Abandoned buildings and a new ring line

Moscow for years has been trying to improve its traffic problem , which is awful, with little to no success! They've tried a few different things like built countless new metro stations and also started charging for parking in the center, but for what it's worth it all has failed to solve some of the world's worst traffic. The newest weapon Moscow has rolled out to get people off the roads and onto trains and buses is the new metro system called МЦК or for those who do not read Russian, the Moscow Central Ring line. It just opened in September. Unlike the first ring line, which opened in the 1930s and uses regular metro subway wagons, the new Moscow Central Ring line has actual nice brand new state of the art rail cars by RZD/РЖД (Russian Railway company) with comfortable seats to accommodate passengers. They even have cars that are specially made for the handicapped and to bring your bicycle on, two things that are pretty uncommon in Russia.

The new line dwarfs the old line weighing in with over 35 stations as compared to 12 for the old one. So, being the lover of public transportation and especially trains I figured I’d spend some time out of my day taking a ride on it. Overall, I was very impressed with the system. The seats were comfortable, the ride was smooth and there were plenty of announcements in both English and Russian to let you know what the next station was and what the interchange was.

However, the connections to the regular Moscow Metro are awful!! Many stations are not connected with the overall metro requiring you to walk sometimes upwards of 15 minutes to get to the next station in the elements and through the regular grimy streets. It basically feels as if you are transferring to a whole another metro system even though it is completely owned and operated by the same company that runs the regular Metro system and all cards and passes are valid on it. Mind you there are some stations where there are overpasses and a clear connection, but it’s the ones that are not connected which make it a bit of a flawed system. Nonetheless despite all of its flaws I enjoyed my ride on МЦК Moscow Central Ring line.

That evening I had yet another exciting adventure planned, an abandoned buildings tour in Moscow. Unlike in the United States where going into an abandoned building would not only never be advertised as an official tour, but would probably get you into a lot of legal trouble, in Russia there seems to be no problem, even if it is a bit dangerous. The plan was to meet my guide at The Sparrow Hills metro station and from there we would explore an abandoned escalator shaft followed by an ascent to the top of a building for a view of all of Moscow. I arrived at the metro station in good time only to get a message from Maxim, my guide, to say that he was running late due to traffic. So I waited and waited some more till he called me and told me where to meet him. Sometimes it can be so maddening as I have studied Russian for 26 years but many times people say things over the phone and I don’t understand them. This was one of those cases, but eventually I was able to pinpoint that he was outside the station waiting for me. I walked out of the station and by a guy just standing there. I got eye contact with him like to say, “Are you the one I’m looking for” and he didn’t do anything. I thought that was odd, so I went back and approached him and asked him if was Maxim. Sure enough it was he. 

Sparrow Hills Metro station which sits on a bridge

  

Our first stop would be the abandoned escalator shaft on Sparrow Hills. The Sparrow Hills or as it once used to be known as Lenin Hills station is located at the bottom of the hills. In order to get up it you have to hike up about a kilometer to the top. This can be kind of hard if you’re not in good shape or are not up for the weather elements that Russia can throw at you. But back in the Soviet days you did not have to worry about this, as there was a second option, an enclosed escalator to the top. But in the 1980s the dirt started to shift and the escalator started to show cracks and signs of settling. Due to this the shaft was closed and has been abandoned ever since.

Tonight we would explore this now abandoned shaft. I had seen the shaft many times before while walking around Sparrow Hills and had heard about it but did not know much about its history, just that it was no longer in use. Because the sun sets soooo early in Moscow, about 3:30 pm, we’d be doing this all in the dark, adding an extra layer of suspense.

We arrived at the shaft and it was pitch black around us, plus very icy!! I could feel my feet getting a bit shaky but luckily I was quickly able to stabilize myself. He handed me a flashlight and showed me where I’d have to step up to in order to get in. It was a bit of a reach to step up onto the ledge that led into the abandoned shaft but I was up to the challenge.

Once we got in all I can say was it was very creepy. I guess what else would you expect when talking about an abandoned building, but this was not a good feeling. There was trash EVERYWHERE and I mean everywhere, heaps upon heaps of it making it hard to really walk around. I asked him when we got in if it was dangerous. Usually when asked this question Russians in their very cavalier manner will answer with a smile and say “no, not at all, it is no problem, very safe”…..even if it is highly dangerous. So, when I asked him if it was dangerous he actually replied by saying “a bit”. I knew if he thought it was a bit dangerous that it probably was not very safe and therefore not a good idea! We took a look at the old engine room, which was also just saturated in trash and I guess a home to bumbs and homeless people. We got back to the main area where the escalator used to be and now there are just ruins and he asked if I wanted to climb up to the top. I said at this point I was uncomfortable and that I’d rather just skip it.

Our next stop would be an abandoned building 15 minutes away across town. But of course due to traffic it took us 45 minutes to get there. Once there I noticed the building was surrounded by what seemed to be concrete panels and was about 14-15 floors high. He must have had some type of arrangement with the security company who was guarding the building because we were let right in and they seemed to know him quite well. I suspect that it was very much an under the table sort of thing, where we did not have official permission to go up there but nonetheless money does talk, especially in Russia!

Although it was pitch black in the building I had a better feeling about this one than I did the abandoned escalator shaft. Luckily he handed me a flashlight so I was able to see pretty easily. He told me that the building was started in the late 1980s during Soviet times and when the USSR collapsed in the early 1990s that the building’s funding fell through and it was never completed. We explored all the different floors of the building, which contained heaps of debris and dirt. The stairs to the top were all on the outside, so every time we’d be hiking the stairs he’d tell me to turn off the flashlight so people did not see us. On our way up he commented that I was brave for taking this tour in the winter and that he hadn’t had any customers since summer. That would be me, someone who always does things a little bit differently!

Eventually when we got up to the top of the building I noticed the roof was a giant ice-skating rink with ice everywhere. Having slipped several times last winter on my trip to Iceland I did not want to repeat this unfortunate incident and proceeded very carefully. We got to a point where we could see the entire city and the view was incredible! The only problem was I could feel my feet slipping underneath me, but luckily nothing did happen. He offered to take me further to a higher point on the roof but after carefully considering everything and seeing how icy it was I said no.

Even though the roof was icy and treacherous in places it was all worth it for the view. You could see all of Moscow! Just below the building you could see the metro station, which made for

Metro station below

interesting viewing to watch all the rush hour commuters moving like a wave below toward the metro station. And, if you squinted very carefully you could even make out Red Square somewhere in the distance. Sitting right next to our abandoned building was an old TV tower, which has in recent decades been put of service by the larger than life huge Ostankino TV tower which could be made out to the north of us. Several years ago the tower was going to be destroyed but there was a huge outcry to preserve this as a Soviet monument. Luckily, the government listened and it still sits there today, a reminder of the bygone days of Soviet television. Although Russia can be a little rough on the edges with burnt out buildings, strange rules and kind of odd Soviet like architecture I think this is what keeps me coming back for more! That of course and the girls!!

The old TV tower

Friends

Following my awesome tour of The Bolshoi I returned to the hotel for a bit of rest before my first of two social engagements that day. The first meeting was with my Russian teacher, Ekaterina. The second one would be with my student Sasha. Ekaterina is the niece of two of my students, Nikolai and Marina and has been most helpful in trying to help me improve my Russian beyond its current boundaries. Sasha has been my student for about a year and always is fun and interesting to talk with.

I arrived a bit late to lunch with Ekaterina, which I felt bad about, but once again I underestimated how long it would take to get ready in this cold, snowy weather. Luckily she was very understanding and told me it was no big deal. She took me to a great Georgian restaurant, which served my utmost favorite Georgian dish if not one of my most favorite foods, Hachapuri, a kind of pizza but without sauce stuffed with cheeses inside. I so wished there was somewhere, anywhere in Seattle or nearby that served this wonderful food, but alas I’ll just have to keep coming back to Russia!!

It was wonderful to meet with her again (I’d met with her in person on my last trip in May). Over lunch we discussed her current PhD thesis, which was based around the creation of a new computer program for Russian language learners to better improve their reading skills, writing skills and listening skills. It was still a work in progress and was being tailored for all types of different levels of Russian. I look forward to testing the program myself and especially liked the fact that it would tell the learner why they made a mistake. So many online tests I’ve taken in Russian or exercises that I do don’t tell you why you made the mistake leading to frustration on the part of the language learner.

Ekaterina and I also were lamenting about how so many unique and individual cafes in Russia and especially St. Petersburg have gone out of business in favor of chain restaurants like Coffee House (a Russian café that is literally on every single corner!!) and others. And here I thought my hometown of Bellevue and Seattle were the only place where unique local restaurants were being replaced by global mega chains! Goes to show you there is nowhere immune to the evil tentacles of globalization. 

After discussing a wide range of other things including her recent trip to the Spanish city of Grenada, which sounded absolutely fabulous and a place that if I ever can break my addiction to travel in Russia that I’d like to visit, we said goodbye. I promised that I’d definitely continue my lessons with her. Unfortunately my mother’s recent health problems and my unhealthy obsession with the past election (which I’m still mourning) left little time to do lessons. But hopefully this time around I’ll do better at time management and find a place for lessons.

I returned to my hotel room a bit tired due to the last remaining remnants of jet lag trying to exert their power over me. I laid down for a bit and then got ready for my second social engagement, dinner with my student, Alex or Sasha. He was going to meet me at Pushkin Square about three blocks away from my place, where we would take the metro to his place. Meeting at Pushkin Square under the Pushkin statue is a common place for people to meet in Moscow. And why not, it’s a great landmark and you really can’t go wrong! Although I am very proficient on how to navigate the metro, which I’ve been doing successfully since 1991 when I was a freshman or 9^th grade and sneaked out of my hotel room at 6 am to ride the then Leningrad Metro blue line, Sasha insisted that he meet me in the city center so he could personally escort me to his apartment, an hour away by metro. I hated to put him out but since he was so insistent I gladly agreed.

The metro ride was a long one, nearly to the end of the orange line in the southern part of the city. Although we had reached his home metro station that didn’t mean we were there, we still had to walk 15 minutes to his apartment. We arrived without any drama, but his mother had been expecting us and wondered why we had been so long. She introduced herself as Svetlana and proceeded to give me a tour of their apartment. Russian apartments are amazing! The hallways and entrances to the buildings themselves are not very pretty. Often they are dark, foreboding and the elevators can look as if they’re ready to go out at any moment. HOWEVER, once you step inside you are in a whole new drastically different world! The apartments are always nicely furnished, very airy and definitely tastefully decorated. Sasha/Aleks’ apartment was no exception! It was very nice inside, very airy and definitely very welcoming.

Sasha and me at the dinner table

Following the grand tour we sat down to dinner. Russians always make sure you are well fed and this visit was no exception. Our discussions at the dinner table were all very interesting. Sasha/Alex had a huge passion for Great Britain and when it came to British history he could talk about it till as they say, “the cows came home”. If anyone ever needs an expert to explain Churchill’s reign and what it meant to the UK and/or the world Sasha is your man! He’s a genius!! His mother actually used to work in England and spoke about the stark differences between the UK and Russia.

Sasha's mom, Svetlana and myself

One difference she noted was how in the UK and of course as I noted in the United States people will often smile at complete strangers and even say hi or engage in polite conversation. Whereas in Russia you generally absolutely do not smile at strangers or really make conversation. This may be part of the reason Russia gets a bad wrap about being unfriendly. Russians are very much to themselves and believe that smiling at someone is quite weird and in one Russian’s words indicates there must be something really wrong with you! I try to remember this when I’m on the streets of Russia, but sometimes being from Seattle where people are super friendly and will always smile and go out of their way to be nice, it can be hard.

View of Moscow from Sasha's apartment.

 After hours of chatting about everything, we wrapped it up. I couldn’t believe it, but Sasha wanted to personally escort me home. I told him all he had to do was take me to the metro and I’d be good from there, but he insisted. So, we got ready and headed to the metro eventually reaching my place in what seemed like record breaking time of one hour, which meant Sasha would have to ride the metro home one hour. I felt bad, but there was no way he was going to let his honored guest ride home by themselves! Parting ways with Sasha made me feel very grateful for the awesome friends I have across this gigantic nation!

Sasha and me at my hotel, The Pushkin

The Bolshoi

For many years I passed by it, stood in front of it, seen it on TV, heard about it and was always interested in it but never had the chance to go in……until now! You can’t get much bigger and more legendary than The Bolshoi! Ballerinas, and opera singers spend their whole lives dreaming and working for that one opportunity to be a part of this incredible theater and production company.

Now mind you I had not worked my entire life to get in there, but it had been a dream of mine to go inside. Not one who is into ballet and opera (I’m much more of a sport’s guy than anything else), I really did not want to shell out the big bucks for a ticket. Yet, how else would I be able to see The Bolshoi?? Luckily before I came to Russia a friend from Australia (thank you Mel Smith) posted a link on Facebook to tours of The Bolshoi. I knew instantly this was literally my ticket in!

So…when I arrived in Russia I researched how, when and where to get tickets. The process was pretty easy! Tours were conducted several days a week twice a day with tours in Russian and English. When I got to The Bolshoi there was a line outside, not that long a line, but definitely a line. I knew I better get in it. A man would emerge every few minutes from the gigantic wooden doors of The Bolshoi and call in people about ten at a time. Meanwhile the rest of us were left to freeze our asses out in the 30° F or -2 C weather with a mean wind chill. I had dressed warmly but I guess not warm enough, as I was pretty cold.

As we stood there an old guy, an employee, went down the line and asked people in Russian whether they’d be taking the tour in Russian. Everyone said Russian and since I do speak Russian I said Russian. He paused and said only citizens of The Russian Federation could take tours in Russian! WTF I thought…….not only do I have to pay more than a Russian citizen for a tour but I can’t even take it in Russian? Who the hell were they to say which language I could take the tour in?! Finally after freezing for a good half hour it was my turn to go through those doors.

When I got in and paid I asked what tour I could take and they said English! I was pretty mad inside. Eventually though the English tour guide said I was more than free to join the Russian tour. So after slipping on the little plastic slippers over my shoes that protect the floor from whatever your shoes may bring in I wandered over to the Russian group. Being inside The Bolshoi was so elegant and unbelievable! I could hardly believe that I’d finally gotten in! Everything about it just oozed with culture and glamour and I hadn’t even seen a fraction of the theater.

Our first stop was a small performance room, which was built right above the metro station “Teatralnaya”. The room is soundproof and so well built that there is no hint of arriving trains below! Our next stop would be the viewing hall, which was what I was looking forward to most.

After walking through the elegantly decorated hallways and on the beautiful perfectly shined marble floors we had at last arrived in the main viewing hall!! I’d seen it so many times on TV, in pictures, in books, etc. that it was hard to believe I was standing right there in the middle of this elegant hall. From what our guide told us the theater had been closed from 2006 to 2011 for a multi-million dollar renovation, which I guess from what I read went way over budget. Over budget, under budget, whatever, the place looked stunning as if the spared no detail in the restoration of this beauty.

While we were there they were doing all types of audiovisual tests for upcoming performances. Although I had been standing there looking around for a good five minutes I still was just in awe that I was finally in The Bolshoi. One of the features I loved the most was the VIP government box. There it sat in the center in the back of the theater with the two-headed eagle proudly atop of the box in gold with velvet red curtains with gold trim on both ends.

Our tour continued upstairs to the top of The Bolshoi. There according to our guide was what you would call the student section. For a discounted price eligible students could receive a discount. I’m not sure exactly when tickets went on sale, but from what I could understand it was usually a few days in advance of a performance. It was pretty amazing just how high the seats were. Although they were pretty high up (at the very top) I still felt you could see a lot.

Bolshoi viewing hall from the top deck

 Our tour continued, this time to a different room, a room that had a very unique feature. It was built so that the person standing in the middle of the room’s voice would echo off the ceiling so everyone could hear. It was said that this was done especially for Tsar Nicholas II who was known to have a very quiet voice. So our guide demonstrated to us and sure enough when she clapped you could hear it echo throughout the room. It was amazing!

The tour continued to a number of different rooms. It was truly like visiting a museum. Although I had enjoyed the tour my feet were starting to drag and my interest level wane a bit due to fatigue. Museum /indoor tours seem to do something to my feet, making them feel as if I am wearing shoes made of rocks. Eventually the tour concluded with a few more rooms, which were all stunning. After thanking our tour guide and dispatching of my little plastic booties that went over my shoes I felt a great sense of accomplishment. Yet another item to check off my Russia To See List!

Do or Die!!

Having mustered up the energy to go to Red Square and attend my friend Zhenya’s performance I really truly believed that jet lag was on its last leg, no pun intended! No way was I going to succumb to another day of jet lag…………that was…..until I did!! And this time it was even worse. Instead of losing just a few hours here and there I spent the entire day in my hotel room sleeping! The day ended like the rest of them with a dish of beef stroganoff from room service. After the third day of beef stroganoff and sleep I was not only sick of stroganoff but also was sick of wasting my time sleeping!! I had to conquer jet lag!

The next day was “do or die” in my opinion. Either do something other than sleeping or I’d start to feel like the trip was all for naught! Luckily I did get myself together and got out the door first thing in the morning. The weather was a touch warmer, by no means balmy but it felt just a tad bit more doable. My first stop would be back to Red Square. As I entered Red Square I noticed a long line as you enter the square. It looked as if they were in line to see the only full time inhabitant of Red Square…..the man himself……..the father of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin!!! After looking around Red Square a bit more I decided it’d been too long since I’d seen dear father Lenin, so I jumped in the queue and slowly inched toward security. Unlike in the old days when you had to buy tickets at the History Museum

History Museum

(the big burgundy red building that sits opposite of St. Basil’s) and check your bags and cameras, there was no such process anymore. However, that did not exactly mean you were free to take pics of old Vlad himself.

After passing through security I got the chance to look around the Kremlin wall where the remains of Soviet heroes and others are placed. One of the remains in this garden includes the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. A short walk later I’d come to the tomb. As we entered they made sure everyone understood there was no photography with signs everywhere saying this was not allowed. Once in I descended several sets of marble stairs into a very dark, cold and barely lit large room where Lenin laid. Several guards stood by making sure nobody said a word or do something like sneak a shot of Lenin himself.

Lenin's Tomb

I slowly moved toward Lenin and walked up a few stairs to get a look at him from the side and the front. Unlike in previous visits where they didn’t let you stand around for longer than 3 seconds, this time they seemed to allow people to take their time looking. From what I could see Lenin looked pretty good for being nearly 100! He looked just like I had remembered him………a wax figure. There are rumors that the real Lenin was buried long ago and that this is just a wax. Seemed pretty legit to me. Whatever the truth may be I don’t know if we’ll ever really know. Interestingly enough Lenin requested not to be kept like this but to be buried next to his mother. I guess Soviet bureaucrats had other ideas. 

Having looked over Lenin, it was time to walk around the Kremlin burial grounds a bit more and see the statues and plaques devoted to the remains of other Soviet heroes and Soviet leaders. Amongst the most well known leaders buried in the garden is Uncle Joe aka Josef Stalin. Stalin much to the dismay of many others, and myself seems to be making a comeback in Russian society. Who the hell cares he killed millions and imprisoned countless others, after all industrialization comes with a price and furthermore he won the war, so goes the philosophy of those who see him as a hero. Stalin used to lie next to Lenin until Khrushchev started his campaign of de-Stalinization and ordered him buried. My grandfather actually got to see Stalin back in the 50s when he visited Russia. Oh how I wished I could’ve also seen Stalin!

Speaking of heroes and controversial figures, there’s a new fight brewing these days over another man by the name of Vladimir, no we’re not talking about Vladimir Lenin, nor are we talking about Vladimir Putin (although he does sort of come into the equation), but St. Vladimir. St. Vladimir was the ruler of Kievan Rus (the mother to the modern Russian state) and is credited as being the one who introduced orthodoxy to Russia. 

To Ukraine St. Vladimir they feel belongs to them and not Russia, hence Kiev in the name Kievan Rus. They even have their own St. Vladimir statue in Kiev built in the 19^th century. So when Russia unveiled its own statue, Ukraine saw it as a provocative gesture. For those not keeping track ever since the Maidan Revolution in Ukraine several years ago that saw a Kremlin friendly president overthrown in favor of a western friendly figure, Russia has been in a conflict with Ukraine which includes the annexation of Crimea and two provinces of Ukraine, Donetsk and Lugansk, who declared themselves independent of Ukraine and aligned themselves with Russia. This move is sure to cause even more friction between the two nemeses. It’s also been said that the statue in a way is a monument to the modern day Vlad, Vladimir Putin.

The statue sits right next to the Kremlin and is towering! Many say it is ugly, but I found it to be ok and nothing that horrible. But I can understand peoples’ concerns when schools are crap, roads are crumbling, wages are stagnant and many other problems that plague Russia! Plus, it just reinforces the Russian government’s close, close alliance with the ultra conservative wing of the Russian Orthodox Church.

My next stop on my walk around Moscow would be The Kremlin. Although there are a few museums on The Kremlin grounds, including the world famous Armory I much prefer to simply be outdoors and walk around than stuck in a museum. I feel embarrassed writing this, but I haven’t been in The Armory since I was a freshman in high school and here I’m a Russian language and lit major, plus a lover of Russian culture. Oh well one of these days….at least that’s what I keep telling myself.

The Kremlin churches

The Kremlin grounds were fabulous, it never gets old being inside looking at The Kremlin itself, the different churches and beautiful grounds. And as an added bonus, Putin just opened up a brand new pathway through The Kremlin that allows visitors to exit via The Savior Tower (Spasskaya Bashnya). Only a few months ago this was impossible and used to be the main exit for government officials in Soviet days. Back then you used to see black Ladas speeding out of The Kremlin onto Red Square. Now all you see is wide eyed tourists looking around amazed by the beauty of The Kremlin.

Later that night I would take my dearest friend Vanda out to dinner. I was quite excited for our date as I was presenting her with a special gift, a bracelet from Tiffany’s. A few months earlier she had asked me to buy the bracelet for her offering to pay me back for the purchase. But as luck would have it she had an unexpected cost come up (don’t we all) and she had told me not to bother. I felt bad for her as she said it was her dream to have the bracelet. So being the nice guy I am and to show a little bit of love toward her I bought her the bracelet.

I was heartbroken back in October when I had to cancel my trip and was unable to give her the bracelet. But it was well worth the wait when I presented it to her and saw her light up like a child who had just gotten their most desired present on Christmas day! She was so shocked and told me she couldn’t take it. But I insisted and eventually I convinced her that she deserved it and that I wanted her to have it. Hell….I was not going to leave the restaurant and for that matter Russia without her taking the bracelet!

We eventually finished up our dinner, a kind of pizza like meal from the nation of Georgia without the sauce and with cheese stuffed inside called Hachapuri. Soooo delicious! After several days of spinning my wheels like a 2 wheel drive car stuck in a blizzard, I finally felt like I was back on track and making some traction!

Lagged

After a day in Helsinki plus having slept some on the train I had thought I had a pretty good grip on jet lag……….so I thought! Nothing could be further from the truth….. I arrived at my home away from home in Russia, The Pushkin Hotel feeling pretty good, especially since waiting for me there was my beloved friend, Vanda who decided to stay a full half hour after her shift in order to see me!! It was great to see her smiling beautiful face after what seemed like a couple years, but in reality was only six months! She checked me in in record time and personally escorted me to my room. I felt like such VIP!

Once Vanda left me I went straight to my bed and crashed! I figured I’d just take a small 30-60 so minute nap, but the next thing I knew it that little 30-60 minute nap had stretched into more or less a six-hour nap! I woke up, the sun had already gone down, the hotel kitchen was closed and the only option for dinner was to either brave the cold to find something on the streets or call for room service.  Since I was in no mood to test my thermal ware, I opted instead to order some beef stroganoff. When I called down to the reception I heard no ring on the other end. I tried several other times and nothing. Eventually a girl came upstairs to ask me if I needed anything. Luckily she was able to take my order and after about 30 minutes the front desk beauty showed up with a dish of beef stroganoff in her hands wishing me a “good appetite”. Had she only stuck around to have dinner with me, that would have been a dream come true, but oh well, luckily the beef stroganoff was good!

Having wasted an entire day on jet lag I was determined to make the next day better. So after breakfast I got dressed up in all my thermal wear and layers and headed out the door to Red Square. The wind was brutal and the temps were at least several degrees below freezing making for a tough walk down to see St. Basil’s. I thought getting down to Red Square and seeing St. Basil’s would jump start me, but unfortunately the wow factor, the buzz just wasn’t there, killed by the extreme fatigue from jet lag and the cold!

I returned home and subsequently crashed until middle of the afternoon I got a phone call. On the other end was a very calm voice saying in Russian, “hello, Steve, how are you”? I started going through my mind thinking who this could be. I said ok and eventually they identified themselves. It was Zhenya Altudin, my good friend who plays the accordion and performs at a local theater located not far from the center. He invited me to his performance that night. Luckily I really did not have anything pressing that night, plus I badly needed to get out!

After a little more rest, I pulled myself out of bed to get ready for Zhenya’s performance that night. No way was jet lag gonna deprive me of attending!! Back in Seattle getting ready to go out during winter is pretty easy thing, put on a layer, maybe at most two and you’re ready. In Russia’s winter it’s a bit more complicated and time consuming, making me pressed for time once I’d stuffed myself full of layers. I eventually opted to take a taxi rather than getting out in the cold and then pushing and shoving through the crowds to squeeze into a metro wagon.

Luckily traffic was not too horrible, just average Moscow bad, so I arrived in good time to the theater. Once there I was to go up to the ticket window and say the magic word “Altudin”, my friend's last name, and pay the $5 or so dollars and I’d be in. Sure enough it worked and I was in! The theater was tiny, the size of what you’d expect from a local high school. Although I was a friend of one of the cast members that did not necessarily mean I would get good seats. Each ticket had a number on it and row, but mine was missing that. Eventually I had to settle for a big wooden block seat in the top row in the walkway area. Oh well……not like the other seats were exactly lazy boy leather recliners, so it was no worries. As I sat there on my hard wooden block seat I wished I could just skip the performance all together and go home. But no way in hell was I going to miss the show and let my friend Zhenya down!!!

I really did not know how I would react to the show since I am not one who just loves the arts. I figured I’d tolerate it and then see Zhenya afterwards and go home. But….a funny thing happened on my way to tolerating and going home…….I actually REALLY liked the show! The show’s name was “Times of the Year” and was a show with no words, just four absolutely drop dead gorgeous I’d do anything to just have one of those as a girlfriend/partner singing the words “la la la la” in all types of different tones in all different types of costumes and times of the year. It was a very, very different show, but was very, very well produced and had a very artsy feeling to it. The music was incredible and my friend Zhenya who plays the accordion is not only an exceptionally gifted accordionist, but also a great actor!

The cast taking of "Times of the Year" taking a bow

Eventually after the show was over I got to see Zhenya in the lobby for a short time and congratulate him and the cast on their great performance. Unfortunately Zhenya couldn’t stick around and talk because the cast was having a post-show discussion. I eventually arrived home dead tired, but so happy that I attended the show!

The Lev Tolstoy

On my way to Russia!

As I boarded the Lev Tolstoy train I couldn’t believe this would be my 11^th trip to Russia. It was hard to even grasp all the stuff Russia and I had been through during our eleven times together. Most of it was all love, but there’d been some rocky times together, like the time it betrayed me and endorsed Trump, or the time I was told I couldn’t leave the nation because my visa had expired. But this was all behind me; it was time to move ahead into Russia.

Although I was still in Finland when I boarded the train it felt like I had entered Russia! So, what constitutes feeling like Russia you may ask? It’s hard to really explain, but probably the number one thing that stands out is the definite smell of cigarette smoke. Although Russian trains are supposed to all be no smoking it seems somehow the train attendants must find a way to smoke in their rooms because there’s always that hint of smoke on board.

Usually for all my Russia to Finland needs I take the high speed Allegro train from St. Petersburg to Helsinki. The Allegro makes the trip back and forth in a mere 3.5 hours. But this time I’d be going a lot further, to Moscow, plus The Lev Tolstoy was a lot slower than the joint VR (Finland Rail)/RZD (Russian Railways) Allegro, so instead of the usual 3.5 hours just to Petersburg it’d be a whopping 17 hours!!  Luckily I had booked a really nice cabin so I’d get a good night’s sleep before I arrived in Russia.

As we slowly made our way toward the Finnish-Russian border, it dawned on me that unlike during summer and spring where there is no time difference between Russia and Helsinki, there was definitely one this time. Oddly enough because Russia has gone permanently to daylight saving time they are one hour behind Helsinki even though they are further east! Strange how time zones work isn’t it?!

Russia-Finland border

Once we got to the Russian/Finnish border the train lurched to a stop. First up on board would be the Finnish passport control people. They came by my cabin and looked over my passport a few times looking for my EU entry stamp. My passport has so many pages (the Icelandic passport control agent referred to as a bible) that it can be rather tough to find what you’re looking for, especially when it’s not exactly very bright on board. Eventually they found it and stamped me out of the EU. About a half hour later the train lurched a few more kilometers into Russian territory!! At last I was back in Russia!! The Russians boarded the train and looked at my passport. Luckily besides a few minor errors I’d made filling out my entry and exit card things went down pretty smoothly.

My cabin

Eventually the Russian passport agents finished their work and we were off to Moscow. The train stewardess stopped by my cabin to give me a bit of a tutorial on how to pull my bed down and to make sure my small little dining table next to it did not fall into me while I was sleeping. I listened carefully in Russian and pretty much understood everything………at least I thought….. Eventually when it was time for me to go bed I went to push the table next to me over to the side, only for it to swing back toward me every time the train made the slightest jerky movement. Eventually after trying several times unsuccessfully I figured I needed some intervention, so I called for an attendant to help me. The guy showed up and wasn’t exactly friendly about helping, but got it anchored in place so that it wouldn’t hit me while sleeping in the middle of the night.

The night went by fairly quickly, but due to jet lag I woke up at about 4:30 am and basically cat napped here and there until we arrived in Moscow. As the sun rose I was treated to a winter wonderland of nothing but snow and ice for as far as the eye could see. Although the calendar said it was still technically autumn, it appeared as if fall had left Russia loooooong ago!

After 17 hours on board “The Lev Tolstoy” train we arrived in Moscow. Luckily my beloved friend, Vanda, who is the front desk girl at the hotel I stay at in Moscow had arranged for a taxi to pick me up. I exited the train and expected to see my name somewhere on a name board (after all the driver had been given my wagon number and train number), but there was nothing except for some guy standing around with a name written “Sive”. I once again looked around but did not see anyone else holding a name board. So I figured that “Sive”, must mean “Steve” and approached the man. And sure enough he was here for Steve and had just misheard the name and written it down incorrectly when told it by the dispatcher.

When I started walking reality really hit me, it was cold….not just cold, REALLY cold!!! It was not as if Helsinki had been balmy either, but this was a whole another level of cold. I quickly did a mental assortment of all the winter clothes I brought with me and started to worry that I had underestimated the Russian winter! Never underestimate the Russian winter! After all Napoleon and Hitler did this and it did not turn out too well for them!

Helsinki!

Although I had just arrived in Helsinki less than 24 hours earlier, I was able to shake the initial effects of jet lag and get my day got off to a quick start. I began the day with a delicious buffet breakfast served in the hotel’s beautiful classic old school dining room. The food was good and portion sizes were generous, but one thing I have yet to understand about Finland is their love for non-lactose and skim dairy products! For the second visit in a row I could not find any cream for my coffee, only skim milk and lactose free milk. When I asked the woman who was tending the coffee area where they kept the regular milk she barely understood me and said “milk” and pointed to the skim crap. I said thanks and filled my coffee with skim milk. According to the hotel food management at the last hotel I stayed at, The Scandic Marsk, the skim milk, lactose free way of life is pretty popular in Finland. Why…I will never understand.

My train did not leave until 5:47pm that evening so I had a lot of time on my hands, which gave me a great opportunity to explore Helsinki. Although I’d been there only a few months ago on my way back to Seattle, I really was happy to have another chance to explore this great city! The last time I was in Helsinki I had managed to take in most of the sights except for one, The Rock Church. So, this would be my first destination.

I set out for the Rock Church all bundled up, layers upon layers in an effort to stave off the late Autumn Finnish cold. Luckily though it was not as cold as I had thought it would be making for a semi pleasant walk. On my way I stopped in at the The Kamppi Chapel a Lutheran church,

otherwise known as the “Chapel of Silence”. The church is a giant wooden rounded building, sound proof and a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the city that surrounds it.

After spending a few moments looking around and taking time for a somber reflection on my journey ahead I continued to The Rock Church. The church was quite cool and worth the walk! It was such a beautiful, calm place shaped like a big dome with granite walls and a beautiful 360° skylight above it. I spent some time peacefully meditating on the long church benches trying to envision a trip filled with little drama and great success.  

Following my tour of local churches, I headed back to the hotel to put the finishing touches on packing for my trip to Moscow that evening. Having packed everything up I checked out and took my bag down to the lobby where I’d have it stored till later that afternoon when I returned for it.

The smorgasbord/buffet had worn off and I was hungry, so my next stop was to find something to eat. I didn’t need a huge three-course meal, just something to hold me over till dinner. I stopped by Starbucks and it was packed, not a single seat available! I was disappointed and frustrated. Surely I could find a better place, but I really wanted a good cup of coffee and a pastry. After wandering down the Espelandi (a narrow park/green space where people gather in summer and spring to enjoy picnics and the nice weather) I spotted a nice quaint restaurant with big sun room type glass windows.  I looked at the menu and prices were outrageous for food that I’d never pay half the price for. But over to the left of the fancy restaurant in the same building was a cafeteria type café with pastries, cakes, sandwiches, etc. I figured I might as well try it.

I ordered my pastries and coffee and found a nice cozy corner of the restaurant in a space that stuck out from the rest of the restaurant. If you are in Helsinki, I highly recommend stopping at Kappeli. Try their pastries (which are absolutely heavenly) and the coffee (the coffee on the left side is the best). You will not be sorry!!

Having finished my divine pastries I was off to look around the rest of the city. One of my favorite parts of the city is Senate Square where you can find one of the most well known landmarks in Helsinki, Helsinki Cathedral. Helsinki Cathedral is perched atop a mountain of stairs and affords great views of the entire city! This is a must stop when in Helsinki!

Not far from Senate Square you will find the Russian Orthodox cathedral, Uspenski Cathedral, a personal favorite of mine. You can’t miss it as it looms over the city on top of a hill with its beautiful gold domes and brown trim. This is definitely worth a visit with its stunning interior that contains a beautiful iconostatus, a wall of icons. And unlike in Russia where with few exceptions it’s forbidden to take photos it is totally possible to take photos inside this cathedral. Uspenski Cathedral is definitely worth at least a half an hour to an hour out of your day.

I continued my sightseeing by looking around the waterfront and taking in all the sights. There’s something about Helsinki!! It’s such a calm and peaceful city that draws you back again and again. Eventually it was time to head back to the hotel and grab my bag for my onward trip to Moscow aboard the legendary “Lev Tolstoy” train!

In the beginning.....

After picking myself up off the floor from a devastating loss by my presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton to Agent Orange aka Donald Drumpf, I packed my bags and headed over to Finland via Iceland in order to reach Russia. I was supposed to take this trip back in September but due to a serious health issue with my mother I had to delay my trip till now, mid-November. I’ve had many situations where I postponed trips and they actually worked out better than expected, so I’m hoping this fits that scenario.

I was a bit worried about reaching Helsinki as I had only a 45-minute connection at Keflavik Airport in Iceland. Normally a 45-minute connection in any other place is totally not legal, but in Reykjavik I guess this is totally normal at least that’s what they said. Still I was rather worried. When we landed I quickly pushed my way to the middle of the airplane in order to get a running start on that 45-minute transit. My neighbor assured me that I had plenty of time and that he’s had times when they’re boarding the airplane of his connecting flight just as he’s deplaning.

Luckily I got to the connecting gate before they’d even started boarding. I was relieved and felt a sense of accomplishment that I’d made the connection with zero drama! Keflavik is by far and away one of the more superior airports I’ve been through, things usually run smooth and it’s never too far to a gate. It’s kind of the way things operate in Iceland, smooth and without too much drama………except for the domestic transportation system…….that’s worthy of an entire blog.

Once on board I made myself at home. Luckily there was nobody sitting in front of me or next to me, which made for a pleasant flight! The last flight I about went crazy with the guy in front of me as he had his seat down the entire flight. Just when we were about to pushback, the stewardesses came around with a treat for passengers. They offered us “morning shots”. I’ve been around the world and had never heard of “morning shots” until now. In Seattle “shots” in the morning mean shots of espresso. Europe never ceases to amaze me with their liberal attitudes toward alcohol.

The flight into Helsinki went by quickly, I mostly slept off the initial effects of jet lag. Once we landed I grabbed my bag right off the luggage belt and headed to the city-airport train. The train into the city is brand new (just opened in late 2015) and probably the most improved aspects of the city!! The only down part is it takes 28 minutes to get into the city, a far cry from Shanghai where there’s a super high speed magnetic rail train that whisks you from the airport to the city in less than ten minutes. But compared to having to squeeze onto a small city bus like before there is NO COMPARISON!!

When I got to the hotel I basically just crashed on my bed and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening sleeping! Although I slept till late in the evening, I was able to eventually get a partial night sleep on the new time zone. This was definitely a small victory in the fight against jet lag. And when it comes to that fight, I’ll take all the victories I can get!