Advertisement
Published: July 18th 2006
Edit Blog Post
1
This isn't a church--it is a subway station. Hello everyone,
Who would have thought that a tourist "must" in Moscow would be to visit their subway stations? Each time I stepped off a train, it was like entering the foyer of a museum. Each had a theme and were decorated with marble, granite, handpainted murals, stained glass and chandeliers. The best ones were built in the early 1950's. The theory was to give quality to everyone's life. Their metro has nine million riders per day; the population is 10.5 million. During rush hour there is a subway every 30 seconds. The reason may be because it is so hard to get and keep a car permit.
Permits are renewed every year. The car must pass a safety inspection and the driver has to pass a medical appraisal including a psych. session. The reason is to cut down on the 35,000 road fatalities each year.
Moscovites have another custom--a sort of Russian hitchhiking. If you want a ride, you stand on the side of the road with your hand pointed down. A private car will stop and drive you in the same direction--for a fee or not. Even police cars and ambulances have been known to stop for
2
This shows the size of the stained glass panels in subway station. riders to make a few extra rubles. Two of our guides said they have never heard of anyone being physically harmed during one of these transactions. They explained that Moscovites look out for each other because for so many years the goverment didn't look out for them.
Another quirk is having cars with right-hand drive mingling with left-hand drive vehicles. It is because of people coming from the southern borders and bringing their cars with them.
This was my first exposure to the Russian Orthodox Church. We went to some of these places and initially I wondered why we bothered. For the most part they had one or two icons and the churches weren't in the greatest shape. Finally, I got it. They had every right to be proud of their icons and buildings. It was based on surviving the Czars raiding the monestaries and churches for the treaures when they were short of money;bombing during WWII; and finally many years of communist regime where religion was discouraged if not banned entirely. We were lucky enough to visit a couple of churches during Russian Orthodox services. They are attended mostly by older women all wearing headscarves. The lighting
3
On ceiling of one subway station. is from windows and candles--lots of candles. They tend to use trees--live and dead--instead of flowers. The air is blue with incense. The rhythmic chanting is performed by the priest and a choir of five or six voices with not an instrument (not even an organ) in sight. People seem to come and go. Some bustle in, light a candle, cross themselves and then bustle out again. Some are in it for the long haul. One more thing--no pews or seating of any kind. The parishioners either stand or kneel for the entire service. It must make it hard to snooze through the sermon.
I think I came to some conclusions about tourism in Russia. They seem to only want conducted tours--not independant travellers, backpackers, etc. First, getting a visa in the first place. Others told me it was no big deal--their agent took care of it. Second, I found out that the authorities need to know where you are every night. They have this system--along with your visa, you have a two-piece form. Half gets collected when you enter Russia, the other half is taken when you leave. Every night had to be accounted for by a stamp
4
This decorative light was about 3' high. and a date. If any dates are missing, you can have a problem trying to leave and could be delayed long enough to miss your flight. Third, Moscow is on a mission to have only five star hotels. They tore down a fairly new 6,000 room four star to build yet another five star. Fourth, two couples I met on the cruise where going to leave their main luggage at the hotel they would be using, take backpacks and travel elsewhere in Russia for four days. Then they would return to the hotel, collect their suitcases, stay for a few days and then fly home. The hotel wanted to charge them the equivalent of six dollars Cdn. per suitcase per day. I have never ever heard of a charge for this service. And finally, the wording the tour director used on the ship was, "I am responsible for you." The second one I dealt with said the same thing. I just found it an odd choice of words, but now it makes sense. Oh well, still a great place to visit.
Bye for now,
Donna
Advertisement
Tot: 0.301s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 10; qc: 60; dbt: 0.08s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb