Today we went on a bus excursion to the center of Moscow. We had a tour guide who spoke Russian, so Tatiana translated into English for the beginners during the first part of the excursion, and I helped translate for the second. Moscow State University is unbelievable. Think somewhere along the lines of Hogwarts. Stalin built the 7 Sisters (7 skyscrapers) because he thought there needed to be more tall buildings. He originally wanted what is now Moscow State University to be a hotel, but after the war they needed to boost the amount of educated individuals so it became a university instead (pictures below). Down the street from Moscow State University, there is a panoramic view of all Moscow. Gorgeous.
We saw where Medvedev works, the US Embassy (which is really pretty, but I didn't get to take a picture. Maybe tomorrow), Bolshoi theatre, and a few other landmarks on the way to the Red Square. Words can't describe Red Square/the Kremlin, and my pictures just can't convey how astounding the area really is in person. There's also a gigantic mall called ГУМ (pronounced goom) by the Red Square. Imagine Rodeo Drive x1000 and put in a castle. And behind Goom is, of course, St. Basil's Cathedral.
Russian encounter of the day: Two Russian guys around our age kept looking at me, smiling. They said, through giggling: Privet.... ochen krasivaya....ti pahozha na Rihanna. They thought I looked like Rihanna. Well, no skinhead/racist encounters yet...so I'll definitely take it. We talked for a little bit, they asked where we're from, what we're doing here, and we parted ways.
Too tired to really think of anything else to say...getting up at 8am tomorrow to go back to the center and actually go in St. Basil's.
Russian ice cream>American ice cream.
Here is a small portion of the inside of Goom.
Obviously this picture needs no caption....
Here lies Stalin...and Lenin.
The square was blocked off by fences; there was a concert last night because it was the last day for all the schools.
Impressive, da?
The outside of Goom...a mall. I wasn't exaggerating.
Entrance to the Square.
Bolshoi Theatre. We'll see a ballet there later in the trip.
The above three pictures are from the outside of a war museum. We didn't go in...but the monuments were great.
View of Moscow. The round building is where the Olympics took place.
The center section of Moscow State University.
This was this morning, our first totally sunny day (blue building)
The view from our floor again--sunny version. It's a little prettier this way.
Спокойной ночи (Spokoyni nochi, goodnight).
Wonderful photos, Kate! And wonderful dialogue...I'm really enjoying this and hope you'll make one of those "photo books" with your blog included when your trip is finished. Love the bride and groom in the photo outside the Goom Mall. How do prices for food and other commodities compare to the US?
ReplyDeleteThere are brides and grooms all over the Square. The very center of Moscow is marked at the front entrance of the Square (I'll get a picture next time I go). It is tradition to stand in the center, hold a few coins in your right hand and throw them over your left while making a wish. So a lot of bride/grooms go there to do that and get pictures.
DeletePrices are all over the place. Sometimes I'm shocked about how much cheaper things are, sometimes I can't understand how it's that much more expensive. It obviously depends where you go. The supermarket near campus is unfortunately pretty overpriced (paying for convenience and quality of food). Food is my biggest problem here money-wise. As you read, I flew here with food poisoning and my Russian professor said he got food poisoning last time he was here, so I'm a little more paranoid. My tall cappuccino from Starbucks was $7...so I'm not going to be going there too often now, unfortunately. It took me a while to get used to the conversion and understand how pricey things actually are.
The sort of nice thing is that you don't tip in restaurants here. You MAYBE tip 7% if it's a nice restaurant. It's a hard habit to get used to, but people here can actually live on minimum wage as opposed to minimum wage in America. Not sure yet how I'm going to do laundry. There's only a washing machine and it's been pretty humid/raining here...so I don't quite know how well my clothes will dry.
The metro here is absolutely amazing. So incredibly convenient and fast. You can get 20 passes on a card for 500 rubles (about $16). Less than a dollar per trip! I'll definitely miss that when I get back.
Kate, this is marvelous! Great documentary of your trip. Yes, I agree with Bev....you must do a photo book when you get home. I was going to ask about the bride, too! Did you see the wedding?Wonder which ballet you will see? Save the program. So impressed with your translating. Makes all those tuition checks to USC worthwhile! Are designer purses, etc. cheaper there, as in China? Do they have many libraries? Take some photos of your professors and fellow students. Enjoying this so much, as are others!! Get plenty of rest so no relapse. (Always a Mom, even when you are away.)
ReplyDeleteThe blue building is so beautiful! I don't care if it's haunted :-p
ReplyDelete