The Afternoon of Friday 27th of March
After one of the longest grammar and then reading lessons of my life, I could finally rush off home to finish putting the last few things in my bag, get some lunch and get the two trolleybuses to the train station. On the train, the ride didn’t begin so smoothly- I had unknowingly put my coat on top of an old lady’s cake (it was most definitely not obviously a cake, as she claimed) and she was most unhappy about this. She carried on tutting and cursing when I said I didn’t know what she saying, as I later found out she hadn’t understood I wasn’t Russian. I suppose she thought I was just a bit simple. She was a mean little lady, and who puts a cake in a luggage rack anyway?
I was sat next to two Uzbek boys, about my age if I remember rightly, and we made attempts at chatting for quite a while. It was good practise, and one of them spoke semi-tangible English, which helped at points. Things quietened down however, when they showed me a video on their phones that seemed to be demonstrating how Islam is innately within every person- different symbols resembling different parts of the body and such. I think I complemented the background music, and tried to change the subject, but then they started asking me if I believed in God.
This isn’t an easy debate to have with people you don’t know in English; let alone in Russian when you have an active vocabulary of about 200 words. I was hating every single minute of it and kept glancing down at War and Peace, hoping they would take the hint. But they did not, and my attempts to explain that I chose not to continue going to church, that I didn’t feel a need to assign myself to a faith, and that I was happy and grateful for the world around me but I didn’t think that this was due to any ‘person’ in particular, only seemed to rile them further. I genuinely felt like their attitudes towards me changed from the moment I said that I didn’t believe in God. I can’t work out if it was just that, or maybe because I said ‘ne nada’, which may translate in some situations as ‘no need’, but I really couldn’t think of another way to put it. Despite the language barrier, I would hope that having previously had a pleasant conversation with them would have meant that they understood any abruptness or directness was due to a lack of words- not respect. And having said initially that although I don’t believe, this didn’t equal a lack of respect for those who do, it really infuriated me that they kept pushing their argument on me, as if I was suddenly going to say ‘oh actually- yes you’re right! I am here because of Allah.’ They can have that capital A on me.
Four hours is a long train journey as it is, and after that last half-hour I practically ran off the train. I knew that the logistics of meeting Joel weren’t going to be easy, especially as English to Russian mobile contact is pricey enough, not taking into account that it’s practically doubled when in Moscow.
However, things turned out surprisingly well. It wasn’t that I had doubted Joel’s ability to get out of the airport and on to the train, I just know all too well how downright unhelpful some Russians can be, especially in ticket-buying situations. But when I arrived at the metro stop, I crossed over to the train station, and only had to wait 10 minutes before he arrived. Even then he had to wait for me to find my way out of departures and come round to the arrivals section…
After asking the way to the hostel once, we found it quite easily. It was a modern, recently renovated building with a helpful owner and all the usual things you’d expect. Apart from curtain hooks…but our DIY skills soon fixed that. I remember it was almost just the same as the first night that Joel was in Jerez; in the days and weeks before I’d think of so many things to tell him, but when he was actually there it felt a little bit surreal and it almost takes a while to get used to having a real Joel and not just a Skype-Joel. Luckily it doesn’t take that long, and we unpacked, found the local supermarket, and made plans for the next day over a drink and a surprisingly not-bad-at-all sandwich.
Every day I tried to take notes of what we did, and it really is a good job I did that. Over the 8 days we did a lot, but all interspersed by sufficient cafe stops which kept us going. Obviously this equates to a lot of written material, and teamed with the 1004 photos that I took, it’s a pretty heavy-going diary. Because of this I’ve decided to simply copy-up the notes from my book, and maybe expand on some of the highlights. I’ve also asked Joel if he would like to contribute, so the following will probably be extended and improved, time permitting!
Saturday 28 March (Happy Birthday Joe)
- In the morning, we set out to find a cafe not far away from us, called Bookafe- a trendy looking place full of fluorescent lighting and big books on photography and art. Had some blini (pancakes) and sirnichky (like potato cakes, but with sweet, soft cheese instead). Joel becomes wrapped up in a book about New York and I remind him that this week will be very, very different.
- Went to Red Square- really sunny morning. Walked past the Kremlin, into Red Square and up to and around St Basils, to which Joel comments ‘a bit gaudy’. Took lots of pictures and then went into GUM and had coffee. I had wanted to see the building from the inside, not really for the shops. My favourite thing was the fake trees and the fake birds- stuck upside down on the branches. Spoke to Joe for his birthday.
- Went to the State History Museum- really interesting to see prehistoric/stone age history from a Russian angle. It’s a beautiful building and it was really nice wandering around and taking it all in.
- Eventually found a place for lunch, after realising we’d been quite close to it when we started out. Scandinavia was a bit more expensive than we thought, but as it was about 4.30/5.00 it ended up serving as dinner too, and was a real treat for me to be able to choose what I could have to eat!
- Went to the Modern History Museum- this was my favourite. We stayed right up to closing time at 7pm. It really put into context all the different events in modern Russian history that I’d heard about separately, but was never quite sure where they fitted in, in relation to one another. Lots of interesting Bolshevik memorabilia, and again we were quite cultured in our actual reading of the given information and subsequent discussions. There were so many things that we didn’t really know about, some of which I didn’t know had even taken place (the Russo-Japanese War, for example), and from this we had an idea to get a book and write down all the things we weren’t sure about, and later look them up.
- Walked down Tverskaya Bulvar, then got the metro back. One of my highlights of the day: Joel sings ‘Down down, deeper and down’ as we descend into the metro. Yes, I had even missed those jokes.

the huge escalators down into the metro
- Got back to the hostel with a beer and had a look at some guidebooks again. Joel is far better at reading them than I am, and he selects a bar that sounds quite good. We never actually found that one, but came across another which was quite atmospheric and played some Exalt-esque music which was to a certain persons taste. They did excellent mojitos (which turned out to be the best of the holiday) so we stayed there, had a good catch-up and then got the last metro home just before 1am.

The fake trees inside state shopping center 'GUM'
Sunday 29/03/09 (no idea why WordPress decides to change font here)
· Went to the Arbat- walked down past all the grand yet now commercialised buildings.

The Arbat
· Saw the Wall of Peace, but was disappointed that it had been covered in graffiti. Not sure what that says- probably more about the lack of opportunity for people to express themselves rather than their disregard for peace.

The Wall of Peace
· Saw the statue of Pushkin and Natalya outside their then-marital home. Was very amused when a very enthusiastic Japanese lady ran up onto the statue to join their pose.
· Found an amazing Deli which we would later return to
· Went to the Modern Art Museum- good ground and 1st floor, and some interesting bronze sculptures in the courtyard outside. Not sure about the top floor exhibitions though- the photography was a bit too contrived and there were a few too many suspicious-looking sponsors around- made the work seem more like adverts for the camera, rather than any sort of individual’s art.
· Found Cafe Gogol by chance, which wasawesome. Had a cool atmosphere and obviously held bands at night. Joel had solyanka, my favourite spicy sausage soup and hachipuri, Georgian cheese-bread (or sometimes like a cheese-pasty) and I had some really good roast vegetable spaghetti. Not a pig’s trotter in sight.
· Went to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour- unfortunately couldn’t get in, but the surrounding views were amazing. Took pictures of the imposing Peter the Great statue from the bridge over the river.
· Went to find a cafe/bookshop/music shop combo called ‘Respublika’ Quite a cool place, a very pink cafe full of mac-book users. Had some Earl Grey and had to get used to ordering milk with tea again.
· Returned to the Deli, and bought some nice cheese, meat and salad and took it back to the hostel for a picnic.
· Didn’t go out again that night; was quite late when we got back and so enjoyed our picnic and a drink, and chilled out at the hostel.
Monday 30/03/09
- Made sandwiches at the hostel that morning, with some of the things left over from our picnic. We were slightly intimidated by a large group of newly-arrived Norwegian girls.
- Went to Danilevsky Food Market. I was annoyed that Joel could spot the market even though I’m the one with the Russian reading powers. Was an interesting place, and it made very clear the basic ingredients of Russian cuisine; Dill.
One of the stalls at Danilevsky Food Market
- Had a coffee in Chocoladnitsa, checked our itinerary for the next part of the day.
- Went to the Danilov monastery which was really close by. Impressive buildings as always, particularly the gate and archway, although we felt a bit too intimidated by the active participation and bowing of the people there to actually enter any of the churches.

Danilov Monastery
- Ismaylovo Market- bit disappointing this time, as it was a Monday, and not nearly as busy as when I’d been there on a Saturday. Was a shame as I really wanted Joel to see it. Had a walk round but got offered a fox scarf for only 200 roubles, so we left.
- I got separated from Joel on the Metro! I was dithering as to which carriage I was going to get into, and in my usual getting-a-bit-faint-from-hunger state, sort of watched the doors close in front of me. I got the next one and luckily he was waiting at the next platform for me…
- Found Bilingua- another cafe picked out by Joel for having a supposed bookshop/cafe combination. This one didn’t really have a bookshop, but it was another cool place hidden away from the masses of expensive chains in Moscow. I had a nice hot honey drink, and Joel doubts the authenticity of his expresso, which was to become a fairly regular feature. I think i’ve now discovered that in Russia, what we would call an Expresso is actually a Ristretto. But it’s a bit late now.

This is me at Bilingua- sadly not a word of Spanish spoken, however
- Went to the International Book House with ‘the biggest selection of international literature in Moscow’. We saw a grand total of 3 English books, which admittedly we did think was a little strange. Then we came outside and saw that the shop we wanted was actually next door. I saw lots of books I’d like to read, but I have a small matter of War and Peace to get through. Joel buys the Great Gatsby.
- After this we get outside, and after spending a while in warm bookshops, we decide it is definitely time for a beer. Consult the guidebook, and walk to ‘Propaganda’ in Kitai Gorod. I don’t have any pictures of this place which is une dommage…but it was a really cool place, and just the sort of warm, almost pub-like atmosphere that we wanted. Had a drink there, and kept looking at the nice plates of food going out to other people. We had planned to go to the Georgian restaurant that night, but after another drink we decided it was too nice here, and too snowy outside, to leave. This was one of my favourite nights!
Tuesday 31/03/09
- Up early (partly because of inconsiderate Norwegian girls, who, incidentally had also broken a chair, the hooligans) but also because today was check-out day. Ice cold shower was not so fun!
- Headed out to the VDNKH center, via a nice coffee and croissant at Coffee House. When we arrived at VDNKH we thought that the park we were in was what we’d gone to see- the huge space obelisk and some statues.

The Space Obelisk
- Found that the Cosmonautics Museum underneath the Obelisk was closed, seemingly for renovations, but then discovered what the ‘Soviet Disneyland’ really was. Just past the first park was the real VDNKH centre- a series of pavilions all built by Stalin to commemorate Soviet Economic Achievement. Really was the weirdest place I’ve ever been in my life. It’s now all quite deserted, and the elaborate buildings are now all used as second-rate shopping centres, selling cheap clothes, souvenirs, anything.
- Spent quite a while here, walking around as it’s pretty huge. On the way out found a material shop (with a leaking roof…) but didn’t find anything quite weird enough to represent the place. So had a blini and headed back to the Modern History Museum as we hadn’t had time to visit the shop when we’d been there on Saturday. It’s famous for it’s collection of memorabilia, posters and old books. Some of it quite expensive, but I bought a couple of books and postcards, and refrained from purchasing the 1000 rouble CCCP commemorative piece of material.
- Went to the Novodichy Cemetery and Cathedral- was a bit of a treck, and we were both worn out, but I really wanted to see Chekhov & Bulgakov’s graves. We really needed a cup of tea after this, but it took a little while after the place we really wanted to go to was a) hidden and b) just closed as we found it. Not sure why, but it was annoying! Eventually found this little French bakery/cafe place that was very pretty, but for some reason playing White Christmas.
- Then we headed for the Georgian Restaurant that we’d planned to go to the day before, and found this fairly easily. Had some really nice hearty food, and more hachipuri. Was a shame we then had to head back to the hostel fairly soon, to pick up our bags and then get to the train station.
- Got the train at 10.20pm, and was basically straight to ‘bed’ as there was a young boy in the bunk underneath, and the lights on the train went out fairly quickly. We were both on a top bunk, and so looked out of the window for a little while, and played tetris. Got a few hours sleep, but it was very disrupted; primarily by a very loud screamo ringtone and the girl then preceding to laugh about this down the phone, and then secondly the by sound of someone seemingly dying of whooping cough in the toilet. This was really not pleasant. I wasn’t sure if Joel was asleep or not, but I was amused when he turned over and had exactly the same expression on his face as I imagined I had on mine.