Hannah: Moscow's Intrepid Explorer

Just finished a long and adventure-filled weekend. I wasn’t planning on doing all that much, just some translations and maybe dinner with Joe and Natasha. But I woke up Saturday morning and saw, wait for it, the sun. Now, we have had one “sunny” day and one partially sun day since I’ve been here in Moscow. But yesterday was really sunny. As in Florida sunny. It was brilliant. I tried my best to get some work done, but by mid-afternoon, I had convinced myself that I could work once it gets seriously cold and decided to go out and play.

So, I grabbed my trusty Rough Guide to Moscow (thank you sooooo much, Sarah!), opened it to a random page, and off I went. I grabbed my suitemate, Susan, and together we trudged off to the metro. At the metro, we ran into one of her friends, Francesca, a hilarious, ultra-outgoing French girl. We took the metro up a couple miles to just outside the center and got out to explore. We decided to go to the church of St. Nicholas of the Weavers (yes, I said weavers) and, with my brilliant sense of direction (what, you don’t believe me?) found it with no problem at all. I guess it helped that it’s a massive cathedral that looks like a gingerbread house. Now, many of the buildings (churches in particular) are absolutely stunning. They all look positively edible with their bright colors and gilded frames (just look at St. Basil), but St. Nicholas is probably one of the most gorgeous cathedrals in Moscow. It was built as a parish church in the mid-seventeenth century with spiraling, white bell-towers and columns in varying shades of greens and reds. The inside is gilded and golden with massive paintings of saints, Mary, and Christ filling the halls. Scattered throughout the church are massive candelabras that hold candles people have lit for loved ones. You can buy the candles in the back of the parish from old, scarf-covered babooshkas for a couple of bucks while the priest stands outside drinking a cappuccino from Subway. It’s surreal to say the least.

From there, the three of us went looking for Tolstoy’s House. We got lost a couple of times because I was too afraid to stop and ask someone with all the militia around (more on that later). Finally, Francesca had her way and stopped about 10 people until she found one who knew where Tolstoy’s House was, singing loudly in English and talking about how she wanted to get stopped by the police so she could show them that all her papers were in order…and then laugh because she wouldn’t have to bribe them. Eventually, my heart attack ended and we found Tolstoy’s House. After some mishaps with our shoes (don’t ask), we were able to tour the house. I recently translated an article about Yasnaya Polyana (the main Tolstoy museum) and that, combined with listening to many of Dr. Denner’s Tolstoy-inspired rants, made me very excited to visit Tolstoy’s home. We stayed there for a few hours, all the while listening to me making very educated observations and mentioning fascinating tidbits…that I had read from my Rough Guide. It was really quite interesting and, at a cost of 30 rubles for students, I would recommend it for anyone who visits Moscow.

After we left Tolstoy’s House, we headed back to the university, only to get sidetracked by our need for sweets. We ended up in this overpriced supermarket that had, of all things, Cheerios. I was so ecstatic that I yelled and promptly jumped on Susan in an attempt to hug her. 107.50 rubles later, we actually made it back to the university. I was sidetracked in my quest to eat Cheerios by an invitation from Joe to join him and Natasha at this Indian restaurant called Maharaja.

…Oh…my…gosh…Needless to say, it was better than my cheerios. We started off with these mutton filled pastries and massive jumbo shrimp. Then it was on to two different types of Naan, rice, and two different types of sauces that I have no idea what they were (I couldn’t follow the handsigns…), but that were absolutely delicious. Finally, we finished with a lobster and little chocolate mints for dessert.  Words fail, truly. Did I mention how great the food is in Moscow? No? Well, the food’s amazing. We had so much food we had to take quite a few doggie bags, a couple of which I am staring at right now as I try to resist the temptation… It was a really great evening. We talked about politics and Joe’s trip to London as I bugged Joe and Natasha about my plans for Sunday and tried to convince them to join me. All in all, it was a lovely evening and a great end to my day. Thanks, Joe!

And that was only day one of my weekend. Stay tuned for Sunday’s adventure! Loves to all!