too late for the kremlin but not too late for the zoo


our trip to the kremlin and the armory didn't work out because well, we got out of the house too late. but after lunch we re-grouped and made our way to the zoo.

Our original plan was (or my plan was) to make it to the Kremlin ticket office by quarter of 10:00 a.m. when it opens. But we didn't actually make it out of the house until about quarter 'till eleven. We crossed to Red Square and then over to Alexander Gardens, where Sam again ran to the four horses fountain.


By the time we made it to the ticket office we faced a 25 minute wait. The Armory has its own ticket office inside the Kremlin, and it's only open four times a day for 45 minutes. So after thinking about it we decided to skip it for today. In the meantime the kids had gotten absolutely filthy, so Mom voted for feeding them, cleaning them up, putting them down for a nap, and then going out to Moscow's Zoo later.

So that's what we did.

We started at La Cantina, which claimed to serve Mexican food (who knows, right?). The meal was strange but the food was fine. Service was unbelievably slow and the dishes were all served out of sequence. We sat next to a couple of Russians who drank an entire fifth of vodka. Mom and Monica ordered something called drunken bean soup (a ladle of tequilla goes into it at the table). It was spicy but Ingrid loved it.



Sam was a stinker, but mainly because he was plainly getting tired. After lunch we promised the kids ice cream, so we made our way to McDonalds to get them sundaes. Sam was so tired by this time he couldn't even finish; but Ingrid (who'd slept through most of lunch until the end) dug into hers with gusto.


So we took Sam home and put him down for a nap after getting both the kids cleaned up and changed. Then all three of us, one by one, drifted off to sleep while we waited for Sam to finish his nap.

Then it was off to the Zoo via the Metro. We left around 4:00 p.m. and the Zoo, we read, closed at 6:00 p.m.. No trouble on the way and we arrived and bought tickets by about quarter to five. The weather was sunny and wonderful; though today was a particularly heavy day for "summer snow" (this fluffy stuff that falls from the trees and sticks to your face and nose).

Our plan was to find the children's petting zoo within the larger zoo, because kids love it and because the rest of the zoo, being chronically short on funds, is reportedly kind of depressing. We saw this first hand, as many cages seemed filled with weak or listless animals. I suppose the highlight of our visit was the elephant exhibit, in which one rather randy elephant chased around a mate and caught her several times while we were watching.


After that we wandered around in no particular hurry. Sam got a ride on a kiddy train (which he loved). The only stress of the trip was our resolution not to buy Sam any toys or candy (which he constantly begged for). We managed to do it too. On our way out we stopped to ride water bumper cars (me with Ingrid and Monica with Sam).


We finally left around 6:30 and stopped by this amazing "hot bread" kiosk by Barrikadnaya Metro station to buy five wheels of fresh bread. We arrived home (after a brief stop at Yeliseev's for water, milk, cream, and butter) at about 7:30 (Ingrid fell asleep in the stroller). Monica made soup and we ate it with the fantastic fresh bread we'd just bought.


Dinner was delicious but we were all beat. After the meal we put the kids in bed (Ingrid resisted, and watched part of a TCM movie featuring Humphrey Bogart in the battle of the North Atlantic) and watched TV while I processed photos and worked on this blog.

Mom and Monica went to bed half an hour ago. Now it's my turn finally. Good night all.

Posted: Sat - June 11, 2005 at 11:15 PM          

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