Moskva

I think I must have lots of news, and have seen many interesting things, but as my main activity in Moscow has been being jetlagged, I don’t really remember what they are. Abby and I have been in Moscow for 2 days- walked around Red Square, walked around lots of amazing malls, generally walked around a lot in our awesome leather boots. Moscow is a very, very big city. I had forgotten that Irkutsk isn’t actually a big city, and that it’s sort of far from centers of fashion and such. Moscow is rather overwhelming, actually, but it’s fun. And there are very pretty, very old churches and monasteries and towers and things, much prettier and older than in Irkutsk. Anything else of especial note? Met Eddie and Sarah in Red Square our first night here and walked around with them, and Eddie and I probably bored Abby and Sarah by our constant “This would never happen in Irkutsk” comments. This comment applies to most of Moscow, but was especially appropriate to the hip cocktail lounge where we were at the time. There are McDonalds here everywhere- none of those in Irkutsk. And less fur, especially on men, and more tennis shoes, and more beggars, and fewer ice cream kiosks, and much more variety in fashion, and I don’t know what else. Hopefully I am currently posting this using the wireless connection in a McDonalds (the fanciest McDonalds I’ve every seen).

Ok, I’m trying again to write something informative. We went to a cemetery this morning (Novodevichy) where Moscow has buried all its famous people- Chekhov, Gogol, Lenin’s wife, all sorts of Veterans of Labor and military heroes I’ve never heard of. It was a very, very impressive place, next to a very impressive walled monastery with big shining onion domes sticking out everywhere. It was quiet and snow-covered and full of trees and brick walkways, and every tombstone was a sculpture of some impressive, generally modernistic kind. I was most impressed.

Ok, that’s all I can think of.

Oh, I want to add that in the airport in Irkutsk everyone plastic-wrapped their luggage. I guess the airport authorities don’t have rules about locks like in America. So I had mine plastic-wrapped too, as I was afraid everyone knew something I didn’t. And I was very amused that the plastic-wrapping cost over twice as much as the actual bag. It also condensed it to the density of a brick, which made it more interesting to carry about. I’ve discovered why people pack in suitcases and not just in plastic bags.