It was seriously surreal to get off the plane at Moscow's Domodedovo airport and actually Be In Russia.
Ever since I started planning my trip it was uncertain that I'd ever actually get to this country. The visa process was so grueling and uninspiring that I had pretty much given up right until my passport and visa arrived two days before my flight to Yerevan.
Unlike the other countries I was planning to visit, I didn't make an effort to research for Russia as I didn't want to potentially waste a ton of time planning a trip that might not even happen. So it wasn't until a day or two before my flight from Baku, Azerbaijan to Moscow that I started digging in.
Fortunately, I wasn't taking on Moscow alone. My dear friend Evgeniya was hosting me for a few days, and would be able to show me the city from a local perspective. Evgeniya and I met in Bosnia last August and hit it off right away. It was such a cool opportunity to see her again in her home country.
Anyway, back to the airport. Passport control was, surprisingly, a breeze. I had no questions from border control, was able to collect my bag, and exit to the arrivals gate before Evgeniya had even arrived. Which was a little bit of a problem- the "free" Wi-Fi required a working SIM card, which I didn't have. I stopped by a mobile network kiosk and paid about $25 for 10 gigabytes of data- which seemed like a lot compared to Georgia ($10 for 20GB) but I figured because it was Russia that it was going to be a little more expensive. I said "spasiba" to the two young people at the kiosk and one of them responded "Go Trump!"....Welp, I hope my entire trip wasn't going to be like that (fortunately, it wasn't).
I called Evgeniya to see where she was and we almost ran right into each other. Such a great reunion!
I stayed with Evgeniya the first four nights of my week in Moscow and she gave me the starter pack tour of the massive city. We visited the Red Square, GUM Market, VNDKh, Gorky Park, all via the massive, magnificent Moscow Metro. I took so many pictures of the stations, which were the prettiest and cleanest I've ever seen.
A lot of the time Moscow felt like Disneyland. I felt this especially in the touristy areas. Lawns were well-manicured, buildings were bright and beautiful, the fountains were shimmering. Perhaps I was so in awe of these places after coming from the Caucasus- the capital cities of Yerevan, Tbilisi, and Baku were pretty in their own right, but the economies of their respective countries have taken longer to grow that Russia.
It also seems as though much of Russia's wealth is concentrated in Moscow- both as a city and a population. I saw children decked out in designer clothing, and more well-dressed people than ever on the streets. There was a level of decadence in Moscow that I hadn't seen in my travels so far. It was fascinating and a little disturbing, knowing that the wealth gap in Russia is perhaps the largest in the entire world, with 10% of the population controlling 89% of the wealth (2016 numbers from a Credit Suisse report).
When I said goodbye to Evgeniya (she was heading to her family's dacha), I still had three nights left in the city.
Fortunately about 30 minutes into settling into my new hostel I met Isabel, an Australian working as a translator in Switzerland who was in town for a five-week Russian course. We hit it off right away, and spent a lot of time over the next few days together, especially around plates of vegetarian-friendly food and good beer and cocktails. What more could someone want in a travel friend?
That Sunday we went to the Izmaelovsky Market south of the city, possibly the largest souvenir/flea market I have ever seen. Even better, it looked like actual Disneyland- turrets and bright colors and everything.
We wandered around and I found some great Soviet-era goods- a few enamel pins that were so ubiquitous for the time and two classic Soviet table glasses at about two bucks a pop. I can't wait to make cocktails in them at home.
The next couple of days were a blur of museums, wandering around, great food, and great friendship. On Tuesday night, I hopped on a night train to St. Petersburg. The classic "Red Arrow" has been in operation since the 1930s and was pretty nice. I bunked with three Russian women who were keen to go to bed right away (our train left at midnight so I was very okay with that) and I slept well as we barreled toward Russia's most European city.
Ever since I started planning my trip it was uncertain that I'd ever actually get to this country. The visa process was so grueling and uninspiring that I had pretty much given up right until my passport and visa arrived two days before my flight to Yerevan.
 |
| Top level of a toy store |
Unlike the other countries I was planning to visit, I didn't make an effort to research for Russia as I didn't want to potentially waste a ton of time planning a trip that might not even happen. So it wasn't until a day or two before my flight from Baku, Azerbaijan to Moscow that I started digging in.
 |
| Theater |
Fortunately, I wasn't taking on Moscow alone. My dear friend Evgeniya was hosting me for a few days, and would be able to show me the city from a local perspective. Evgeniya and I met in Bosnia last August and hit it off right away. It was such a cool opportunity to see her again in her home country.
Anyway, back to the airport. Passport control was, surprisingly, a breeze. I had no questions from border control, was able to collect my bag, and exit to the arrivals gate before Evgeniya had even arrived. Which was a little bit of a problem- the "free" Wi-Fi required a working SIM card, which I didn't have. I stopped by a mobile network kiosk and paid about $25 for 10 gigabytes of data- which seemed like a lot compared to Georgia ($10 for 20GB) but I figured because it was Russia that it was going to be a little more expensive. I said "spasiba" to the two young people at the kiosk and one of them responded "Go Trump!"....Welp, I hope my entire trip wasn't going to be like that (fortunately, it wasn't).
 |
| Entrance to the Red Square |
I called Evgeniya to see where she was and we almost ran right into each other. Such a great reunion!
 |
| Hotel Ukraine in the distance |
I stayed with Evgeniya the first four nights of my week in Moscow and she gave me the starter pack tour of the massive city. We visited the Red Square, GUM Market, VNDKh, Gorky Park, all via the massive, magnificent Moscow Metro. I took so many pictures of the stations, which were the prettiest and cleanest I've ever seen.
 |
| The metro |
 |
| VNDKh |
A lot of the time Moscow felt like Disneyland. I felt this especially in the touristy areas. Lawns were well-manicured, buildings were bright and beautiful, the fountains were shimmering. Perhaps I was so in awe of these places after coming from the Caucasus- the capital cities of Yerevan, Tbilisi, and Baku were pretty in their own right, but the economies of their respective countries have taken longer to grow that Russia.
 |
| GUM Market |
It also seems as though much of Russia's wealth is concentrated in Moscow- both as a city and a population. I saw children decked out in designer clothing, and more well-dressed people than ever on the streets. There was a level of decadence in Moscow that I hadn't seen in my travels so far. It was fascinating and a little disturbing, knowing that the wealth gap in Russia is perhaps the largest in the entire world, with 10% of the population controlling 89% of the wealth (2016 numbers from a Credit Suisse report).
 |
| Grocery store in the center (I promise no other ones looked like this) |
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| Selling corn on the cob |
When I said goodbye to Evgeniya (she was heading to her family's dacha), I still had three nights left in the city.
Fortunately about 30 minutes into settling into my new hostel I met Isabel, an Australian working as a translator in Switzerland who was in town for a five-week Russian course. We hit it off right away, and spent a lot of time over the next few days together, especially around plates of vegetarian-friendly food and good beer and cocktails. What more could someone want in a travel friend?
That Sunday we went to the Izmaelovsky Market south of the city, possibly the largest souvenir/flea market I have ever seen. Even better, it looked like actual Disneyland- turrets and bright colors and everything.
We wandered around and I found some great Soviet-era goods- a few enamel pins that were so ubiquitous for the time and two classic Soviet table glasses at about two bucks a pop. I can't wait to make cocktails in them at home.
 |
| New Tretyakov Gallery |
The next couple of days were a blur of museums, wandering around, great food, and great friendship. On Tuesday night, I hopped on a night train to St. Petersburg. The classic "Red Arrow" has been in operation since the 1930s and was pretty nice. I bunked with three Russian women who were keen to go to bed right away (our train left at midnight so I was very okay with that) and I slept well as we barreled toward Russia's most European city.
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