If you've been following the blog you will know that I've now left Tomsk, which was honestly very emotional. I became very attached to the people there and I think leaving it was harder because I know how much more difficult it will be to go back there compared with going back to Leipzig. There were tears on both sides when I said goodbye to my host mother at the bus station, I really do miss her.
After that it was all go with the travel. I surprised myself by talking to the man next to me on the bus a couple of times but most importantly I was surprised because I wasn't afraid to do so. Similar situations where I've talked to strangers have come up many times since leaving Tomsk actually (a side effect of travelling alone I suppose) and I'm proud of myself that I don't have to talk myself into it any more. I'm just not scared and it's wonderful.
New-found confidence aside, I would say I probably wavered slightly when I got onto the Trans-Siberian Express for the first time and felt completely overwhelmed. I had no idea what to do, where I should sit (I had the top bunk and it was incredibly low and cramped and the lower bunk had a sleeping person in it) or how to go about procuring bedding. In the end I curled up in the foetal position on my bunk and waited until the train started. At which point our carriage attendant appeared and started handing out the bedding and suddenly all was wonderful. At any rate mostly wonderful because I was still sleeping in my clothes on a rather uncomfortable bunk, with no room to even sit up straight.
Once I'd got used to it though it was quite pleasant, if a little dull, and thank goodness the people sitting near me were nice and they'd always move aside to let me get to the table when I needed to eat (which was probably about the only time I came out of the bunk). Arriving into Moscow at 4am was less than fun though and meant I had to sit and wait for a while for the metro to open. Whilst sat waiting I listened to Rammstein's song 'Moskau'. A while ago I decided that if my year abroad was going to have a song, it was going to be this one as it manages to combine both my languages (never mind that the song makes Moscow sound like a prostitute, I could probably write another blog post arguing how correct that assumption is).
Anyway as everyone says the Moscow metro truly is beautiful, lots of marble and columns and chandeliers and mosaics. I reckon I became quite good at quickly navigating my way around after four days. The first thing I actually did though was walk from the hostel to Red Square as it wasn't far. I could barely contain my grin as I got closer knowing I'd see St. Basil's cathedral soon. For me, this cathedral symbolises Moscow, it's what I think of whenever I think of the city and in real life it's truly beautiful, inside and out.
Other things I did in Moscow include the standard tourist fare, like going round the Tretyakovskaya Gallery and also gawking at the body of Lenin still on display in his mausoleum. I actually got chivvied by one of the guards because I lingered slightly too long. Probably because I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing, poor Lenin doesn't even look like a human body any more, he looked like he was made of porcelain. I did also wonder why his right hand was clenched and his left open though.
Speaking of guards I did also get shouted at in the Kremlin as it was getting close to closing time and I wandered across a road towards what I believe was the armoury building. There was a shout of, "Back!" from one of the guards and I hurried off, pretending I hadn't done anything.
Most of all in Moscow I think I enjoyed the things that I just happened across and hadn't planned on seeing. For example the sculpture garden opposite Gorky Park where I found an open air cinema and huddled in a blanket to watch the Belgian film 'Hasta La Vista'. Or the two vegetarian cafes that I ended up visiting, in the last of which I found out about an online social network for Russian vegetarians. Or maybe even the wall in Alexander park (behind the Kremlin) where people hide coins for people to find and when you find one you're allowed to move it to somewhere else in the wall (another time where I talked to a stranger, just so I could ask what on earth was going on!). Or the poster I chanced across in the hostel which lead me to the Museum of Soviet Arcade Games, where I played 'Python' and discovered how strong I was.
All in all Moscow was a blast and to be honest it didn't feel as daunting as I'd expected. My theory is that the lack of significant numbers of skyscrapers makes the whole place feel a bit smaller and easier to handle. I wonder if it's a sign of wealth and affluence to show that you can afford to build out rather than up, but who knows. I for one loved it and based on first impressions I'm not sure if I'll like St. Petersburg as much.
I'll let you know in a few days...
