From Russia with Love -- Part 3

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Kolomenskoye - 8 May 2009

The previous day, I had just glimpsed those fabulous cathedrals on The St. Barbara road. Today, I had planned to walk along the road to see them more clearly and also visit the GUM.

Like the previous day, I had expected that the barricades would be opened by 11:30 AM. After all, the major roads were already washed as a build-up towards the ‘Victory Day’ celebrations. The GUM was festooned with light-bulbs, there was a huge backdrop hiding the Lenin Mausoleum, which was temporarily closed, and rows of chairs for the VIPs were fixed on the platform in the front.

However, this time, the Metro stations leading to the central area were closed. Naturally, the roads also won’t be open.

There were two policemen guarding the corridor of the Metro leading to the Red Square. Oh, they were so cute! Many Russian men have red, chubby cheeks, which lends a boyish charm to their faces. Those same chubby cheeks later turn into heavy jowls as they grow older.

Those cute Russians have the art of saying ‘Nyet’, shaking the self-same chubby cheeks/jowls and looking utterly adorable while doing so and this makes the refusal quite charming. They might look incredibly cute, but make no mistake; they are quite strict.

{They are so strict that they had refused me visa just because the hotel had sent a copy of the invitation and not the original documents. Yes sir, you need an ‘Invitation’ from a hotel to get a tourist visa and you will only be allowed to stay the number of the days that are mentioned in the ‘Invitation’. I had to ask the hotel to courier the original documents and then only I got my visa. Avi had an invitation from a big company that had already paid for the hotel. It was not good enough proof for the visa officer to grant visa to me although I was accompanying him with confirmed return ticket. Avi got the visa immediately and left for Moscow and I had to wait for 3 days before following him.}

So, I answered their gesture of shaking the cheeks/jowls while saying ‘Nyet’ with a typical gesture of my own. I literally shrugged my shoulders, did an ‘about-turn’ and went back to the Metro.

as usual, I was well prepared with an alternative plan.

I decided to go to Kolomenskoye. It being a rural estate, far from the Red Square, I was sure, it won’t be closed, though they do celebrate the Victory Day there also, but on a smaller scale.

Unfortunately, (or, fortunately, people might say, who have seen the sort of photos that I take.) I was not carrying a camera, so no photos. But you can see the Google images to see how it looks.

Kolomenskoye was a Royal estate, a forerunner of present-day ‘Dachas’. However, being a Royal estate, the size-restrictions that were applicable for ‘Dachas’ did not apply. Still, the buildings are decidedly Liliputian compared to the Moscow behemoths.

However, the rustic charm of the peaceful Kolomenskoye cannot be described, it has to be experienced.

The Tsars and the Communist leaders alike had a penchant for building huge, massive, impressive buildings. Moscow just bristles with them. They do their job quite well too. The visitors, even visitors like us who have seen practically every major city in the world, are awed by these buildings.

One can almost forgive Stalin for building the humongous ‘Seven Sisters’, the seven majestic buildings surrounding the Moscow city center. However, had he succeeded in pulling down the Basilica to build another ugly skyscraper on the site, as was his plan, it would have been an unforgivable crime.

This history of building, destruction, (This time the Russians were innocent. The destruction was done by the Tatars.) and reconstruction was repeated at Kolomenskoye. None of the original buildings and palaces has survived except the Church of Ascension.

The Russians are smart. They established a Museum of Wooden Architecture here and brought many wooden buildings from different parts of Russia. Thus the watch-tower was brought here from Bratsk, the cabin of Peter the Great was brought from Archangeloskoye, the clock of the clock-tower came here from Sukharev and the ‘Mead Brewery’ came from Preobrazhenskoye.

Since practically everything was brought here from somewhere else, I did not have much interest in seeing the inside of those buildings. They would be totally out of their context.

The outside was charming enough. The huge estate boasts acres and acres of woods and gardens. It was pleasant to sit in the sun, sip my Coke and admire the Church of Ascension.

As described by the ‘Rough Guide’, the church, with its tall, conical tower, does look like a white, gleaming rocket, ready for take-off.

‘And here comes the Bride’. A complete wedding procession slowly wended its way to the Church. The bride, in a white gown, with a bouquet of white flowers in her hands, and the men-folk in black suits; made a pretty picture.

All brides look beautiful.

The day was very nice, warm. The garden was full of flowers, tulips prominent among them. The colors were enhanced by the lush, green banks of the placid Moscow River.

There is a one-hour cruise on the Moscow River at Kolomenskoye, which is very pleasant. Upriver, the scene is of industrialization, but downriver, it has pure rural atmosphere. Especially attractive was the reflection of the blue-and-gold domes of Dyakovo monastery shimmering in the water.

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