Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Little Американка in the Big City

Did you miss me? Sorry to have left so unexpectedly, but Moscow was a-calling! The other foreign volunteers and I got the chance to spend 4 days in Moscow as a mini-vacation from work at Kitezh. Three of us stayed in a swanky hostel in the city and spent our time being good tourists--sightseeing, eating, shopping, eating, getting lost, and sometimes even eating. It was a great (and exhausting) trip, and I'm so glad I got to go! 


A few things that make Moscow different from a city in the US: 
  • There are accordion-players on street corners
  • Mustaches on women are totally acceptable
  • People can smoke indoors and drink outdoors
  • You may accidentally walk into a prostitution ring when looking for a late-night meal
  • McDonalds constitutes a well-balanced meal (and sells beer!)
Well now that you know more about Moscow, I bet you'd love to see some extra touristy photos! (Believe me, more will be added to Facebook later...)


First stop: Red Square (Красная площадь)! Here you have the famous St. Basil's Cathedral as well as the Kazan Cathedral and other import an Russian buildings, such as the State Historical Museum, outer boundaries of the Kremlin, and Lenin's Mausoleum (pictured above).





Day two: shopping! We went to a souvenir market, and there were hand-painted matryoshka dolls like this everywhere. Obviously I had to bring one home with me.
Cutesy tourist fun! 

Right: Posing with the statue of famous Russian comedian Yuri Nikulin located in front of the Moscow Circus, just a block from our hostel!

Below: We spent our last day in Moscow at Gorky Park. They have all kinds of activities there, like renting a pedal boat and riding around the lake (left) or just taking time to relax in the sun (right).




 Hmm... does that structure look a little familiar to anyone? Chapel Hill folks maybe?

2 comments:

  1. You only bought ONE matryoshka ???
    Your list of a few things really made me laugh out loud!
    Glad Russia has been such a great experience for you! - - I'm working my way through your blog ...
    До свидания
    -Joan K.

    ReplyDelete