Moscow Still Squats

Day 72

We arrived into Moscow train station at 7:30am on a Saturday morning and were a little weary from the lack of sleep on the train. Despite being a Saturday morning the station was extremely busy and before leaving the terminal I made a quick pit stop to the W.C.

After that little rest stop, I can say that one surefire way to start the morning off on a sour note is lining up with about a dozen fat Russian blokes to use a squat toilet in 30-degree heat.

With that little trauma out of the way we made our way out of the station for breakfast. With nothing but kebabs and pizzas on offer, we decided to fight through our hunger and make our way towards our hotel as hopefully there would be a greater selection of restaurants nearby where we were staying.

Another high tech Russian Ambulance.

We headed down to the subway without hesitation following our recent success with navigating it in St Petersburg. Confidence was soon shattered when we realised that all the signs and maps were in Cyrillic and it was going to a bit trickier to work our way around. With Claire’s expert navigation skills and logic we were quickly on our way and to our surprise, weren’t that far from our hotel which was on the south side of the city.

20 minutes went by and we emerged from the subway at a large department store in Tulskaya. By this stage it was about 8:30am and many shops were still not open, however, we managed to find a Starbucks down the road.

Claire ordered the coffee and taking a seat outside, we proceeded to get the cereal, milk, bowls and spoons we had been carrying and have breakfast. There were a few strange looks from other customers and staff but I guess they thought we were just strange and left us to it.

With breakfast out of the way we started to make the 1km walk to our hotel. Although a fairly short distance, we had to navigate our way in and around highways, dead-end streets, overpasses and road works so what sounded like a straightforward walk, took a little longer than expected.

By the time we got to our hotel, we were a little hot and sweaty from the previous nights train ride, the slog through the subway and Moscow roads so were pleasantly surprised when the staff at the hotel allowed us to check in at 10:30am!

Without hesitation we were up in our room and in the shower. It was so good to be able to properly stand up in a shower with lights, and keep the water running as we are a little restricted within the vans shower.

Fully refreshed we then began our journey towards Ismailovsky Market, which was a local market selling all kinds of antiques and souvenirs. On this occasion, walking back to the subway was a little easier as we were able to follow the locals and see the little short cuts they took along the way. Rather than a 20min walk to the station, the local knowhow turned it into a 10min walk.

After coming up out of the subway, it wasn’t too hard to figure out where to go as there was a large number of people heading in one direction and as you rounded the corner you could see the very cheap looking castle that appeared to once served as an amusement park and where the market was now based around.

Entrance to the Ismailovsky Market.
Once the Russian Disneyland!

 As you enter the market, there were rows of wooden stalls with vendors pedaling mostly cheap souvenirs that you find scattered right throughout Russia – i.e. Russian dolls, Che Guervera T Shirts, furry communist hats, however, there were also merchants selling their own unique products such as hand made jewelry, photos and Christmas decorations.

Some Russian BBQ.

 We were so impressed by one ladies handmade Christmas decorations, that we decided to buy a set. She gave us a box and allowed us to pick five ornaments out of any type. As we picked each decoration and placed it in the box, she would come and rearrange the placement, as she obviously wasn’t happy with the feng shui going on with the ornament placement. After about four attempts we finally had a perfectly laid out box and the world was a brighter place.

Claire with our Feng Shui Decoration Master.

As we moved further into the market, the items being sold got a little more interesting with traders offering original ex Soviet relics and propaganda. As my belt had broken a couple of days earlier I was on the lookout for a new one and came across a leather belt I liked. The man running the stall had explained that it was an original Russian generals belt from the 1970’s, however, at a cost of £100 and no certificate of authenticity we decided to move on.

What we did purchase though was a genuine Russian police patch. As we’ve been travelling over the past several years, we have made an effort to get patches of country flags to attach to our backpack. Most of them are fairly straightforward, so it was a unique addition having an ex-Russian police badge.

In another section of the market were a whole bunch of stalls with people selling old antiques, including old German and Russian army helmets, records and record players, a litany of religious relics and some places were even selling the skins of animals such as fox and mink tails, wolves and bears turned into floor rugs! Not something I agree with, but I guess it appeals to the Russian tastes.

I'm not sure I would trust anyone that had this on their floor.

Or this....

Fox and Mink Tails.

The Paintings section of Ismailovsky.

Following our trip out to the market, we headed in towards the famous Red Square. With it being the middle of the afternoon, the square and areas around it were humming with tourists. We entered the square from the northern end, passing a large group of people in a circle tossing coins over their heads, which would then land on a golden plaque. I guess this was some sort of good luck gesture, however, what was most amusing was a couple of locals would quickly scurry in and pilfer the coin straight after it was thrown - right in front of the person who just threw it! There was even an old lady who can't of been any younger than 80 in on the act.

The square itself is enormous and it is almost on a convex, with St Basils Church sitting at the southern end. I think coming in from the northern end is most spectacular as the church increases in size as you get over the gradual hump. On the right of us we had the eastern wall of the Kremlin complex and also Lenin’s mausoleum, where the famous leader is preserved in a bath chemicals and on show for everyone to see – similar to Chairman Mao in Beijing.

Eastern wall of the Kremlin.

Russian State Museum at the end of the Red Square.

Unfortunately, there was a barricade erected about 75 meters from the rear entrance of the church, so our shots had an ugly steel fence in it. On the positive note though, had we been a day later, we would not have been able to get into much of the square as it was cordoned off for an event they were setting up for.

St Basils Church and a barricade.

St Basils Church.

Mr Stalin.

Mr Lenin doing the rounds between his
chemical baths in the mausoleum.

Dark clouds started to circle and a few drops of rain fell, so we headed under shelter at the nearby GUM department store. With such an amazing location you could expect some exorbitant prices and we were not wrong. 

Apparently there is a joke in Russia about two oligarchs who are comparing the same silk tie they both own. One says that he bought it in Paris for $900 US dollars. The other oligarch laughs and says, you’re crazy you could have got the same thing in GUM for $2,000, so I guess that gives you an idea as to who they are targeting in these stores.

Inside the GUM Department store.

Not having a spare $2000 to spend on a tie, we moved on to the theatre district to take a look at the Bolshoi and it’s little brother the Russian Ballet Theatre. With the Bolshoi being closed for a summer break, we ventured into the Russian Ballet and managed to get tickets for the following nights performance of Swan Lake.

The Bolshoi Theatre.