tourists for a day: a long day
what began as a quick walk to red square
in the morning turned into an all day affair. then we managed another expedition
in the afternoon.
Sleep?
Ingrid falls asleep after about 20 minutes of screaming (Sam goes right out), then has a habit of waking up again around 11:00 p.m. and then staying awake until about 2:30 or 3:00 a.m.. I stayed up with her last night so Monica and Sam and Mom could get some sleep and then went to bet around 3:30 and got up four hours later.
Both kids were awake and so Monica had the idea of quickly dressing them and heading over to Red Square. But the kids needed to eat and Mom wanted to come too so after another hour (we left around 9:30 a.m.) we packed the double stroller into our tiny elevator and headed down to the street. But how to cross the street? Wide as a river and no pedestrian accommodations, I ran across. Monica and Mom were stopped by a policeman who insisted (wisely I think) they take the Metro underground across. After a few minutes we assembled and started walking about the outskirts of the Kremlin walls.
Our first discovery was a "tomb of the unknown soldier" memorial for war dead from WWII. It's a place I have some respect for, but in my humble opinion the goose-stepping changing of the guard ceremony (which we missed except from a distance) is silly. Still it was a beautiful morning and our next stop was a four-horse fountain (at some point I'll learn what it commemorates but for now it proved a great photo spot as Sam adores water and fountains).
But where was the famous St. Basil's cathedral? Where the Lenin Mausoleum, with it's balcony overlooking the granite cobblestones across which countless threatening Communist soldiers had marched in the newsreels and training films of my youth?
Hmmm... Perhaps that lengthening line over there? Yes, after a 35 minute wait, we finally got a chance to walk up into the heart of Red Square.
No photos allowed in the inner part near the Mausoleum, so we had to check our bags. The setting of Lenin's tomb is supposed to inspire reverence, respect, and so on; but actually it isn't well executed. Young apathetic soldiers in ill-fitting uniforms stand watch as foreigners and Communist faithful move into and then down into the tomb to view the embalmed body of Lenin. Cynical me suspects his body rotted away unacceptably years ago and was replaced with a wax replica (how would one ever know?). Also, Lenin's ears seemed rather too small for his head. Still, give the man his due: he died well before his successors could turn his dream into the horror it became.
And oh yes we saw the mini monuments to them too: Stalin, Brezhnev, both buried in the Kremlin wall.
Then it was on to St. Basil's cathedral; which looks delightful (edible even) from the outside.
I had no interest in seeing its smelly, dank, depressing interior (the Orthodox version of piety seems to demand incorporating Christ's suffering and martyrdom into as much of one's daily life as possible, so the music and physical settings always seem to be some variant of groaning). Monica went in with Sam while I trudged back to retrieve our bags.
Later we strolled through GUM (formerly the only mega mall in the Soviet Union) on our way back to our apartment. Sam fell asleep and no wonder: the place still has stunning architecture but its shops are now thoroughly globalized.
Armani? Dior? Prada? Big deal. The only eye opener is that if you want to buy this stuff in Moscow you'll pay more for it (about 30% more) than in any other major European or North American capital. The strangest part, the surreal part, is that in the middle of this new monument to conspicuous over-consumption is a humble exhibition of WWII Soviet heroes: their letters, decorations, travails. One is reminded that Soviets and now Russians so strongly identify with their suffering and victory against the Nazis in WWII, and yet at the same time these humble men (some were prima donnas and party hacks, it's true) are surrounded in their celebration by naked merchandising. Very few kids in Moscow too.
So by now our feet were getting flat and we were all hungry. We stopped for mediocre sandwiches and soup at an outdoor cafe before heading back home for a short break. Then Monica suggested we go out again to visit "Children's World," Moscow's version of FAO Schwartz. It turned out to be located only a few blocks past our apartment, just on the far side of the Russian Duma and Bolshoi theatre. So we girded ourselves and went. The Balshoi theater has a set of three fountains in front, and so Sam couldn't resist sticking his hands in:
Ingrid fell asleep as we neared the store, and we put her in a shopping basket padded with all our coats (must've been 90 degrees in that store). The store was cool, though Monica was not happy with all the gun toys (Sam is desperate for a "shooter gun"). We found a few nice toys for the kids and a book or two and a lightweight foldable stroller. After paying for everything and converting some more currency Monica, Mom, and the kids had some pretty decent ice cream cones before we headed back home.
So that was our day. Dmitry stopped by at 8:45 p.m. to try and get our TV to work. He promises tomorrow they'll be able to hook us up to internet access so I can post these blogs. Funny how dependent I've become on being able to find things out and manage my finances via the net. Anyway, the kids are asleep and so is Monica now. I'm gonna try too.
Ingrid falls asleep after about 20 minutes of screaming (Sam goes right out), then has a habit of waking up again around 11:00 p.m. and then staying awake until about 2:30 or 3:00 a.m.. I stayed up with her last night so Monica and Sam and Mom could get some sleep and then went to bet around 3:30 and got up four hours later.
Both kids were awake and so Monica had the idea of quickly dressing them and heading over to Red Square. But the kids needed to eat and Mom wanted to come too so after another hour (we left around 9:30 a.m.) we packed the double stroller into our tiny elevator and headed down to the street. But how to cross the street? Wide as a river and no pedestrian accommodations, I ran across. Monica and Mom were stopped by a policeman who insisted (wisely I think) they take the Metro underground across. After a few minutes we assembled and started walking about the outskirts of the Kremlin walls.
Our first discovery was a "tomb of the unknown soldier" memorial for war dead from WWII. It's a place I have some respect for, but in my humble opinion the goose-stepping changing of the guard ceremony (which we missed except from a distance) is silly. Still it was a beautiful morning and our next stop was a four-horse fountain (at some point I'll learn what it commemorates but for now it proved a great photo spot as Sam adores water and fountains).
But where was the famous St. Basil's cathedral? Where the Lenin Mausoleum, with it's balcony overlooking the granite cobblestones across which countless threatening Communist soldiers had marched in the newsreels and training films of my youth?
Hmmm... Perhaps that lengthening line over there? Yes, after a 35 minute wait, we finally got a chance to walk up into the heart of Red Square.
No photos allowed in the inner part near the Mausoleum, so we had to check our bags. The setting of Lenin's tomb is supposed to inspire reverence, respect, and so on; but actually it isn't well executed. Young apathetic soldiers in ill-fitting uniforms stand watch as foreigners and Communist faithful move into and then down into the tomb to view the embalmed body of Lenin. Cynical me suspects his body rotted away unacceptably years ago and was replaced with a wax replica (how would one ever know?). Also, Lenin's ears seemed rather too small for his head. Still, give the man his due: he died well before his successors could turn his dream into the horror it became.
And oh yes we saw the mini monuments to them too: Stalin, Brezhnev, both buried in the Kremlin wall.
Then it was on to St. Basil's cathedral; which looks delightful (edible even) from the outside.
I had no interest in seeing its smelly, dank, depressing interior (the Orthodox version of piety seems to demand incorporating Christ's suffering and martyrdom into as much of one's daily life as possible, so the music and physical settings always seem to be some variant of groaning). Monica went in with Sam while I trudged back to retrieve our bags.
Later we strolled through GUM (formerly the only mega mall in the Soviet Union) on our way back to our apartment. Sam fell asleep and no wonder: the place still has stunning architecture but its shops are now thoroughly globalized.
Armani? Dior? Prada? Big deal. The only eye opener is that if you want to buy this stuff in Moscow you'll pay more for it (about 30% more) than in any other major European or North American capital. The strangest part, the surreal part, is that in the middle of this new monument to conspicuous over-consumption is a humble exhibition of WWII Soviet heroes: their letters, decorations, travails. One is reminded that Soviets and now Russians so strongly identify with their suffering and victory against the Nazis in WWII, and yet at the same time these humble men (some were prima donnas and party hacks, it's true) are surrounded in their celebration by naked merchandising. Very few kids in Moscow too.
So by now our feet were getting flat and we were all hungry. We stopped for mediocre sandwiches and soup at an outdoor cafe before heading back home for a short break. Then Monica suggested we go out again to visit "Children's World," Moscow's version of FAO Schwartz. It turned out to be located only a few blocks past our apartment, just on the far side of the Russian Duma and Bolshoi theatre. So we girded ourselves and went. The Balshoi theater has a set of three fountains in front, and so Sam couldn't resist sticking his hands in:
Ingrid fell asleep as we neared the store, and we put her in a shopping basket padded with all our coats (must've been 90 degrees in that store). The store was cool, though Monica was not happy with all the gun toys (Sam is desperate for a "shooter gun"). We found a few nice toys for the kids and a book or two and a lightweight foldable stroller. After paying for everything and converting some more currency Monica, Mom, and the kids had some pretty decent ice cream cones before we headed back home.
So that was our day. Dmitry stopped by at 8:45 p.m. to try and get our TV to work. He promises tomorrow they'll be able to hook us up to internet access so I can post these blogs. Funny how dependent I've become on being able to find things out and manage my finances via the net. Anyway, the kids are asleep and so is Monica now. I'm gonna try too.
Posted: Sun - June 5, 2005 at 10:35 PM
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Published On: Jun 06, 2005 09:41 PM
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Published On: Jun 06, 2005 09:41 PM