25th June 2004
It's mad and I like it! It should go on everyone's list of places to visit. It's a shock to the system, not least because it is nigh on impossible to find anyone who can speak more than a few words of English so you really do have to get by on memorising some Russian, gesticulating wildly and of course, everyone's favorite Christmas game - charades; for example, today I mimed getting money out with my cash card to establish the whereabouts of an ATM. Thankfully, everyone seems to know the word for toilet as I'm not sure how I would have tackled that one!
I arrived last Saturday after a 40-hour train journey from Brussels. That in itself was an adventure but more on that at a later date - my internet card is running out!
So, it was pouring with rain so I felt quite at home. I found a taxi and then realised I'd been totally ripped off when he deposited me about 5 minutes later at my hotel after we'd agreed a price of $15 ( by way of writing down figures on a piece of paper). He had wanted $30 initially but I had beaten him down and was feeling quite smug about it until I realised I had only gone about a mile up the road. I think he probably took the rest of the day off after that triumph. Still, needs must and I got to the hotel with minimum hassle and without getting soaked.
My travelling companion this week, Bobby B from BGI, arrived that afternoon having flown in from London. His first words to me were "Khaki!" because it was the first time he'd seen me wearing anything other than black, hence my new nickname -Khaki Kennedy. Anyway, a couple of hours later we left the safety of the Aerostar Hotel (motto: Aerostar - Better than Ever!), which was originally built for the American athletes competing in the 1980 Olympics but they then boycotted the games so it lay empty for ages. We were heading downtown to meet Robert's Brazilian friend Marcello who works at the Brazilian Embassy here in Moscow. Anyway, a real comedy of errors unfolded as we got into a minicab (actually, more Molotov cocktail than minicab going by the smell of petrol inside it) then just as it was about to pull off, decided we should get out in case the driver lit a cigarette and we blew up. We then approached another minicab driver (real taxis are virtually impossible to find here) who wanted a small fortune so we left him loitering by his Lada and decided to do what the locals do - stand on the roadside and stick out your arm - after all, when in Rome…….
The way it works is you hail a car, several then stop, you go to the first one, point on the map, agree a price and get in (or move onto the next if you don't like the price). The locals seem to supplement their incomes by offering rides to anyone who is looking and it's quite normal practice. What you must remember if you come here though is NOT to put on your seatbelt. No one here wears them and apparently it is a huge insult to the driver if you buckle up.
The most memorable ride we had was with Igor from Azerbaijan, one of the old USSR republics. He could speak no English whatsoever but we pointed, agreed a price and got in. I then began to practice my Russian by telling him my name and asking him his. He got very excited and started blabbering away and that was the start of a conversation in my dodgy Russian and a bit of German I remembered from school which he also could speak.
So, what's Moscow like? Well, pretty much like London or any other city really, with one notable exception. Let's just say that LUT executives should spend some of their coffers on a trip to check out the Tube system here. It is fast, efficient, clean and you never have to wait more than a couple of minutes for a train, if that. It is a joy to ride, once you've figured out which tube you should be on that is, because of course all the instructions and tube stations are in Russian with no transliterated signs. However, if you can master a few letters of the Cyrillic Russian alphabet you can usually work out what you should be doing. Bobby B and I have managed it all week without getting lost. Also the tube stations are all beautifully decorated, like the insides of stately homes. Apparently, Stalin wanted the people to have palaces (the Metro stations), given the Tsars had their palaces for hundreds of years.
We've been typical tourists this week, checking out the beautiful buildings and art galleries, cruising up the Moscow River and sampling the local beverage of course - Vodka! Last night was very amusing - Bobby B and I had our farewell dinner as I'm leaving tonight to get the Trans Siberian train. So, we went somewhere nice and had traditional Russian food (or at least I did!) of blinis and smoked salmon (I boycotted the beluga caviar because the beluga sturgeon is now an endangered species) and then chicken Kiev and mashed tatties. The main course arrived with a large domed lid on it and as the waiter lifted it off, I was confronted by a yummy looking Kiev surrounded by.....kiwi fruit!!!! The only thing in the world I am allergic too! And two bits of it were touching my Kiev. Nightmare.
So, today I leave the capital and head for the Ural Mountains, which mark the end of Europe and the beginning of Asia.
I hope you are all well back home. Don't forget to email as I'll be having withdrawal symptoms without email access for 4 and half whole days!
Until Siberia then, cheerio!
