That's right peoples ... I, Miss V, have conquered the Moscow Metro. Oh its scary all right - take a good look at the metro map we brought - you really just have to picture the symbols, in my head I say "its a backwards p and then a k and then something similar to an n!" Ha ha ha, hilarious, also I now can picture what the word exit looks like so I know how to get out.
Obviously the Moscow Metro is famous, situated deep underground the stations are works of art, they are supposed to show all Russians the might and beauty of the nation. I think they are fascinating, each one is different and full of unusual art, statues and rare stone. The trains themselves on the other hand have not really changed from the 50's. They scream into the station only breaking at the last minute, everyone rushes on while people are trying to get off .... overall its great fun and something everyone should try!
So our first stop yesterday was the Izmailovo Flee Markets. These are mostly for tourists but if you actually look towards the back of the markets you will see a lot more locals and much more interesting items for sale. This is a fair way out of the city and we got here by train. There are lovely cooking smells, people yelling about their items, stray dogs running around, snow and mud cover the floor ... I could have spent hours just wandering around here ... totally brilliant. I must say that at this point the temperature had dropped down to about minus 7 and brave Mr V who is too tough for gloves started losing all feeling in his hands and ears!
After that we went to the Palace of the Romanv Boyars. These are rather unknown in Moscow with even our guide never visiting. You put on little blue bootie covers before you enter and find yourselves crawling through tiny little staircases and ducking into small doorways to explore even smaller rooms. Everything about this building appears to be about conserving heat. At minus 7 today you start to understand just how important heat is.
Finally it was hubby's turn and we explored the space museum, full of old satelites, mock up shuttles and escape pods and stories (All in Russian) of the glory of the space race this place seemed to be more suited to the locals but still worth a visit.
Our guide left us after this and we got on the Metro to visit a place I was told was not open during our visit ... Gorky Park. Mr V was practically bouncing as we walked over the river towards the park and to be honest even I was blown away. Touted as the biggest outdoor skating rink in the world this thing was amazing. The entire park has been transformed from pathways to ice ... music was playing, fairy lights twinkled in the trees and peoples laughter could be heard from the overhead boardwalks where those "non-skaters" watched.
Sunday night is apparently the busiest night of the week but we will be back Tuesday morning to have our own turn.
Oh yes, on our way home we came across a space shuttle just sitting by the river .... Only in Moscow.
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