MockBa

MockBa
The weekend of May 8-10 is a Russian Holiday that celebrates the end of The Great Patriotic War. Hence, I thought it would be a great weekend to visit Moscow. So, Caroline and I booked our train tickets to Moscow. The train ride from Yaroslavl to Moscow was quite different from St. Petersburg – that’s for sure!!! This train ride only took 4 hours and we were in second class seats which cost about for round trip $50.00 (1500 Roubles). Caroline and I arrived in Moscow Thursday night at about 8pm and then we went our separate ways into Moscow. Caroline was meeting her boyfriend for the weekend and they were staying in a different Hostel than myself.

Thursday:
So after parting with Caroline, I met my pre-arranged taxi to my hostel. It was rather creepy getting into a cab with a perfect stranger and at that point all I can do is hope the cab driver gets me where I need to be, to my Hostel. In the end, I did arrive to my hostel which was a rather comforting feeling knowing I have some place sleep that night! So after I got unpacked, I decided to explore my neighborhood and find a café shop to feel more at ease with my new surroundings. I explored for about 3 hours and found all the necessary necessities such as the metro station, café shop, grocery store, etc… These are always good things know when traveling.

Friday:
I woke up quite early due to the excitement of being in Moscow and was out the door within the hour to my first stop: The Kremlin. From my hostel to The Kremlin it was about a 25 minute walk. Walking to The Kremlin was so exciting for a number of different reasons: I’m for once traveling by myself, seeing Russian history, and I’M IN MOSCOW!!

As I mentioned above, Moscow was in the process of getting ready for the celebration of the Great Patriotic War and therefore a variety of attractions/streets were closed for the Holiday weekend. As such, some of the surrounding streets of the Kremlin were closed and I had to take the long route to get to the entrance of the Kremlin and to Red Square. This was a bit frustrating, because at the time I did not realize this and did a lot (MILES) of extra walking in the wrong pair of shoes. (Let’s just say my feet still have not forgiven me for this!) But none the less, I did make it to the Kremlin!

The Kremlin was spectacular! The inside of the Kremlin was something I did not expect. I just expected to see government like buildings and a few monuments to Russia’s leaders. Well, I was bit wrong. When walking into the Kremlin, everything to the left are government buildings which tourists are not permitted and then everything to right are for tourists with exception of a few government buildings that are gated off from tourists.

While in the Kremlin, I visited the Annunciation Cathedral, the Tsar Bell, the Tsar Cannon, Armory, and gardens.
The practicing religion of most Russians is Russian Orthodox and with Russian Orthodox comes pictures of Icons. If you scroll down, you will see a painting of an Icon on the Annunciation Cathedral. This Cathedral was gorgeous and well preserved. All the different Icons that are represented within the Cathedral and the stories that are painted with Icons are quite something. However, I can’t say I have the patience of a Saint when listening to all the stories. (No pun intended!)
The Armory houses ancient Russian ceremonial objects, ceremonial Tsar’s dress, goldware and silverware used in different Tsar reigns, royal carriages, and arms and armories. Going through the armory was breathtaking of all that represented Russian Royalty.
The last thing I expected from the Kremlin were gardens. When walking through the gardens, it seemed as if they would never end. I could have spent all day in the gardens reading a book. If I had brought a book, I probably would have stayed there for the remaining part of the day.

After leaving the Kremlin, I ventured to the Metro. There is no better time than the present to conquer the unknown Moscow Metro. In general, I like riding the Metro and I find once I understand how a Metro works it easy to use after that point. I mean, if I can around using the Paris Metro system for a summer, the Moscow Metro can’t be any different. And true to form, the Moscow Metro is just as simple as the Paris Metro. However, the first time is always the hardest. At least in Paris, I could speak the French language to ask for help unlike the Russian language where I have no idea except for basic words and phrases!! To ride the Metro, it cost 26 Rubles, which is just under $1.00.

Saturday
There was so much I wanted to do, but due to the Holiday, every state run museum was closed. So, I made it a leisure-like day and took my time to explore more of Moscow. From my hostel, I walked across the Moscow River to an open market that had everything from fresh fish to fresh spices to babushka dolls. It was an all around type of market. I then took a stroll on the Metro to the Famous Moscow Metro stops. These Metro stations were fabulous. Who would have thought to build such magnificent pieces of architecture for a Metro station? I then walked in the ritzy part of Moscow which holds the Bolshoi Theatre and former KGB headquarters. After that point I was on a mission to find an English bookstore. I was just in dire need of a few good books!

The previous night, I had met these two sisters at my hostel who were from Brazil so I had gone out to dinner with them again. We ate on the Arbat Street that is known for its historical preservation of buildings and Bohemian atmosphere (also the tourist street). It felt like I was back in Paris in the Sacre Coeur area. Wonderful-ness!!

It was amazing the people I met at my hostel who were from all around the world. I met these guys (mid 20s) from Canada who were working just outside of Moscow. The Canadians are with the organization Athletes in Action which works with children through Ice Hockey. It was fascinating to meet all these people and of course, everyone has an opinion of the USA and in turn want to hear your opinion on the USA. I find that question both highly personal and difficult to answer. But in the end it always good to hear varying opinions from different perspectives!

Sunday
Sunday was a short and sweet type of day because my train departs in the early afternoon. So I spent my time on the Arbat street exploring and enjoying the street entertainment.

Moscow

The Bolshoi Theatre

Just to the left of the Bolshoi is decorations for the Great Patriotic War

The former KGB headquarters in Moscow.

View of the Moscow River

A glass bridge over the Moscow River.

The Financial Building.

The Moscow River

The Moscow River.

On the left, you will see decorations for the Great Patriotic War.

Red Square

Red Square

Getting ready to celebrate The Great Patriotic War.

St. Basil's Cathedral

Moscow: Inside the Kremlin

Walking into the Kremlin

Both the Enterance and Exit to the Kremlin

The Tsar Bell
Behind the "The Tsar Bell" is the Ivan the Great Bell Tower.

Close up of the Tulip Gardens

Tulip Garden

Tulip Gardens

Gardens in the Kremlin

Annunciation Cathedral: close up of the depicted Icons on the outside


Annunciation Cathedral

This Cathedral had been home to the Tsars of Russia

The Tsar Cannon

The Cannon was created in 1586 by the Tsar Feodor Ioannovich.

These are the buildings of the Russian government.

The government buildings are to the left as you walk into the Kremlin.

Moscow: Outside the Kremlin

Synopes of Events

Over the past 4 weeks a lot has happened and I have unfortunately been rather poor about updating my blog. So, I sincerely apologize and I hope to make it up to everyone!

Synopses of Events:

• Volunteers leaving
• Russian Lessons
• Rostov
• Moscow
• Volga River Cruise
• New Volunteers
• New Placement
• Weather
• Victory Day of The Great Patriotic War

Only In Russia

"Only In Russia" This is my new saying for Russia. In fact, this is the best way sometimes to explain something/to understand Russia. I say this because sometimes there is no other way to comprehend a situation or idea.

Setting
Saturday night in Yaroslavl at the CCCP restaurant that included Myself, Caroline, Cathy and Jess.

CCCP Restaurant
The CCCP restaurant is stylized as a soviet restaurant. However, the restaurant mostly had posters on the wall depicting soviet ideas.

And so are night began...
We got to the restaurant, sat down, got our menus, and proceeded to "read" the Russian menus. There were no English menus, just Russia. "Oh, boy," what to do now. After a few minutes of fumbling around, we looked at our neighbors who had already gotten their food. It looked rather appetizing, however, no idea of how to communicate that to the waitress without sticking out like a sore thumb. So, the Sweet (Caroline from Sweden) takes it upon herself to speak with our neighbors. She sits next to them and begins pointing at the various foods on the table. Lucky for us, our neighbor indulges her and helps her pick out the various items. After this point we thought we would be okay, right? Wrong! Our neighbors then begin ordering food for us! We didn't quite want that. So after more fumbling between the waitress, Caroline, and the Russians, we just order Soviet Beers for the moment.

Since the waitress couldn't understand us, she brings a 1980's dictionary/phrase book out to us! Could we be any more Foreign! But alas, this did help with our communication. We eventually ordered after some more of fumbling. After all the fumbling, it was worth it because the food was amazing along with the Soviet Beer.

When dinning out, it is common to share your food. For example our neighbors ordered a dish of rice, a plate of meat, a bottle of Vodka, a red juice concoction to drink with the Vodka, caviar, and bread to share with everyone amongst the table. However, being foreigners, we did not the family style dinning; we did the order your own plate of food. Typical dinning. On another note, it is still somewhat considered a luxury to eat out at a restaurant.

After we finished dinner, the live music began and that is when the party started! So, all of girls went out dancing! At first it was just us and these two other older women, but we got the party started for the restaurant, and it was all downhill after that point.

During the night, our neighbors bought us a bottle of Vodka with the red juice concoction, caviar and bread. Apparently this is typical Russian fashion when dinning out. I have never seen that done in the US! At first it was a bit awkward, but we drank, ate, and danced with the Russians that night! Overall, it was an amazing experience. The restaurant just came together as one. While drinking, eating and dancing everyone just mixes and matches. Even though we couldn't understand each other very well, (the Russians spoke broken English, while we mumbled along with our basic Russian) we hopped table to table interacting. Everyone is there to have a good time.

Hence my OIR (Only In Russia) theme!

At this point, my parent's are questioning my judgment in this situation. I can honestly say, I felt perfectly safe.

Now to the Vodka. There is a style to drinking Vodka here in Russia. A person ordering Vodka, orders the Vodka to drink during their meal, not to see how many shots a person can do in 5 minutes or a half hour. It is to be enjoyed. That is why our neighbors also had caviar and bread sent to us in addition with the Vodka and juice concoction. It makes sense. It's like drinking wine, granted you are not exactly sipping Vodka. So when drinking Vodka, a person pours a glass of the juice concoction and then adds the Vodka to the drink OR do a shot of Vodka and then drink the juice concoction.

Try it, you won't be sorry!!

Larissa's Cabbage

Recipe for Cabbage
Ingredients

• Half a head of Cabbage
• 1 medium Carrot
• 1 medium Onion
• Paprika
• Bay Leaves
• Mixed Herbs

Steps

1. Cut the cabbage into long 1/4 strips. Then crush the strips of cabbage together to release the juices. (Just scrunch the strips together). By crushing the strips, it will release the flavor)
2. Dice the carrots.
3. Dice the onion.
4. Saute Carrots and Onions in olive oil over low to medium heat.
5. Add a bit of salt into the sauteing Carrots and Onions. Saute for about 5 minutes. (Do NOT let it burn)
6. After a few minutes add the Cabbage and stir together. Saute for another 5 minutes. (Do NOT let it burn)
7. Then add Paprika, 2 bay leaves, and mixed herbs.

Voila, Larissa's Cabbage!!

The Hermitage (Winter Palace)

Inside the Winter Palace

The stuffed horses

The Throne used by the Tsar

The Throne Room

Outside the Winter Palace