Hanging in Moscow

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Hello to all, this is Dave writing this blog.
Another interesting day in Moscow. During Amanda’s work training she ran into Julia. They used to take yoga together in Atlanta and now she lives in Moscow and works where the training was held. It was totally random and pretty funny that we travel 8 different time zones and run into somebody we know. Now that is a small world. Anyway, we met Julia for lunch at a great little café (Correa’s - it was really excellent food and reasonably priced!), then she drove us to Stary Arbat Street. It is a great walking street and full of street vendors and shops. Because it was Sunday, the street was full of people. Julia was great, telling us stories of here time in Atlanta and of Moscow. She became our tour guide for the day. Also, she knew where to get the cheap souvenirs, which was great help. Next she drove us down to the entrance of Gorky Park (yes, I’m singing “winds of change” by the Scorpions in my head) and dropped us off to go have some family time out in the suburbs. We then walked thru Sculpture Park, which is where we all remember the news in the 1990’s of the crowds tearing down the statues of Stalin/Lenin. Now it’s full of sculpture from modern artists and swing sets for kids to play on. It’s a little run-down but still looks pretty cool. Next we walked along the Moscow River toward the “Peter the Great” monument, which is a 50+ foot statue of Pete, on top of a copper boat, with fountains shooting water to make it look like it’s moving thru the water. I’m sure that if he were alive today, he would cut off the head of the guy that made him look more like a buccaneer than a conqueror. Next we walked over a pedestrian bridge that was under construction but was about ¾ of the way finished that was very modern in granite and glass to the largest church in Moscow. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is up on a plateau and you can see the domes from Red Square but we could not figure out yesterday how to get there. Lots of walking around the corners thinking this is how we get there only to be thwarted by no crosswalks over 10 lane streets or the damn river. Alas, today we hit the Mecca (is that sacrilegious?) and we were standing in front the church. Gold dome roofs, copper statues, and entry doors at least 20 feet tall. Who were they expecting to walk in the church…Yao Ming? Then it started to look gloomy and like rain and we discovered a metro stop right underneath us and it was the same line as our hotel which makes navigating the metro in Russian a whole lot simpler. On the metro, when we arrived at the stop for the hotel, we walked up a side that was completely different than what we used the previous couple of days. Amanda thought we were lost and wanted to go back down but when we walked outside I realized that we had been walking about 1 ½ blocks further down to catch the same train……dummies!!! Well, check out the pictures and enjoy. Thanks again to Julia for hanging out with Team Thompson today, you’re the best!

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Photos

Peter the Great
Killer? or Buccaneer?

Comments

[Breen Bland]

Peter the Great Monument
You're right, Dave. That is a spectacularly ugly statue. Breen