On Thursday night June 10, the whole family including Vadim’s daughter Sveta and I took off for Moscow. We also planned to visit Suzdal and Vladimir, two cities in the Golden Ring, a group of cities northeast of Moscow that preceded the present capital of Moscow. This was the political and cultural heart of Russia in the 1100’s and earlier. The Vladimir-Suzdal princedom preceded Moscow as the capital back then. These towns are one of the few that have examples of preserved architecture going back to the 12th century. Much of this area was destroyed with the invasion of the Mongols in the 16th century. A visit to these towns was an incredible visual history lesson on Russia (Ross eee ya! Here)
The trip to Moscow is a 9 hour drive, about 700 or so kilometers. The highway is a fast paced, three lane motorway, with the center lane a passing lane for both directions (remember those in California back in the 50’s and 60’s?? we called them slaughter alleys..haa).
Although Vadim is an excellent driver, many times we call him “Shumacher” of Formula I fame, the road is still wild. In Russia, you don’t recognize the usual “space” you have on the road in the US. On passing you get about 4 feet away from the car in front, then swing out and hold your breath. Nine hours each way. Wow. The ride over was rough, because it was all night long. Then the next day I was falling asleep in the car tour of Moscow. Not again. The ride back during the day, was pleasant and fun, despite the roads bumpy conditions. But keeping with the working schedule, it would have been tough to take an additional day for the family to make the ride up during the day. No problem, the tour was incredible
Sveta, Vadim’s daughter is a delight. Her command of English is amazing. She began her English lessons at only 6 years old, with a demanding teacher on pronunciation. So even her pronunciation is excellent. As my English speaking guide, she made the trip so much more rewarding. She also knows her cities well.
Moscow was busy. Propka, the word for traffic jam, was used many times in the car. I think they have expanded too much here. Estimated population is 11 million. It resembles St Petersburg in the outskirts with high rise residential wherever you look, highrise..and more highrise.
I asked Vadim why so much highrise in Russian cities? You have such a big country. I told him that we build out ward and low in America. He said, yes our country is big but much of it is unusable, so we must preserve the land that is usable. Hmmm makes good sense. Something to consider at home.
We met Vadims Friend Ury, who would be our guide for the whole trip. We met at Mc Donald’s of course!! Ury works for the city police. Haaaa and this really helped. Parking was no problem, just drive up ON THE SIDE WALK, park and comeback when you want! Different rules here.
We toured the city, drove up to red square and the Kremlin, with excitement. Walked up to the barricaded gate with guards galore, and found out due to security for the Independence day celebration for VIP’s, red square is closed until the 15th!!! Yea right, Bill comes all the way to Russia, and its closed. Reminds me of the scene with Chevy Chase and Wallyworld !!! Oh well, chalk one more up for the influence of terrorists.
So we drove around the Kremlin and Red Square and took pictures. Visited many memorials. Town is full of sculptures and memorials to WWII, beautiful peaceful walks. The city is nice, has much appeal, but with traffic and busy-busy life here, St. Petersburg wins. There is however in both big cities, lots of parks and green tree lined streets. Good planning has made the city life somewhat appealing here.
On to Vladimir and Suzdal. This was the highlight of the Moscow trip. I have some great shots of ancient (12th century churches), flowing river, fields of flowers. Everything green green green. We toured a reconstructed old village, with windmills, peasant homes and churches. Very nice visual history lesson. Independence day, June 12, is what I would call the new independence day here. This was the day Russians recognize as their day of independence after the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991. We toured both of these historical cities on that day. It was a special treat, the streets were blocked off for walking, they had festivals with crafts, parachute jumpers, the whole bit. A fun look at how they celebrate here.
The last day, Sunday, we decided to “tour” the Moscow metro. Moscow’s metro, has more than any other major city metro I’ve ever been on, some beautiful wall coverings and mosaics in the stations on the main line circling the city. Many stations have themes, or dedications to some group, like mariners, world peace etc.
We decided to stop at city center and just see if the Red square was open. And IT WAS!!! Oh this is good!! So I did get to tour red square after all. Pictures only tell the story. The Kremlin, where President Putin resides, was still closed, but I was really happy to tour the square. It was still decorated with huge emblems of the country and city shields. This must have been quite a celebration here for VIP’s.
It was good to be back to St Petersburg! It feels like home compared to the busy city life in Moscow.
No time to upload pictures today, look for them tonight (15th or tomorrow 16th)
Well it’s a couple more days here, then I fly a distance about equivalent to twice across the US, to Irkutsk in eastern Siberia. Wow, that has a ring to it doesn’t it. Eastern Siberia. I hope to prove it IS a nice place to see! I will stay there for 2 days before boarding the Trans Mongolian railway on across Mongolia to China.
More later..
Yours in Travel
Bill
