From Russia with Love

Christine and I ostensibly see our journey as taking on three legs, Europe, Russia & Asia, and Africa.

I was with mild sadness as we found ourselves pulling into Munich, for what would be our last stop on the European leg of the trip. Munich itself was a city easy to navigate, with wide boulevards, street markings similar to Canada, and sensible German drivers who followed the rules of the road. Unfortunately for us, when we got to our hotel, they informed us that we were a day late and our reservation was for the night before. Christine had called and changed the reservation to just the second night, but the date got lost in translation and they now no longer had a room for us. Fortunately, they called a hotel just around the block and we were able to secure a room there for the same cheap rate. Not as nice, but close, clean and convenient. (Right - the glockenspiel in Munich)

We spent the day wandering through the city and seeing the sights. A glockenspiel performance drew a crowd outside the main square, and the show was entertaining. Our most memorable moments of Munich are to be had in the Hafbraehouse, a massive and popular pub in the heart of the city. This is a place that draws both tourists and locals alike. The waiters have incredible stamina, using a method that allows them to carry 8 huge 1 liter stein glasses in each hand, which are the glasses you see Christine holding in the photo. (Left - Christine with her 1 liter of dark German Beer).

The food and the atmosphere are incredibly jolly, but the people are there for some serious beer drinking. The oompahpah band strikes up in the centre and when people know the song, the beer swinging and signing take off in earnest. We sat next to 3 very nice gentlemen who struck up a conversation with us. Only one of them spoke English and he was taking classes. He used the opportunity to learn some things from us, and it was a very friendly encounter. He had learned the phrase “Very nice to meet you” recently in school, and whenever he had trouble thinking of how to say something in English, he would bust that line out. Christine has a fun video of the three men singing along to the music. Two of the men are friends from Switzerland and one was a friend from Munich. We were never able to clarify how they knew each other. (Right - Friends at the Haufbrauhaus)

Above - the fellows we met at the German Beer Hall

Early the next morning we woke up, planning on getting to the airport to drop of the car and get our seats with plenty of time. Thankfully we set an alarm for the morning, as the requested wake up call never came. We made it with plenty of time to spare. Off we went to start our second leg of the journey – Moscow.

Now before leaving for Russia, we spent a bit of time learning about common scams, taxi problems, etc., just to make sure we reduced any chance of incident upon arriving in Russia since we would might as well have "tourist" stamped across our forehead. Upon arriving, we started looking for names of reputable companies we had researched, and found an official taxi service. The driver looked like a very nice fellow, and so off we went to the hotel. On the way out of the airp

ort, someone whispered to Christine if her if she wanted a taxi, but we figured we would stick with our first choice. We'd rather keep our passports and money, thank you!

On the ride to our hotel, the sky was overcast and gray and the rain was pounding down. The taxi ride to the hotel was largely uneventful, and Russian driving seems to be very ordered. Apart from on and off ramps, the people here seem to be very reasonable and safe in their driving. The only thing of note about the drive is that the traffic was absolutely horrendous and it took about 3 hours to get from the airport to the hotel. This is no small feat considering that the flight from Munich to Moscow was only 2 and ½ hours. The taxi driver was very apologetic, but the traffic certainly wasn’t his fault. Thankfully we had paid the full fare at the airport and the meter wasn't ticking the whole three hours.

Above - The Red Square, Moscow

So now we find ourselves in Moscow, at a very nice hotel, quite a way from the centre. We had managed to find a very nice hotel (which are incredibly expensive in Moscow) and t

he price we paid on-line was about 1/4^th the price we would have paid at the hotel – so our recommendation is to book on-line.

The last two days turned out to be gloriously sunny days with beautiful blue skies – how fortunate were we. Apparently it had been rainy and gray for many days previously, so we soaked up all the nice weather we could. However, apparently the rumours are true and Russia is a pretty cold place. The temperature was hovering around 4-5 degrees, but the wind made it feel a lot colder. A far cry from the 42 degrees of Seville only a month earlier. (Left - State Museum in the Red Square)

Our first full day in Moscow was dedicated to the purely tourist activity. Thanks to two co-workers of mine, Christine and I had a nice list of the “essential” Moscow to be seen. Our first stop on the trip was directly to Red Square. Immediately Christine was offered discount ballet tickets by a shady looking fellow - it's funny, in New York you get offered watches & purses, here in Russia, you get offered ballet tickets. We wandered along through the square and straight to the most iconic image of the centre, St. Basil’s Cathedral. The cathedral is smaller than you might think, but very unique. Each of the bulbous towers is done in a different design, and the entire building is done very colourfully. The only church to match this in colour is San Marco in Venice. The Russian churches also tend to lean towards more gold leaf coverings on the wall, and no stain glass on the window. (Right - St Basil's Cathedral)

Inside the cathedral, there is no central large space, instead there are many small churches, each dedicated to something different. Trained well, like all children of Armenian heritage, I spotted a dedication to an Armenian, St. Gregory the Illuminator. The cathedral winds up and around, and has a completely different feel to it. Perhaps part of the reason is that it is now a museum and no longer a church, so it does not have the same solemnity we are used to from our other visits.

Christine and I dutifully spent some time waiting in line for our turn to see Lenin’s Mausoleum. The line moves very fast, and they take security at this sight very seriously. For those of you who don’t know, the Russians have been keeping Lenin on ice for more than 85 years, and anyone who visits, can see him in his final resting place. When we finally managed to make our way into the sight, there were no less than 15 guards counted inside this very small building. We marched around his glass coffin, and even though there was nobody behind us at all, three times three different guards motioned for us to move along faster than we were. Apparantly you are also not allowed to put your cold hands in your pockets as Christine was politely told not to do this. We can now attest with our own eyes, that Lenin is indeed dead. (Left - Hovan in front of Lenin's Masoleum).

Following this visit, Christine and I went to visit the Kremlin. I have to say that as an avid spy novel reader and movie watcher, it felt pretty cool to be inside the Kremlin walls. The guards are still dressed smartly and the military presence was everywhere, but it was a neat feeling to waltz into a place that so many tried and failed for so many years. We spent a good deal of time wandering through all the various buildings and churches inside the Kremlin, seeing the church where Tsars ascended the throne, and another building where they were laid to rest. What was really interesting was that all of the art and wall coverings were restored under Soviet experts. I wouldn’t have expected the Soviets to invest in restoring tombs and art of the Tsarist era, but it is wonderful for the preservation of history. (Left - Us in front of the entrance to the Kremlin)

After dinner, Christine and I returned to Red Square to see it at night, all lit up, and without too many people. Most of the people were at home, watching the footy match between Russia and German to qualify for the World Cup. People had been dressed up, singing, cheering and waving flags all day. Sadly, Russia lost 1-0. (Right - Communist supporters marching in Red Square)

Red Square at night, however was beautiful. After wandering around, we realized that we had a bit of time before being picked up by the hotel shuttle bus, so we decided to head into the famous GUM shopping mall. If you are looking for a concentration of all the most expensive chain stores a la Cartier and Armani, this is the spot. I had a bit of fun wandering into stores where I had no intention of buying anything. Given that I am dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with a fleece jacket, I really stood out. The fact that I have a really big bushy beard did not help matters at all (Scott, you would be proud of my beard). Every store I went into, an employee would follow me around making sure I didn’t steal anything. They were not subtle about it either, because they would often come in front of me, rest against a display case, and stare right at me. My favourite was in one store, I was bracketed by three ladies, and every move I made, they were all around me, not more than 3 feet away. (Right - GUM lit up at night)

Yesterday, we spent some time sight seeing, doing a few suggested walking routes, etc. We also visited the Old Arbat Street, which is popular shop strip that is pedestrian only. We visited one old Church on the river, whose name escapes me at the moment, but it is near the massive statue in honor of Peter the Great.

What took a significant amount of our time yesterday was trying to figure out if our train left Moscow on Monday night or Tuesday night. The problem was the booking agency was closed, and when we looked closer at the voucher they gave us back in Canada, there were two conflicting dates. We traveled all over town trying to figure this out, especially since we only had booked our accommodation until Monday morning. The train station was a total bust, and our few bits of Russian could our question. Even after lengthy line ups and finding the one employee who “spoke” English, we still couldn’t get a response. Frustrated, we decided to hop back on the Subway and head to another location where we were to pick up the tickets, and ask the hotel staff if they knew. In trying to get back into the train station, however, we kept getting attacked by these gates that would slam closed in front of us, really violently. We saw that it was the exit we had come out of, but we were unable to read the word “Exit” as it was in Cyrillic. We had no idea where the entrance was. After wandering into some very local, non-touristy areas, we were really lost. Finally we asked this nice young man, who introduced himself as Alexander, and he walked us through a maze to the train station. We ended the day totally out of luck and unsure when our train left. (Right - Hovan in front of one of the many beautiful cathedrals).

This morning we spoke to the lady at the front desk of our hotel. She was amazingly helpful and called around to find out when the train left – Tuesday. She was also really helpful in letting us use her computer to book another night in the hotel. She could only offer us the very expensive regular rate, but she showed us which site to visit that allowed us to book a cheap single room, which she said would allow us to stay in our double room. She is definitely our favourite Moscow local. We have spent a bit of today sorting things out and getting our train tickets. We have another day and a half in Moscow, before hitting the train. The weather turned gray and wet on us, but we figure we were fortunate to have the last two days of sunshine, from what the locals say.

One final point about Moscow, the city is itself very modern, wealthy and trendy. The people here dress very trendy, and the cars can be quite expensive and exotic. One spot that seemed off was a back side street that had a bunch of guys in suits, and parked Mercedes, Bentleys, and Range Rovers, along with a couple of Aston Martins, we thought this might not be a place to dawdle (if you catch my meaning). We have been told that the rest of the country is nothing like Moscow, and hopefully we will see some of that through our train travels. The people here are complex and interesting, we have been bumped, pushed and stepped on a number of occasions when people are in lines or trying to get seats on the train. Paradoxically, younger men will gallantly give up their seats for older ladies and children. (Left - Woman wearing fur - real fur is very popular in Russia)

Moscow has been a very nice visit and we are also looking forward to tomorrow and our train ride. We will be out of communication for about 6-7 days while we are on the trans Siberia train to China, so stay tuned for the continuing adventures of Hovan and Christine.