy to find the way to our place. Since I was travelling with people other then Keegan, we went for lunch right away (apparently I'm the only person on the trip that doesn't need to eat).

We found a nice little cafe and ordered some stuff. I got a russia soup and the first of many russian beers (Балмика - Baltika)



Since we arrive fairly late, we decided to just wander the city and not really plan anything. We spotted the first of many Orthadox churches (onion dome roofs). When we got there we spotted more and until we were left standing infront of St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square.




In red square, Vance saw a matrioshka dolls set with 10 of Russia's leaders and had to get it. I told him to wait it out and shop around but he was determined, so I got one as well to lower the cost a little. The leaders in order are (Vladimir Putin, Boris Yeltsin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Leonid Brezhnev, Nikita Khrushchev, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Tsar Alexander, Catherine the Great, Peter the Great).


After some more random walking we saw some pretty big monument of a ship or something, we weren't totally sure, it was kinda random.


As we were walking back to the Red Square we came across the Cathedral of Christ our Savior. Stalin had originally destroyed the original (made by Nicholas I) to construct this huge new one but Khrushchev abandoned those plans and turned it into the worlds largest indoor swimming pool. The water vapor was starting to damage stuff in a near by museum and it was converted back into a cathedral.


We eventually made it back to Red Square and found it surprisingly quiet at night. After a few pictures we called it a night as we had a long day of travel.





The next day we got up early to check out Lenin's Tomb. The line up was fairly long but it move quiet quick and before we knew it we were infront of the man himself.





I was thinking of some elaborate scheme to take a picture in there, but they didn't allow camera in at all and have metal detectors and the whole 9 yards, o well. Inside was pretty dark with a Russian guard at every corner. It also look like a mirror reflection as all the guards looked identical. The man himself looked pretty waxy and was a very short guy. The presentation was really something, but you could stay long as the guards pushed you along right away. After exiting the tomb you walked past a wall where other leaders are buried, such as Stalin.

The next destination was the Kremlin which consisted of 4 churches/cathedrals, 3 palaces a large bell and a canon (among other stuff). I've never seen such a large number of churchs in such a small area. The churches were all pretty neat and the orthadox cathedrals are definately much different from those in western europe. The walls and ceils are just totally covered in wall painting with very vibrant colors.





On display was also the Tsar Canon, a 5.34 metre long thing weighing 40 tons. Much larger then the big one in Scotland.


Another gigantic thing was the Tsar bell, which is 6.14 metres high, 6.6 metres in diameter and 200 tons. It apparently fell when it was being raised.


We went to the armory museum in the Kremlin to see the faberge eggs. We also saw some amazing carriages and thrones. Unfortuately my pictures of the eggs sucked, but heres 1 from the gift shop.


After finishing most of the Red square sites we head off to a Market to get some souvineers. Warren wanted to buy a bunch of fox fur hats (he bought a rabbit one earlier) so we decided to attack that together to get a good deal. We found a stall and the guy asked how much we paid for the one warren was wearing and I told them 400 Roubles (it was actually 700). This proved to be a good starting price as he said we got a great deal and it showed him we were experienced shoppers (far from the truth). We eventually got 5 fox hats (1 for me, 4 for warren) and he threw in a free rabbit hat for us. I think we did alright.


We also bought a buch of matrioshka dolls and headed out to dinner. We found a Ukranian resturant which was great as Vance proclaimed he was 1/4 Ukranian and then proceeded to screw us by ordered the most expensive beer for all of us (it cost more then the meal, damn you!!). Vance felt pretty bad about it but o well, it happens.

Since we had a nice time at Red Square the previous night, we pick up some beered and headed there to chill for the night. Picking up our new hats we went out for the night.

At Red Square, we meet some really cool people there. We talked to 1 couple for quiet a while which was really interesting. We had a little trouble with the language barrier but it worked out. When they left we talked to another guy who told us Russian beer was only fit for the floor (this time I was having Каинское упьтра and Сибирская корона, the second one apparently being Syberian Corona). He then asked us if we wanted some vodka and left to get some. I wasn't expecting him to come back but it was a nice gesture, so far everyone been really friendly in Russia. Eventually a police officer casually strolled over and told us no beer which is understandable since he didn't want a mess in the red square, so we called it a night.


The next day was a very eventful day. The first place we went was the VDNkH, which was the Socialist Economic Achievement Area. Pretty much it a area showing all the amazing stuff to prove that comunism worked. It was totally over the top and great. For some reason the guide books barely mention this place which was a little weird. Before we got there, we saw this huge titanium tower for the Cosmonaut musuem which cool Russian carvings. Soviet stuff is great as everyone is dipicted as very strong and proud. Stike a pose!









In the VDNkH there were 50 amazing building of various styles all packed into a 2km by 1km block. To top it off there was a golden fountain and a aerospace displace to show the amazing comunist system at work. Inside these buildings was, as Warren put it, "a poignant juxtaposition, a motley assortment of vendors and small shops and the sounds of vibrant capitalism". The area was just amazing.









Afterwards we went to Victory Park which was a huge area with, on 1 side the Triumphal Arch for 1812, and a huge spire for WW2.




I think there was some celebration or something as there was a huge crowd there.

Afterwards we made a stop at the world's busiest McDonalds near the Red Square. It was pretty neat and had to get a Big Mac there. On a side note, the Ice cream there was damn cheap, 6 Roubles.


That night we went to a Russian Circus which was amazing. We got seat in row 9 and could see everything. The first act was a bunch of monkeys dressed in Human clothes dancing around and stuff, the usual stuff. Afterwards, there was a 2 person trapeeze show which was aright followed by a bunch of clowns and then dogs doing tricks. After that, the cool stuff started. First was a crazy juggler. When we first came out I thought he was just a raver in an awesome costume then outta nowhere he pulled out a bunch of balls to juggle. The costume had like 6 pockets all over carrying ball and he was so smooth it grabbing and places the balls there. There was 1 sequence where he's grab a ball from a pocket on his leg and let another one drop in there, it was crazy stuff. Next was a really well done clown act involing throwing around a light (the illusion of it at least). The next act was a cool act where they used a sea-saw thing to launch people high in the air doing flips and stuff and landing ontop of a human tower, it was crazy. Afterwards they pulled off out these huge stilts and where launching people as well. They were going damn high and doing crazy flips and stuff. To one-up it even more, they pulled out a bigger launcher and bigger stilts to go higher and flip more. It was sweet. We thought it was over after that and proceeded to leave and found out it was only an intermission, awesome!

The second half started off with a 6 person trapeeze act which was cool. 2 of them seemed really young. The ending part of the act was that 1 dude went to the roof and did a sucide dive head first into the net, it was pretty crazy.

Afterwards there was a fire eating act while they took down the safety nets and then a roller skating thing. Next was a really good clown act that really got all the kids involved where they were throwing imaginary coins into a bag and you could see and here it enter the bag. It was great for the kids. The next act was this 1 crazy no-spine dude who was on a 2-handed or 1-handed hand stand for the whole act and doing crazy balancing and stalls. It was sweet. The last act was the tiger tamers which was nice for the kids. It was great to see a circus again and had a great time.


After the circus we went for some Georgian/Azerbaijan food which was interesting. The waiters spoke no english and just stood there not giving us any time to look at the menu. We couldn't communicate with him to give us more time and just randomly picked some food to eat.

After the meal we picked up a drink for the way home and proceeded to head to the hostel as Warren had to pack his things. As we turned off the main road to the small steet towards our hostel, we heard some one yell stop, creud drawing below.


At first I thought it was a cop telling us to not drink and I turned to see 1 huge Russian guy and his friend who was about our height. The dude then yells "Money" and it strikes us this dude is trying to mug us. Vance and I are standing there trying to comprehend the situation when without any delay, Warren (who from here on out will be refered to as Braveheart) replys "Fuck you!"

"no, Fuck you! Money!", the russia dude reply quickly followed by Braveheart's reply,
"Fuck you!"

At this point the guy takes a swing at Braveheart, but Braveheartstays up. Vance and I spread out to surround the dude and I also keep an eye out for the guys friend.
The dude sensed he wasn't in control and then went and takes out his gun. Vance and I instantly thought it was fake, but who knows. He never pointed it at us, so we figured he was bluffing.

The Russian turns his attention to Vance now and Braveheart takes the oportunity to get closer to the main street to call for the police. The guy trys to take a swing at Vance and lands a glancing blow. Braveheart, seeing an openning throws his Fanta bottle at the guys head which stops him for a sec. Seeing this we proceed to run back to the main street towards people to get outta there. The whole situation took about 1-2 minutes but everything slowed down. We were all happy we got out safely and that we never panicked at all. We took an alternate route to the hostel as we had enough for the night. At the hostel we talked about the whole thing and Vance and I both thought of using our beer bottles to hit hte guy but figured if he didn't go down, it would have escalated things and we were both saving it for like the worst case senerio.

On the last day, Warren had a earlier flight then us and took for for hte airport right away. Vance and I had a little more time so we went to check out the inside of St. Basil's.









After that, we just roamed around the streets, got another cheap ice cream and went to catch the train for the airport. Unfortunately we missed the train by 1 minute and had to wait another hour for the next one. When we got to the airport, we were surprise how easy it was to go through customs and security (had this cool full-body scan thing though), much different then what we were told. Upon landing in Geneva, I left to take the train, while Vance proceeded to fly to Zurich. I got home at around midnight, ending one hell of a trip.