Moscow Walking Tour

Posted on August 11, 2017 by borysSNORC

“In Russia, we have saying… ‘Come visit Russia; before Russia visits you!'”

This morning we did a walking tour as a sort of welcome to Moscow, orientation thing. Irina was our very petite but very vocal guide, and this is how she greeted us – thankfully with a warm grin.

Moscow as a city is roughly 870 years old, which Irina asserts makes it a ‘very, very old city’. The Germans standing beside me snort in derision at this claim, but given that it is over four times older than when Australia was ‘founded’ (no, so not getting into that); well, I’m inclined to agree with her – it is quite an old city. Having been founded in 1147… yes, a date that precise apparently, when two guys, whose names I have forgotten, met at an existing Slavic settlement and decided to fortify the township and built a moat. Then they were invaded by Mongols. Then came a period of Grand Duchys. Then came the Tsars. Then there was the Russian Empire. Then they had the Soviet Era. And more recently the Russian Federation… and that pretty much sums that up. Nah, just kidding. Russian history is colourful and complex but there’s no way I can relate all the Princes, Ivans and Romanovs here that we heard about today.

On our way to the walking tour this morning, we came past the famous Bolshoi Theatre. The Bolshoi ballet and opera companies were founded over 200 years ago, and I was really looking forward to seeing an opera here. Unfortunately, they close every summer for renovations, maintenance, and annual holidays for the companies. So at the moment, we can’t even go in to tour the building. There has been a theatre on this site since 1776; the first was destroyed by fire, the second was destroyed by the invading French in 1812, but this current building was constructed shortly after in the 1820s and has recently undergone extensive renovations. Photos of the inside look amazing, but I will have to return to Moscow if I ever want to see it myself.

After this, we met our tour at a monument dedicated to Saints Cyril and Methodius, in Kitay-Gorod. These 9thC Christian missionary brothers are attributed with creating the first Cyrillic alphabet before which, the Slavic people had no written alphabet and as such no written history. Irina states that this was very important to the Russian people, as they translated the Bible into their languages and they were able to read and pray in Slavic languages after this. They were canonized in the 80s at some point and are considered co-patron saints of all of Europe.

Right beside the statue of St Cyril is the Church of the All Saints with its leaning bell tower. Built after the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, as far away from the border of Moscow as possible it is also known as the Church of Kulichki – which literally means, the church at the the world’s end, or the church in the middle of nowhere. Now, of course, it is practically in the CBD. The church has a spotted history, having been closed by the NKVD in the 1930s as a place of mass executions… a cross was laid at the church in the 1990s as a symbol to the victims of repression who were executed here.

From Kitay-Gorod (which quixotically translates literally to ‘China Town’, but has nothing to do with communities of diasporic Chinese or China towns worldwide as we tend to think of them…? Go figure.) we made our way around to St Basils Cathedral, which is officially known as the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, or Собор Покрова Пресвятой Богородицы, что на Рву, for short. It was a functioning church for centuries but is now primarily a museum consisting of nine interconnecting chapels. Built from 1555 to 1561 on orders from Ivan the Terrible (whom Irina affectionally refers to as Ivan the Poor), it was built to commemorate the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan. It seems most churches in Russia are built more in the way that triumphal arches are built in western Europe – to mark some political or military triumph. It is designed to look like the flames of a bonfire rising into the sky and it is iconically connected to Russia, Moscow and the Kremlin in the Western eye.

It is a crazy stunningly beautiful building the likes of which I have never seen before. We are planning on touring the museum tomorrow, and hopefully, I’ll have better light in the morning and with fewer people about… So fingers crossed, more photos to follow.

We then we made our way over the the GVM, (Glávnyj Universáĺnyj Magazín, literally meaning “Main Universal Store”), which was the name given to the main department stores during the Soviet era. It faces directly onto Red Square opposite the Kremlin. I was unable to gain any decent photos of this area today, as the entire space is under construction with bleachers being installed for an upcoming music festival. We stopped at the Gvm for ice creams and bathrooms, though not necessarily in that order… weirdest thing ever for such a large department store – down stairs right near the entrance is a ‘Historical Toilet’ which costs you 150 rubles to go into $3AUD. I wondered at the ‘historical’ bit… was the plumbing the first ever indoor plumbing in Mosocw? Was someone important assassinated there? Did the first ever Russian cosmonaut take a crap in there? No, apparently nothing that exciting. The ‘historical’ bit, is because it is a bathroom renovated to pre-revolution style… So I kept my $3 and followed Irina directed us to an obscure bathroom three levels up and in behind a weird eatery space.

Across from the GVM and on the edge of Red Square (TIL that ‘red’ in Russian is synonymous with ‘beautiful’ which has nothing to do with anything, but I thought I’d throw that tid-bit in!), is the imposing State Historical Museum of Russia. Hopefully we will have time to go explore here tomorrow. I love the bright red brick facade.

Kazan Cathedral is a 17thC style church built directly opposite the State Historical Museum. It was the first church rebuilt after the period of atheism that of the Stalin regime… which means, for all its 17thC style architecture, it is barely 25 years old. The original gatehouse into the Red Square. This site just outside the gatehouse to Red Square is considered the very centre of Moscow. There is a folk story that claims there was a girl who dreamed she was going to get married, and if she threw a coin in town the man who picked it up would marry her. She came here, dropped a coin, the man who picked it up then married her. So now people come here, stand in the centre of the Kilometre Zero and throw small coins about to make wishes… or something like that. Our walking tour ended in Alexander Gardens, where we saw the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and were given some excellent suggestions on places to shop and dine and sights to see. It was an excellent free tour to orient visitors to the city and well worth the 1,000 RUB tip that we gave Irina for showing us around. Below is a photo of Irina doing her best for international relations and trying to show that not all Russians are as severe as their external demeanour. 🙂

We took some time to wander and enjoy the gardens. Lovingly kept the high yellow walls of the Kremlin over look the entire space. Moscow is a city of some 13 million residents, having grown rapidly since the turn of the 20th century when it was a city of barely 1 million people. The reason for this rapid expansion was population movement of people looking for work after the revolution… which now means that 10% of Russia’s entire population live and work in Moscow, but for all that – the city has many lovely parks and green zones which gives a wonderful open feel to the area. The Geyser Fountain depicts four sculptural horses that represent the Four Seasons…
After this we had a very late lunch and decided to head indoors out of the heat for a while. We went to a shopping centre to buy (of all things!) hats. Both of us had forgotten to pack hats for this trip, which makes me feel like a failure as an Australian… but in my defence, I thought I was coming to Moscow, and the projected temperatures were supposed to be in the low 20s, not high 20s and absolutely scorching sun. 🙂 Nevermind, I am now the proud new owner of two rather odd hats – a blue suede baseball cap, (Yes! Actual blue suede!) and a black news cap.

We head back towards Red Square to have a look at some of the souvenir shops and things as we wound our way back towards the Budapest Hotel… the shops are bright and colourful and the offerings are very Russian.

(^ See? Blue suede cap!)

Mr K bought himself a Russian football scarf – because, well it’s bloody hot. And I picked up a coffee mug because all the tea cups are tiny everywhere we go and I have no intention of suffering through the tiny cups for the next four weeks.

On the way back tot he hotel, we stopped at TSVM – another large and well known department store to look for, of all things, some Coke Zero (Moscow seems to be a place of very few diet soft drinks), and found ourselves in their gourmet food hall… where a lovely lady offered me samples of caviar that cost about $100AUD for a 50gm tub. Delicious. Sadly it was going to be a while before we got back to our hotel, and I had no way to keep any refrigerated. :/ So it stayed in the shop.

Our walking tour, by the time we meandered our way back to the hotel at 6pm was approximately 14.67km – okay, not approximately, exactly 14.67km according to my watch thingy. No wonder my feet were aching from all that pavement! We came back, relaxed for a bit, and went out for a late dinner at a nearby pub called ‘Haggis’ (yep, so adventurous of us to take in the local food), feeling absolutely wrecked after a long day.

Looking forward to tomorrow – we have a big line up of things to see and delve into properly.

Hong Kong to Moscow transit.

Posted on August 10, 2017 by borysSNORC

Up early, dressed, breakfasted, packed, checked out and off to the airport all before 8am to race to the Hong Kong International terminal because all the information on the Aeroflot literature insisted that check-in for flights CLOSES 2 hours before scheduled departure time… only to get to the airport and be faced with completely empty counters, devoid of signage or staff. So we waited, and waited… Check-in eventually OPENED a little over 2 hours before scheduled departure times – le sigh, so much for that! We did the thing, got rid of the luggage and then had a bit of time in what should be Duty Free Shopping Mecca. It should be, but each time I’ve been through here, it invariably disappoints. Loads of expensive cosmetics, clothing and watches – Burberry, Fendi, Rolex, Chanel, Coach, Tiffany & Co, and other hoity toity fancy shit for sale, as well as all the alcohol in Christendom – but nothing is actually any cheaper than what you can buy for retail if you are prepared to shop around a little. Even the electronics are ‘airport prices’ rather than duty free prices… what’s with that?

Meh. Found a cafe and had a smoothie while waiting for our flight instead of shopping the hallowed concourse of Hong Kong International Airport. Our flight was scheduled to board just before 11am and we made it to the right gate with heaps of time. We had a very strange flight… strange, and yet also familiar. We had booked seats in what Aeroflot calls their ‘Comfort Class’, which looks like premium economy, but given there is this or First Class, I guess it is what passes for Business Class too. We were severely outnumbered on the plane (and this is where the familiarity came in)… 90% of the plane was probably Chinese folk? And judging by their queuing and personal space behaviours – I’d warrant not many of them were from Hong Kong. It was like being on China Eastern Airlines all over again… children running in the aisles, people speaking really loudly in their seats, personal devices with the sound turned on. :/ Needless to say, this is not my happy place.

Thankfully the ‘Comfort Class’ (I hate that term… maybe something to do with reading a book recently on the Korean ‘comfort women’ of WWII), was half empty so it was mostly quiet – except for those two kids that kept running up from the back of the plane so they could start thumping on the floor for no discernable reason. Immediate impressions of Aeroflot premium economy seating – nice, large comfy chairs, with a lot of extra legroom, nice cosy pods, foot rests, food served on china, real cutlery and all good things. Later impressions of Aeroflot premium economy – chairs have no lumbar support, the extra legroom meant I couldn’t actually reach the footrest for it to be useful to me without seriously slumping in my seat, the food was lovely, but they ran out of the main choices (and I know not how – there were only about 15 of us in that cabin), drinks came luke warm, and ice was a long time coming… shan’t complain, I could have been back there in that tide of Chinese humanity all hacking up lugies as loudly as possible.

Our flight was uneventful – just the way we like ’em – but, at 9hrs, was another fairly long haul. I managed to watch a pile of stuff on the in-flight entertainment system (in spite of having a headphone jack that only provided input to one output… would madam like the sound in her right or left ear, today?)… Table 19, Passengers, Collateral Beauty and some episodes of Billions kept me from boredom. Mr K spent most of the flight reading ALL the academic papers associated with the Thredbo conference that we are attending – which I thought was particularly diligent of him, and excellent news for me because I got the TL;DR once he was done.

As is customary in these situations we eventually arrived at our destination where upon we made our way off the plane on a rather shabby and filthy air bridge (well compared to Hong Kong, you know), along a corridor, and down two flights of stairs – no escalators, just one of those chair staircase lifts down the side that your elderly Aunty Mabel might install so doesn’t have to move house – that spilled into a space about the size of a large McDonalds restaurant for the EIGHT HUNDRED people that had just teemed off two flights from Asia. Straight away, an immigration official tried to direct us (in Russian) into the ‘Returning Citizens’ line, then recognised his mistake as soon as I said, ‘Um, sorry, I don’t speak Russian’.

You know, I’ve always railed against the Disneyland-esque rope lines that direct you in places like airports and busy events – but seriously Moscow airport… you need them! We were in among hundreds of Chinese for whom queues simply do. not. exist. I swear the one guy who was trying to tell people to go to the back of the queue was my hero this afternoon… he was vociferously trying to stop these people from jumping the line and cutting in everywhere, and I swear it nearly came to fisticuffs at one point, but eventually people got the idea and waited in the lines that had sort of formed which meant half of them were on the flights of stairs with standing room only. Thankfully, those Comfort Class seats paid off, and we had disembarked at the front of our flight, which happily landed us about 12 deep in the queue. You’d think that would be a cored advantage, but it still took us over an hour to be processed out – an hour stood standing about with Chinese people staring and pointing at me, some weird cat toy noise going off constantly (which after about 45 mins we discovered was an actual, seriously distressed, cat in an animal carrier in the middle of this mess), a French family in front of us who were standing there for 30 mins before realising they were transiting to France and should have gone left for ‘International Transits’ instead of walking into this wall to wall loud Asian clusterfuck, and the weirdest immigration official I have ever seen! This lady had clearly – clearly! – had enough for one day. She was processing in tour groups of Chinese people, and each person is supposed to sign an immigration form that

This immigration lady had clearly – clearly! – had enough for one day. She was processing in the tour groups of Chinese people, and each person is supposed to sign an immigration form that they keep on them and hand over when they leave the country… but she was obviously sick and tired of trying to tell these non-Russian, non-English speaking people where to sign, so she was giving them a pen, waving the paper in front of them, scribbling on the paper in the two spots HERSELF and whisking it away from them straight away. No shit, she was physically forcing them to grab the pen, hold it near the paper (for the benefit of cameras), and then ‘signed’ the official Russian immigration papers for about ten people while we stood there watching… mind you, it did make her queue move quicker, that and the frequent stepping out of her booth to yell at the tour operator to tell the people to just stand up and hold the damn pen, don’t do anything else.

Thankfully the lady processing our queue was not so riled up, and she let us sign our papers ourselves (we are supposed to carry them everywhere and while it is unlikely that we could be stopped and asked for our papers, I don’t want to be explaining to a Russian cop that that wasn’t my signature…) and we were eventually deposited out in the baggage claim area. All up from alighting the plane to picking up baggage – about 1hr 15 mins – and we were barely 12 deep in the queue with hundreds behind us. Baggage collection was a little interesting. There were four carousels and none of them working. Guys came in pushing massive trolleys with the bags and unloaded the luggage all over the not-moving carousels. Just scattered the bags all over the place for people to come find.

I had a sneaking suspicion that dealing with a decided lack of language skills, various public transport options in a post-long haul flight fatigue was not going to make for a comfortable or easy transit into the city, so I took the path of least resistance (which I rarely do) and ordered a transfer through our hotel. Some guy in a suit, (who failed to introduce himself, but who I was calling Ivan in my head anyway), was happily standing outside the airport gates waiting for us and led us to a smart shiny black Mercedes for what I hoped would be a speedy ‘where’s my seat belt?’ ride into the city. It is supposed to be 43 mins from the Sheremetyevo Airport into town, but alas, Muscovites can’t fucking merge, and even though there were no traffic hold ups, it took exactly 1 hr and 58 minutes to get there. Three hours early to the airport, ten hours sitting on the plane, two hours stuck in a traffic jam, a five hour time difference from Hong Kong, so roughly 1 am for us by the time we arrived at the hotel. Dead tired.

Pringles in the fridge? Who does that?

Checked in, did the thing, found the room, sorted the power for everything (when did that become such an overwhelmingly important part of travel – keeping your laptop, ipad, phones, camera, power banks and shit all charged?!), put shoes back on, went out for supplies and something cheap, cheerful and forgettable for dinner.

Now – to bed. Be back tomorrow night with hopefully something interesting to report of Moscow!