On our last full day in Moscow we did a longer than usual sleep in, and then went across the street to “Coffee Mania” for breakfast. The place was in an old building with an art-deco style, and the service was good although a little proactive. Sometimes it felt like they were taking our dishes out of our hands as soon as we finished with them. Kuniko had a nice eggs benedict, and I had a simple omelet with my coffee. As for price, it was a little more expensive than other breakfasts we had during the trip, but not outrageous.
Since today was the opening of the big jam festival we decided to walk around and see what it was like. We were still a little early, though, so we sat in the shade of the Kremlin and did some people watching for a while. I bought a small homemade soda – the syrup was delivered from giant glass cones with valves on the bottom – quite interesting. The jam festival had lots of jam, of course, but we noticed that most of it was available in supermarkets in the area, and there were very few unique products for sale. Some food was prepared to be eaten immediately, but most of the jams and preserves were commercial products. A little anticlimactic.
After walking through the jam festival we decided to go do the bulk of our souvenir shopping at a nearby grocery store. We were able to get everything we wanted to get except for an interesting bottle of vodka. It was interesting that the most upscale and expensive vodkas were made for export, and as such were covered with English writing. I was looking for something a little more, well, Russian, so we continued our vodka search in several big department stores in the area.
One department store near our hotel was decorated with LED lights that made up the shape of some animated characters at night, and so when we went inside we found almost an entire floor dedicated to toy stores. The place also was decorated heavily with Russian flags, and there was a big Disney toy store inside also. There was a live show going on with a guy in a wizard suit entertaining kids and their families, and the whole thing was oddly surreal.
As we continued our vodka hunt we went through the basements of several nice department stores. Like in Japan, the basements had upscale supermarkets with higher than normal prices. As we walked through it was almost eerie how few customers there were. In fact, often times we were the only people there. The economy is tough in Russia right now, so I guess this is to be expected.
I also noticed that in almost every big store in Russia there were young men in suits with permanent frowns that watched the floor of the shop. I expect that they were security, and they always gave customers icy, suspicious looks, which doesn’t exactly make you feel welcome in the stores. I smiled and nodded at a few, but they just scowled and turned away. It was a weird vibe.
Tired out and empty handed from our vodka hunt, we decided to solve our problems with a cold beer and a light lunch. For the last time we went to our little beer restaurant and sat outside while Russian kids rollerbladed to patriotic music nearby. For lunch we just split a salmon salad, and after our beers we headed to the GUM department store where we finally found a bottle of vodka to take home. We bought a box to help with packing, and then we went back to our hotel to hit the pool and hot tub.
In the afternoon we decided to take a nap, and when we woke up Kuniko was feeling a little sick – something wrong with her stomach. We decided to stay in bed as long as possible, and then we got up and headed to the restaurant. After leaving the hotel Kuniko realized that a spicy Georgian dinner was probably the last thing she should be eating tonight, so we walked back to our hotel room and I tucked her into bed to get some rest. I just snacked on stuff in our room and did some writing and reading, and then I went to bed soon afterwards. It wasn’t the gastronomical extravaganza that I had envisioned for our last night in Moscow, but since we were traveling the next day I think it was best to rest up and get ready for the long plane flight back home.
