Finland!

There are some things that you just shouldn't do in Russia:

1. Loose any of the documents issued to you by the Russian government.

2. Visibly and verbally be drunk in front of the police.

3. Take part in a revolution (protests don't count).

Back in December, I did one of those things listed above and to save you the trouble of guessing, I will say that I lost a small little piece of paper called "прописка" (propeeska) or registration. The Russian Federation and the Soviet Union that preceded it has a system of registration for all citizens and visitors in the country. The law states that an individual has to be registered at a legal address within the Russian Federation. Besides the obstacles this presents to people wanting to travel within Russia or people wanting to move from one city to another, the system also adds one more little piece of paper (the slogan of Russian bureaucracy) to the list of things not to loose. 

And this list is already getting big:

-Passport

-Registration

-Migration Card

-Debit Card

-Student ID

-Key Card to University

And mind you, my passport is the biggest item on this list.

Ok. So one day I look for my registration and it is not where it is supposed to be. Cue freak out. After that, I accepted the fact that it was gone. And mind you, I didn't loose a copy, I lost the copy and my original. Not good. The only way to be issued new registration is to be issued a new migration card (a smaller piece of paper that says you have legally entered the Russian Federation). And, the only way to be issued another one of those little guys is to leave Russia.

All this leads to my being 'exiled' to Finland for a day. I was told by our program staff to take a little vacation to Finland and then come back to Russia to get new registration.

Well, why not!

So I left on the evening of the 23rd of December for Helsinki, the capital of the land of the Fins! I flew out of Russia in somewhat windy weather and arrived in Helsinki with some rain/snow. The flight from St. Petersburg to Helsinki goes something like this:

You sit down. The plane takes off. You drink your complimentary beverage. Then you leave the plane. Very short.

We land and I exit the plane and head for passport control. Luckily for U.S. citizens, we don't need a visa to visit Finland (as long as we aren't there for more than 90 days). So I passed through easily and headed for a bus that would take me to the airport. Bus found, payed with this funny money called the Euro (first time using it, very weird). I took my seat on the bus and sat near some people from England, two guys and a girl. It was wonderful.

The stadium. My hostel is behind it.

They were having a very animated conversation about a lot of things. And during the course of their conversation, they threw out every stereotypical word associated with an English accent: "flat", "mate", "bugger", and using "me" instead of "my". Needless to say, it was an enjoyable bus ride. Sadly though, I had to leave the bus and enter the wet world of Finland to find my hostel, Stadium Hostel (located in the old Olympic complex). It was cold, wet, and I was hungry/tired, not to mention completely lost. Not a good combination. But in my favor was the Finnish education system, giving people of all ages and professions the ability to speak enough English to tell a lost American how to get to a hostel. The kind, bearded gentlemen at the desk of a nearby building directed me to where I needed to go and I found the hostel, a most wonderful sight.

I settled in and watched a couple of episodes of the Simpsons. This was a great start to my exile. I hadn't seen the Simpsons in a loooooong time. So good. Yes, it was in English, but with Finnish subtitles. With nothing else to do, I decided to head to bed. One thing that I would like to note here is that Russia does not follow daylight savings time, meaning that when the rest of the world slid back an hour in the fall, Russian clocks kept moving forward. So while usually Finland would be an hour behind St. Petersburg, instead it was 2 hours. I did not think about this. Due to this absence of mathematical thinking, I ended up going to bed a lot early than I really needed to. I couldn't fall asleep and didn't know why...probably because it was 9 PM (or 10, I don't remember). Anywho, I also ran into a guy that was studying with me in St. Petersburg during the semester. Before leaving for the States, he decided to spend a few days in Finland. Chatted with him a bit and went back to sleep....

My alarm was set for 8 AM. That was St. Petersburg time. Meaning I woke up, showered, and was ready for the day at the magical hour of 6:30 AM. I didn't realize this until I saw that my computer clock and my phone were the same time. Then I checked the time in Helsinki. Whoops. Well, I was hungry and awake, so I decided to head out for the day anyways. But, unlike me, the rest of the Helsinki was not up when I started walking around. So it was quiet and there wasn't much to see at first. And it was wet. But honestly, it was very pretty. I even rode a tram!

Helsinki by itself is a small city. Only around 500,000 people I believe. After St. Petersburg, everything seemed small; the streets, the the buildings, and the distances from point A to point B. And being Christmas Eve, the city was decorated in full Christmas attire! It was also quite strange to be surrounded by Christmas decorations after being in Russia where New Years is the big celebration at that time of year. But festive and fun nonetheless. 

I was headed for a particular part of town, the central market square and the harbor. I trudged through the wet streets and came upon a bit of Russia in the middle of Helsinki. In front of me stood an orthodox church, a statue of Alexander II, and Russian tourists. The site was stunning. And the steps leading up to the church were breathtaking (quite literally, it's been awhile since my cross country days). I wandered around the square taking pictures and enjoyed the view across the city. I then found a small souvenir shop and bought a small viking for Rosa and Vladimir (my host parents) as well as some postcards. Souvenirs in hand, I headed forward to the harbor. As I mentioned earlier, Helsinki's size is small and it continued to take me a bit by surprise. I looked on the market square and it was small. Don't get me wrong, it was nice, just small. But before exploring the stands, I had to eat breakfast. So I entered a small cafe looking over the square and enjoyed a lovely breakfast of orange juice, a sandwich, a pastry, and some warm Glog (a Finnish specialty like apple cider). It was just what I needed.

Aforementioned café.

 

After breakfast, I headed back into the rain and strolled through the stands at the market. Mostly fish and other sea products were being sold, but some other trinkets were also for sale. I found another monument to Alexander II. I should mention that Finland was under the control of the Russian Empire for some time, but gained independence after the revolution (the Russian one, not the Finnish one). Therefore, there are hints of Russian-ness here and there. Continuing on. My goal of the day was to head to an island called Suomenlinna (your guess at the pronunciation is as good as mine). It was an island fortress for many years and now stands as a monument to Finland's past and a home to some people that live on the island. Access to the island is by ferry only, so I purchased my ticket and boarded the boat.

Twas a rough sea that mornin' my laddy. Ok, I'm done, I just wanted to say that. But seriously, it was a bit rough due to the weather, but an enjoyable right regardless. The harbor is just beautiful and is dotted with little islands that are themselves dotted with little houses. Very picturesque. It was about a 10 minute ride out to the old fortress. We arrived and I disembarked to start my adventure. Being Christmas Eve, all the museums, shops, and restaurants were closed. While disappointing at first, I soon realized that this meant that basically no tourists were here either. Therefore, I was looking at a day of being practically alone on a fortress island. Hot. Diggity. Dog. I started my adventure with a trip to a bathroom, only to be yelled at very sternly by a Finnish man. I didn't know what he was saying but the bathroom was closed. I continued on and eventually found an open bathroom.

The rest of my day was spent climbing onto just about every rampart I found. I'm not sure if I was allowed to, but being that there was no one around and that all the signs were in Finnish (and we've already established that I don't understand Finnish), I assumed it was okay. There were also plenty of little caves and tunnels that were fun looking into. I wish I had had a flashlight with me to go further into the tunnels, but I'll save that for next time. There were also plenty of cannons, so the little kid in me was very excited. I eventually made my way to the part of the island looking out onto the Baltic Sea. Now that was a rough looking sea. And the wind was blowing strongly. I greeted the sea and then bid it farewell as I needed to head back to the dock to catch the ferry.

The translation reads, "Do whatever you want!"

 It was a good adventure on the island. Will be fun to return with better weather, but it was nice having it all to myself.

This scene was much more captivating in person.

My next adventure was getting food and waiting for the bus to the airport. Getting food wasn't too bad, but deciding what I wanted took a while. I opted for buying buy, cheese, a pastry, and orange juice at a supermarket. I then headed for the central train station and sat to enjoy my meal. And enjoy it I did. But I soon discovered that I was rather early for my bus, so I needed to kill some time. I decided to walk around the station, taking in the sites when I came upon the following sign:

I made it extra large, so you can capture the moment in your head.

Being the good tourist, I took a picture of this and started walking away. At that moment, someone starting speaking Finnish behind me. Not understanding anything, I looked back, but continued moving forward. The chap then switched to English and we started talking about the poster. Turns out, its a campaign by the Finnish government to curtain excessive drinking. I don't remember the translation, but it was funny. We chatted about a variety of things. I told him my story about coming to Finland. He talked about Finland and where he was from. His name was Marcos. His English was good (especially his curse words). While we were chatting a man from Estonia came up and asked us for money for alcohol. He didn't really seem to mind that it was Christmas in fact he said that he would #(( @$ %(*^$($(^&^(). That was me blocking out the words he used 'cause they weren't that nice. He even spoke a bit of Russian, but it was really just to try to get money. Needless to say, he didn't get any from us and continued on. Marcos told me he was from Estonia. Estonians and Finns can understand each other, which is good, because the rest of the world can't understand either of them. We started talking again and got on the topic of Occupy Wall Street. Well, it turns out that Marcos was camping occasionally with Occupy Helsinki and the camp was really close to the train station. So with plenty of time to spare, I headed with Marcos over to the camp!

My excitement cannot be properly illustrated with words, but it was AWESOME! It was a small camp, but the spirit was alive!

Marcos lead me to the main tent where the people were gathered. It was a small group, only about ten people maybe. They mostly spoke in Finnish, but it was an enjoyable atmosphere. I sat next to a chap who I assumed to be Finnish, but he was in fact Spanish! So while the Fins were chatting away, we started up our own conversation about life and politics. It was very interesting and the moment was unbelievable. And eventually there was a bit of commotion outside of the tent. One of the Fins left and came back in with...a Russian!!! It was really refreshing to see and hear a Russian again. I realized right then and there that I missed Russia. The question you may be asking yourself is "What are they protesting against?" Well, the answer is simple, what we are too. The Occupy movement is about (among many things) taking money out of politics and reinstating the voice of the people, not the voice of the corporations. In Finland, there have been some instances of money taking precedence over the will of the people and so the people gather to make their voices heard. It's beautiful. 

Unfortunately, I had to leave that wonderful place and catch my bus to the airport. I bid farewell to all and returned to the train station. I checked the bus schedule and saw that I had a few minutes, good. I then noticed a piece of paper taped next to the bus schedule. It had times listed on it, but of course it was all in Finnish....My bus didn't come when it was supposed to, so I looked at this encrypted piece of paper for the answer. I used my map (in English/Russian/Finnish) to translate what the note was telling me. The news was a bit disappointing. Due to the fact that it was Christmas Eve, the bus schedule had been changed. I would have to wait another 2 hours for my bus. Darn. Well, not to let schedule changes keep me down, I sat down on a bench, turned on my computer and plugged my headphones in.

Christmas Eve, downtown Helsinki, I listened to my favorite Christmas tunes, looking up at the sky and thinking about home and Christmas's gone by...Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Bing Crosby helped me celebrate and pass the time. Thanks guys!

Right outside my apartment building.

My bus did come and I headed to the airport. I sat amongst Russians, waiting for the gates to open. I was happy to be with them again (the Russians). Their mannerisms, their language, all so wonderful. I even had a lovely conversation with the wife of the son of Dmitri Shostakovich. Random things happen. This meeting would eventually land me some free tickets to a concert, but more on that during another post. We boarded the plane and set off for Piter. When we arrived, I nearly ran off the plane, so excited to be back. Snow was falling, it was simply magical. I passed passport control and received a new migration card. Outside, I caught a bus to the metro and from there back home. That night, I slept very well. Back home in Russia.

Back from the East!

Hello dear readers!

   I have returned from my trip across Russia and I know can answer the question: "Что такое огромная страна?" (What does an enormous country mean?). It means that from one end to the other you will spend 8 and a half hours on a plane; all within the borders of one country.

It was an amazing trip and I learned a lot. I promise photos and stories, but ask your patience. I need to type up all my notes/thoughts and edit all my photos. I have a few posts to write about some things before the trip, so I will get those up as soon as possible.

From Russia. Yours truly,

Joey

Lake Baikal in the background.

День Благодарения/Thanksgiving по-русски

As families across the United States gathered their recipe books, ingredients, and best silverware for the annual Thanksgiving Day feast, our small band of Americans in St. Petersburg, Russia rushed to find the Russian equivalents of turkey, baking power, pumpkin in a can, and the other essentials necessary to compose a turkey dinner. First you had to translate the words, then you had to find out if such a thing existed in Russia (or what the Russians used as an equivalent), and finally you had to remember that everything is in the metric system over here....so math reared its ugly head once again. All of this took some time and work. There were also a few lessons learned about Russian cooking, the main one of course was: before you buy it, make it at home. This goes for everything (just about). When I told my host family I was going to make pumpkin pie, my host mom's first reaction was: Is a girl coming to help you? I responded no, I can bake. She seemed doubtful but was okay with it. Her second reaction was to tell her sister who then suggested that I buy a full pumpkin and use that to make the pie (make it before you buy it). I had no idea how to do that (and as of yet, still have no idea), so I said I'd buy what I need to use. That meant heading to Stockmann's, the foreigners culinary paradise.

This is the mother ship: the Stockmann store in
Helsinki, Finland.

 A quick description is in order. Stockmann's is like the Finnish Macy's. It sells just about everything and is also the home of a large shopping mall. In the basement of this place, one can find any and (almost) all American or non-Russian foodstuffs that you just can't get in Russia. It's of course a bit more expensive than the usual Russian goods, but when you need pumpkin in a can, you don't have much of a choice. So that's where I went, to the Finns who gave me what I needed to make the pie.

  With pumpkin cans in hand, I made two pies, one for my host family and one for the Russians at school who'd never had pumpkin pie before (you may be shocked, I was too, hence the pie for them). They turned out really well and tasty. And after that, my host mom decided that I could indeed cook by myself, so she gave me free reign in the kitchen! The next step was to make some pumpkin bars (my personal favorite of the pumpkin delicacies. But unfortunately, those didn't turn out so well...actually at all they didn't turn out. I forgot some baking soda and so the bread didn't rise and well it just didn't turn out too good. But that's ok. We had pies and that was good enough.

Everything waiting to be cooked. Except the cat, she was
just curious as to what was going on.

As the big day approached, our group threw together a list of what needed to be prepared as well as who would do what. But one spot was left untouched: Turkey team. The most important part of the Thanksgiving meal had no one to bring it to fruition. So a friend of mine and I volunteered, not really knowing what to do but trusting our college educations to help us figure it out.

First step: locate and procure a turkey, preferable one that is not still alive. My friend and a couple other members of the Turkey Team located some birds that were small and already prepared minus the cooked part.

Step Two: Thaw. I should clarify that we located and procured the turkey on the 24th of November. That would be less than 24 hours before the dinner. So the 4 days for thawing the birds just wasn't going to happen. Luckily our friend the internet had all the answers ready for us. It said that you could keep the birds in cold water which would thaw them quicker than the usual method. We prepared the bath and sat and waited.

Don't try this in America.

Step Three: Wait. The four to six hours for thawing in the bath turned into a much longer time frame; more like  8-9 hours. But once they were done, they were done.

Step Four: Dress and cook. At this point, I was alone due to the lateness of the hour. I dress the birds and prepared them for cooking. That took another good amount of time and it was an interesting experience. Russian ovens are considerably smaller than what I'm used to. The two birds literally almost did not fit together in the oven. But I made it work.


Step Five: Wait again. And also hope that nothing burns down. I was really concerned that the tightness of the situation in the oven was going to cause fire or burning of some sort. So while I did try to rest a bit while I waited, I also kept looking at the oven and checking for smoke. That would not have been the way to thank my host family for the use of the oven. I also was hoping that the turkey's wouldn't dry out....











Like this:

Step Six: Check the turkey after the appointed time as arrived. I cautiously opened the oven door and peeked in and was created with the delicious smell of turkey cooking. I took out the birds and tried a piece....Mmmmm....That was good. Not too dry and the seasoning was just right. Success.

I carved the birds, saved the wish bones, cleaned up and then went promptly to bed at 9 AM. I woke up later around 1 PM (I think, I don't really remember...) And set out to bring the turkeys to the apartment where we were going to celebrate.

I arrived turkey in hand to find our program director and a student busy preparing dishes for the feast. It was a marvelous scent that was in the air. I gave them the meat and waited around until I had to head off to teach English. At class, my stomach was focused on nothing but the feast that awaited us in an hour. But I was not to distracted from the lesson at hand. Then came the hour to feast. All gathered together in our small room, but all was well and cheer was in the air.

It was a wonderful night; friends, food, and cheer. My stomach and body eventually told me that I had to go home due to overstuffing and lack of sleep. I departed happy and feeling very accomplished.

Thanksgiving in Russia: Success.

Moscow, the heart of the Bear (Part 4, yes I lied, there is one more post to go)

Ok, blog last log about Moscow so hang on!

Here we go:

Don't let the blue skies fool you...
it was cold.

 I eventually woke up from said restful sleep (see last post) and again prepared for another adventurous (and this time quite cold) day in Moscow. Our first stop was once again the Funky Lime for breakfast. After that, I embarked with the group to one of the oldest (or perhaps the oldest...) monasteries in Moscow. It was off the beaten path a bit, so the area was quiet, set aside from the hustle and bustle around the Kremlin. A cold wind blew, penetrating my coat's protective layer of warmth. But the sight we held before our eyes distracted me from the cold. Monasteries in Russia (as they were throughout Europe) were built as fortresses, to keep out marauders and thieves and the outside world as a whole. White walls surrounded this particular place with a high tower and onion domes piercing the skyline.

Russia, the image you really shouldn't have in
your head. There is so much more :)

We entered through the gate and gathered in the courtyard. Once everyone was together, we headed to meet our guide. The tour was cold, but interesting. I was again beset by the problem of having to go to the bathroom, so unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy it to its fullest. But, we saw the graves of some tsars and their families as well as some other really old Russians. Everyone was visibly quite cold, but we endured the temperatures until we headed inside to see old icons, pictures, and artifacts from the monastery's past. We then headed to another museum within the monastery devoted to iconography and the modern-day Russian Orthodox Church. Again, had I not had to go to the bathroom, I'm sure I would've enjoyed the visit a lot more. But alas, nature called. As the tour ended, we found out that we had a bit of time before we needed to head to our next spot. A friend and I decided to walk around the look at the monastery's grounds once more.
My friend commented that at that moment, we couldn't deny that we weren't in Russia: it was cold and there were onion domes.

Our time at the monastery ended and we headed to our next spot for the day: a cemetery. Now, it may seem a bit sad to head to a cemetery (and in fact it is) but this particular cemetery is special. Why you ask? Because within its walls are entombed many of the icons of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and modern-day Russia. Three famous names from those times who I found there: Anton Chekhov, Yuri Nikulin, and Boris Yeltsin. In any cemetery, I also walk around with a feeling that I've stepped into an area where time doesn't exist. so many people reside in such a place, people from the distant past to the very recent. It seems that all their times are frozen in place, creating this "bubble" from the outside world. And this place especially had that feel. Here were the names of people I've known in books, films, and on TV and here they were, resting eternally.

Yuri Nikulin, my favorite Soviet actor and comedian.

The final resting place of Boris Yeltsin.

Anton Chekhov, my favorite Russian author.

Deserted, very strange...

After the short visit to the cemetery, we headed to lunch. After that, we had free time until dinner. For this moment of freedom, I decided to explore an area called Арбатская (Arbatskaya). It's a pedestrian street lined with souvenir shops, coffee shops, artists, and musicians. It's a fun and exciting place to at least walk around in (and to buy things as well! Though a bit pricey....) I walked around with some friends and had a good time (as well as got stuck temporarily in a bathroom in Starbucks). After we parted, I decided to head off on my own to a market that I'd heard sold Soviet things. I hopped on the metro and headed to where I though it was located. Arriving, I didn't really know what I looking for. I sorta expected (and hoped) that there'd be a big sign pointing me in the right direction. There wasn't. So, I picked a direction and marched forward. I crossed a street and came to a park.

Very unsettling for some reason.

The park's name was the Park of Culture and Rest (a relic of the Soviet Days). It's a place with a few theme parks (small ones) that are popular I'm sure in the summer, but in November...not so much. So it was a quiet place, with a few people walked around, as well as amusement park rides flashing their lights. It was a bit weird....

But, I didn't find any markets, so I turned around and headed back the way I came. This time, I went in the opposite direction and found the market I was looking for. And boy was it a market full of Soviet stuff. There were hat pins, flags, uniforms (full uniforms mind you) and everything in between. It was awesome. I purchased a few things and headed back to dinner (rushing a bit due to my adventure into the park). I made it in time to eat a warm meal and discuss the day's adventures. After eating, we headed back to the hostel to grab our things and go to the train station. The train station was busy and we sat around waiting for the call to board. Everyone was tired, but had enjoyed their time in Moscow.

Arriving back in St. Petersburg.

  We headed out onto the platform and boarded the train. This time, there was a small meal awaiting us (much welcomed even after dinner). We ate and settled in for a good nights rest. Unlike the trip to Moscow, the return trip was a time to rest. All of us had classes in the morning, so we wanted to be (somewhat) awake to attend classes. It was an uneventful journey.

Eventually we rolled into St. Petersburg in the wee hours of the morning. Very sleepy, I headed back to my apartment to shower, change, and eat some breakfast before turning around again and leaving for school. It was a tiring trip, but worth it in every way.

Moscow is nice, but I still think Saint Petersburg is better.

Finals, grrr....

Hello all!

  We are in the midst of finals so I should first say: I'm alive. Second: I want to be posting more. And third: I shouldn't right now because I need to do work.

Sorry.

BUT!! In a week I will be free and then I will flood this page with posts about Moscow (yes, one more), Thanksgiving (mmmmm...), and the elections (yep, we're talking politics), and January (adventures to come!).


Hang in there and enjoy the Christmas/Holiday season!


Joey

Russian Wedding!

The video was taking to long to load in the post and I forgot to add the link after I finished writing anyway, so here it is! 

Moscow, the heart of the Bear (Part 3, This is the last of Moscow)

Saturday. I awake, refreshed and ready for the day ahead. Having showered and dressed, I set off for breakfast (again at the Funky Lime). It was a cold morning, the wind was blowing strongly and the sky was clear. We had a few planned events for the day: a tour of an art gallery, and then the circus in the evening. Before arriving in Moscow though, I had decided to forgo the day's events in favor of my own exploring. So after breakfast, a Russian friend of mine and I (along with my water bottle!) set off on our own to see Moscow up close and personal.

My goals for the day:

Парк Победы (Victory Park)
Воробьёвы Горы (Sparrow Hills)
МГУ (Moscow State University)
The American Embassy
And anything along the way

   I ended up accomplishing most of these goals. I did not make it to the American Embassy, but that is okay. So, let's check out the sites that I did make it to:

Парк Победы (Park Pabedii)/Victory Park


     There's a joke among students of Russia that every town in the country has at least three things:
1. A statue of Lenin
2. Плошадь Ленина (Lenin Square)
3. Парк Победы/Victory park

  I haven't been to every town in Russia to confirm it, but I would not be surprised if it were mostly true. Moscow and St. Petersburg are no different. Back to the story.

    I found myself on that cold and windy Saturday at Victory Park. The park serves as a memorial specifically to World War II, but there are also references to the Napoleonic Wars. Near the park (across and down the street a bit) you will find a large monument that looks like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. And that little tidbit is actually a bit funny as it was built to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon in the early 1800s. Today, the monument stands alone, a reminder to past battles that no one today remembers. It is a testament to resistance that was again called upon almost 120 years later when the Soviet Union was invaded by Hitler's armies. And the memorials to that resistance are right across the street.

   In the U.S., every town has some sort of monument to veterans who have fought in our country's wars. And in cemeteries, the grave's of veterans are marked to identify their service. I've seen my fair share of memorials and walked through cemeteries, feeling the silence and sacredness of the place. Russia's monuments and memorials evoke that same sense of calm, but to an even greater degree than I've ever experienced before. When my friend and I walked up to this place, I felt as if I was stepping into another world, a world between worlds; the past standing tall and proud, yet sad, the present looking on the past with admiration and sorrow, remembering the horrors that were witnessed, and the future, hoping we never have to make any monuments like these again. The approach to the park is a long square. On the left are lined up memorials to every front where fighting took place during the defense of the Soviet Union. The monuments led up to a huge monolith, standing tall and piercing the sky, defiantly. In front of this monolith was St. George on this horse (the patron of Moscow) slaying the dragon (the Fascists). Engraved on the monument were the names of every battle fought during the war and every city that suffered and contributed to the war effort. I just gazed in awe at the whole sight. Behind the monolith was a building built in a semicircle with an eternal flame burning inside the arc. The building was a museum. We decided not to go to the museum and instead moved past the building into the interior of the park.

    As we walked around the building, we stopped to gaze at the view in front of us. The blue sky was spread out above a park filled with trees of various fall colors. There was a wedding party out in front of us, taking the traditional pictures around town (It was to be the first of many wedding parties we saw that day). We took our own pictures and descended the steps into the park. The small road wound its way through the trees, offering the park goer the chance to relax and focus. The park itself is located outside of the craziness of the city and even with a road near the park, no sounds break through. Our stroll was undisturbed by the world around us. The park is dotted with several monuments and there is a special section that contains vehicles and weapons from the war. We took the main road through the park, looking at a few of the many monuments there. Not all of them were built during the Soviet Union. One was built only a few years ago commemorating the unity of the people of the Soviet Union in eliminating the fascist threat.

   You can feel the strength that the Soviet people showed during the war walking in a place like this. It is something that I've never felt at a U.S. memorial. Our struggle during the war was across the ocean. We saw the war on maps, in newspapers, in magazines, and on the TV. In Europe, it was a different story. To see the war, they only had to look out their windows. In Russia, millions of civilians died while fighting raged around them. And yet they persevered. Our struggle was nothing compared to that of Russia's and we must not forget that. Men, women, and even children fought for their country here on that same earth that I've been walking on since arriving in Russia. They didn't need to go far to defend their families; maybe just down the block or to the next town over. I could feel their strength as we walked through the park.

  The next monument we came to was unexpected. As we turned to leave the park, a monument stood with four soldiers walking side by side. At the top of the monument was a symbol I immediately recognized: a flattened face of Earth with olive branches on the sides, the symbol of the United Nations. The monument itself commemorated the struggle and friendship of the "Anti-Hitler coalition," Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States. The four soldiers represented their respective countries, in solidarity and friendship against the evils of the world. It would be nice to see that cooperation today.

   We moved on, back towards the main square. The final monument that we came too was perhaps the most powerful of them all. It was all black with tall figures resembling humans lined up. As the line moved back, the figures began to fall until they were consumed into the earth. This memorial was titled, "The Tragedy of the People." Behind the figures, were large black stones with writing on them. Each stone had a different language. There was Russian, Ukrainian, Hindi, Hebrew, and many others. They all repeated the same lines: "There will be a memorial to them. It will sacredly be preserved for the centuries." Short limes, but powerful. On the other side of the monument was a replication of all the things that people died with or left behind. There were children's toys, books, a violin, clothes, shoes, and many other things to remind us that they were people too and lived full lives until the end. It was enough to make you pause and wonder if we can ever make up for all the wrong we've caused in the world.

 I think we can at least try.


Our time in the park ended and we headed back towards the metro. Just as it felt like we were entering another world while stepping into the park, it felt as if we were stepping through an invisible barrier into the present-day when we left. Before the metro though, I had to stop at the toilet. Staying hydrated. Next stop on our adventure were the Sparrow Hills. What these hills? Well, they offer (as I was told) a spectacular view of the city. We once again descended into the Moscow metro and made our way to the next station stop.

Воробьёвы Горы (Vorobyovi Gori)/The Sparrow Hills

The metro stop named the Sparrow Hills is in fact at the bottom of the hills, so there is a bit of a climb to the top. But the scenery of the area distracts you from the task. The river hugs the bank as the hills lead your eyes up to the sky. The trees were colored and the air was cool, giving us a wonderful view and a great mood with which to enjoy it. We left the metro station and headed up the hill, climbing up under a highway and towards a bridge. It was gorgeous. And once we reached the bridge, we were awarded with an spectacular view of Moscow.

If you follow the high way in, you can see a domed building.
The Kremlin is near that building.

After a few pictures, we headed towards the park on the hills. It was beautiful. The leaves were yellow, the sun was shining, and the sky was blue. The trail brought us to the next spectacular view of the day, the outlook on top of the hills. People gathered along the walls to take photos, souvenir vendors had their goods set out, and wedding parties moved into the area. We saw I think four or five in this spot alone. Here's the view:

New Moscow is not an official. I just made it up.

 The picture above is "New Moscow." The financial center of the city that has been built over the past 20 years by the tycoons running Russia's biggest industries. The center of the city is still the area around the Kremlin.

   I was also given a glimpse into Russian wedding traditions as you can observe here:

It was a delightful time watching the festivities. Everyone around was watching and clamping and signing. It was awesome!

  But we were soon called forward on our adventure, to Moscow State University. We didn't have to go far as it was right behind us. Moscow State or МГУ is the most famous and most prestigious institution in Russia and was the premier university of the Soviet Union. St. Petersburg State is older and in my opinion just as good, but Moscow being Moscow steals the fame. The main building of the university is immediately recognizable with its Stalinist architecture.

 We walked around the main building and the campus. It was a holiday weekend so not that many students were around. The campus had sports fields and I thought I saw some dorms as well. It was just so odd and cool to see this famous building up close.

The Russian friend I keep mentioning. Content after having
been fed with good American food. Democracy at work.

   But we soon discovered that our stomachs were getting a bit hungry. So we ended our tour of the university campus and set out to find food. Our journey led us away from the university along a busy street with apartments and commercial buildings. We eventually found a large shopping complex and entered in the hope of discovering a food court. We were not disappointed. When we reached the top floor, we found a mouth-watering selection before our eyes. MacDonald's, KFC, Wendy's, Teremok (Russian fast food, oh yeah), and many others. We took turns watching each other's things as we set about deciding what we wanted to eat. My friend decided on KFC while I went for Wendy's. A double bacon cheeseburger was just what my American taste buds were longing for that day. It was delicious and a welcome feeling after a day's worth of walking and exploring.

We had a lovely chat about life and all that jazz and it was awesome to learn more about Russian life and share American life right back. And it was done all in Russian! It was wonderful! But unfortunately, we had to get moving all too soon in order to make it back in time for dinner (we were operating on the hobbit diet that day. We'd had dinner, now time for supper!) and the circus! We gathered our things, bundled up for the cold weather that awaited us outside the door and headed for the exit. It was still chilly outside, but with full stomachs, we pressed forward to the metro and made our way to dinner (again, at the Funky Lime).

  Unfortunately, it was at this time that my camera battery died. So I could not take pictures of the circus. But,  it was pretty amazing! It was my first circus and I enjoyed it a lot. Though I will admit that it made me a bit said seeing the animal acts. They were a bit funny, but I felt that the animals weren't really enjoying it that much. The clown acts were much, much better! It was a good ending to a full day. After the show, I decided to make one last stop for the night, this time back to Red Square (or actually under it) to purchase a special souvenir for my sister-in-law. I shall not disclose what it is, but I assure you: It. Is. Wonderful.

Having succeeded in accomplishing all I wanted for the day, I returned to the hostel to have a nice, restful sleep.

 And that I did.