Yesterday I got back from Moscow, after spending four turbulent days in the capitol of the Russian Federation, and I’m very sorry for not having blogged while being there. In general I’m sorry for not blogging lately, but I promise to redeem myself very soon. I wanted to blog while in Moscow, because it is after all a more exciting place than the Urals, but I had very little free time. I wasn’t there just for the pure fun of it, I’m afraid: I had to pass three finals in Russian Literature from my Swedish university at the Swedish Embassy there. This took nine hours all in all, six on Monday and three on Tuesday. After that I did have some time to enjoy the capitol, and I walked around on Red Square (for the second time in my life!) with all the other foreign tourists, who I think joined me as I made my way with the crowd toward Old Arbat Street, and then onto New Arbat Street. Moscow is not Russia, not at all and becoming less like the rest of the country every day, but it is one of those few places on Earth which you simply MUST visit at least once in life! It’s such a wonderfully beautiful mix of new and old, cheap and expensive, full of crazy souvenirs, like expensive yet fake fur hats and old USSR memorabilia being sold everywhere you go. I failed to catch a glimpse of Lenin, though – I didn’t get to Red Square until 2 p.m., and the good old communist closes at 1 p.m. On Sunday, the day after I flew in and the one day I had all to myself, I went to the Dostoevsky Museum. I intend to write about this tomorrow, because the visit deserves a post of its own. Other than that, all I did was take advantage of drinking good, Western style (though over-priced) big mugs of black filter coffee at different coffee shops and looking at people (20 million inhabitants make a diverse and splendidly mixed crowd, especially on the metro) and buildings and cars. I also spent a large amount of time window shopping – Moscow is the place to go if you want some kind of – any kind of – luxury item. And I know I can’t buy anything, but a girl can always dream…<\/div>\n
\nPeople in Moscow were also very nice. It was my second visit to the city, but my first time there alone, so I had to ask people for directions all the time, and everyone answered me with smiles and kind words. Perhaps it was because I arrived after a four day holiday (since Thursday June 12th was ‘Russian Independence Day’), perhaps because the sun was shining. Or maybe, just maybe, because Russians are a friendly people. Often people get the idea that Russians aren’t kind to strangers, but I believe this is a legend made up by someone who went to Leningrad during November 1976 and got the evil eye from a babushka for not putting on slippers while drinking tea at her house.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday I got back from Moscow, after spending four turbulent days in the capitol of the Russian Federation, and I’m very sorry for not having blogged while being there. In general I’m sorry for not blogging lately, but I promise to redeem myself very soon. I wanted to blog while in Moscow, because it…<\/p>\n
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