We made sure to sleep in and enjoy the big comfortable bed in our hotel room. The room was a little more luxurious than usual for us. We figured since the Russian economy was in worse shape than the Japanese one, we might as well splurge a little.
The started off with a little exploration around the hotel. About a five minute walk from the hotel was the outer gates of the Kremlin complex. We observed the guards of the tomb of the unknown soldier, who took their job very seriously. Following the outer wall of the Kremlin to the west we could walk through a nice park, with plenty of shade. It was starting to get hot in the sun, so our job during most of the trip was to try to find the shadiest pathway.
As we walked around we discovered some Japanese vending machines. It turns out that we didn’t see many vending machines in Russia, but the ones we did see were all Japanese. The products inside were Japanese, and the descriptions and lettering of the packaging were all in Japanese too. In fact, the first time we walked by them they were totally invisible to me because I walk by nearly a hundred of them every day during my commute. They were expensive, though – nearly double the prices in Japan. We did see some Russian people buying drinks, though. It was kind of gamble for them since they didn’t know exactly what they were buying. It was almost like some sort of roulette. In Russia. With drinks instead of bullets.
Near the vending machines was a small supermarket, and we spent more time than you would think checking out all the products. Already we had to start thinking about what products might make good souvenirs to take back to Japan – we are like typical Japanese tourists in that respect. It was fun to look through the vodka section, and I couldn’t believe how many different kinds of cheeses were available. Since we were just starting our explorati0n we didn’t buy anything at the time. Just taking notes.
We left and wandered some more streets, and found ourselves a little north of Red Square on a street that had small theaters and playhouses on one side, and on the other side cafes and restaurants. It seemed like as good a place as any for breakfast, so we had a light breakfast and some coffee. The cafes were serious about their coffee in Moscow. I didn’t have a bad cup of coffee the whole time we were there. The staff was very friendly, and since there weren’t many other customers she put up with our bad Russian expressions.
After breakfast we continued on our random walking tour and saw the Bulshoi theater, and found a big supermarket that was very close to our hotel. This place had everything, and it turned into our shopping home base throughout the trip. It was big but overstaffed, and the workers inside were struggling with consciousness. At least they had jobs, but it didn’t look like a very fulfilling career. We stocked up on beer and snacks to try later on, and then took our loot underground to cross over to the street with our hotel. Underground the pathways were lined with tiny red shops, some open and some closed. They were very shallow, so you could barely fit inside, but the shopkeepers stood at the door and they would reach into the store if you found something that you liked. Some places sold food like piroshkis and breads, others sold cheesy souvenirs and clothes. Plenty of Putin memorabilia, too.
Once we got back to our hotel and properly refrigerated our beers and juice we went back on the street to go check out the inside of the Kremlin. The ticket system was easy to understand, and we got through security fairly quickly. Inside there was almost no access to government buildings, but plenty of chances to walk through some very old cathedrals. The architecture of the buildings was very impressive, and there was almost no signs of heavy security. Being at the center of a fortress has some benefits, I guess. There were police officers whose job was to keep the tourists out of the roads, which was a busy job. The scale of the buildings and towers was so huge that everyone was backing up to take a picture and try to get everything in the shot. Everybody wants to take a picture of the world’s largest bell, but it is a little tricky to get it all in the frame!
Most of the cathedrals in the Kremlin were strictly no photo zones, so we just tried to file away the beautiful interiors into our memory banks. We spent a while going through the rest of the grounds and then finally left.
By the time we left the Kremlin the tourists were really out and about. We saw lots of Asian tour groups – mostly Chinese. This city seems to be a major tourist draw, which must be very helpful to the economy. I’ve never seen so many selfie sticks in my life.
We stopped for lunch at a small cafe stuck between the Russian chain restaurant MyMy and a McDonald’s. I think we made the right choice. They brewed their own beer there (and it was quite good and reasonably priced), and we could do some people watching while we drank and ate. We ordered a “Russian Assortment” which was huge. Veal tongue, pickled tomatoes, pancetta, bread with fish and onions, potatoes, all kinds of little goodies. We did our best, but it was a lot of food.
After our beer break we headed back to the hotel to try out the pool. On the way back we walked through the GUM shopping center, which was located right on Red Square. It was pretty upscale, but they had some interesting items that we were considering for souvenirs. It was worth a look, but not the kind of place you’d shop every day.
Since we were walking around in the sun most of the morning, a swim sounded refreshing. Back at the hotel we took the elevator to the basement level, and we signed in to use the pool. It was a beautiful pool. We were the only ones there the first day, and it was a rare case to see any other guests during our week’s stay at the hotel. The pool room was actually two floors, with the upper floor containing the gym, spa, and exercise equipment, and the pool, sauna, Turkish bath and jacuzzi on the bottom floor. The pool was heated to about 28 degrees, so very comfortable and easy to get in. We spent a lot of time at that pool during our stay.
Once we finished with the pool we went back to room for some more beer and snacks, and then we took a long nap. This is what vacations are all about!
For dinner we walked a ways north to Cafe Pushkin. It was written up by the NY Times as one of the few restaurants in Moscow that understands what true service is, and since they are open 24 hours we thought we’d easily be able to get a table. We were right – they showed us to a window seat and we had a very nice dinner of beef stroganoff (Kuniko) and mushroom pelmeni (Bryan) and we shared some fried pancakes for an appetizer. Everything was delicious, and the NY Times was right – the service was impeccable.
Since we had eaten a big lunch and had snacks after swimming we stuck with the light dinner, but after walking back to the hotel we found ourselves drawn again to the outdoor terrace of the beer restaurant for a final drink and some more pelmeni – I couldn’t get enough. This time we had bear and elk pelmeni – so delicious!
Every time we go to Europe we love to sit at cafes and watch the world go by, and Moscow was no exception. We would sit at a cafe for an hour or more just sipping our coffees or beers and enjoying conversation, or just people watching. It is one of the things that is a little hard to do in Japan, especially in summer with the hot, wet weather. Luckily this trip we could get lots of cafe time in.
Finally we decided to head on back to the hotel and get some sleep. No effects from jetlag so far – that is good news.
