I Hope I’m Pointing at the Right Thing

We’d learned the night we arrived that our hotel stay included a breakfast buffet. We’d even managed to figure out where the buffet was located in the massive hotel complex – all significant victories when 1) you’re jet-lagged, 2) everything is written in Cyrillic and 3) virtually no one speaks English.

Side note: there is nothing more humbling than being forced to smile and gesture to communicate. For everything. This trip has reminded me of how much of what we communicate is transmitted non-verbally. For this I am extremely grateful. Or we would likely have been lost, hungry and desperate while in Moscow.

The buffet was nice, much like any buffet we’ve eaten around the world. There were multiple types of porridge (“plain” and millet) and cereal, eggs, crepes (bliny), meat and cheese, vegetables (tomatoes, carrots, cucumber), fruit, sausages, pasta, cold salads, and a variety of breads and pastries. Plus lots of hot coffee, tea and fruit juices. Delicious!

We met up with another of The Boy’s colleagues, O, and headed into Moscow.

O and The Boy outside the Kremlin

O’s job was to teach us how to use the Metro and get us oriented to Red Square and the major sites around the area. As the Moscow office’s logistics coordinator, he did a masterful job. We very much enjoyed our time with him in the morning. A former Russian soldier, he was able to share some interesting insight as we watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier right outside the Kremlin.

Changing of the guard

After helping us purchase tickets to get inside the Kremlin, we set O free to get back to his “real” work and plunged full-on into tourist mode.

The Kremlin was fascinating. I knew it was old, I knew it housed many important government buildings and I knew that it was synonymous with the Government of Russia. What we didn’t realize was exactly how old it was (think 14th century), how large it is (the walls enclosing it are 1.25 miles long and the area within is about 90 acres – the largest fortress in all of Europe), how many important buildings are there (seven churches – all built before the 1700s, the world’s largest bell, the world’s largest cannon, three palaces, the Senate and the Armory – housing the Crown Jewels…and I’m leaving some out!), and how significant this place is to the history and cultural heritage of Moscow.

Cathedral of the Archangel

Terem Palace

Tsar’s Cannon

Tsar’s Bell  Ignore the girl we don’t know. She’s just there to provide perspective.

Walls of the Kremlin and Saviour Tower

We exhausted ourselves exploring, leaving only when our brains simply couldn’t hold any more information. The English audiotour of the Armory gave us quite a bit of perspective, but a majority of what we viewed was in Cyrillic. Somewhat frustrating to not understand, but in a way a relief because I’m not sure we would have retained the information anyway!

We stumbled away from the Kremlin, smog-sick and sweating, and headed for anything that looked as if it might have food and air conditioning and found GUM – known to many Westerners from the photos of queues during the Soviet era. Now GUM (by the way – it’s pronounced goom) is an upscale shopping center (think Harrods or Neimans). In GUM we found clean bathrooms (a blessing, let me tell you!) and plenty of food choices. We opted for pizza and lots and lots of water. Yum!!

GUM viewed from Red Square

The GUM central arcade

Lunch at 2:30 pm – typical mealtime in Russia

We were exhausted from a very full day of exploring, but really pleased to discover that the smog had started rolling away from the city. Buildings that were hazy outlines in the morning now stood in all their glory for an extended photo opp. Which we did, of course!

St. Basil’s Cathedral – morning view

St Basil’s Cathedral – afternoon view

Back we headed to the sweatbox hotel.

Gamma Hotel

The Boy declared that we would not suffer all night again, figuring out a way to prop open the door and secure it with stacks of furniture, luggage and a cleverly near-unbalanced stack of bottles to serve as an alarm.

And you know what? It worked. The slight gap in the door created a wind tunnel effect, sucking smoke-filled air into the hallway (thank goodness) and bringing a slight breeze, warm though it was.

The Boy, darn him, was able to quickly fall asleep while I laid in bed (still sweating), wondering if his improvised system was safe. {That’s just how I am.}