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Published: January 3rd 2006
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The Famous St. Basil Cathedral
It is said that the tsar who comissioned this cathedral was so pleased with the result that he had the architect's eyes removed so he would never design anything better... now there's a performance bonus structure for you! С НОЫМ ГОДОМ!
Happy New Year in Russian… pronounced: Snobum Godom
Temperatue: -5C
Snow Cover: 40cm
Privet (informal hello in Russian),
I am writing this on the eve of mounting the TransSiberian railway. I will be traveling from Moscow to Irkutsk through 5 time zones. This is like going from Vancouver to Halifax and back to Toronto in one train journey with no stop lasting more than 25 minutes! It will be a 5 day journey. I have a first class berth which means I share the space with one other as opposed to second class (4 to a berth) or 3rd class (chicken coup style). This ticket cost $500CAD which I thought was quite reasonable. If the train is anything like the ones I’ve recently taken, I’m sure it will be a pleasant journey.
Holiday season is in full swing and Muscovites are, much to my chagrin, EVERYWHERE. I tried to go to the Kremlin today but the line was literally a good hour long. The metros, stores, streets are jammed with people. I find it suffocating and do not tolerate the crowds well. It’s not so much the sheer number of people that drives me mad,
Nutcracker at the Bolshoy
Easily one of the best performances I have ever been to... the Bolshoy ballet in their 228th season of performing! but more the Russian style of ‘herding’ people and ‘creating’ lines. On more than a few occasions, I have come across areas where the Russian police or military create bottlenecks for no particular reason. They stick up these metal barricades and guide people (aka smoke cigarettes and talk to each other). Another favourite trick is utilizing 1 gate or door when there are 2 or 3 available. It is so pointless, useless and infuriating! The Russians don’t seem to mind, or if they do they don’t do anything about it. Whenever I ask someone why something is the way it is they sort of shrug and say ‘it’s Russia.’ Russians tolerate lines very well and I guess being herded through one gate when another is available is much better than communist times where they would line up for HOURS to ‘buy’ milk or bread. Give them a few more years and I swear there will be a revolution against stupidity!
Ok, I’ll hop off the soap box. Moscow is a massive city with in excess of 12 million inhabitants. The core centre of the city is quite beautiful and I was lucky enough to see it covered in fresh snow.
Supplies... check!
Caviar, scotch and program The last few days have been a balancing exercise as the temperature crept above 0C for a day and then back down meaning that everything is covered in an inch of ice. I have only gone down once but slipping and walking like a prisoner with leg shackles is now a way of life… hmmmmm, maybe this cold/snow thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The only solution, naturally is to live somewhere where the temperature never climbs above 0C… Siberia, here I come!
The Kremlin and Red Square are massive and Lenin’s preserved body lies in a mausoleum in front of it all. The metro system is unlike any I have ever seen. There are 9 lines and I have yet to wait more than 2 minutes for a train (given my rant in the second paragraph this is somewhat a miracle!). The metro stations vary from simple to palatial with some adorned in museum like art work. See photos for examples. There are generally 3 escalators of which one is usually out of order so getting to or away from the track can be a nightmare.
I have never been on so many wild goose chases in
New Year's Eve
Doing what I can to strengthen international relations... one city. It seems many establishments and business change names and locations often. In addition, addresses are confusing in Russia. Unlike our addresses (eg. 1284 W. Broadway), theirs are by building number (eg. 5 W. Broadway). This means that the location is in the 5th building along W. Broadway. HOWEVER, most buildings have multiple levels or even multiple buildings in the ‘building number’ complex… get it?... I don’t. Anyhow, there have been days where I have looked for a restaurant or bar or museum only to find it run by different people, closed down or simply not there! Another fun trick is when asking someone where to go (usually in horrible Russian but with something written down) rather than say ‘I don’t know’ they will often point me in a random direction just to get rid of me. Given the lack of men wearing deodorant in Russia, I am sure it’s because I don’t smell… so that’s been fun!
I should mention that the level of public drunkenness is unlike anything I have ever seen before. People drink anywhere and everywhere and beer/vodka can be procured from street vendors for less than $1. I saw a guy passed out on
My impromtu tour guide and I
Met Evgeni (banker) at the bar... and he offered to show me around... us in front of the Kremlin the metro with his bag open right next to him. I’ve seen people so drunk that they can’t even walk straight and just bounce off people. I’m not even referring to the fact that it’s New Years!... of course this doesn’t ‘help’ the situation. It’s no wonder the average male life expectancy is a mere 59 here! Lastly, every metro station is host to at least a couple of stray dogs. Most stations are fairly warm so I guess they’re not dumb dogs but it’s an odd sight as they are invariably sleeping at the tops or bottoms of the escalators.
News item: Russia has cut off the flow of natural gas to the Ukraine in a price dispute. Russia wants to raise the rate the Ukraine pays for gas by 400% to bring it in line with market prices. The Ukraine has received cheap gas in exchange for allowing Russian gas to reach Europe via pipelines that travel through it’s land. I expect the price of oil to appreciate in the next few days/weeks as Russia is the #1 supplier of gas to Europe. Europeans may be being forced to substitute gas usage with oil if this stand off
persists. In Globex 24 hour trading, oil is already up $0.75 to $61.25 and the news has yet to really hit North America.
I’m going on a snowmobiling trip in Siberia and then its ice fishing and dog sledding in Mongolia… photos should be great.
I wish you happiness, good health and prosperity in 2006.
Best, Jason.
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Krystyna
non-member comment
happy new year!
Sounds like another world entirely but well worth seeing. Such an interesting culture and fantastic architecture. Loving your comments! Take care and all the best for 2006!