Today was a really long day. But I knew that when I was getting up at seven this morning. I wanted to end the day on Red Square in the evening to take some night pictures, but at 20:30 I gave up. They don’t seem to light up St. Basil’s Cathedral at night.
I was probably the first one having breakfast. Breakfast is a bit dull I must admit. That’s usually where I make sure I don’t have to eat again till late afternoon. They have this baked pudding thing and brown rolls that look like chocolate rolls. But I think both of them get a fare share of vinegar or something.
Checked the weather online before I left and they forecasted cloudy conditions. Yeah right. Until it started raining just as I left the Metro Station on my way to the Monument of Space Travel. I watched an insert on TV last night where they told the story of a physicist in St. Petersburg who won the Nobel Prize a couple of years ago and how he is a celebrity in Russia. They treat their scientists with admiration and respect it seems. The monument is awesome. It was built in 1964 after Russia launched the first man into space. Even I felt a sense of pride in their accomplishments.
The museum was closed though. That is a really frustrating thing. Things are closed on some days for no reason. The space museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The Lenin Mausoleum is closed on Mondays. Even the Moscow circus didn’t have performances today. On top of that, things open late, like 10:00 or so in the mornings but then stay open till very late. At least the biggest toy store in Russia was open – if only I could find it in time.
Then I ventured over to the ‘VVTs’ the Rough Guide calls it. Not sure what to make of it. Apparently it’s like an exhibition centre / fairground / shopping centre. According to the Rough Guide the Ferris wheel was supposed to open at 10:00. Nope. I checked. At least there was some nice Russian music blaring from this one store. And since it was raining and I was getting seriously annoyed, I entered. It was on my list of things to do to just enter a CD store and buy the current #1 CD. Well, a few minutes later I walked out with some Russian Rock, Russian Pop, a Russian Disco and some compilation CD. All for just R150. A bargain if there ever was one.
I took myself up on my promise to see a Russian movie, and since it was raining and my back started aching I decided to venture over to a Cinema Complex I’ve seen earlier. Booked the first movie that was showing. It wasn’t a Russian movie though, but the names didn’t sound to Hollywood so it suited me perfectly. R25 for a movie. I don’t know how much I paid for the popcorn and Pepsi, but I’m pretty sure it was almost R40. I just had to keep forking out money until she was happy.
The movie’s name is Dear John. Its different watching a foreign language film with subtitles and watching an English film dubbed into Russian with no subtitles. They really have to act to get the message across. I really recommend it. I thought it was dubbed very very well. They really captured the emotions and tone very well.
This guy, John, and this girl, Savannah, are in love. But due to circumstances they cannot be together until the end of the movie when they kissed. For dramatic effect he is a soldier in the US army without email and Skype, so they have to write each other letters.
There, I just saved you 100 roubles.
I wasn’t sure what to do next, so I hopped over to this little restaurant thingy that serves hot pancakes with ice cream. That gave me the opportunity to browse through my rough guide to find the next best thing to do.
Hopped on the train to Kolomenskaya. A park with a wooden church built centuries ago. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s right next to the river and apparently very peaceful. Luckily it stopped raining, and I really enjoyed the stroll down to the river. Today I had my compass with me so at least I got there first time round. My sense of direction is pretty much non-existent here.
I still had a few hours to kill before sunset, so I decided that the Moscow Circus sounds interesting. Hopped on the train to the circus but that was closed. Tomorrow too. Saw the Pizza Hut. Awesome pizza. Maybe I was hungry. I’m sure I’ve walked a marathon though the past few days. That turned out quite expensive. A medium pizza is close to a R100.
I read about an animal theatre, where real animals perform a story. But, only open Wednesdays to Saturdays.
Then decided to go visit the Toy Store. On the map it seemed rather straightforward getting there. Yeah right. Still haven’t found it. Eventually I ended up on Red Square where I wanted to be. Spent some time waiting for the sun to set and the lights to come on. Probably would have waited still if I didn’t decide to return to base.
There are police and guards everywhere. I don’t get the impression that it is in response to last week’s attacks. Almost every large store or museum or even the cinema have metal detectors and they will inspect any bag. I can’t figure out who’s who, but most of the men in uniform seem awfully young. I think Russians do look younger than they are, but some of them really don’t look a day older than 16. There are ‘police’ with guard dogs everywhere and they visibly increase in numbers towards the evening.
Apparently the Russians have a thing for alcohol and the increase in security towards the night is to prevent brawls.
On the question if Russian women really are that beautiful… I’ve given it some thought. I would have to say yes – but hear me out. The average daily temperature at the moment I would say is about 8-10 degrees. So everyone, just like in most of Europe, is wearing some sort of proper long black jacket. They do tend to go for dark colours, black mostly, and the women do wear nice shoes or boots with stockings. So without trying, everybody, including the men, gives a ‘formal’ impression. The people seem to be well groomed, including the men. It’s odd to see a man with long hair. Most of the men look like they had a haircut very recently – the type of haircuts we had when I was in school – almost military style. Apart from that, the people, like in Scandinavia have beautiful fair skin, especially the younger people. They also seem to have a fashion sense. Even men are wearing Armani jackets for example. Also, many Russians have striking facial features, different from the Europeans – think of Nikolay Davydenko or Marat Safin for example.
I think what I’m trying to say is that to our South African eye, they stand out. You notice them and take notice of them. On the Metro they’re also in your face. Rarely does one have the opportunity to just check people out like on the underground. Чеховская to Владыкино twice a day is a long time to do nothing.
So, not everybody is an Anna Kournikova, but it’s not surprising that Anna Kournikova is Russian. If you know what I mean.
