Moscow was a real shocker for me. From the moment that I left the airplane, everything was different. It seemed dimmer, older, and smellier :) When we left the airport and we were driving down the highway, I would look to the right and left and see cars parked/dead on the side of the highway. People would park wherever they needed/wanted to. It was crazy. I saw a lot of old cars that were broken down on the side of the road.
Once we got further into the city, I wondered to myself where the "nice" parts of Moscow were. Unfortunately, we were driving into the worse parts of Moscow :(
When I finally got to the Volga (my hotel), I didn't know WHAT to expect. I had heard many horror stories about the hotels. Safe to say, it was NOT as bad as what everyone had said. It was probably worse than a Motel6, but not by much :)
Due to the shuttle launch slipping a few days, I got the chance to explore Moscow. For the first couple of days, I just went out to various "night-life" locations around Moscow. Things like restaurants, bars, and a club were all included :D Funny, but I actually didn't have "Russian" food until about my 4th day here! We would usually go to america, mexican, or indian food!
The first sight-seeing place that I went to was the famous Ismailova. It is a flea market where everything is cheap! This is where I bought all of my souvenirs! It was a ve
ry interesting place that really reminded me of Guatemala, including the smell! For a while, NASA employees were asked to not visit due to threats to foreigners that entered the area. Fortunately for me, they lifted that ban a couple of days before I got there. They had tons of different stuff including nesting dolls, jewelry boxes, furry hats, DVDs, or just about anythink you might want to get. Attached to it, was this area that had really interesting architecture that we walked through. They also had painters that were selling their artwork, persian rugs... it was crazy! UNfortunately, due to illegal black-market dealings going on, they "closed" the market. We tried going back, and nothing seemed to have changed :D Lucky for us, cuz I had a bit of shopping left to do!
ry interesting place that really reminded me of Guatemala, including the smell! For a while, NASA employees were asked to not visit due to threats to foreigners that entered the area. Fortunately for me, they lifted that ban a couple of days before I got there. They had tons of different stuff including nesting dolls, jewelry boxes, furry hats, DVDs, or just about anythink you might want to get. Attached to it, was this area that had really interesting architecture that we walked through. They also had painters that were selling their artwork, persian rugs... it was crazy! UNfortunately, due to illegal black-market dealings going on, they "closed" the market. We tried going back, and nothing seemed to have changed :D Lucky for us, cuz I had a bit of shopping left to do!The next place that I went to was the Red Square. This is considered to be the "center of moscow." It's where the president lives as well as where "all roads lead to" in Moscow. It is a very beautiful place with a things like Lenin's tomb and St. Basil's cathederal, as well as the GUM (a pricey mall).
The next place that I visited was the Space Museum! It is marked in Russia by a HUGE tower in the shape of a rocket blasting off into the sky. It had amazing statues around it and images at the base of the tower. Under the tower was the actual museum. Unfortunatly, on the day that I visited, they were closed, so I didn't get a chance to go in :(
That same day, I went to watch the Russian National Dance Show. Just across the street from 
the Space Museum, in the Cosmos Hotel, it was a VERY interesting experience. I was expecting something in a nice auditorium (thinking Hobby Center nice). When I walked in, however, the place was WORSE than my high school auditorium. The show was very intesting though. They went through the history of Russia and some of the dances in that history. Of course, they did the expected "squat-kick" dancing as well as other dances and flips all over the place!
the Space Museum, in the Cosmos Hotel, it was a VERY interesting experience. I was expecting something in a nice auditorium (thinking Hobby Center nice). When I walked in, however, the place was WORSE than my high school auditorium. The show was very intesting though. They went through the history of Russia and some of the dances in that history. Of course, they did the expected "squat-kick" dancing as well as other dances and flips all over the place!After that, work started and I didn't get the chance to do much sight-seeing. I worked the night shift (9pm-5am) and slept during the day. Of course, I went out to dinner at various other places, had Abe cook some delicious dinners for me, as well as lived off of Ramen and Coke for a few days!
All-in-all, I say that I would have liked to see more of Moscow, but I'm ready to go home. After almost a month spent in Russia, I'm ready to go home, and see my wife and "kids" again :D
For more pictures, check out my Picasa album here.
Whoa, that's crazy. I wish I could've been there, too. That first picture is of Auchan, I remember having one near my house when I was little. Small world.
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