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Published: November 22nd 2010
Moscovksy Train Station
Checking out the station so I'll know where to go tonight.Last night I made my first train connection, St. Petersburg to Moscow on the "Red Arrow". As it was my birthday and I had too much going on just getting to the train, I decided to take the night off from blogging. That also gave me the opportunity to watch the first half of the Packer/Vikings game before I had to leave! Go Pack! Actually, I was all packed. The hotel people let me camp in the breakfast room and use their wi-fi while I waited to leave for the train. It's really a strange feeling to check out of a hotel, have them hold your luggage and then have to wait around "homeless" for a night transfer. Big kudos to the Nevsky Express Hotel staff for making this experience so pleasant. I really can't say enough about how nice and helpful those folks were. They also helped with calls and assistance during the great luggage crisis. (O.k., it wasn't that big a crisis, but they were very helpful) Hotel highly recommended!
My last day in Spb I also decided that I wanted to break away from the museum trail and took a stroll down Nevsky Prospect to check out
the shopping. The only thing I bought was a nylon windbreaker in a blue camo pattern at an army store. I wanted something lighter than my parka for rainy days, and this was made to fit over large coats and gear. Perfect! Apart from that, there were lots of fancy shops and plenty of tourist souvenirs, but I noticed a sunday flea market listed in my guide. Onto the trusty Metro and out to a suburban neighborhood where I found a collection of markets bustling with activity. There were street food markets and clothing markets and just junk markets. Some areas had permanent structures selling clothing, hats, material, eyewear, cellphones, pretty much anything. Some new, some used. In the same area there were also row upon row of temporary tarp-type structures, again selling all manner of items.(often piled on folding cots, the apparent display method of choice!) Mixed in and surrounding the area was a real flea market, where anyone with a blanket or a towel would spread it out on the ground and sell whatever it was they had on hand. And all this was going on out in the cold while it was dusting snow all around.
I bartered with an older gentleman in a mix of broken Russian, German and English, for a soviet era wool cap and a small collection of soviet pins and medals. At the end of our successful negotiation, I also gave him a brand new U.S. one dollar coin. I had brought along a couple of rolls of the new dollar coins as simple gifts for just this type of occasion. He seemed very pleased with it and wanted to know who Franklin Pierce was! (they are moving through the presidents like they did with the states on the quarters. Abraham Lincoln was supposed to be released Nov. 18, after I had left. He would probably have been easier to explain than Franklin Pierce!)
Back in my neighborhood, I stopped into another self-service restaurant across the square from the Moscovsky Train Station for a huge meal including Borscht, a mushroom noodle dish, bacon wrapped pork and fried potato slices. Wonderful! I gave my free beer/wine coupon (that came with the meal) to another diner, who also seemed very pleased! (I hope he didn't drink too much and end up on a bus to Portugal!)
Then back to the hotel
Borscht, Pork and Potato
Love these Russian self-serve places. I don't even have to figure out a menu! for my evening of Packers and train anticipation in the breakfast room. At halftime, I packed up and headed over to the train station only a block away. The "Red Arrow", the premier train in Russia, was set to leave for Moscow at 11:55 p.m.. There were several other overnight trains also leaving around the same time, so the station was busy even at that late hour. I was in the 3rd carriage, so had to walk almost the length of the entire train (20 plus carriages and dining car). At every carriage a uniformed "provodnik" stands watch over the entrance. The station also plays martial music as the train loads and pulls out of the station. In all, a very inpressive send-off!
On board, I found my compartment and my assigned berth. Since it was only a single overnight trip, I gave the second class, four passenger compartment a try. While my compartment mates were very friendly, it was a bit crowded and I'm very happy with my decision to spring for first class, two passenger compartments for the remainder of the trip. My fellow travellers, so to speak, were two Russian guys and a guy from Afghanistan.
The gentleman from Kabul was working at a small business in Moscow and spoke a little English. One of the Russian guys, "Mikhail" (yes, Russian for "Michael", he was excited we shared names) was very outgoing and talkative. The other guy less so. So with the Afghan guy translating, we chatted into the night. Mikhail wanted to know how old I was. I showed him my passport and he was again excited when he saw that it was my birthday. Hearty handshakes all around. We settled in and got some sleep as the train whistled through the Russian night.
In the morning, we had boxed breakfasts and watched out the windows as we approached Moscow. Travel tip - go to the bathroom right away when you wake up, if you wait, there will be a line of women waiting to use the scarce restroom facilities to do their ablutions, their make-up and god knows whatever else takes so long in there...
A round of good-byes and we all parted ways.
Moscow! Off the train, I went straight over from the Leningradsky Station to the Yaroslavsky Station where the Siberian trains depart. I found the left-luggage office and dropped
off my roller bag for them to hold until I leave Moscow tomorrow night. Onto the Metro and out to the Real Russia travel office to pick up my train tickets for the next leg. That accomplished, I was back on the Metro for a jaunt across Moscow to my hotel. The Metro worked great, but I was so happy that I didn't have that bigger bag with me during Moscow's rush hour.
The Maxima Panorama Hotel is a little outside the central area, but it is literally steps from a Metro stop and only three stops from the center. The rooms are very nice, free wi-fi and breakfast and all very reasonable for Moscow. They even had a 15% off deal if you paid with American Express. Highly recommended! Check-in was supposed to be after 2 p.m., but I was told if I wanted to wait a short time while they were cleaning the room, I could check in early. Done deal! I was in before 11a.m. and had a nice shower and rest before heading back out.
Lunch was a small Russian fast food joint nearby that I've taken to calling "Bliny-hut". Blinys are kind of
a cross between pancakes and crepes, mine filled with ham and cheese. Hot chocolate on the side.
Metro to the center, up from the station and around the corner I find Red Square. Wow! Just like I remember from all those Soviet cold war parades. Lenin's tomb, the Kremlin walls and towers, St. Basil's onion domes and all. Very impressive. I took a look around inside St. Basil's, then walked through the GUM store flanking the square. The old State Department Store is now a mall, chock full of high end shops. In there, as well as on the square, Christmas decorations were going up. They were also starting to set up an outdoor Christmas Market just beyond Red Square. In the Alexander Park next to the Kremlin, they have an eternal flame war memorial honoring victims of the "Great Patriotic War" (WWII to us). While I walked by, they changed the guards with the traditional Russian high-stepping march.
I wandered up and around the Arbat area next. This is a long pedestrian mall lined with shops, artwork and souvenirs. Plenty of buskers and street performers even in the cold.
Nearby I found the John Bull English pub.
(couldn't find Rosie O'Grady's, bad directions or it's moved... I did see the Doolin Irish Pub, but it was in a basement on Arbat and just looked a little cheesy) So John Bull's it was. (they even had a guy in an English flag vest taking coats in the cloakroom!)
Beefsteak (ground steak around spinach), chips (fries) and a chocolate shake! Very tasty! Then back to my Moscow abode for a nice nap before blogging!
Tomorrow I'm going to tour the Kremlin, Armoury and Cathedral row first, then we'll just have see what moves me. Tomorrow night I'm off on the train across Siberia, so no more blogs until Mongolia! Time to sleep now, or I'll get sick and lose my pants.
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Pat Arnold
non-member comment
Thanks for sharing your great adventure with us. Wishing you a belated Happy Birthday and a safe journey.