Encounters in the Park

Moscow, Russia

I was in for an interesting encounter when I went to Orekhovo station to see the nearby reconstructed palace. Built originally by Catherine the Great, later destroyed or abandoned (never really caught that bit) and never finished it was meant to be a second Versailles. Now it is being restored and finished according to its original designs. At the moment it is still pretty much a construction site - one of many here. Some of the buildings around the huge park are being finished. The main work now seems to be the sculpting of the park itself. A mammoth task of putting in plumbing for fountains, building stairs and paths, planting the right vegetation at the right place and the like. Then all the tracks from the heavy vehicles have to be cleaned up. And then the tracks of the cleanup crews. Situated on a hill, within vast forrested grounds I think it will be a grand place once it's done.
Here, on the way from the Metro, I met Ludmilla (or Ludy, she said). A very grandmother-like, kind old lady who I just asked for the way to the palace. She spoke no English but understood what I wanted and, I think, told me that she was also going there. What followed was her giving me a two-and-a-half-hour tour of the grounds, eagerly explaining things in Russian. She seemed to know the history and background very well. When I didn't understand she would repeat things over and over and then look very embarassed when she realised she couldn't get the message across. "Dvarich," she would say, "bolshoy dvarich." That I later understood to mean "big palace". "Dom" I learnt to mean house. And a few other things. There was the main palace, houses for lower aristocrats, an opera house even. Sometimes she'd remember words in German which helped, so we somehow managed to communicate. Now I have an idea what the first ambassador or traveller must have felt like, learning a language from zero with noone to teach you. Unperturbed, she'd go on talking and repeating and trying again and again. Her patience was impressive.
I understood she was upset about the damage the construction was doing to the park. The used to be wild flowers, she showed me, but they were cut to make way for lawn. She clearly preferred it the way it was. But a palace attracts tourists and tourists bring money. So, civilisation eats into the wild and imprints itself. I guess that's the way it goes.
Thanks, Ludmilla, bless you.

We're not in Kansas anymore

Moscow, Russia

Internet connection at the hostel is down today. All day. And last night, too. May yet be for days. In UK or Germany this would be cause for public rioting. Here, our host just shrugs. Maybe he could choose a new provider. If it goes on. Until then, sit tight. Things are different here.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something true

Moscow, Russia

It's the old song again: "girls, girls, girls". I can sing it quite well now. It goes round and round my head. This is a special verse, though. The girl that handed me the tickets for my onward trip from Moscow at Real Russia's Moscow office to be precise. Long dark hair, tall, slender - she'll know who she is. Sadly, I didn't even catch her name. Nonetheless, she gets my official crown for being the most beautiful girl in all of Moscow. None smiles sweeter than she does!
The new Transformers film really kicks ass! I know this should be about Moscow but I watched it here and it's just too awesome. Decepticons attack, Autobots roll out, "one shall stand and one shall fall" and all that jazz. Or rather metal - heavy metal. It was enough to bring tears to an old fan's eyes.
The German book series "WAS IST WAS" - popular science for young readers - also exists in Russia. I grew up on those books and now I saw shiny new editions displayed in a shop window here. What a nice surprise. Good ideas spread.
If you throw something away there will always be someone to pick it up - be it a pidgeon pecking at bread crumbs or a beggar gathering the coins that tourists throw at a plaque in the ground off the Red Square. Some (fellow Russians I believe) even throw coins at him - in contempt as it seems. He takes it and just stoops and gathers up the money. Sad but true.

Metro!

The Metro in both St. Petersburg and Moscow is really something to write home about - as positively as possible. Especially in comparison with London's Tube. It's highly efficient for starters: even in a busy city like Moscow with its extensive Metro network I don't think I've ever waited for longer than two (2) minutes and something for a train. I know because there's a clock that resets every time a train comes. Three minutes is minimum wait in London, I think. I haven't seen any signals fail. Trains haven't been standing on the tracks for no apparent reason. All trains are old but, hell, they work well.
On top of all that, there are the stations themselves. Meny are monumental - literally - with mosaics or iron sculptures or reliefs and domed ceilings. They are sights in themselves, actually. It makes using the metro a real experience.
Finally, it's even quite cheap. 17 rubles even in Moscow with a discount for carnet tickets.
Sorry, but eat your heart out TfL.

Moskau!

Diese Stadt ist eine Dirne,
Hat rote Flecken auf der Stirn,
Ihre Zähne sind aus Gold,
Sie ist fett und doch so hold;
Ihr Mund fährt mir zutale,
Wenn ich sie dafür bezahle,
Sie zieht sich aus, doch nur für Geld,
Die Stadt, die mich in Atem hält:
Moskau - Раз, два, три (one, two, three) ...

The first thing that came to my mind when the train entered the city were these lyrics to the song by Rammstein (I miss my music!).
The second was, of course, the descriptions of Sergey Lukianenko. We actually passed Ostankino TV Tower when we pulled in. For some reason that got me really excited. I had read about it, seen it on TV and now I'm here. For real. It was - more even then the Red Square itself - the signal that I was actually in Moscow. A sharp needle, more than 500 meters tall, piercing the clear morning sky. I still can't get enough of it.
The Red Square was, of course, another highlight. I remembered it most from the film Red Heat (80's action with Arnold Schwarzenegger), so it was exciting to see it with my own eyes. There's something about it. The red Kremlyn walls on one side, the grand department store ГУМ - GUM - on the other, limited at either end by the historical museum and St. Basil's. It's a place where you can feel history. Lenin's Tomb reminds of recent past while the fortress has evolved out of the historic city centre over hundreds of years. The whole layout reminds me of Tian An Men in Beijing. The politics, the tombs, the grand gates, the wide open space.
In Moscow, I managed to hook up with a Russian girl who lives here. I had written to her via a website called couchsurfing.com. She replied, so we met on my first afternoon here. Her name is Julia. I wasn't sure what to expect. Johani had used the website a lot saying that the girls he had met seemed to see the meetings more like dates. Not that I'd be opposed to that (who would?) but it could easily eat a nasty hole into my budget (on top of sight seeing prices). Plus, it would be stupid to invest time, emotion and money into something that already has an end date.
However, it turned out to be none of this. Julia was a very sweet girl very eager to show me around and curious about me. She showed me to some places not so frequented by tourists. In the end, I'm almost tempted to say that she took her "duties" as a guide a bit too seriously. She was almost professional about it. What I mean is that I enjoyed talking tp her and exchanging thoughts and views. Sometimes she would then interrupt and say "here, this is typically Russian" or "here, have you tried this". It's not an easy balance, I guess, because if you're showing someone around you want to make sure they get the most of their stay. Still, for me the absolute highlight was that she and her friend Olya found a cinema that showed films in English, so I could finally watch Transformers. Thanks a million times, girls! For that (if nothing else) I love you. I hope to return the favour one day.
So, do I now understand the lyrics from the beginning better? Maybe a bit. Everything in Msocow seems to have its price. Still more than St. Petersburg. Double ouch from my wallet!
Gold teeth. People do have them here a lot, that's true. Every smile gleams and sparkles. A guy on the train here said that Moscow was dirty and run-down. I guess, to a certain extent he's right. It's also not as grand a place as St. Petersburg. Still, a lot of restoration and improvement work is being done. Like old decay being covered with gold.
The city feels young and vibrant where Piter felt merely historic. There are young people everywhere, in parks and squares in the evening practicing scate-boarding, roller-blading, drumming or the artistic use of little balls on a string (god knows what it's called) or just chatting. And you see the new gold everywhere in the form of posh shops and expensive (read: phat) cars. Very happening place, Moscow.
So, in front of the Bolshoy Teatr, old Karl Marx looks down at me propagating his "proletarians of all countries, unite" while a very capitalist advert screen flashes colourful messages across my back. I wonder what he'd say to that...?