Moscow

Our group was rag-tag, not affliated with a college or a non-profit, and we had an American escort with us at all times. There were only 19 of us in all, mostly couples, but I was the only single woman so, happily, I settled into a room by myself.

The  drive in from the airport must have taken about an hour. Early October, and leaves are still on the trees but starting to be brown. The birches are still yellow though and once the sun came out, they gleam. It all looks rather vaguely, seedily Continental. The boulevards are  wide, spacious, tree lined; the tallest buildings are apartment houses, and most of those seem to be in the 25 to 30 story range. There is a great deal of heavy masonry used in the buildings and you were very conscious of public architecture. Many monuments and parks. Since it was Sunday many people in the parks. Kids playing soccer ice hockey on a flooded field. Lots of cars on the streets and many people in buses and electric trolleys. Much of the feel of say Boston suburbs, may be out Commonwealth Avenue. No sense of New York City crowd bustle. 

There’s definitely the feel that it takes time for styles to filter here. The art on the street was mostly awful, Keane-ish kids, doggies and ships with billowing sails. I bought a small print - an etching? for 10 rubles ($15), it’s good. I think in spite of what Ludmilla and Pam say  I will use roubles.

I found the bus with little difficulty, visited the beriozka here in the hotel and  had wine with dinner ($4 to share with a couple).  There’s a gaming room. All electronic noise and neon. Bars galore in the hotel, lovely big hot tub for a bath, early bed, then awake at 4:30 to do my journal.

From there back to the hotel - but it was a Jewish holiday, Simkat Torah, so I joined the “younger" members of the group - 9 of us - and we went via subway to the one working synagogue in Moscow. Thousands of people there, in and out of the brightly lit temple. An American was talking and we stood in the crowded synagogue balcony and listened to the chants until the heat and pressure became too much and we moved out to give others - many young, many foreign, but mostly I think Jewish - the chance to stand and beaded by the strength of faith in the face of government obstruction.

There was supposed to be dancing afterwards, but the street was much too crowded, so we left. Walked to Red Square, shining in the darkness, and saw the changing of the guard at Lenin’s tomb. Very goose-step. But done to coincide with the chiming of bells in the baroque church tower, every hour on the hour.

By now there were three of us, Rose and Rupert, retired teachers, and I. Rupert was having none of notions about taxis, so off we went to find the subway and the way back to the hotel. After a few minutes of trying to talk with the populace, we were taken in tow by a young computer programmer and his two sons who got us going right. I gave the younger  son stickers and flirted with him. Shy and sweet. I snacked in the bar.

The Cosmos Hotel is comfortable, comparable to a Marriot, with an international clientele. It is a tourist hotel; the very elaborate National hotel, is a “business” hotel. The food is good, breakfasts of blinis and omelettes, et. Coffee scarce but good; chai plentiful. Lunch begins with a plate of zargostas - carefully arranged appetizer of smoked salmon, or caviar on half a hard-boiled egg, plum tomatoes, Russian salad. Bread is black or “French”, very good and fresh. Then a soup like Schie or borscht, . Then a main course, with poor meat, canned veggies - but hot pepper sauce which helps, and filled breads. Then ice cream with, say, sour cherries on top. Dinner is much the same, but no soup, and fancier pastries for dessert. Service varies from sullen, requests for cigarettes, etc, to pleasant giggling young chambermaids. People are like people everywhere.  Some push, others smile and are polite. The general clothing is very American-middle-class. Traffic jams in the streets but not serious for a city of this size. Food stores look grim and backward. It’s hard to tell about money since the difference between the official exchange and the black market is so great (1 ruble=$1.65 vs. 4rubles=$1)