The OH told me he had calls first half of the morning. I decided to explore on my own till he was free.
I walked past streets and parks with pretty apple blossoms. The Novospassky Monastery seemed a good place to visit.
I walked into the colourful Monastery with it's lovely gardens.
I explored the gardens for a bit where I met this absolutely gorgeous dude.
Like the OH says, I managed to find cats where I go.
Russian monastery churches are interesting. It was around 7am, there were a lot of people outside. I could hear the service going on. It took me a while to realize that the bulk of worshippers outside were women. I think the mass is for only for men.
Despite Lenin and Stalin's efforts to wipe out religion, it seems to have made an entry back into the lives of the Russians.
As I was walking around, I saw this mural.
Who is Ivan Chernyakhovski? What did he do?
Our agenda for the day was a tour of Moscow's metros.
I was somewhat confused. I mean, why would I want to walk around Moscow's metro stations?
Interestingly, Moscow's Metro system is over 90 years old. And has some 14 lines and more and more stations are getting added to the lines.
We started at Proletarskaya.
A station built at what was once the outskirts of Moscow... for the proletariat.
Our first stop was the Komsomolskaya.
When we walked out of the train towards the end of the station, we saw this. Interestingly this is not from the early days of the metro. It's fairly recent. Not even a decade old.
The rest of the station has wall and ceiling mosaics from Russian and Soviet history
We stopped at different stations, each had a different theme. One celebrated each of the (former) Societ Republics, most featured work ideals in some form, stations were themed after each of the former republics, showcasing their regional art.
This is something about Moscow. You find some beauty in the strangest of places.
I had a difference of opinion with our guide here. She kept focusing on the Soviet symbolism. I felt that the mosaics, plasterwork, scrollwork, the sculptures... An art form was carried on and continued. Somewhere, the know how has been passed on. One can choose to see the beauty and ignore the symbolism.
I take back my earlier words.
The Moscow metro tour is an absolute must here.
Oxana wondered why VDNKh wasn't part of our program and we said 'Pashli'... Russian for Let's go!
VDNKh in it's expanded form is a big mouthful, and not for the faint of heart, or linguistically challenged.
In simpler terms, it's the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy, built in 1935 as the all Russian Union Agricultural exhibition.
Today there're huge avenues, pavilions for each of the former Republics, an amusement park...
One of the most iconic Soviet era sculptures that was featured in stamps, books etc ...The Worker and the Kholkhoz woman.
The worker carries a Hammer, and the Kholkhoz Woman (collective farmer) carries a sickle.
The view from the side, the Hammer and the sickle, are the emblem of the Soviet Union.
This 78 ft high iconic piece, made of stainless steel, is sculpted by Russian sculptor Vera Mukhina.
We walked through the exhibition centre for a bit.
We also had the very clichéd experience of being stopped by cops, and were asked for our papers.
We stopped at one of the food courts for a bite and made our way to space exhibition centre.
This is a fantastic exhibition of the Soviet space program. It chronicles everything from Sputnik, Soyuz, Vostok, Vokshod, the Mir space capsule ... Every cosmonaut's picture is in the gallery here. Even Rakesh Sharma.
The Sputnik model.
The spacesuit of the first dog in space.
The Mir space station.
The toilet inside.
Brought to mind a certain Howard Wolowitz.
The first Indian man in space.
Model of the Buran.
We saw the actual one at the museum in Ekaterinburg.
A fabulous experience indeed.
We were in our way back to our hotel when I insisted on getting a closer look at the Worker and Kholkhov woman sculpture.
The Oh wasn't too keen, so I left him sitting on a shaded park bench and walked towards the sculpture.
To be honest, it was much further than it looked.
I got a look at the view from the side, and thought I should see the other angles.
Deceptive distances were at play again. It felt like I walked halfway across Moscow to get a vantage point from the front.
Then I thought, having come this far, I should go take a look at the other profile too. That of the lady.
Asked a Kalashnikov toting cop for a good vantage point, and he pointed out where I should go for a good view.
It looked like it was halfway to Mars.
I have up. To quote a dear friend, to get there for a view, "chhaddo yaar, yeh karne se mujhe kaun sa Nobel Prize milne wala hai!"
So I walked back to meet the OH his park bench and thought taking a parallel street made more sense.
Thats when I realised there were too many parks and too many benches along that too long avenue.
And with Google maps not at its best, I was one step short of trying to sing jaane jaan dhoondti phir rahi and hopefully my holler of 'tum kahaan' would get a reply from the OH 'main yahaan'
On my way I saw this statue that looked familiar, but...
Was it who I thought it was?
Yes it was deGaulle. (The one with the nose)
And before signing off, just had to post this
More from St Petersburg
Till then,
From Russia... With Love
