Moscow Deets

This whole blogging thing hasn't been going very well, seeing that this is only my second post in the month and a half I have been here...But it's better than nothing, right? 

    Well, I can assure you I love it here.  My kids are adorable, all of us girls get along surprisingly well, and we get to travel!! We recently went to Moscow to see St. Basil's, Red Square, and  the Kremlin.  
     We traveled by train and that was just an adventure in itself..!  Sleeping on a train isn't the most clean transportation I've taken... or the most comfortable.  Sleeper trains are organized into "rooms" with four beds (two on top two on bottom).  So basically I slept with strangers!  I was on the top bunk, which basically means I had to scrunch into a little ball and stay there. In the same position. All night. But, it was fun trying to play card games with the other girls across the way.  We also had an interesting encounter with two Russian boys on the train.  One of them gave chocolate to one of our girls, Hannah.  It was delicious, but the Russian boy? Not so much...

Me and my friend Bre on the top bunks in the train!!

   

     We arrived in Moscow at the butt crack of dawn and had to wait in the train station until the Metros started running. We ate breakfast in the most adorable cafe that had HUGE cups of hot chocolate and pastries that looked like death stars!

     Once we got going, we went to a convent that had legit nuns, so that was pretty cool!  It was like The Sound of Music! Then, we went to the Love Lock bridge. It's a bridge that has metal trees down the middle of it. Couples go there to put a lock on a tree branch that symbolizes locking their love together and then they throw the key over the edge. It's cool because when the trees are all filled up, they take them to parks and use them as art! I'd say it's pretty darn cute!

    After walking around all day with all of my belongings in my backpack, I got the opportunity to spend time at "The Little America".  One of the girl's cousins lives in Moscow, so four of us girls stayed with them.  They were SO nice and welcomed us with open arms- they definitely made us feel at home.  We called it Little America because they made American dinners for us and fed us American food! It doesn't seem like a big deal, but when all you have had is Russian food, you really start to miss the little things like cereal, Twizzlers, apple crisp, Oreos, and PEANUT BUTTER.  Okay, so I have never had much of a love for peanut butter.. until now.  I don't know if it's my lack of protein or what, but that peanut butter was a little bit of heaven. 
   So their family does the cutest family ritual at night- they watch an episode of Cosby, read their scriptures, watch Studio C, and then say their prayers.  It's such a fun way to calm down and get ready for bed!  Anyways, their family is super sweet and it was so nice of them to let us  stay there and intrude for a few days.

     Our second day we went to St. Basil's cathedral, Red Square, and the Kremlin.  We saw Lenin's preserved body which was super creepy.  And I'm still questioning whether or not it was real... honestly it just looked like a bunch of wax in a body form.  But talk about serious people... You walk into this marble building and it is just pure darkness. There are guards around every corner that just glare at you as you are struggling not to run into walls or trip over the ground. You have to keep your hands straight by your side, and if you put them in your pockets, you get yelled at.  You walk into this big, open room that has a 'casket' right in the middle, walk up like four stairs, walk in a half square, and walk out.. going through more dark hallways that lead to outside.  Lenin's body is in a big, glass box.  It's looks like a huge, wax doll just sleeping there.  You can see his fingernails rotting and his hair is still on his face and head.  It was actually a really cool experience, but dead people just freak me out...so the fact that he looked so real, but died forever ago, gives me the heeby-geebys!

Me in front of Lenin's tomb

   St. Basil's is usually what people think of when they think "Russia".  It is a beautiful, colorful cathedral inside and out!!  I would say my favorite part about it was the secret, winding staircases and the small, secret passage ways all throughout the cathedral! (:

Me in front of St. Basil's!

I was a part of history!! I signed the guest book for St. Basil's!!

     We went to a mall on Red Square called GUM.  It is this huge, multi-level department store with high-end stores, sky light ceilings, and restaurants! Naturally, we got ice cream and then went to this cute Candy store that was filled with all sorts of goodies (for both kids and adults)!! It was harder for me to walk through the candy store than it was for me to walk through their clothing stores!  Walls were lined with all sorts of chocolates, pastries, ice cream, vodkas, wines... you name it!  Talk about wanting to buy everything..!!!

(Daddy, this picture is for you)
This is one of the many walls that was lined with Russian Vodka
(The adult candy store section)

    We went to the armory in the Kremlin which was SO cool!!! They had dresses, carriages, horse harnesses, weapons, crowns, jewelry and thrones that belonged to royals way back when!  Upstairs were household items such as cribs, dishes, basins, beakers, etc that belonged to Tsars- most of which were gifts from kings!  It was interesting to learn about all of the different items and see all of the phenomenal details in each display!!  Technically cameras were prohibited, but.... I was able to sneak a few pictures (;

We got yelled at in Russian for taking this picture...hehe

But the size of this carriage wheel was almost as tall as I was! It was huge! Hence my face..

     Well, we ended our vacation with a nice stroll down Arbot street.  It was a cute, hidden street that reminded me much of San Fran!! There were artists lined down the street, street performers, and old European buildings!! Not to mention the cute little cafes, stores, and restaurants that felt so cozy.

My trip to Moscow was fantastic!!! I saw SO much and was able to be engulfed by the Russian culture, while still having a little piece of America!  It has finally hit me that I am here, but it definitely feels like my home! (: