the armory and dinner at elizabeth messud's
today we organized ourselves and
made it out of the house in time to get tickets to the kremlin's armory
collection of art treasures. in the evening we were guests at elizabeth messud's
new home in moscow, where we enjoyed a wonderful meal while ingrid and sam
played with elizabeth and vasya's children.
This morning passed as usual, except that
Monica helped get us organized (fed, washed, dressed) in time to make it to the
armory ticket office before 10:00 a.m. when it opens for the first tour of the
day.
I worried about security, so I stripped my tiny backpack down to the minimums, leaving my video camera home and pretty much everything else except a dictionary and my cell phone. Unfortunately, as we approached the top of the stairway leading into security, an usher informed me that I'd not be able to take my pack in. Kind of sexist, since women were allowed to carry in bags of much larger size but OK. The man directed me to a place where I could check my bag, but when I arrived I could find nothing more than a bathroom. So I hiked the next ten minutes back to our apartment.
Much to Monica's frustration. The whole pack fiasco cost us another 45 minutes, but when I returned we all made our way downstairs (many stairs with a stroller) and began our tour of the Kremlin's Armory Palace. It's a storehouse for Russia's greatest art treasures (or rather, the greatest art treasures outside of St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum). And it includes clothing, carriages, armor, table service, military decorations, thrones (the one pictured below belonged to Ivan the Terrible), crowns (Ingrid's standing in front of a crown with 900 carats of diamonds in it), and best of all, Fabergé eggs.
Mom did not appreciate the wide, ornate, and elaborate staircases (and I must say I didn't appreciate them so much either, since Sam was in the stroller and I needed to lug him up and down all these stairs). Russia is not a good place to need to get around in a wheelchair or on crutches. Sam was holding out for the displays of armor and swords, but fell asleep just as we reached them.
Viewing the incredible variety of excessively ornate (gaudy) items, we reflected that what we'd observed in contemporary Moscow--not art for art's sake, but vulgar displays of wealth for the sake of trying to impress others--had in fact a long history in Russia. Monica added, however, that the excessively ornate quality of many of Russia's imperial treasures satisfied an important political purpose, because when the royal family travelled abroad or in Russia itself, the very qualities which we today find almost tacky had the effect of inspiring awe in onlookers.
We finished our tour by buying a few items in the Museum store and then making our way back to Komergerski street for lunch. The plan was to try the Tibet Kitchen again, and we did. This time I was less impressed with the food and as usual, I sulked about it.
Back at the apartment, Ingrid and I napped while Monica played with Sam and Mom read. After a few hours it was time to get ready for our much anticipated dinner date with the sister of a friend at Sam's pre-school, Elizabeth Messud and her husband Vasya. Elizabeth works for Nestle, and after work she sent her car to give us a ride to her new condo not far south of the Kremlin. But what was supposed to have been a simple affair--a ride at about six and dinner from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.--turned into a much more difficult adventure. We didn't arrive until about 8:00 p.m.; after which we enjoyed a wonderful meal of pizza, salad, beer, and good wine while the children played with Elizabeth and Vasya's children (Sasha, who is almost 5; and Beatrice who is almost 8). We had delightful conversations and it was just a great time, but we didn't get home until 11:00 (after a ten minute walk in the rain which the kids loved).
When we got home we stripped them, washed, them, made them chocolate milk and they dropped off to sleep like freshly sawn logs.
Now I'm off to brush my teeth and join them (it's still pouring rain and the thunder is great).
Good night.
I worried about security, so I stripped my tiny backpack down to the minimums, leaving my video camera home and pretty much everything else except a dictionary and my cell phone. Unfortunately, as we approached the top of the stairway leading into security, an usher informed me that I'd not be able to take my pack in. Kind of sexist, since women were allowed to carry in bags of much larger size but OK. The man directed me to a place where I could check my bag, but when I arrived I could find nothing more than a bathroom. So I hiked the next ten minutes back to our apartment.
Much to Monica's frustration. The whole pack fiasco cost us another 45 minutes, but when I returned we all made our way downstairs (many stairs with a stroller) and began our tour of the Kremlin's Armory Palace. It's a storehouse for Russia's greatest art treasures (or rather, the greatest art treasures outside of St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum). And it includes clothing, carriages, armor, table service, military decorations, thrones (the one pictured below belonged to Ivan the Terrible), crowns (Ingrid's standing in front of a crown with 900 carats of diamonds in it), and best of all, Fabergé eggs.
Mom did not appreciate the wide, ornate, and elaborate staircases (and I must say I didn't appreciate them so much either, since Sam was in the stroller and I needed to lug him up and down all these stairs). Russia is not a good place to need to get around in a wheelchair or on crutches. Sam was holding out for the displays of armor and swords, but fell asleep just as we reached them.
Viewing the incredible variety of excessively ornate (gaudy) items, we reflected that what we'd observed in contemporary Moscow--not art for art's sake, but vulgar displays of wealth for the sake of trying to impress others--had in fact a long history in Russia. Monica added, however, that the excessively ornate quality of many of Russia's imperial treasures satisfied an important political purpose, because when the royal family travelled abroad or in Russia itself, the very qualities which we today find almost tacky had the effect of inspiring awe in onlookers.
We finished our tour by buying a few items in the Museum store and then making our way back to Komergerski street for lunch. The plan was to try the Tibet Kitchen again, and we did. This time I was less impressed with the food and as usual, I sulked about it.
Back at the apartment, Ingrid and I napped while Monica played with Sam and Mom read. After a few hours it was time to get ready for our much anticipated dinner date with the sister of a friend at Sam's pre-school, Elizabeth Messud and her husband Vasya. Elizabeth works for Nestle, and after work she sent her car to give us a ride to her new condo not far south of the Kremlin. But what was supposed to have been a simple affair--a ride at about six and dinner from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.--turned into a much more difficult adventure. We didn't arrive until about 8:00 p.m.; after which we enjoyed a wonderful meal of pizza, salad, beer, and good wine while the children played with Elizabeth and Vasya's children (Sasha, who is almost 5; and Beatrice who is almost 8). We had delightful conversations and it was just a great time, but we didn't get home until 11:00 (after a ten minute walk in the rain which the kids loved).
When we got home we stripped them, washed, them, made them chocolate milk and they dropped off to sleep like freshly sawn logs.
Now I'm off to brush my teeth and join them (it's still pouring rain and the thunder is great).
Good night.
Posted: Fri - June 17, 2005 at 12:10 AM
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Published On: Jun 18, 2005 11:18 AM
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Published On: Jun 18, 2005 11:18 AM