Monday, July 23: Moscow with Konstantin

I was up at 6:00 am and helped get some suitcases on the bus. I ate a last breakfast in Moscow with my fellow Fulbrighters. I said my goodbyes to all of them as they went to the airport to catch an early afternoon flight to NYC. After they left, I was alone in Moscow! I was alone in Moscow for nearly two hours - it's kind of scarey!! Konstantin, my exchange teacher from Penza, met me a little earlier than our agreed time in the lobby of the Vega Hotel. It was a joyful reunion! I have seen him several times in the US in the past few years, but this is the only time that I have been back to Russia! We then embarked on a luggage logistics exercise designed to get rid of my luggage at all the right places so it would be there when I returned to Moscow for my flight in three days! We took my large suitcase and put it in a locker at the train station (we would be coming back to Moscow on the train). We then placed my other suitcase at another train station, the one that we will take to the airport in the evening. After we had secured the big pieces of luggage, we were free to see the rest of Moscow! All of this was done by taking the Moscow metro all over the place!!

The first place we went was Gorky Park. I had always heard of it, but had never been there. Before we went there, we went to an outside park full of statues from the Soviet period. Some of these statues were very interesing. One statue was of Felix Derzshinsky, the founder of the secret police in the Soviet Union. I thought I would not see any statues of him since they tore one down in 1991 in front of the Lubyanka, KGB place of terror and execution. Gorky Park was like a small Central Park in NYC. It was a relaxing place with amusements, ponds, fountains, and cafes.

An interesting side activity involved Konstantin signing papers at a nearby realtor's office. He is in the process of buying a flat for his daughter, Marina. He told me some great stories of how difficult this buying process was. He had bought a flat in his home town last year. This year he sold it for double what he had paid for it! This gave him some down payment cash to make it easier to secure his daughter's flat. Marina has said that if you have a flat in Moscow, you have arrived!

We lunched at My My (pronounced Moo Moo). This chain of restaurants has a cow theme similar to our Chik-Filets in the US. The restaurant was really a big buffet with many things to choose from.

We metroed to Red Square and walked the Alexander Gardens adjacent to the Kremlin. Beautiful flowers were well in bloom. July is prettier than April in Russia!

K and I took a speedier train from Moscow to Domodedovo airport. It was as nice as any airport in the west. We were bussed to our little Aeroflot jet on the tarmac. We entered the jet from the rear. Our luggage was loaded in the back of the plane in a big cargo net. There were no reserved seats. First come, first served. K had movies on his blackberry, so we watched most of the movie 'Hero,' each of us with an earphone on the tiny screen! Smooth take-off and a smooth landing - nice! We reached Penza by 10:30 pm. Svetlana, K's wife met us at the airport. Igor drove us to K's flat in his 4x4 LADA. A late night dinner was prepared by Svetlana! Wonderful salad, meat, cheese, olives, AND..........MINT ICED TEA......with ICE CUBES! As E.B. declared with his beer earlier in the trip, "It was a beautiful moment!" I later would tell K that having iced tea with ice cubes in Russia, "Blew me away!" Translation = It was a very pleasant surprise! Sweets, hot tea, and toasts with cognac! Bed in another living room in a flat in Russia! But, this was not your usual day in Russia! Thanks to Konstantin and Svetlana, my very good friends in Penza, Russia! They are the BEST!