Day 3

Today was a very very long day. We left for a walking tour of Moscow at 12 and I didn't get back to the dorm until 11:30. My feet hurt, but it was worth it! We saw a lot of interesting things! First we walked down to the University metro stop and went five stops to the cathedral of Christ the Redeemer. It was gorgeous. The top was all made of gold, and there were tulips all around. Summer in Moscow is beautiful. There was a couple who had just been married taking pictures out front. There was also an old gypsy woman and her daughter begging for money out front. From there we walked down Gogolsky Boulevard which is dedicated to the famous Russian writer Gogol. He's got a statue at the end of it (or the beginning) where he has is back turned to the boulevard. Our friends who were leading us told us that this was significant, but i asked why and I didn't really get a straight answer, that's russia for you. After that we went to Seriy Arbat (old arbat) which is the oldest street in Moscow, and is where most of the tourist come to do their shopping etc. There are many places to eat and shop, and a plethora of street musicians. We walked all the way down and stopped to eat at the Moo moo Cafe, they had all kinds of traditional russian cuisine. I ordered Borsch and a type of Russian chicken salad. Very delicious. We left and started walking down Old Arbat back the way we came and we ran into a Harri Krishna Parade. That was interesting. There were dancers and drummers and they were all singing ("Harri harri, krishna krishna!"). Further down there was a breakdancing group. When the Harri Krishna's got to that point they just walked around the crowd while still singing and dancing. The break dancers started to dance to the Krishna's music, it was funny. Then we went to walk by the Russian State Library, while we were on our way there we saw a bicycle race go by. There was a statue dedicated to Dostoyevski in front of the library. From there we went to the Kremlin, it wasn't open due to preparations for the Victory Day parade on monday (preparing 2 days in advance, this is going to be a huge party). We walked around a little bit and saw some very interesting people, then we went to GUM, one of the largest malls. It was built in 1893 and was used to distribute rations during the Soviet era. But now it's full of Prada, Gucci, and lots of other stores that I can't afford. People say to go visit GUM, but only to see it, not to buy anything because nobody can afford the things that are there. Hahaha. After that we hopped on the metro and headed back to the university. On the way back some of us stopped at the mall nearby for dinner and a little bit of shopping. I got myself a 3g internet modem for my computer (the internet is hard to come by, and it was only $30 bucks for two months). My feet are killing me and I need a shower, talk to you tomorrow!!

Moscow, Russia