Another Moscow Day

September 15th

Today I was assured I had been in Moscow too long when I recognized two English tour guides near the Kremlin, one of whom approached us and I already knew her name. However, since there was now no chance to travel to St. Petersburg, I decided to make the best of the gray weather situation and see some more of the city.

At least today I was not alone so there was some improvement in my mood. I went with Liz and Elizabeth to the State Russian History museum on Red Square.

Now, if you were THE history museum (pre-historic - early 20th century) in the capital of your country situated in the most heavily traveled tourist area, don't you think you'd have a clearly marked sign for the entrance to your building? Not so in Russia. After four failed attempts and a bunch of sign language with some Russian security guards we finally found the correct door. To complete the weirdness, we gave our entrance fees to a woman who deposited them in a plastic shopping bag "cash register".

After we froze in the museum for a few hours we ate at Sbarros (because we were desperate for comfort food), caught what appeared to be the changing of the guard, saw a few wedding parties taking photos (and I thought American bridesmaid dresses were bad), and a crazy hip-hop dance concert.

Later in the day, Liz took us to Yeliseyev Grocery Store. This place had crystal chandeliers, marble columns, ornate moldings, and awesome food. My guide book said after the Revolution it was renamed Grocery Store Number 1, although it was only privileged members of the Communist Party who could shop there. Moscow really is an exercise in the extremes of opulence and desolation.

I was also disappointed to learn that the ballet, the circus, and all the theaters were in their off season. Needless to say our evening thus consisted of dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and some vodka tonics in my room. But then a random fireworks display took place outside the hotel on the river. Why...we have no idea.

And it appears that I did not catch a Stray Dog of The Day, but you can view my full set of photos here.