,MOSCOW DAY 1
"You can get there from here."
The impetus for this amazing trip had its roots based on a trip my best friend Dave Forney made almost exactly a year ago when he helped escort his niece, Louisa, to the Moscow Academy of Choreography, where she would train with the Boishoi Ballet. Louisa had recently been home for the holidays and this was a déjà vu trip of sorts for her and her uncle. I had gratefully been invited to come along and with us on this excursion was also Dave’s brother Tim.
Other than being treated to the sight of thousands of migrating whales when we left LAX, the flight to Moscow from Los Angeles was uneventful, which is the way all 12 hour flights should be. This was in a great part due to the extensive planning by Dave. Dave took care of everything, from booking the flights, getting our preferred seat assignments and having our boarding passes printed and ready for us at the airport. Having him organize this incredible trip was like having our own personal travel agent as well as tour guide.
"You can get there from here."
The impetus for this amazing trip had its roots based on a trip my best friend Dave Forney made almost exactly a year ago when he helped escort his niece, Louisa, to the Moscow Academy of Choreography, where she would train with the Boishoi Ballet. Louisa had recently been home for the holidays and this was a déjà vu trip of sorts for her and her uncle. I had gratefully been invited to come along and with us on this excursion was also Dave’s brother Tim.
Other than being treated to the sight of thousands of migrating whales when we left LAX, the flight to Moscow from Los Angeles was uneventful, which is the way all 12 hour flights should be. This was in a great part due to the extensive planning by Dave. Dave took care of everything, from booking the flights, getting our preferred seat assignments and having our boarding passes printed and ready for us at the airport. Having him organize this incredible trip was like having our own personal travel agent as well as tour guide.
We were “wheels up” just about on time and soon were headed non-stop to our destination. Our route took us across the Midwest, up through Canada, over the Hudson Bay and skirting over Greenland. It was dark and cloudy most of the way, so we couldn’t see much. Instead, we enjoyed our two in-flight meals, watched some TV shows and movies on the entertainment system, but mostly tried to watch the inside of our eyelids as we knew we were soon going to be “running on fumes” with the ½ day change in time.
Landing at one of the three main airports in Moscow was smooth but not without a little anxiety. The cloud cover was so thick and low that we didn’t break through until we were about 300 feet off of the ground. Still, the pilot set us down without incident and we taxied over the cold and icy tarmac to our gate. It was one degree above freezing when we landed.
Inside, I was very impressed with the cleanliness, modern appointments, and efficiency of the Moscow airport. We breezed through customs and immigration and I actually found the immigration officers here much more personable and accommodating than those I had encountered in Canada on my numerous business trips up there.
In short order we had our bags retrieved and were greeted by Vladimir. No, not Putin silly!! Vlade was Dave ‘s driver from his previous visit and he had booked him for the week to take us around as well as play personal tour guide for us. See what I mean about Dave handling everything.
Landing at one of the three main airports in Moscow was smooth but not without a little anxiety. The cloud cover was so thick and low that we didn’t break through until we were about 300 feet off of the ground. Still, the pilot set us down without incident and we taxied over the cold and icy tarmac to our gate. It was one degree above freezing when we landed.
Inside, I was very impressed with the cleanliness, modern appointments, and efficiency of the Moscow airport. We breezed through customs and immigration and I actually found the immigration officers here much more personable and accommodating than those I had encountered in Canada on my numerous business trips up there.
In short order we had our bags retrieved and were greeted by Vladimir. No, not Putin silly!! Vlade was Dave ‘s driver from his previous visit and he had booked him for the week to take us around as well as play personal tour guide for us. See what I mean about Dave handling everything.
Our wonderful driver and tour guide, Vladimir Piskarev.
We loaded the bags into Vlade’s van and headed out of the airport to take Louisa to her academy at the Boishoi Ballet. The first thing I noticed while driving through the city toward our destination was that Moscow was far from the drab and stoic city it might have been back in the Soviet era. It was a modern, cosmopolitan city that had embraced capitalism with a vengeance.
Car dealerships bordered the highway, along with malls, furniture outlets and clothing stores. Commercial billboards - non-existent in the last “communist” country I had visited (Cuba) – dotted the skyline, screaming at the modern Russian consumer to part with their hard-earned Rubles for everything from designer clothing, to jewelry and expensive perfumes.
Car dealerships bordered the highway, along with malls, furniture outlets and clothing stores. Commercial billboards - non-existent in the last “communist” country I had visited (Cuba) – dotted the skyline, screaming at the modern Russian consumer to part with their hard-earned Rubles for everything from designer clothing, to jewelry and expensive perfumes.
We reached Louisa’s academy in about 45 minutes and by now, at 4:30, it had already grown dark. Moscow rides higher than us in latitude and is therefore closer to the north pole. The proximity meant that we had far shorter days than we were all used to in sunny So-Cal. The sun went down at 4:30 at this time of the year, and didn’t rise again until 9:00 a.m. the next morning. Needless to say, sunlight was a precious commodity here at this time of year and scarcer than fresh meat would have been during the cold war.
With Louisa safely ensconced in her digs, we headed back across town to our hotel, The Moscow Radisson Slavajanskaya, and then made plans for Vladimir to pick us back up at 10 a.m. the following day. Like everything we had seen on our trip so far, the hotel was clean, modern and seemed to function efficiently. The key difference was the security presence. We had to walk through a metal detector to get in and endure the suspicious stares of several security personnel. The Russians, as we would come to realize, didn’t play around when it came to security and metal detectors and personnel – both overt and undercover – would be the norm from shopping malls to museums to sports venues.
Another, less foreboding departure from the norm, was the fact that the Russians still celebrated Christmas in January up until the feast of the epiphany. Christmas trees were everywhere long with lights and other decorations.
Another, less foreboding departure from the norm, was the fact that the Russians still celebrated Christmas in January up until the feast of the epiphany. Christmas trees were everywhere long with lights and other decorations.
After settling in, we all freshened up and then decided to meet an Italian restaurant called Talavera. Besides serving delicious Italian fare, the restaurant also hosted the all you can eat breakfast buffet that would become our cuisine de rigueur for the trip.
Tim, Dave and I at the Talavera Restaurant.
We feasted on some pizza and beers, and then retired to bed for what would be a fitful night as we tried to fight off the effects of a 12 hour jet lag.
Moscow Day 2
"There's always tomorrow."
After fighting sleep throughout the night/day, I finally got up around 4:00 a.m. Moscow time. I downloaded my pics from the previous day, and then worked on my journal as well as handled some emails.
At around 8 I headed down to the hotel gym, walking past the numerous restaurants, high end shops, and even a Bentley car dealership that were located in the hotel’s lobby. The gym was clean, well equipped and sparsely occupied. Besides the standard machines and free weights, they also had a pool which I wouldn’t be able to utilize as I had neglected to pack a bathing suit. I guess when you are packing to head into freezing daytime temps, a bathing suit is about the farthest thing from your mind.
I met Dave and Tim in the same Talavera Restaurant we had dined at the night before and we all dug in – like typical Americans – to the all you can eat buffet. Besides having our sleep patterns thrown off, our meal schedules were all topsy-turvy as well and we found that we were famished. Hurray for all you can eat!!
We met Vlade in front of the hotel at around 10 a.m. and headed out. The weather was just above freezing but we had prepared well for it and were comfortable. Before starting some of the tour items on our agenda, we backtracked to Louisa’s school so that Dave could drop off a box of candy he had brought as a gift for a person working there. With his niece and God-daughter a half a world away, he thought it best to maintain good foreign relations. After all, Russia was very used to operating on bribes and when in Moscow, do what the Muskovites do!
"There's always tomorrow."
After fighting sleep throughout the night/day, I finally got up around 4:00 a.m. Moscow time. I downloaded my pics from the previous day, and then worked on my journal as well as handled some emails.
At around 8 I headed down to the hotel gym, walking past the numerous restaurants, high end shops, and even a Bentley car dealership that were located in the hotel’s lobby. The gym was clean, well equipped and sparsely occupied. Besides the standard machines and free weights, they also had a pool which I wouldn’t be able to utilize as I had neglected to pack a bathing suit. I guess when you are packing to head into freezing daytime temps, a bathing suit is about the farthest thing from your mind.
I met Dave and Tim in the same Talavera Restaurant we had dined at the night before and we all dug in – like typical Americans – to the all you can eat buffet. Besides having our sleep patterns thrown off, our meal schedules were all topsy-turvy as well and we found that we were famished. Hurray for all you can eat!!
We met Vlade in front of the hotel at around 10 a.m. and headed out. The weather was just above freezing but we had prepared well for it and were comfortable. Before starting some of the tour items on our agenda, we backtracked to Louisa’s school so that Dave could drop off a box of candy he had brought as a gift for a person working there. With his niece and God-daughter a half a world away, he thought it best to maintain good foreign relations. After all, Russia was very used to operating on bribes and when in Moscow, do what the Muskovites do!
Driving along the Moscow River on our first day.
Traffic was light heading out of our hotel, but would soon thicken to a level of congestion that – if you can believe it - was on par with Los Angeles!! Moscow is a city of close to 15 million, and one of the downsides to prosperity and so many people owning cars is the traffic. Vlade explained that during the Soviet era, hardly anyone could own a car and the vast majority of the population had to rely on the metro. Now, with unbridled capitalism, that equation seems to have flip-flopped.
Because of the traffic, we didn’t reach our first destination, the Novodevichy Convent for about 45 minutes. Founded in 1524, it’s best know by the locals as “The Cloister of Moscow.” Built with high walls and twelve towers strategically situated around the rectangular structure, it was initially constructed as a fort. Before long though, its isolation proved a convenient place to warehouse many ladies from the Russian royal families and boyar clans who were forced to take “the veil.”
While many of these sequestered tsarevna’s were unable to escape from inside the convent’s high walls, we found that we could neither enter the convent, nor tour its famous adjacent cemetery. Just before Christmas a Russian aircraft had crashed in bad weather, killing most of the members of a popular choir group as well as a beloved nurse. The funeral was being held for her here today and so we were summarily denied access.
We decided to make lemonade out of lemons – or rather Vodka out of potatoes – and so we toured the expansive park that surrounded the convent proper. It was a nice day and plenty of people were strolling around with babies in strollers as well as a cross country skiing class that was taking advantage of the fresh powder. Before long, the sun made an appearance and warmed things up considerably.
Because of the traffic, we didn’t reach our first destination, the Novodevichy Convent for about 45 minutes. Founded in 1524, it’s best know by the locals as “The Cloister of Moscow.” Built with high walls and twelve towers strategically situated around the rectangular structure, it was initially constructed as a fort. Before long though, its isolation proved a convenient place to warehouse many ladies from the Russian royal families and boyar clans who were forced to take “the veil.”
While many of these sequestered tsarevna’s were unable to escape from inside the convent’s high walls, we found that we could neither enter the convent, nor tour its famous adjacent cemetery. Just before Christmas a Russian aircraft had crashed in bad weather, killing most of the members of a popular choir group as well as a beloved nurse. The funeral was being held for her here today and so we were summarily denied access.
We decided to make lemonade out of lemons – or rather Vodka out of potatoes – and so we toured the expansive park that surrounded the convent proper. It was a nice day and plenty of people were strolling around with babies in strollers as well as a cross country skiing class that was taking advantage of the fresh powder. Before long, the sun made an appearance and warmed things up considerably.
oWe next headed over to The Moscow State University. Built during the Stalin era, it is one of the tallest buildings of its type in Moscow. Massively and solidly built, it is known locally as one of the “Stalin buildings” while foreigners have dubbed it one of “The Seven Sisters,” so named because only seven of the buildings with the distinctive architecture were ever built in Moscow before the brutal leader met his demise in 1952.
Unlike our surprise at being turned away at the convent, we knew that it would be a crap-shoot to try to gain entry to the campus when we arrived. Dave had been turned away before but had searched out and emailed the dean of the school to see if we would be given access. The dean never replied to the email and without a patron, we were denied entrance again. Still, we were able to tour the outside of the buildings and the grounds before heading off.
Unlike our surprise at being turned away at the convent, we knew that it would be a crap-shoot to try to gain entry to the campus when we arrived. Dave had been turned away before but had searched out and emailed the dean of the school to see if we would be given access. The dean never replied to the email and without a patron, we were denied entrance again. Still, we were able to tour the outside of the buildings and the grounds before heading off.
Next on the schedule was quick trip to Sparrow Hill, a popular lookout in which to view the city. Most interesting here was a ski jump ramp that was used by daredevils training to avoid their own ignoble, “agony of defeat.” After taking in the view briefly, we headed into a nearby Russian Orthodox Church where Tim bought some religious souvenirs.
The plan had called for us to head from Sparrow Hill to the luxurious Radisson Royale Hotel to have a drink of vodka in the restaurant/bar on the 26th. floor, but we were all starting to get hungry and thought it best to get some food in us before we assaulted our guts with the potent Russian national liquor.
Vlade drove us to a nice little Russian Café called Gorad, which means “City” in Russian. One guy inside the café was hardly what you would call “The Welcome Wagon” and we had to deal with his drunkenness and overt social behavior. I didn’t know if this was to become the norm now that we were out in the city, but never the less, he soon was escorted out.
We had a nice meal of beef cutlets, salad and soup. Just to underscore how things get lost in translation, beef cutlets were actually meatballs as Vlade explained that the term “cut,” would also mean grind up meat.
Vlade drove us to a nice little Russian Café called Gorad, which means “City” in Russian. One guy inside the café was hardly what you would call “The Welcome Wagon” and we had to deal with his drunkenness and overt social behavior. I didn’t know if this was to become the norm now that we were out in the city, but never the less, he soon was escorted out.
We had a nice meal of beef cutlets, salad and soup. Just to underscore how things get lost in translation, beef cutlets were actually meatballs as Vlade explained that the term “cut,” would also mean grind up meat.
Just a short walk away from the Gorad Café was the Russian WW II Museum. It was on our agenda for tomorrow, but with the twin dismissals by the convent and the university, we thought it might be opportune to reshuffle the schedule a bit. On the way to the museum, we passed by an elaborate outdoor ice carved village, which looked beautiful, especially with the multi-colored lighting.
As we approached the WW II Museum it was easy to see even from a distance that the Russian’s took a great deal of pride in their sacrifices made for the war. There was a giant tower with magnificent statues, an eternal flame, and a curved colonnade that served as the entrance to the museum.
The museum represented the third strike of the day though as it happened to be closed today, a Monday. We resolved to hit the convent and the museum hard the next day and took our sorrows to the Radisson Royale, where they could be properly drowned in some of Mother Russia’s Milk.
The Radisson was a stunning 5 star hotel and served an elite and elegant clientele. There were Rolls Royce sedans parked out at the front entrance, and it seemed to be a dress code that women had to be donned in expensive furs.
After passing through yet another metal detector and the watchful eyes of security personnel, we entered the opulent lobby of the Radisson. Bypassing the pricey shops, Vlade took us to the second floor and to a giant scale model of the city of Moscow. We examined the model, saw where we had been and where we would be going and then headed to the 26th. floor to wet our collective Yankee whistles.
By now if was blowing light snow flurries that, along with the Christmas decorations and the American holiday tunes playing in the background, created a white Christmas type of atmosphere. And if you don’t believe me, just click on the link here to see for yourself.
After passing through yet another metal detector and the watchful eyes of security personnel, we entered the opulent lobby of the Radisson. Bypassing the pricey shops, Vlade took us to the second floor and to a giant scale model of the city of Moscow. We examined the model, saw where we had been and where we would be going and then headed to the 26th. floor to wet our collective Yankee whistles.
By now if was blowing light snow flurries that, along with the Christmas decorations and the American holiday tunes playing in the background, created a white Christmas type of atmosphere. And if you don’t believe me, just click on the link here to see for yourself.
As we were toasting each other and our good fortune with Beluga vodka, we looked out over the city of Moscow. Just across from the Royale was the Duma (Russian Parliament) building that in 1993 was the sight of an intense power struggle between then Russian president Yeltsen and the parliament members. The situation came to a head when a defiant Yeltsen ordered the military to fire on the building with artillery!! Imagine, that would be the equivalent in our country of the president of the United States ordering the military to fire on the capital building. DONALD, don’t get any ideas!!
Thankfully, the situation was resolved and cooler heads are now running the country – or at least we hoped.
Thankfully, the situation was resolved and cooler heads are now running the country – or at least we hoped.
Vlade dropped us back off at our own more pedestrian Radisson at about 6 o’clock. We freshened up a bit in our rooms and then regrouped. Wanting just some sustenance to carry us through the night, we walked over to the Russian McDonalds across from our hotel.
The restaurant had counter service but additionally had automated kiosks that may soon be supplanting all of the US’s $15.00 an hour employees who think that they are irreplaceable. Wanting something from the menu other than what we could get at home, we all tried the Russian “Country Burger “ with potato wedges.
The restaurant had counter service but additionally had automated kiosks that may soon be supplanting all of the US’s $15.00 an hour employees who think that they are irreplaceable. Wanting something from the menu other than what we could get at home, we all tried the Russian “Country Burger “ with potato wedges.
a Our tummy’s sated, we went over to the Europa Mall, which was just across the street from our hotel. Other than the signs being in a foreign language – although not all of them - it was like any other mall, except that it was incredibly ritzy! It was clean, well lit, and could satisfy nearly any consumer need you had. Again though we had to go through -you guessed it - another set of metal detectors and security checkpoint.
Outside of the mall and brightly lit was a gorgeous display of St. Basils and Red Square in colorful lights.
Outside of the mall and brightly lit was a gorgeous display of St. Basils and Red Square in colorful lights.
We returned to our hotel around 9 and hit the sack exhausted, but enriched. Our heads reeling with the thoughts that tomorrow would be another busy day.
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