Russia Recap: Day 2

Sunday April 20th

Sunday was Kristin’s only full day (as a tourist) in Moscow. As such, we had a rigorous sight-seeing schedule to cover it all. Not that I’m a demanding travel partner or anything… :-p Thankfully, like the National Mall here in D.C., Moscow has all of their top attractions packaged in one convenient spot. In Moscow that’s The Kremlin and Red Square (which lives directly outside the Kremlin’s east wall).

After the President Hotel’s bountiful breakfast buffet, our first stop was Red Square, or as the language courses taught us Krasnaya Ploshad, which frankly was pronounced in the lectures as “Krasnaya bullshit” (I’m sorry, it sounded exactly like that to both of us). Needless to say we got some laughs out of standing in Red Square and telling each other Krasnaya Ploshad izdees (Red Square is here!). It’s here that Lenin lays embalmed waiting to greet us. He gets tired though so he’s only available between 10am and 1pm, and on Monday and Friday he’s out of the office altogether (it’s my understanding that’s when they wipe him down and touch him up). Apparently there is usually a horrendous line and we were nearly suckered into hiring a tour guide who supposedly could get us right to the front of the line. As it turned out the line was only about 10 minutes (on a rainy April day at least) and we actually were in line next to two guys who had been on the vodka tour with us the night before (perhaps they were actually hired to follow us… or we were hired to follow them). At any rate Lenin is looking pretty good; embalmed, but not as fake as some writings implied. There’s no talking (to him or anyone else) and they move you through pretty quickly so it’s only about a 15 second experience. He’s free so at least it’s a good value.

Next stop was the Armoury, which is essentially a history museum inside the Kremlin. You can’t enter or exit the Kremlin from the east side so we had to walk all the way around the Kremlin, past the tomb of the unknown soldier, an old looking section of wall, and the Alexandrovsky Gardens (which like most things in Moscow will probably look much better… and be much more crowded… next month). “April renovations bring May tourists” was a common theme throughout the trip, as you’ll see. But the Armoury was open and we made our noon timeslot (although Kristin was forced to forage for nourishment since I wouldn’t stop for lunch—she ended up with a ketchup-soaked hot dog that was none too appetizing). Like the rest of Russia, there was very little English in the museum, but you go through the gift shop on the way in (and out) and they sell an English book on the Armoury for about $8 (and they actually take credit cards!), so I recommend buying that as a guide and souvenir. Some of the more exciting items here were the actual throne where Peter and Ivan were anointed co-tsars, along with the crowns they wore (all of which was shown in the Peter the Great miniseries that planted the seed in high school for me to eventually take this trip). The Faberge eggs and Elizabeth’s 23 horse carriage also made this one of the highlights of the trip. When you go, explore the room of outfits worn by the clergy and look for the one which we swore was decorated with South Park-style people (sadly this one is missing from the Armoury guidebook). Maybe it really is from the South Park folks and they have it there like we have the Colbert painting at our National Portrait Gallery.

The rest of the time in The Kremlin was spent dodging the rain, ducking from one cathedral to another (half of which wound up being closed). Everytime we entered a building we hoped when we left the rain would have stopped... it was always raining harder. We did come across the impressive Tsar Bell (largest in the world), but failed to find a way to exit the Kremlin out onto Red Square (there were plenty of guards around to stymie each attempt down a new path we thought might get us out that way). So we did another half-lap around the outside of the Kremlin walls, where we worked up an expensive appetite.

After a $50 snack at GUM (the boutique mall that lines the whole east side of Red Square) we wound our way through St. Basil’s Cathedral. The outside is far more interesting than the inside where the highlight was probably realizing that there were multiple exits which meant they were forced to have multiple mini-gift shops to catch you on your way out. Each time we went a different way inside to be sure we had covered everything we wound up in a different gift shop.

Our last tourist destination was the State History Museum. Kristin and I were both uninspired by this museum and the highlight hands down was bumping into her co-worker Joe who had just bought train tickets to St. Petersburg… at the exact times we needed to buy ours for. I formulated a plan of getting a copy of them to take with me to the train ticket office on Monday. Kristin and I were so bored of the English-free second floor of the museum that we decided to skip out on the first floor (which we learned later from Joe actually had information in English!). Therefore it was all the more ironic to us when we exited the museum and heard a speaker enticing tourists inside… in English. In the museum’s defense it had been a long day and I’m sure had we hired a guide, or bought a guidebook, or started on the first floor(!) we’d have enjoyed it more.

Dinner was at the Lonely Planet’s second successful recommendation. This time it was the Uzbek restaurant “Eastern Quarter” just off Ulitsa Arbat. Their Plov was second only to Saturday’s Horcha on my list of top Russian meals. In addition to being delicious, dinner was cheaper than our afternoon snack! But I’ll admit that sitting at the café in GUM was a nice break from the non-stop tourist-a-thon… and from the rain. Since I’d be outside all day on Monday I was really hoping for some sunshine…

Kristin on the other hand had to prepare for her conference on Monday. An $800 a night hotel in Russia may have a spectacular view and great breakfast, but there are some things it does not have. A clock. An iron. No worries. Kristin called to have an iron brought to the room to undo the wrinkle damage that a 9 hour flight will do. The response: "No". And then instructions to go down to some other room number, where there was an iron. It turns out it was the maid's room, so Kristin ironed away while we looked around at all of the random knick-knacks (a table-top tree with fake $100 bills as leaves) and potential freebies (extra hotel slippers—which we passed on because President Hotel was written in English—but sadly none of their $150 bathrobes).

<-- Day 1 ---- Day 3 Train Tickets -->

Back in the U.S.S.A.

I have returned from an amazing week in Russia and am working my way through my photos and stories. Kristin and I combined to take about 1500 pictures, which I’ve whittled down below 300 (you're welcome) and have broken into (hopefully) manageable sections, so I am finally ready to begin the recap (the delay in getting this started actually had nothing to do with jet lag, which we managed to avoid both ways, and more to do with spending the past three days with lawn mowers—breaking two, failing to fix them, buying a new one, and finally mowing the jungle of plants that was swallowing the house).

Before I recap day one, I have some thanks to give.

Much like my Africa trip wouldn’t have been possible without Chris, I wouldn’t have gotten to Russia this year without Kristin who brought me along on her business trip (and I surely would never have traveled there in such impressive accommodations). I can’t possibly thank her enough for this opportunity and for putting up with me as a travel partner! Thanks also to Dana, Erin and my uncle for great advice on what to see in Moscow and St. Petersburg. As you’ll see from the recap your input guided the itinerary.

For future travelers I should also give a shout out to www.waytorussia.net. For U.S. citizens, Russia requires an invitation letter… in order to get a visa… which then has to be registered at a hotel upon arrival. It’s not a terribly tourist friendly system (though probably easier than what a Russian wanting to visit the U.S. goes through). Hotels and travel agencies in Russia will issue an invitation letter… but as I found out, they would only issue an invitation for the exact dates that you booked accommodations with them. This can be a problem when your final night is on an overnight train and the travel agency will only offer visa support through the day before your flight home (it’s apparently a very bad thing to overstay your visa, even by a single day). www.waytorussia.net on the other hand is an online site where you can pay $30 and they will get a Russian agency to issue you a visa invitation for whatever days you request (up to the tourist visa limit of 30 days). Initially that seemed about as legitimate as a Russian-mail-order-bride site or the emails that I observed the young African man “Edith” send to all of the 60-year old men on a German dating site. But in the end it was $30 well spent. I got an invitation letter that covered my entire trip and it was legitimate enough that I was issued a visa which didn’t lead to any problems entering or leaving Russia (it may actually be a sanctioned way of ensuring that we fund the Russian travel industry). There’s also lots of other good travel advice on the site including a language section that I used to learn the Cyrillic alphabet, which proved extremely handy (like for deciphering their invitation letter which doesn’t come with any English instructions!).

Day One (which in this case was from about 10am Friday to 3pm Saturday east coast time)

After an uneventful Delta connection through JFK (skipping the iPod vending machine there) we arrived at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport along with all of our luggage! I even had my name on a sign for a car at the airport (a first I believe). We got to the (five star!) President Hotel shortly after noon and were able to check in immediately. After getting over my shock about the view from the room (in one direction we could see right into the Kremlin) and getting clean we set off to Izmaylovo market. Normally I wouldn’t advise going souvenir shopping immediately upon arrival, but this market was supposedly the best deal in Moscow and it’s only in full swing on the weekend. Since we’d be touring the Kremlin and Red Square all day Sunday, this was our only chance to visit.

On the way in we passed a bear show. I realized when looking back through the photos that the painting in the background was actually one of my favorite paintings that I saw a week later at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg (Ivan Shishkin’s “Morning in a Pine Forest”). One of the other things we saw throughout the trip was a T-shirt aimed at tourists that says “I’ve been to Moscow… there are no bears”. It lies.

The market lived up to the hype because not only was it our best shopping experience in Russia, it was probably my best foreign shopping experience ever. There’s an endless supply of the usual souvenirs (as well as unusual ones like Boston Red Sox nesting dolls which I had to resist), the prices are the cheapest we found on the trip, and the vendors are helpful but not pushy (well as you see in the picture we did have hats pushed on our heads—but they took the photo and didn’t get particularly upset when we moved along without buying anything). The bargaining is mostly a game here where all the vendors seem to have a starting price and a “minimum price” (about 10-20% less) which they sometimes offer in the same breathe. It’s probably possible to bargain some down further (although on several occasions they truly didn’t seem interested and were happy to let us walk away) and in general the prices are reasonable enough that it’s not really necessary. If our flight had been later the next Saturday I definitely would have come back here then once I had a better idea of what I wanted to buy and how much money I had left.

Also inside the market (but not included in the 40 cent entrance price to the market) was the Vodka History Museum. We jumped on a group tour (in English, which turned out to be quite rare in Russia) and Kristin sampled some vodka included in the admission price before we purchased yet more souvenirs. It was a bit hard to follow but I know the funniest part of the tour for me was when the guide explained how three people would pool their money for a bottle of vodka and needed a way to split it evenly. They determined that vodka bottles make 21 “blurps” as they are poured (she made the sound effects). Each person got seven blurps. Blurp, blurp, blurp…

Still managing to stay awake we tracked down the Georgian restaurant (or PECTOPAH as it’s spelled in Cyrillic—PECTOPAH is pronounced Restoran, isn’t Cyrillic fun!?!) called Dioskuriya that was recommended in the Lonely Planet. Thankfully it was still there, still cheapish (I think $40 for the two of us), and the best food I had the whole trip (particularly my favorite dish Horcha). I also noticed the handy requirement that menus in Russia print the serving size (in grams or mL) along with the price. It’s a little hard to find because the “street” it is on looks more like a driveway going through a gate in a building along Novy Arbat (walking from the Kremlin if you get to T.G.I. Friday’s—yes T.G.I. Friday’s—you’ve gone too far). It’s well worth seeking out though and was the perfect cap to our first day in Russia!

Day 2 -->

From Russia with Love!

Day four update, probably the last of the trip since we won't have internet access unless we go to a cafe. Today the sun finally came out... and I was inside at museums! The Pushkin Gallery and the Tretyakov Gallery. Tonight I saw Eugene Onegin performed in Russian. Oh the bit of news I forgot from yesterday is that I got our train tickets to St. Petersburg so the trip will continue!Here are a couple more photos:

Update through day three: I have limited internet access so I won't write much but I will try to post a few more photos. The last two days have been rainy but I've still enjoyed seeing Lenin, the Kremlin (with the world's largest bell), St.Basil's, Novodevichy Convent, The nesting dolls (Matryoshka) museum, and watching Don Quixote (a ballet I thought was an opera) at the State Kremlin Theatre. My favorite part of Moscow so far though may be the Metro. More on that later. Here are some more photos.





One day done and everything has gone smoothly. Other than meager success on the airplane I haven't slept in two days so I won't be writing but I will post a couple of today's photos. Enjoy!

Dosvedanya Yankee Stadium

Joel is leaving the East Coast and the Yankees are moving out of Yankee Stadium (they're going to the new stadium right next door). That made it the perfect time to finally catch a game at Yankee Stadium and of course that game needed to be a Sox/Yankees game. I have plenty to say about the experience of being one of four Sox fans surrounded by a horde of chanting "bleacher creatures"... but unfortunately that will all have to wait until I return from Russia since I leave in less than 12 hours and have just barely packed. For now I will just have to give you this picture worth 1000 words... or at least two words... and those words of course are "Yankees Suck!"

Hopefully the next post is from Russia!

Paintball Haiku

Mission Accomplished:
I didn't eat any paint...
But that shot still hurt!

The Rite of Spring

Spring has finally arrived. I know because this was the first Friday that Darren and I ate our weekly burrito lunch outside, and because NPR’s All Songs Considered previewed the spring music releases. Since I didn’t blog about anything else this week, I figured I would take after my friend Chris, who likes to make top 10 lists, and preview the top 10 events I am most excited about this spring and summer.

I had a hard time paring the list down so I’ve cheated by grouping some activities together and by disqualifying the long-standing annual traditions which would show up on this list every year (e.g. croquet at Screen on Jon and Darren’s Green, Gold Cup, Tubing on the 4^th, and the CSC Invitational). It’s going to be a busy spring and summer. Which reminds me that Darren and I have a debate about whether I like to be busy. For the record, I don’t like to be busy. I like all of the individual activities that I do, and I don’t mind that they make me busy. See the difference? (Somehow that always reminds me of the SNL debate skit during the 2004 election where “Kerry” says [see when I was for the war I was speaking to a pro-war audience, and when I was against the war I was speaking to an anti-war audience. That’s not flip-flopping. That’s pandering. And you deserve a president who knows the difference!])

10. Kevin and Jamie’s wedding: There is no safe spot to put them on the list so consider this event unranked (or if you prefer, they are at the “top” of the list). I’ve been to a Match wedding, but this will be the first wedding for a couple that met at one of our BBQs (the BBQs are indeed magical as I can envision at least one more SOJDG wedding).

9. Hamlet at the Shakespeare Free for All (May 22^nd-June 1^st): It’ll be hard to surpass Love’s Labor’s Lost but I’ll be there to see if The Shakespeare Theatre Company can do it. Technically, this should be disqualified since this is my fourth year going.

8. SilverDocs (June 16^th-23^rd): One of the few things that irritates Darren more than me saying “I don’t like to be busy”, is how much I like documentaries. Although, I only got to see Chicago 10 last year, I intend to see plenty more this time around. Maybe even my friends' second documentary, 10 Yards, will make the cut.

7. Artomatic 2008 (May 9^th- June 15th): For the first time since I started going, Artomatic is showing in back-to-back years. I still remember last year’s show well so it will be interesting to see how much of the artwork is recycled. Hopefully I will finally find a piece to go over the mantle (otherwise the Dr. Dremo’s sign may have found its new home).

6. Wolf Trap: The greatest concert venue on earth (and not just because I performed there) and the only National Park for the Performing Arts. I’d see anything at Wolf Trap (ok, that’s a lie… I won’t see the Backstreet Boys) I already have a stack of 28 tickets at home for my friends and me to go see Prairie Home Companion, Pilobolus, Tcheers for Tchaikovsky, Not the Messiah, ‘H’ is for Hitchcock, and Hawaii Revisited.

5. Concerts: It’s a good summer when three out of the top four bands I want to see are all coming through D.C. Thanks to AB, I’ve got tickets to see The Flight of the Conchords. I’ll get to see my second favorite band, Bishop Allen, for the first time, and my favorite band, Modest Mouse, for the second time (with the ridiculous lineup including The National and R.E.M.). Now if James would only announce a North American Tour…

4. Red Sox Games: I’ll be going to enemy territory for the first time next Wednesday to watch the Red Sox win at Yankee Stadium before the Yanks move to their new home next year. And of course Jeffrey and I will be following our flawlessly refined routine for catching nearly every Sox/O’s game over at Fenway South.

3. Capital Fringe Festival (July 10^th-27^th): While I don’t participate in theatre anymore (that’s how I managed to perform at Wolf Trap… it was at the Barns and our High School’s production of Terminal was selected to perform) I’ve been known to watch a play or two. Will this be the year that someone tops Journeymen Theatre’s Bartleby?

2. XXIX Olympiad (August 8^th-24^th): Host-country controversy aside, I love the Olympics (only surpassed by World Cup Soccer) and can’t wait to watch some hard-core table tennis again (yes, I’m completely serious – and yes, I’m hooked on Curling in the winter Olympics).

1. RUSSIA! (April 18^th-26^th): That’s right, the main reason I haven’t written much lately is that I am getting ready for my trip to Russia one week from today. Most of my free time has been spent studying Pimsleur Russian courses, listening to Russian music lectures, rereading Russka, and rewatching the Peter the Great miniseries. Well that and trying to get a visa (check) and train tickets between Moscow and St. Petersburg (not-so-much check). Let's hope this trip makes the blog a bit more entertaining!

National Mall and Nationals Park

Spring weather may not have arrived last weekend, but that didn’t stop the arrival of the Cherry Blossoms, the kite festival, Opening Night at the Nationals new stadium and (as I had to take metro to see all of those) the tourists.

At the kite festival the weather was colder and less windy than last year (not an ideal combination for kites), but Ann and I persevered and by some measure this year was even more successful; that measure would be the ability to fully unwind the kite string (with the kite in the air), which I accomplished twice Saturday vs. once in 2007. Despite flying last year’s model, I was happy to see my 3-D pirate ship kite received an ample share of compliments (it may be developing a bit of an ego).

Thanks to Joel I scored a ticket to the Nats opening night game on Sunday (as opposed to the game on April 7^th that I bought tickets for thinking it was the home opener. Doh. Seriously who has a one game series on March 30^th!?!). They rolled out the red carpet for us… to stand on while we waited in the metal detector lines (which had better have been a one-night deal on account of POTUS first-pitching). We explored the stadium and my initial impression was favorable, but as I’ve analyzed it I don’t know why (probably it was the atmosphere of being there for opening night). Nationals Park doesn’t have the unique touches of some of the new stadiums, or any interesting landmarks in the background—like the Bromo-Seltzer tower which used to be visible (bottom of link) at Camden Yards. The food and drink policy is the same as RFK where you can bring food and one sealed bottle of water in, but there are currently no vendors outside the stadium (at the metro entrance at least) which is a disappointment. And just like so many games at RFK, around the sixth inning I found myself futilely hoping that a pretzel vendor would walk by. Regardless it was an exciting night at Nationals Park, capped by Ryan Zimmerman’s walk-off HR. I was grateful to Joel to be there and I will give the stadium another chance on Monday with those tickets that I thought were for opening night!

Notes to Jon:

• In case any of the random people who came up and asked where I got my kite stumble across my blog (or more likely so I have an answer when they ask next year). Ann found Whistle Stop Hobbies in Old Town Alexandria for us last year.
  
  
• They did include local restaurants inside the stadium but the prices are marked up accordingly ($8.25 for a cup of—admittedly delicious—gumbo from Cantina Marina and $7 for Five Guys fries). That didn’t keep the lines from being out of control…until they cleared the area for fireworks. Rumor has it that Five Guys will be putting in a custom kitchen soon to increase efficiency and also lowering the price on the fries to $6. Hopefully Cantina Marina will increase the size of the gumbo cup.
  
  
• George Washington won the first President's Race at Nationals Park (while Teddy abandoned the race to dance in Center Field)
  
  
• Metro worked well for the game, we took the yellow line from Crystal City to the green line at L’Enfant. And most importantly we didn’t lose any keys!
  
  
• Although it has nothing to do with this post, I did go to Jammin’ Java on Monday to hear Eva Castillo and I need someplace to make a note of how delicious the Sausage Tomatillo Chili is so that I remember to get a bowl of it next time I am there.