Day #177 - St. Petersburg to Moscow, Russia

The Kremlin

The Red-bricked walls of the Kremlin fortress

Red Square - event going on today

The western wall of the Kremlin fortress

Saint Basil's Cathedral - taken on the east side of the Kremlin

Historical Museum - corner of Red Square

Tuesday, September 7th

Early morning. Up at 5:30am - out of the hotel just shy of 6:00. I had to walk about a mile to the train station to catch my 7am to Moscow. Things went very smoothly. I knew the name of Moscow (Mockba) because that was the name of my hotel and then I used the departure time to get to the correct platform. It was actually alot easier than I thought it would be.

The train was great - taking about 4 hours. It was a high-speed train with no stops. It reached speeds of 220km/hr (132miles/hr). There were tons of businessmen on the train - with constant cell phone usage. In my book about Russia, it states that the average life expectancy for a male in Russia (who has reached the age of 20) has fallen to 58 years old. The principle culprits are violence, road accidents, AIDS, chain smoking tobacco, and a toxic intake of cheap liquor. The population of Russia is expected to fall from a current 150,000 million people to 120,000 million in the next 40 years. Considering Russia is the largest country in the world by far - this is a staggering number. I was looking to this group of four men to my right while on the train. I was thinking: "Gentlemen, make this a good day - it doesn't look like you have many more left"

I arrived at the Moscow station around 11am. I really didn't have any problems at all today. The initial shock of the symbols had worn off in St. Petersburg. I had money and I had the name of my metro station written down in the Cryllic alphabet. It was almost too easy - I was a bit disappointed. I went right to the metro station which was clearly marked by a circled M. I had to take the circular brown line to the Blue #3. I got out at my exit - I knew my hotel was within 3 miuntes walk time per the internet - so it couldn't be far. I did have my notes out and went up to a guard - he pointed me to my building. I checked in and was in my tenth floor room by 12:30pm.

I noticed a couple things on the way to my hotel. First, there were people everywhere. Fast-paced, talking on their phones, pushy, aggressive. This is just like NY City. Did you ever notice when you're driving into a city, you feel like people start to speed up the closer you get. I feel this is the same when it comes to walking. I couldn't believe how fast people were moving around me. I wasn't walking my usual quick pace because I had my bag and was feeling pretty tired - but it was almost like I was standing still. When I got on the metro, it was jam-packed. Before the doors closed, a couple guys jumped on and gave a huge push like we were in a rugby scrum. I would have fallen to the ground if it weren't for the other people. This elderly lady was thrown on top of me. She just got up like nothing even happened. I truly feel the most intimidating thing about Moscow for most people would be the pace and the aggressiveness. If you haven't seen it - it's an eye opener for sure. I've played this game before - and I'm OK with it.

Another thing I noticed was that the metro stops here were not nearly as far underground as St. Petersburg (maybe I'll see this change in the coming days). The stops I got off on were probably 1/4 the depth as St. Petersburg. I was surprised, as I've read accounts where the Moscow Underground can be a clautrophic event.

Also, I don't feel like things here are that expensive. I guess I'm questioning that ranking the City Mayor's Report gave for the 2010 Most Expensive Cities in the World. I might be missing something. But, I've ate lunch and dinner now, and have paid my way around the metro system. It's not that bad. The metro cost 26 rubles ($0.80/ride). I was able to get a really nice dinner of spaghetti and soup for about $18. I would go as far as saying that many areas in the states are more expensive than Russia. Tomorrow I'll check into this more. Maybe it's a reference to housing, cars, etc.

After getting into my hotel, I was exhausted. I couldn't sleep last night. I got about 2 hours. Because of this, I caught a powernap from about 1:30-5:00pm this afternnon. Then, I decided to take the metro into downtown.

I didn't want to get too crazy just yet, but I did want to see the Red Square and the Kremlin. I came out on street level and walked about 100 feet - there was the huge red-bricked wall that surrounds the Kremlin. It was a massive fortress - with high walls and towers overlooking for protection. I walked completely around the complex. The fortified walls of the Kremlin are the home of the President of Russia (the White House). The Kremlin is surrounded by the Moskva River on the south, St. Basil's Cathedral and Red Square to the east, and Alexander Garden to the west.

After nearly circling the fortress, I came up on the Red Square. You couldn't access the place very well because there was some kind of event going on. It was basically a huge courtyard area that fronted the Kremlin walls. This is where the tanks and military personnel would gather back in the day of war and communism. You could almost close your eyes and see the tanks many years ago.

Back to the hotel for some shut-eye. The metro was still packed and it was nearing 9pm. What else would you expect in a city of over 10 million people.

This was really a special day for me - as I was just able to wet the appetite a bit. Tomorrow I'll see what else I can discover.