Re-visiting Russia ....

..... because I'm dreadfully tired of re-visiting my current life ..... and need something else to think about.

Even if it is .... Russia.

So I picked up my journal and am going over the notes that I made while there.

Bear with me while I go over them ...... especially the ones that you've already read.

     You heard me talk about the incredibly beautiful subways.  They are made of marble and granite and gold and ivory.  They are located very, very deeply underground (since they also served as bomb shelters).  The narrow escalators seemed to be the length of about three average American escalators.  I tried to sneak several pictures (since it's illegal to take pictures there, but then .... that has never stopped me), but none came out well enough.  At the bottom of every escalator was a man or a woman sitting in a very small glassed-in booth.  Just sitting there.

Watching for people like me, I suppose.  

No books, no magazines ...... nothing but watching the endless lines of people fighting to get on and off those subways.

And no smiles.

I remember being on the subway one day and thinking how these people were surrounded by the most incredible beauty but it didn't seem to touch them.  The majority of those people looked more miserable than any I'd ever seen.

Moscow had a lot of flowers ...... growing and in flower stalls.  D1 thinks that they sell so many flowers to keep people from throwing themselves in front of the buses.  I think she's totally right.

Moscow also has a lot of ice cream.  I kid you not.  I really do think that those people eat their weight in ice cream at least every year.  Even when it's freezing outside you will see people all over the city ..... walking around with an ice cream cone.  

I finally broke down and had one on our last day in Petersburg.

Russian ice cream has got nuttin' on Italian gelato.  Seriously.

Hey ..... maybe THAT'S why they're so miserable?!!

Moscow also has a lot of shoe stores.  Those women are shoe-crazy.  And not just shoes .... stilettos.  Shoes that are so high I got a nose-bleed just looking at them!

OK, that may have been a slight exaggeration.  Maybe I just got a runny nose.

They also wear a lot of black.  I know, I know ..... you think that everyone in New York City wears black.

Trust me ..... NYC looks like a freakin' Easter egg compared to Moscow!

Here are some things that Moscow did not have ..... at least not that I could see:

*smiles

*joy

*manners

*people in wheelchairs (I only saw one the entire time I was there ..... the streets are not wheel chair-friendly)

*small children ...... yes, I did see some, but not many.  Not many strollers, either.  There were several school-age children, but toddlers ..... not so much.

*spice in their food

*recycling --- I can tell you now that we as Americans are losing the battle.  They do NOT recycle.  It was amazing.

Another thing that stood out as amazing to me was this ...... when you go to a restaurant ... the waiters do not bring out everyone's dish at the same time.  

Seriously.

Every single time D1 and I went out to eat, one of us received her meal first.  And it does no good to wait for the other meal to be brought ..... or you would always eat cold food.

It was very strange.

OK, that's it for tonight.  

I'm tired, but what else is new?

I still have notes about Petersburg so I'll write them another day.

And just for grins I will leave you with a picture of Son #3 in his Russian hat.

Yes, it's real.

Go ahead .... call PETA if you'd like.  

I don't think they exist in Russia.

Not above ground anyway.

:)