Moscow Day 1 part 2

Well the weather in Moscow has not been kind, it is cold and raining and the forecast is for much the same until Tuesday, when I leave. So apart from venturing out for a while to get some lunch and find a supermarket to stock up on stuff for the hostel fridge, today has been an indoor day, doing some washing, sorting out what I can dump from the luggage or send home to save some weight. I have access to a TV here and have started to catch up with some english language news to learn what is happening in the world, mostly all bad news so not missing much.

Tomorrow I will attempt a big day of exploring Moscow, including some more of the metro stations and their interesting designs. I took some pics this morning whilst navigating from the Railway station to the hostel.  I also visited the park "Patriarch Ponds" which are just behind the hostel. This seems like a very upmarket area, lots of expensive looking bars, cafes and boutique shops. Also lots of very expensive cars. I even saw a BMW 7 series being used as a plain police car with a light on top. Russian drivers like to drive very very fast on every street, even little side streets.

And lastly, some video of the forests and towns in the Urals from yesterdays train ride accompanied by the sounds of Nick Cave.

Arrived Moscow - Friday 27th June 2017

I arrived in Moscow this morning about 9.30 am, on the train from Yekaterinburg and finally got to the Hostel about 11.30am, after the usual adventure of getting lost and bamboozled in a new city, going the wrong way a few times and finally getting here. I must say that train travel is Russia is fun, maybe I should have taken the train from Irkustk to Yekaterinburg.

I did the right thing on the train and offered the Hostie some of the last few nips of my Mongolian Vodka, after that the fun started. This train was the best train I have been on so far, best beds, modern and very comfortable. All the power supplies worked. The Dining Car (restoran) was nice but expensive, food was good.

I had wisely (from previous experience) packed some food with me, some cold meat, pickles, bread, coffee, cheese, water, etc. After offering the last of my Vodka, I was offered another small bottle to buy (600 rubles (for Russian Vodka), which I shared with the two hosties (including the one that sold it to me) but they in turn gave me heaps of food, best tasting tomatoes, more cold meat, fish, more bread, picked carrot, etc, This continued for the next 12 hours, with another bottle of Vodka and then with another passenger (Yuri), who could speak a little english) and his nephew Max and the two Hosties who sold him two bottles of Congac, all of which was  shared plus beers were purchased. We finished running out of grog about 1am on the train, everyone had a good sleep and then we arrived this morning. I did make the mistake of going back to the dining car for some breakfast, cost me 500 rubles and i got stuff all food. The 1200 rubles I spent on Vodka, was paid back in spades with free food. 

Picture of Shiny Hot water dispenser, the two Hosties (Vera, Svedlana and Yuri (at Kazan Station)

I also saw a Russian BMW with a side car and there is pic of the pine trees and birch that just go on forever beside the train track. I have to say the Russian Coutryside is very beautiful, wild flowers everywhere along the track, including Lavender and yellow and white little flowers  -  Very lush with green grass.    At one stage we crossed the mighty Volga, but it was a little too dark to take pictures.                                

I think the dining car staff were on the sauce all the time as well, one guy from the dining car that had been wandered around with cups of tea,  I looked at his eyes yesterday and they were very bloodshot. The thing is, on the train no one can tell if your pissed or not as you stagger about all the time with the train pitching and rolling, so unsteady on the feet is the norm. The train staff work 5 days on, 5 days off, but they all must need the 5 days off to let their livers recover.

Russians are a bit strange, mostly aloof and indifferent to strangers, e.g. many will ignore you if you attempt to speak in english to them, others are very generous. For example, Yuri gave me his metro travel card which was supposed to have one one credit left on it. When it did not work at the station, a complete  stranger swiped his card for me to enter the station and when I got stuck with my baggage and could not get through, he swiped it again to let me in. That cost him 64 Rubles (about $2) as an act of charity to a stranger.

Last Full Day in Y Kat

Today was mostly rainy and a sort of catch up sweep of the things I didm't do yesterday. Firstly, I went to DHL to send a little (0.6kg) parcel home. Cost, wait for it, 7000 Rubles, thats over $200, I early fell over backwards. Needless to say, I did not go with that option, but instead found the post office and sent it by airmail with Post, 700 Rubles, One tenth the price. and that included a packing box. One thing I have noticed here in Russia is they do not mark or sign places well. There is usually no sign on many doors, or if there is it is small and only in Russian. For example, when I went to the post office, I went to what looked like a main counter/service area. After a brief point and mumble to communicate I wanted to send a parcel to Australia, it was sort of indicated that I should go back out the door and turn right to another door. When I went out the front door, there was nothing but a lane to the right and some heavy steel doors with nothing on them, I opened one of the doors only to find another heavy steel door and still no signage. I decide as there was nothing else, I would try opening an inner door. It was then that I found the "parcels" office.

At some point in my wanderings, I managed to find the Russian Diplomatic corp offices and took some photos of there vehicles in the car park, the green ones.  Only joking, the Russians would not be like that.

I then went off to explore the Metro system, 23 Rubles (70c) any one way journey. So I got off to a few stations and did not leave the system. Each station seemed to by different, which I think is a common thing in Russia, so took some snaps (note for some that one Station is called Dynamo) for others that don't get the reference, let it pass. The end station was something like the Kosmonaut Precinct, but I did no go topside to check it out. I think it was just high rise buildings.

I  ended up at the Geological station.

From here made my way to the other geological museum, yes this city has two geology museums. I think todays version was the better, it was cheaper, much better lit, had some very pretty gem stones and it had meteorites, lots of them. Plus some pictures of the meteorite that came to these parts last year. Even better, just as I was about to leave the, the guard indicated he would show me the special room, which was a locked and double iron barred room full of the real good stuff, including Gold, Platinum, amethysts and other big precious stones. It even had a black light to make some of the mineral colours really brighten up. No taking samples home though, a pity really, they had some good stuff.

Back to hostel at the end of the day to cook some dinner and get a good nights sleep before the long train trip to Moscow. This trip seems to be going very quickly. Finally in the hostel just as I am leaving, a guy from Melbourne and a girl from Germany turn up and there is english being spoken. Before that the only people that seemed to be here were Russian longer term tenants  and they were like ghosts. In a country where so little english is heard, the hostels are a great place to meet other travellers and swap stories and get advice.

Look out Moscow, here we come

More Churches and Museums

I decided first order of the day was to find  a big mans store I had been told about and get some new shorts. I found the place, after some poor bus  negotiation and a lot of walking, but alas, whilst they had my size and a pair I liked, the price was over the moon and I was not going to pay that kind of money in Russia for shorts. I will pay it in the UK. I then fluked a bus which took me right up the other end of the city where the Church of the All Saints, also called the Church on the Blood was located. This is where the last Russian Tsar,(Emperor) Nicholas II and his family, met their untimely end at the pointy end of guns held by Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918.  (Watch out Tsar Tony A, you might be next when the revolution comes).

The Bling on the top they all seem to like.

Next stop was the Metenkov's House Photography Museum. It had the usual old cameras and photos, plus an exhibition by a noted Russian photographer called "Lovigin". A lot of Photoshopping, but OK.

Next stop was the Ekaterinburg History Museum, bits and pieces really about Ekaterinburg, some war photos and items,   a neat big book that as you opened it and turned pages, an overhead projector morphed new images onto the pages. Someone called Tikhotskaya's library  (homework for some).

Next stop was past the Ural University, see below.

Then past the Opera and Ballet Theatre, which was recently restored.

After passing this building I went to the Ural Mineralology Museum (no Photos) but saw all kinds of gem and semi precious stones, chrysalis and other stuff. All info in Russian so hard to make sense of.

Another Interesting building, no idea what it is.

A view across the river (the Iset)

Yet another Church.

My next stop (no photos from me) was the Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts, it had a few Cubist paintings and mostly ordinary  Russian paintings from Soviet times, but what was very good was the main space was full of contemporary Russian photography. It was call the "Best of Russian Photography" and as far as I could communicate with the Gallery staff, there is NO book out yet, otherwise I would have bought it on the spot. It was excellent. Covered all aspects of life, social, nature, architecture, fashion, etc.

Edinburgh had painted cows, Munich had painted Lions, Yekaterinburg has painted Bears.

Another colourful building, a pub

I then went shopping at a big supermarket, Russian Supermarkets are something else, they had everything and it looked fresh and very well presented. The following pics taken on the way home through the park and across the river.

Yet another (small) Church, in the Park

Late afternoon and people are getting their feet wet on a hot day at the fountain in the park.

Yekaterinburg - Monday Part 2

One eventful moment I forgot to mention was that in the taxi on the way in from the airport this morning, the taxi had to swerve suddenly to avoid a driver coming the wrong way on the freeway. I am told Russian drivers are a law to themselves.

After arriving at Hostel Ok, I had a nap for a few hours as nothing much opens early here. 10 am seems usual. I took my map and headed off to wander around the "red line" tourist trail of the city, taking in various monuments and historic buildings. It was hot so walk was punctuated with cold drinks, ice creams and sits in the shade. Finishing off with several cold beers so it was time to wander home. More to explore tomorrow.

Also have included some pan shots taken yesterday in Irkutsk of our apartment kitchen and down near the river embankment.

 our kitchen in Irkustk

 Airport this morning

 Grafitti

Historic wooden buildings, fast being replaced and will disappear soon.