Returning to Butirskaya Ulitsa

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Hello All,

We spent our final week in Moscow - the town I lived in for 5 months as a student back in 1995.

Moscow has changed a lot - this being all the more clear during a Moscow by night tour. Coffee bars galore, bright lights and advertisements every where - a complete turn around from the dreary Moscow I remember. I am sure I am boring Vicky to tears with stories about how it was living here in 1995.

The main sights haven't changed, the Kremlin & Red Square are still the same and Lenin still lies in state in his mausoleum, but the city is much more vibrant. For me Red Square for ever symbolises the leader of the communist party standing on top of the mausoleum, watching a big army parade go past. This gets increasingly difficult to picture when walking across a peaceful square with the GUM (the state department store) in bright lights and St Basil's Cathedral looking like a picture.

Apart from the first few days, it has been rather cold and wet in Moscow this week so we haven't done much of the very touristy stuff preferring to stay indoors as opposed to venturing out. One of the days we spent a few hours visiting the best of the metro stations. Some of these put London stations to shame; but all follow the same themes - war (the USSR conquering Belorus and Ukraine, for example) and happy people working the fields.

Today we located where I used to live - although I was sure I could still remember the way home (so to speak) I wasn't sure the place would still be the same. I am happy to say the apartment complex & the entrance to the metro look much the same as did then, but the surroundings look completely different. We went as far as the main entrance to the apartment complex - the door being secured by entry code meant we couldn't go any further even if I'd wanted to.
The strange thing about coming back for me was knowing that I wouldn't be able to recognise the people who looked after me so well even if I bumped into them. The pictures I have in my head of the mother and grandmother who looked after me need to be aged by 13 years. I hope they are all doing well - we've made some pictures of the apartment complex proving I was there and I will try and get in touch with them when I get home.

See you all soon, Titia

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