But the women are,as pretty as St. Petersburg's, the food is great and I am starting to figure things out. By the second day I can navigate the subway system without a map. I start to figure out some of cyrlic alphabet by reading well known signs. An "n" in cyrilic is an "i" in Latin, etc. I am also getting used to the melody of the Russian language. And I start to hear repeated words, but I don't know what they mean.
Besides Red Square visits, I tried one time to find a winter coat. Winter is tailing off and the shops I have visited before were too small to have a real selection. The hotel staff looks up "Russia's largest military store" on the web and I am off to find it. What a comedy of errors.
First, the address I have is wrong and incomplete. I have 49 Arbat Street, but its really 17 Arbat Street. Actually, 17 Old Arbat Street. Second, although I am told otherwise by several people I ask at the metro, Arbat just starts arbitrarily a half mile from the metro. So I walk until the street I am on becomes Arbat Street. Simple, right?
Two miles later I pass #39, thinking its only a mile or so to #49 (numbers go by very slowly). The crowd I was walking in earlier is gone, I am the only pedestrian around. I cross a busy intersection and head across the Moscow River in a howling wind. A thousand knives would have been more gentle. I get to the other side, walk yet another mile until I discover Arbat Street has been replaced by some name I can't spell or pronounce. So back across the river and up the hill I go.
By now it is dark. After a while I see a large Marriott Hotel across Arbat Street. It is at half a mile to a pedestrian crossing, so I decide to jaywalk. This is no small choice as Arbat Street has eight lanes of heavy, fast moving traffic. It probably takes me five minutes to wait for the right moment to run across, but it feels like an hour. Think about crossing the DC beltway for a similar adventure. Not my favorite moment in Russia.
The front desk at the Marriott sets me straight (and warms me up) and I set off for "Old" Arbat Street, which is now a pedestrian only shopping street. American brands pop up a lot, but I am surprised to see a Shake Shack here, a relatively new brand back home.
I find the military store upstairs from a watch store. It is about the size of a one car garage. While I don't find a desirable coat, I do pick up a gift for home. I had to walk halfway out of the shop to get a fair price. I probably only overpaid 100%, but it wasn't that expensive anyway.
One note about Moscow is how clean it is, especially the subway. If there a lone piece of trash on the subway platform people stare at it like it was a tap dancing rodent, although no one picks it up. I guess that's someone else's job.
I forget to tell the story of "Spitfire Girl" in my entry about Leningrad. Remind and I'll tell you in person. She was and is my heroine while in Leningrad.
OK. So a longer blog and more pictures, but hey it's Moscow for goodness sakes. BTW, its as safe and friendly as any place I have been. Everyone I asked for directions was extremely kind and courteous, and mostly non-English speaking.
WARNING: the next blog entry from Krasnoyarsk may be hazardous to your mental health! Read with CAUTION!!
Inside a Moscow subway station. Very clean, reliable cheap. Built in 1930s.
The subway system is very deep underground so the escalators are very long. There is person monitoring the escalator on a tiny booth at each end. What a boring job! The escalators were always working, not at all like the ones in the DC Metro stations.
St. Basile's Cathedral on Red Square.
Another church on the square.
Kremlin buildings and wall. The Kremlin was originally built as a fortress.
Eternal flame monument to the Russian war dead in the Great Patriotic War. I made the mistake of sitting nearby. Definitely not allowed!!!
Oh yea, there's a Burger King in another mall near the metro station.
