I made it! But when I got to the Moscow airport, Rosalie (the niece who�s teaching here) was not there. Only a jillion taxi drivers all willing to take me for a ride. Ro and Jon had gone to the wrong gate, so they were having a beer when one of the taxi drivers had the information desk page her. Jon recognized her name -- she didn't!
We got to experience rush hour on the Metro. Russians do not like foreigners with big bags.
We had dinner at a dark, smoky Irish pub. I was wiped out by the end of the day, having been up for about 36 hours.
Yesterday Ro and I went to the Arbat, where we had lunch at a strange Russian restaurant. You walk in and there's the coat check, and you're practically forced to check your coat. Then a hostess guides you down a long dark hall into a bright room with a fireplace on one wall, tables atop lighted fish tanks, a Faberge-style curio cabinet in one corner, a birdcagey arrangement of fake roses hanging in another, rustic inlays depicting the countryside -- birds, a flying squirrell, trees, a weasel -- and fish tanks along the stage, toppped with collages of stuff sprayed gold. Plus crystal chandliers and a smoked mirrored ceiling. Good thing they had all that decor (plus damask tablecloths on the tables that weren't aquarium tops) because the prices were pretty high. To get service, you had to push a button on your table.
After lunch, we went out on the Arbat, where we mainly looked, altho Ro bought some nesting dolls from a vendor who let us take our pictures with him after the sale. He had a card he'd bring out to let English-speaking visitors know he was not amenable to having his picture taken by non-customers.
I had to change money, and the first place we found was down a short alley that ended at a locked door. You rang and the buzzer would let you into the inner chamber, a yellow room about 5 by 5 with a cashier behind glass in one corner. There was a line, so people held the door open for the next vic, uh, customer. The sign said something about 100 roubles, and Ro thought it said maximum, but the lady behind the glass said minimum. Fortunately, in view of the lunch...
Ro had to teach, so I got on the Metro by myself and went in search of the only synagogue that remained open throughout the Soviet era. I could see the dome with the Star of David, but I don't know how many extra blocks I walked trying to find the building. On the way I saw crocuses in bloom, and grass turning green, so spring is on the way. It was warm, and I wished I hadn�t worn my raincoat, even thought I'd taken out the lining. The synagogue was just beyond the accident -- two cars trying to be in the same place at the same time, no apparent injuries. I might have missed it, but I saw what looked like a gate on the otherside of the street, and stopped to take a picture. Some well-dressed gentlemen came out of a building shrouded by scaffolding, and I thought it was the place. �Speak English?� �Uh...� �Synagogue?� �Yes.� I had to go through the metal detector before I got wanded and patted down (gently), and then I went in.
Pictures? Yes. So I took a few, no flash, time exposures. The inside is exquisite, with a mosaic mural and carved pillars and a highly decorated ceiling.
After that, I found the Metro back to the hostel, with only one wrong turn (I had to pay to get back on when I went out the wrong end.) The metro is highly efficient and speedy. Even the escalators. You crowd up and surge forward onto the step and are zipped to the top in what seems like a nearly vertical cylinder. The people coming down the other side look like they're leaning backwards, and the lamps between the escalators look like they're tilted, but it's just an optical illusion. Your American mind can't believe anybody would be allowed to build an escalator so fast and so steep.
The sun was glinting off the dome of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which was built in 1995-97 to replace the world's largest swimming pool, which replaced the 19th century Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which Stalin had demolished to make way for a huge Palace of the Soviets. Fortunately, only the swimming pool got built.
Tomorrow the rest of the group joins us, so we'll start the real Pilgrimage.
