Dead People, Ice Skating, and Art Markets

Cheerios darlings! Due to some issues with not having a classroom, my classes have been moved around a bit. Now, instead of having Tuesdays off, I have Mondays off. Generally, it's not so cool since most things are closed on Monday. However, it does mean that I have a better chance of being able to travel outside the city. I don't know how much I will be able to do, but St. Petersburg, at least, is a must. Bimini, here I come! I think I will tag along with some of my friends about mid-April, so hopefully I'll see you then...

Anywho, I had to be a bit creative on Monday since everything (literally, everything) was closed. So, I thought, what are some places that will never be closed on a Monday? Stores – I have been wanting to see the oldest store in Moscow. Parks – I still have sculpture park to go. The occasional random house-museum – the Bulgakov Museum is closed on weekends, which means I can only go on Monday. What else? Ah ha! Cemeteries! Woohoo! So, yes, I headed out Monday to go grave-hopping. There are quite a few really interesting cemeteries around the city, some of which I have seen. The one in the Kremlin, then the Novadevichey. However, besides those two, the best place to get buried in Moscow is at the Vagankov Cemetery, only a few miles away from MGU. I got lost on the way (forgot to make a transfer and ended up walking a couple of miles), but found it eventually. A large park in the middle of a concrete city can be quite conspicuous at times... Oh! And I ran into the World Trade Center while I was lost and somehow ended up in a restricted section. Don't ask, I don't know...

So, at the cemetery, I saw the graves of many athletes and of one of the mafia bosses who was killed by a sniper in the 90s (they played the theme to The Godfather at his funeral). But the best grave was Yesenin's. For those who don't know, Yesenin was the “heart-throb poet” as he was called. A girl even committed suicide on his grave because she was so upset that he died (committed suicide or was murdered, whichever theory you prefer). She is now buried behind him. There was this scary old babooshka who guarded his grave like a shrived-up old hawk, so I wasn't able to stay long. Eventually, she deserted her post (I came to found out she doesn't actually work there) and I took some pictures and recited some of his poems (because, apparently, that is now my thing...). Overall, it was interesting, but not nearly as cool as some other cemeteries.

After that, I headed down by the New Tretyakov Gallery to walk around for a bit. I found sculpture park, but didn't go into the main part. However, I have a new find! Alongside the river, beside sculpture park, and through the perehod is a massive art market. Artists who study or work at the Central House of Artists and the school attached to it go there to sell their art. Some of it is kinda expensive, but its all negotiable. I wish I had more room in my bags! Ahh! It was fun just to walk around though and look around. This might make the list...

Finally, I finished the day by going ice-skating with friends. Well, they went skating and I did homework. But don't look at me like that! It was this crappy little indoor rink where these little wanna-be ice-skating children were having lessons. We wanted to go to the outdoor rink in Gorky Park, but it was closed. One of my friends is an Olympic-class ice-skater (she was almost in the Olympics, long story) so I wanted to see her skate. It was cool and a nice time overall.

Went out and did stuff today (Wednesday) but am too tired to write. Will write again later. Loves!