Moscow On Our Own

Thursday morning we decided to pass on the ships provided excursions on our own by use of the Moscow Metpo. The system is a complex series187 miles and 182 stations of trains making the entire city available to the more then 9 million Moscowvites moving through the second largest subway system in the world.

It is obviously an easy system to maneuver through to anyone who speaks and reads Russian. The six of us, Gene and Chris, Tom and Kaco, and Nita and I don’t speak or read any Russian thus our day presented a real challenge. Although my first impression of the Russian people was not attractive and cold I have to add extremely helpful. On more then one occasion we found ourselves totally lost and confused, I would walk up to usually a young and attractive woman and blurt out “Do you know Travauak Station?” and hold out my map. In 90% of my attempts they would look at my map to read the station name that I was mispronouncing and then motion the six of us to follow them. In many journeys through the miles of connecting tunnels I an convinced our voluntary guide altered their path to their destination to accommodate our destination. They would give me a small hand motion to follow, no smile, only Russian words and we would maneuver through the mass of humanity on to a speeding pack train, they might hold up 4 fingers to indicate 4 stops, then they would direct us off the train and we would find another helpful Moscowite to assist us on our search for a museum or restaurant.

We went to one of the best collections of Impressionist artists that I have ever seen and ate at the Pushkin Café , one of Europe’s Top Restaurants by Zagat. Sea Bass, borsch, salad, Russian bread, Russian beer, and exemplary service provided an ample reward for our enduring search through the Metpo.

Our day ended at midnight after a two hour tour of Moscow by night. I’ve decided that the people of Moscow are some of the nicest and helpful people of the world and their city is full of beauty despite their historical and political needs to build for necessity rather than for aesthetic appeal.