Moscow notes:
· Baltica beer 0-9, 7 (lager) was most popular
· The metro was the prettiest underground system I’ve ever seen. Each station was mind-blowingly beautiful.
· Metro trains came every minute, and were always packed with people
· Terymok was a popular fast food restaurant that is basically what you’d get if you took a crepe cafe and crossed it with a McDonald’s. I really wish we had those here in America.
· Every time we entered train stations or metro stations we had to scan our luggage and walk through mini security. I felt very safe.
· Favorite Russian foods:
o Blini (блины) – Russian pancakes, eaten as a dessert with jam or with meat filling.
o Borsch (борщ) – red beetroot soup with sour cream.
o Russian salad (Салат Оливье) – very popular salad in Russia, typically consists of
boiled potatos, carrots, eggs, peas, ham and mayonnaise.
o Pozharsky Chicken Cutlet – super tender and buttered chicken inside of a crouton
covered outer shell
· Favorite Tatar food (served in Kazan): Zlew (элешь) - chicken w/ potato & onion in a pot pie
· Russian drivers are very talented when it comes to stopping on a dime for crosswalks. We could always cross no matter how close the car was and they would stop in time.
· Not so much a beer city. Lots of cocktails and wines. Many places ran out of beer. There was even an article about it a few days after the World Cup started! “Moscow is running low on beer due to World Cup fans"
· As US citizens we are required to show proof of where we stayed throughout our trip. Each accommodation must provide a slip to us. We can be asked to show these slips on our return trip home (neither of us were asked)
· Light switches were located on the outside of the bathrooms. Very inconvenient. Whose idea was this!?
· Everything was dirt cheap in comparison to the the States. The US dollar went a longg way
· Favorite vodkas: Northern Amurs (Северные Амуры), Husky, Tsarskaya Original
June 14, 2018: Vienna/Moscow
*I’ve decided to conduct a spirit contest each day we are in Russia to
see which country has the most spirit in the streets/bars/restaurants/watch
parties/public places. Today: Peru wins
We made it to Moscow! Wow this place is amazing. Everyone has been
extremely helpful and friendly which contradicts everything I’ve heard about
Russia. It may just be different for the World Cup, but still. I woke up at 9am
and then did a little journaling until 10am. Our plan was to leave the
apartment by 10:15am so that we could catch the 10:30 bus to the airport. Well,
giving myself only 15 minutes to pack up was quite the struggle. Dad was also running behind.
We left about 2 minutes after 10:15am which was pretty good if you ask me. We
dropped off the trash which took a little bit of extra time and then we walked
with our suitcases about 6 blocks to the bus stop. It was 10:28am as we were approaching
the bus stop – cutting it wayy too close. We hopped on the bus with a minute to
spare and the bus driver confused us with his request for payment. By the time
we paid it was 10:31am and the driver sped off without waiting for us to sit
down. Efficiency is the name of the game. Thank goodness we made it in time! It
only took 20 minutes get to the airport. We then maneuvered our way to the
correct airline desk, but it wasn’t opening until 11:40am. Sheesh, what’s the
point in getting there early then? Norwegian apparently needs you there 4 hours
early, but Utair opens only 2 hours ahead? Come on, Norwegian – get on Utair’s
level. Check-in was painless (again,
Norwegian, take notes. And no, I will never let this go) and we walked to
security. During check-in we showed our Fan IDs (which acted as our visas) for
the first time! It was getting real. We entered the gate area and had about an
hour before boarding a bus to take us to the plane. As we were sitting we
started being surrounded by World Cup fans from all different countries. Mostly
Peru and Argentina.
They were going all out with their jerseys and country
flags. It was starting to feel even more real, and the excitement was
contagious. And I could understand what they were saying! Bye bye German and
other languages I don’t know! I was starting to feel like I was in Latin
America, not Vienna. We boarded the plane a little late, but the flight arrived
on time in Moscow anyway. We sat next a Russian guy who thought it was funny
when we were trying to read the Russian on the seat. He was very nice. After we landed and grabbed our bags, a bunch of young Russian volunteers came to our aid. They
constantly asked us if we needed help or if we had any questions. They were very
friendly. I should just wear my Fan ID all the time so we constantly have
people offering to help us! We read online that we should get Sim Cards for our
phones since there is a law in Russia that to use WiFi you must have a Russian
number to send a code to. Big Brother is watching. We went to the Beeline stand
and man, the process was too easy. We were in and out in about 10 minutes and
we had unlimited data for a month for only 500 rubles (about $8) each. Dad and
I were both very impressed. I should have been doing this for all my travels!
It’s so much easier than just relying on WiFi access for free. With our new
Russian numbers we began our journey to the city. Again, a World Cup volunteer quickly
approached us and our confused faces and gave us great information. We took the
AeroExpress which is a high speed train to the city. The train was a double
decker. We sat on the second level and shortly after, a woman came by to take pictures
of our Fan IDs. Welp, Putin definitely knows we are here now. She just
breezed by the Russian locals. They must already be accounted for.
The underground metro
system here in Moscow is incredible! It’s so beautiful and the architecture is very intricate. Some stations even had stain glass windows and chandeliers. We walked up to the ticketing booth instead of using a kiosk because we read online
that the way to
go was to buy a Troika card and then fill it up with trips. It
was about half the cost. We avoided a long line at one window and walked to the
other side. We found out why this one had no line – the woman only spoke
Russian. We tried miming out what we wanted and pointed to words on our
brochure. We were slowly progressing, but then got stuck when she asked us a
certain
question. Then, out of nowhere, a World Cup volunteer came to our
rescue. Having these young folks around is amazing. She asked what we wanted
and we told her our predicament. She translated it so fast my head spun. We
were in and out in less than a minute. Thank you, helpful girl! She then quickly
found another damsel in distress. To start, she asked if we needed Spanish or
English. She knew all 3 languages - I was so impressed. I was thinking I could volunteer
for the World Cup in the US in 2026 and help translate to Spanish. That would
be a dream come true! We entered through the heaviest wooden doors you will ever experience in a metro station. And they were swinging doors, so a little deadly. The metro stations and hallways were mind-blowing.
When I wasn’t oohing and ahh-ing at the décor, I was amazed by the thousands of
Russians using the metro. Literally. It seemed like all of Russia uses the metro.
And they all seemed like they were in a rush. I guess that’s why they call them
Russians! ;) (yes, I did make that corny joke) They mostly kept to themselves, except if you were in their way,
then they would push past you on the escalator.
It was like all of them were running late. Which was odd because the
trains came every minute so it’s not like that was the issue. Anyway,
while on the escalator one girl turned
around and asked if I was from Colorado.
How in the world did she know that?! I was only wearing a tye-dye shirt with no
words on it. She said she saw my water bottle in my backpack and it said Denver
on it. What a detective! She proceeded to tell me that she lived in Denver for
2 years and studied law at University of Denver. Wow, what a small world. She
was really enjoying talking to me and she was super nice. She even said, “Wow
you guys are so nice. I’m so glad I met you!” We parted ways, but before doing
so she pointed us in the right direction. So far, Russians have been nothing
but helpful to us. I was shocked. We walked onto the next train which arrived
as soon as we hit the platform, and noticed that the train had a tv playing the
Russia vs Saudi Arabia match (the opening match of the World Cup). So awesome!
Now, we would never miss a match. Only a few people were crowded around it
though. Much different than Brazil where the whole train would have been
watching. We exited on a platform and were confused as to where the 9 (silver) line was.
Again, we had someone come to our rescue. Seriously, this is getting ridiculous.
It’s like we are royalty! He pointed us the right direction AND THEN proceeded to
carry my luggage up the staircase. Are you single?! We walked to the right
platform and once our train arrived, there were too many people trying to get
on at once and the doors started closing as we walked on. My luggage made it,
but my body got stuck! I thought the doors would reopen if I was in there, but
noooo. It was crushing me! I saw my life flash before my eyes as my arm was
about to be crushed. Dad tried to help open the doors, but had no success.
Everyone’s faces on the train were struck with terror. Well…I guess this is
goodbye! Then, out of nowhere, this big strong Russian man on the train walked
up to me and pried the doors open. My hero! I walked on to get my luggage, but the
doors closed too fast for Dad to join me. Uh oh. So it begins. We had only been
in Russia for 1 hour and our plan to always stick together was already going awry.
No one said anything to me when I was on the train. It’s like nothing dramatic
even happened. I guess they don’t speak English or don’t care that I almost got
eaten by the train. Like I said, the Russians tend to keep to themselves unless
they are an angelic World Cup volunteer. I weighed my options, and figured I
would get off at the next stop since then Dad would be on the same car. We both
had incredible service in the metro which was astounding. We spoke on the phone
and confirmed the game plan. Soon we were reunited and we headed to our hotel.
Phew! Crisis averted. We exited about 3 stops later and rode a high-speed escalator that
took about 4 minutes to reach the top. I didn’t realize we were so far
underground!
After walking a great
distance to our hotel, we checked in and the room was incredible! Seriously,
we have our own living room, bathrobes, big columns in the bedroom, and lots of
space. We walked to the nearest restaurant called Jam Club which ended up being
a jazz club. It was really neat because they had two separate music rooms. The
food was incredible, the music was wayy too loud, and my Cosmopolitan was
delicious. I figure I should order vodka drinks every day while I’m here. It’s
only fair to Russia that I experience their full culture. My dinner was insanely
good – it was tender chicken on top of some small potatoes. The entire meal was
only 1,850 rubles….which translates to $30! My chicken was only $9! Incredible.
We figured with the jazz we would have to pay a cover charge, but no. We then
walked to Beer Happens which is right across the street from us. Too funny. We ordered
two beers and then returned to the hotel around 11:30pm. What a day! We survived
(me: barely) and started talking about a game plan for tomorrow. So far Russia
is wonderful! I feel very welcome and I enjoy the culture here. The McDonalds
and Burger King signs are pretty weird looking in Russian, and apparently they
are very popular. A friend of mine mentioned that Russia has stricter meat regulations
so these fast food places are actually very good. Maybe we’ll try it out. Be
true Americans.
June 15, 2018: Moscow Spirit contest: Tie between Peru and Colombia
So I’m running a taddd behind on this journal. It’s actually Monday
June 18 - we had a crazy past few days! I will try to remember as much as
possible.
We woke up in our nice comfy hotel room a little later, around 8:30am,
and it felt wonderful. We ate a free breakfast at the hotel, which had a lot available,
but overall the quality of the food wasn’t too great. My favorite item was the
yogurt. We then began our Moscow exploration. First on the list was a
recommendation from Dad’s friend to visit a toy store for a panoramic view of
the city. That’s right, a toy store. I had to ask him again to be sure I heard
him correctly. Anyway, it was about a 15 minute walk from the hotel and it was
ginormous. It had 7 floors and it spanned a couple blocks. There were also
other department stores inside. When we entered, there was a long open atrium
area with multiple foosball tables set up. But these weren’t your typical
foosball tables. Each had about triple the length of a normal foosball table.
It was hilarious to watch two guys run up and down the “field” as they were
playing each other. Foosball that requires exercise! We then began our search
for the rooftop panoramic views.
We climbed stairs, after stairs, after stairs.
I told myself I wouldn’t look down (and I listened to myself this time!). We
eventually stumbled upon the rooftop, though it wasn’t extremely easy to find. The view was astounding. We could see the
golden tips (spires and domes) of many of the famous buildings. It was mostly a
view of typical city buildings with a few special features popping out. We
looked around for about 15 minutes and then headed to Red Square. It was about 11am
at this time. Along the main pedestrian street (Nikolskaya Street) to Red
Square were intricate objects hanging overhead. They looked like little stars
and they went as far as the
eye could see. Dad and I mentioned we should come
back at night to see them light up. I’m sure it’s magical. As we were walking
we came across several little cafes/restaurants that had mini outdoor patios (this
is something I love about foreign countries). It was pretty much fan central
along this street with people from all over the world. We came across an
Iceland group hanging out/drinking beers and then right next to them was a huge
Switzerland group. As I walked by video recording the area, the Swiss took it
as an opportunity to start singing and raising their arms. It was hilarious.
It’s really starting to feel like the World Cup now! We then walked towards St. Basil’s Cathedral. This building
was amazing! I had seen pictures before, but in person it is just incredible.
It looked like it came out of Candyland! The domes on top were swirls of
different colors and it looked eatable. This was a hot spot for many tourists
and we joined in on the selfie-taking extravaganza. We got some pretty awesome photos
I must say. The colors were very vibrant. Again, we heard
Spanish speakers as
far as the ear could hear. It was fun eavesdropping on their conversations. In
the main square in front of the cathedral was a FIFA setup where announcers
would be on tv. There were also people from every country holding their respective
flags and getting pictures in front of the cathedral. Iceland, Columbia,
Argentina, Mexico, Switzerland, Sweden, Peru, Germany, etc. I even saw a
Columbian with a Broncos shirt! This place was photo central and it was cool to
see all the different countries represented. As we walked around the square, we
decided that we should buy tickets for the cathedral online instead of in
person because the lines were pretty long.
Next up was Zaryadye Park. It was situated right next to Red Square and
it was apparently a new park that the city built. Maybe for the Word Cup
specifically, I don’t know. It had an amazing glass pavilion that looked like
it came from outer space and in the distance behind it you could see a very oppressive
building that towered over the city. Kinda like the tower near Mordor in Lord
of the Rings. I liked to picture Putin sitting inside and watching over the
city (we later found out that this was Moscow State University - the tallest
educational building in the world). The park was divided into four climatic
zones and it had plants and trees representing each zone. It was amazing.
After the park we walked along Nikolskaya Street again and took the
metro to Izmaylovo Market. It was about a 20 min metro ride, but many people
had recommended it to me because it was
less touristy than Red Square and also
much cheaper. We exited onto the street and surprisingly came across it with
ease. The market was incredible. There were vendors as far as the eye could
see. After walking through, the items they were selling became repetitive (
Matryoshka Nesting Dolls, fur hats, Putin trinkets, militia souvenirs).
We bought from the first vendor we came across and the items were indeed very
cheap. The vibe was neat because it was like we had gone back in time to
trading days. I took obligatory photos wearing many different Russian fur hats.
I think the white ones looked best. Dad said, "Put it on and look Russian." So I did and gave it my best Russian face. Did I pass? :) The vendor was trying to haggle and
persuade me to buy them by saying how beautiful I looked. How sly! After this, we searched for
Tepemok which was suggested by Brittney’s friend, Davis. He said it was like a
McDonald’s but with crepes/pancakes (blini). It was located in a mall food
court and man was it poppin! Most of the food places even served beer. We
ordered a Baltica (fun fact: the different Baltica beer types are named by
using numbers. I believe they range from #1-#9. They had #7 on tap which was a
lager. Our goal was to try them all by the end of the trip) and some other
food. I got pancakes (blini) with jam in them this time. I really wish we had a
Tepemok in the States. I would go all the time.
We rode the metro back to the hotel around 3:30pm to gather our things
and head out for the night train to Kazan (a far eastern city that takes about
12 hours to reach by train). The metro still amazed me with its intricate
architecture underground. I kept taking photos. I also found out that they have
specific tours of just the metro stations! That would never happen in the
States. Or really anywhere else for that matter. Some stations were made completely
of marble. And some had ceilings with engravings that blew me away. Once we
reached the hotel, we packed a few things and then headed to the metro at
4:30pm. We arrived about 30min early and thank goodness we did because there
were already long lines to get on the train. We had our tickets and passports
checked before getting onboard. The setup was really neat - much better than
the overnight train from Italy to Paris I took with my high school group about
10 years ago. That was a horrible experience for me. That train had very tiny compartments
with 6 bunk beds to a compartment – hardly any room to move. And I remember
feeling sick/uneasy the entire next day because I felt like the ground was
moving…which is why I came prepared this time with Dramamine! On this train, there
were 4 bunk beds on the left side with a small table in between
and two bunk
beds on the right side. One of the beds on the right side formed a table until
you wanted to sleep. Thankfully, I purchased the bottom bunks on the left side.
I did this mainly because they were closer to the base of the train and would
be more stable, but they turned out to be the best choice in other ways too.
Mostly because we could dictate when we wanted to go to sleep and we could
stash our backpacks underneath us. We also had access to the table. Our
“bedmates” only spoke Spanish and they were Argentina fans. They started taking
to our Mexican “bedmates” on the other side. I would have conversed with them
but I started feeling sleepy as soon as we got on the train. I was hoping our
bunk buddies wouldn’t want to stay up too late. It was only 6pm so I was being
a weeny (I was also sleepy due to the effects of Dramamine). I wanted to stick
it out a bit so Dad and I went to the café car to order some food. I did not expect
to have food available on the train so that was a nice surprise. We walked up
to the counter passed the mini tables lining the windows and waited for the
very busy waitress to tend to us. Eventually she asked us to squish in with a
solo traveler at a table. We sat down and almost all the tables were full.
There were about 6 tables, so not many. She was the typical Russian you
probably hear about – rushed, poor customer service, slightly angry. Now we’re getting
our Russian experience! We returned to our beds around 8pm and laid down. As
9pm rolled around, people started getting rowdy. What’s going on? I heard the
words “Espana” and “jugadores” being thrown around. Oh yeah, the Spain vs
Portugal match was on! I didn’t think we’d be able to watch it since we were on
the train with no TVs, but some brilliant passenger brought out his tablet and
connected to a personal hotspot. Everyone in the train car huddled around the
one tablet and everyone was so close to one another that you could feel their
breath. It was the iconic image of the passion that soccer creates. There is
such comradery once a soccer match begins. The match was intense and ended in a
tie. Once it was over, everyone took their tired bodies to bed. A great way to
end the night. See you soon, Kazan!
June 16, 2018: Kazan Spirit Contest: Australia wins
I am writing this on the morning of June 17. I figured I would start writing
this one first instead of June 15 because it’s fresher in my mind. I am typing
this after returning from Kazan by overnight train. Hopefully my brain is
functioning enough to write coherent sentences :)
What a day! This was our day trip to Kazan to watch the Australia vs
France match. The overnight train was supposed to arrive in Kazan at 6am, but
instead it arrived at almost 8am! Good grief. That took a solid 2 hours out of
our day. Good news was that I slept surprisingly well last night. I think
taking Dramamine really helped knock me out. I noticed on our ticket that our
arrival train station had a different name than our departure ticket. But only
slightly. We’d have to figure that out later. The station we walked into seemed
very old and beaten up. Not really in a sketchy way though. Arriving late
turned out fine because it seemed most places didn’t open until 8am or 9am
anyway. For our Kazan adventures I had reached out to a blogger and asked her for
specific recommendations. Her name was Adil and she was amazing! She provided a
bunch of recommendations. We swapped WhatsApp numbers a few month ago and hoped
to meet up today. I reached out to her yesterday and we were planning to meet
after the match at some point. Unfortunately, this never happened because she
didn’t respond. Oh well. We were still
very grateful for her help! (She later told me that she had a family emergency
to tend to). First on the list was to grab breakfast at Beanhearts (by the way,
everything we did today way based on Adil’s suggestions! I did no research of
my own). Beanhearts was closed when we
first arrived, so we had about 40
minutes to kill. Dad and I went into the local Burger King to change and use
the restroom. Dad then caved and bought a breakfast sandwich and coffee. We
then walked through a gorgeous park nearby with huge water fountains. Kazan is
located on the Kazanka River so there were amazing river views as well. We continued
to explore until 9am hit, then we rushed into Beanhearts. Dad thought it was Starbucks
from the outside – the logo is similar. However, once inside it was clear it
was not Starbucks. It was like a mix of a living room and café. I loved it
already. It felt very cozy. We sat in some velvet chairs and ordered breakfast.
And boy, did they have options! My indecisiveness kicked into overdrive. Eventually
I ordered a turkey quiche with a latte and Dad ordered a salmon quiche. The
wait staff were very attentive. They were practically scanning the room and waiting
to serve us if we ever needed anything. It was clear that this place was
popular because we arrived at 9am and then 4 other groups came in behind us. I
definitely would recommend it.
We then went to the main central
area and walked the main street of Baumana. There was plenty to see and many little
cafes and restaurants lined the street. There were also souvenir stands
sprinkled within. However, I was having no luck finding a postcard. Each place
had only booklets of them and I only wanted one. Dad went to town on buying
magnets because they were practically $0.80 each. We’ve been noticing that Russia
is a very cheap place to buy
things and we are taking full advantage of it! I
bought a Coke Zero because it had World Cup images on it and I wanted to get
one for Manny (I already had one from the plane ride). As we walked along the Baumana
we came across hundreds of Australians. They were representing hardcore. Most
of them had blow-up kangaroo dolls as well. They were all so funny. I miss the
Aussies. Whenever we passed an outdoor bar/café no doubt we saw at least 10 of
them at each one drinking and cheering. At one point, there was a conga line of
them jumping like kangaroos with a big blow-up kangaroo doll in front. Too
funny. I took a video of it, of course. Dad and I then went to Dom Chaya (House
of Tea) because Adil said they serve the best traditional tartar food there. It
smelled amazing when we walked in. She suggested we order the “элешь” or “e
lesh” which is like a pot pie with chicken and potatoes and onions.
It was delicious. The potatoes were cut into such fine cubes and the breading
was divine. I also ordered a tea for good measure and discovered I still don’t
like tea, even if it is some of the best in Russia.
It was about 11am at this time and we headed toward the stadium shuttle
bus. This was a brilliant idea and much better than our initial plan to take
the metro. On our way we stopped by the FIFA info tent to ask the youngins a
question about our train (I say youngins because all the helpers were very
young. Probably high school or younger). I asked if the station we needed to go
to later was different than the one we arrived at in the morning. At first, I
think they misunderstood my question, but after all 4 volunteers formed a
huddle, they were able to answer it. “Yes. It is different. There are two stations
in Kazan.” I’m glad I asked! Dad was impressed that I even thought to ask
because he thought there was only one station. We then asked if there would be
enough lockers at the stadiums. The kids again were confused, but eventually
the one boy understood and said “Oh. You need go faster” That made all of us
laugh. Ok, do you have a teleporter then? Anyway, we walked briskly to the
shuttle to “go faster” and my goodness was the shuttle system cranking! There
were people being picked up every minute. They would load them up and ship them
out so fast I could barely keep up. We hopped on one quickly, and thankfully
they didn’t fill it to the brim. We were actually able to sit down.
We were
surrounded by some awesome older Aussies and when a Frenchman jumped onboard
they jokingly harassed him a bit. I love these friendly rivalries! As we bussed
across the river to Kazan Arena we saw some beautiful vistas. Kazan is a
gorgeous city. I’m really glad we came and I’m even happier that we took the
shuttle bus instead of the metro. The bus dropped us off far away from the
stadium and we walked what seemed to be 100 miles. At least the company kept it
fun. There are worse things in the world than being surrounded by energetic
Aussies. There were people dressed as Santa Claus in the street welcoming us
in, which I found strange. I think Kazan is where the story of Santa Claus
originated? Somewhat rings a bell. I’ll need to look that up later (I searched
and didn’t find much. It must have just been random!). After what felt like 20
years, we reached the stadium. First order of business was to stash our
backpacks in the lockers. Oh boy. The line was longgg. We only had 45 minutes
until the match started!
We definitely did not take into account the 100 mile
walk. We figured the shuttle would take us up to the stadium itself. Anyway, we
stood in line for about 25 minutes and stashed our stuff. The luggage needed to
go through security scans and be tagged, etc. We had a quick photo op before we
entered and then rushed to the stadium entrance. HOLD UP. The official FIFA
shop stand didn’t have a line. Let me buy a scarf real quick. Success! I’m super
glad we did that because after the match the lines were like 15 minutes long.
We entered the stadium with no issues and they didn’t try to match our name on
the ticket with our Fan ID so it seems like the tickets I sold to the Taiwan
guy on StubHub will work for him! Yay. We found our seats and then Dad left to use the restroom. The opening ceremony began and revealed
the FIFA emblem and the teams’ two flags. It was a wondrous opening scene. The
Australian fans outnumbered the French fans by a
long shot. The stadium held
45,000 people and it was beautiful. I love these atmospheres so much. The game
started and Dad just barely made it back in time. As I guessed, he also bought
a beer on his way back. Priorities. The match was well fought on both sides.
I’d say the Aussies were holding their own even though France was a clear
favorite. I wasn’t too impressed by the French. Especially all their diving to
get fouls. Welcome to the World Cup, ladies an gentlemen. France got a PK which
Griezmann took and scored and then shortly after, the Aussies had a PK which
they took and scored. The reactions to both goals were completely different.
When France scored you could barely hear anyone cheering.
When Australia
scored, the whole stadium was in an uproar and kangaroos were being thrown all over
the place. It was awesome. There were actually times I thought Australia was
going to pull off a win, but the goals never came to fruition. Then France
scored a goal late in the match and clenched the game. Oh well. I still was
impressed with the Aussies. It was an incredible match! I’m so glad we made the
trip to Kazan for it. We then walked out of the stadium, but first used the
restrooms. The toilet was pure metal and froze my tush off! I guess it was
their way of trying to get people to go quickly. As we got down to the main
promenade, there were security guards/volunteers/staff blocking off a random
chunk in the middle. We figured this was to create an emergency route if
needed. It was a little frightening to be honest. They all stood there like statues.
We retrieved our bags more quickly than we dropped them off (thank goodness)
and while we waited we chatted with a guy who was also wearing a Bayern jersey
like Dad was. He was from China and very friendly.
Now came the fun part – trying to find the shuttle bus. This was what I
like to call our 500 mile walk and naturally the I Will Walk 500 Miles song got
stuck in my head (da-da-da!). We followed the crowds of people figuring someone
must know where we are going. It went on, and on, and on, and on, to the point
where I started feeling faint. The sun was getting to me. I asked Dad if we
could stop and get some water because I really wasn’t feeling well. We broke
off from the mass crowd and bought some water and ice cream. I also snacked on some
Chex Mix and I felt 100 times better. We still had no idea where we were
supposed to go. We asked around and no one
seemed to have a clue. Again, we
followed the crowds, but most of them ended up going to FanFest nearby to watch
the Argentina match. We gave in and paid for a biker guy to pedal us to the metro
station. We had seen the guy pedal by earlier and figured we should take
advantage of the ride and save our feet. He was extremely nice. What started as
a nice leisurely bike ride along the street turned into Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
through parking lots, and sidewalks, and people! All the while he had Arabic
music blasting through the speakers (Fun fact: Kazan has a very large Muslim population). It was hilarious. We weren’t riding fast
enough where people were jumping out of our way, but I was imagining it like
that. Kinda like in the movies. He did this to avoid the traffic at certain
signals. We appreciated it. And the metro was wayy further than we thought!
Thank goodness we did hire the biker guy because I would have died walking that
far. Especially after the previous 500 miles. We asked the youngins where the
shuttle was and they again got confused. I think they need to interview the
wanna-be volunteers in Kazan a little bit better next time haha.
We decided to
take the metro and it got us to the Kremlin area (the next stop on our list) in
about 10 minutes. We started taking photos with the strategically placed KAZAN
sign in front of
the Kremlin. It was very picturesque. And tons of people were
also taking photos. We
walked up to the Kremlin walls and the sight was beautiful. The river was
ginormous and glimmering in the sun. It was the perfect temperature outside, too. We eventually
entered the Krelim walls by walking almost a full circle around it. It was
quite the walk. When we got in there were so many amazing sights in front of
us. And the colors of teal blue were incredible. There was a mosque, a church,
and other important buildings with great architecture. We could have spent a
few hours walking around and taking photos, but we limited ourselves to about
an hour because we wanted to walk down to the promenade (Naberzjnaya) near the
river bank. It was also gorgeous. There were tons of shops and cafes and water
fountains. The proximity to the water made it even more beautiful. I think Kazan
is high on my list for this Russia trip. It’s just stunning!
We then walked to
the Ministry of Agriculture building which reminded me a little of Denver’s
Civic Center building, but on a grander sale. It had a semi-circle shape to it
and it was huge. The center of it had an artsy metal tree that spanned the
height of the building. It was around
6pm at this point and we figured we
should walk to the train station (the other one! Not the one we came into
earlier). We wanted to get there in plenty of time in case it turned out to be
the wrong station after all. We stopped in some convenience stores to grab
snacks and we also ate dinner at Doner City which I thought for sure would have
shawarma. It did not and we were a little disappointed. Though the food we did
order (similar to what we had earlier at Dom Chaya) was superr cheap and pretty
tasty. Oh and before this I bought Mom a can of Pepsi that had Marcelo on it!
After eating we walked to the train station across the street and saw our train
departure on the board – phew! We boarded the train and this time we were
paired with a lovely Spanish couple that was riding the overnight train for the
first time. I ended up speaking to them in Spanish for a
bit which was fun. They were both wearing France jerseys. Apparently, the guy
is French and the girl is Mexican and both speak Spanish really well. The girl
didn’t speak much English. They were telling me that they bought tickets to
many Mexico matches including the one against Germany tomorrow.
“En Mexico muy caro. One mil cada
boleto.” $1,000. Yep, seems about right. Shortly after our conversation
we all went to sleep. It was about 9pm at this point. A much better time to
depart than our train last night at 5:30pm. Dramamine has been knocking me out
– I love it! It was an uneventful ride and everyone was very quietly (except for
the loud snoring guy nearby, but it wasn’t too bad). The train stopped for a
longgg time like it did last night, so I was worried we were going to be 2
hours late again, but it turned out fine and we arrived right on time. I asked
the couple if they liked the train more than an airplane and they said no haha.
Oh well. Can’t win over everyone. Dad and I were discussing how it was a great
way to travel from city to city quickly and cheaply. Especially since you don’t
need to pay for a hotel. There may be more of these in my future (as long as Dramamine
comes with me). Hi again, Moscow!
June 17, 2018: Moscow Spirit Contest: Mexico wins
Happy Father’s Day, Dad! This is one heck of a way to spend Father’s
Day I’d say :)
We
arrived back in Moscow around 7:30am. Right on time. Crazy to think our other
train took an additional 4 hours. We wondered what happened. Anyway, we took
the metro back to the hotel and chilled for a bit. I wrote in this and took a
20 minute nap. It was nice to just relax and catch my breathe. The last three
days have been a blur since we’ve been traveling here, there, and everywhere. Germany
played Mexico today so we decided to wear German jerseys (mine was a Dortmund
one with Pulisic’s name on it). After our morning break, we decided to head
toward Gorky Park which was 3 metro stops away from us. It was full of people and it was huge.
There
were fountains, and skate parks, and caged soccer sport courts, and paddleboats,
and roses and, and, and… There was so much activity my head began to spin.
There were nice tranquil areas as well. The main attraction for people was
renting scooters or bikes and riding around. Today, we made it our mission to
drink at least two other numbers of Baltica. But goodness, we had no clue it was
be such an impossible task. We walked up to at least 10 bars/cafes and only one
had Baltica. Sheesh people why don’t you invest in your own beer?? We came
across multiple English beers and Czech beers. During our search we stumbled
across a Shawarma House stand. It had been Dad’s goal to eat shawarma in
Russia. Due to this, we immediately gravitated toward the stand. A Russian man who now lives in San Francisco came up to me and said, “I was
really excited to see a German wearing Pulisic’s jersey but then I realized you
are American.” Haha sorry to let you down, buddy! The shawarma we ordered was
probably some of the best I’ve had in my life. So delicious. We continued to
walk around and be unsuccessful in our beer hunt. We walked up the bridge and
saw some pretty views of the city. Then, we came across a pizza place that was
serving Baltica. Hallelujah! However, after we ordered we noticed it was #7 –
the one we had already tried. Dang it! Around 2:30pm we headed back to the metro
station and popped out near Red Square. We figured we’d take in the sights
while having a drink or two. The stations were getting PACKED with Mexico and Germany
fans. It was energy to the highest level. Chanting and crazy outfits had begun.
We moseyed over to a nice outdoor bar/café and ordered some beers while people
watching. It was a very nice alleyway and there was always something to see.
Again, the rivalry between the two teams was seen in the streets. We went back
to the hotel around 4pm, got ready in our room, and then headed to FanFest.
This should be wild.
Soo FanFest turned out to be an epic fail. It was at capacity when we
arrived, so we couldn’t get in! We rode the metro all the way there, got off, walked
about 2 miles, and then the crowd just stopped. We literally couldn’t move. Everyone
was looking around and standing on their tippy toes to try to figure out what
was going on. We never anticipated
FanFest reaching capacity. That never happened in Brazil! In Brazil, they
turned their entire Copacabana Bach into FanFest so they literally could not
run out of room. Brazil was definitely more prepared and I was disappointed in
Russia. Anyway, being a part of
the crowd was very electrifying and there were cheers going on everywhere.
Thousands upon thousands of people were pouring out of every street location to
try to make it into FanFest. It was incredible. We decided to turn around and
head back to the metro station and find a popular bar close to Red Square. It
ended up better this way because we stumbled upon an awesome bar in a secret
alley where lots of fans were congregating around a projector screen on an
outdoor patio. We even got seats! By this time it was halftime in the game. We
missed Mexico score against Germany which was a huuuuge deal because Germany is
the defending World Cup champs. We continued watching the game and it was clear
Germany was dominating, but they just couldn’t score. Every once in a while,
the Mexicans would counter attack and have a chance on goal. It was an
interesting strategy and seemed to be working for them. During the match, a big
group of Swedish people joined in on the fun at the bar. Yelling and cheering
at the TV collectively was awesome. The final whistle blew and Mexico won 1-0!
Oh man, I bet there will be raging parties in the streets tonight. There
was
one sole Mexican in our bar and everyone cheered for him. It was cute. Then we
walked to another bar I found on Google Maps call St. Peters & St. Anton to
watch the Brazil vs Switzerland match. It was also tucked away in an alley.
What I didn’t know was that it was an extreme soccer pub! It had scarves all
over the ceiling and jerseys too. There wasn’t an empty space on the ceiling or
walls to be found - it was impressive. We sat down at a tall, long table right
in front of a TV screen and next to the bar. Perfect placement. It turned out
that Dad’s friend, Nano, and his group (including his son JT who joined Dad and
I in Brazil for World Cup 2014) were going to meet us at the bar! Pretty cool considering
they were just at the Germany match and probably being swarmed by Mexicans with
no escape. They joined us a little after kickoff and we had a great time swapping
stories. The match
ended in a 1-1 tie which was crazy! Brazil should have won handily. This World
Cup is turning out to be pretty unpredictable. We parted ways with Nano and
pals and headed back to the hotel. We returned around midnight, took showers,
and passed the F out. Long day!
*The Mexicans were literally taking over the streets! Sombreros and
beer and merriment and cheering everywhere. Since it was such a big win for
them, they had no boundaries. Instead of using the underground walkways, they
would all just run across the roads going crazy and the cops had to physically
move them and barricade them all back. Silly Mexicans.
June 18, 2018: Moscow Spirit Contest: Colombia wins
Finally, a good night’s rest in a stationary bed! We don’t need to
check out until noon so we are taking our time. It’s really nice to sit still
for a change.
We asked our concierge to call us a taxi while I printed our St.
Basil’s Cathedral tickets. The taxi arrived in under 2 minutes and we were off
to our next hotel – Hotel Budapest. We had to switch hotels because we changed
our plans last minute to include the Poland vs Senegal match and so we are leaving for St.
Petersburg a day later, and our first hotel had no rooms available. The taxi
ride was about 10 minutes and cost a whopping 100 rubles, which translates to
about $2. I love how cheap everything is in Russia! And we are in Moscow (big
city) and everything is still cheap. Very surprising. We checked-in and
thankfully our room was already ready. We checked out our new digs, dropped our
stuff off, and headed out to explore. Today’s schedule included Red Square
(since it was mostly closed off before), St. Basil’s Cathedral, New Arbat
Street, and Old Arbat Street. There was also possibility that I would go out
salsa dancing at the Jazz place we went to on Thursday. Our new hotel is very
close to Red Square and other pedestrian streets which is really convenient. We
walked to a brunch/lunch place that was suggested to
me called Varenychna No 1.
During our walk there, it was easy to see that
our new location was in a bustling part of the city. Lots of cafés and
restaurants everywhere. We walked into Varenychna No 1 and were seated inside
right away. Our waitress was very attentive and it was probably the best
service we’ve received all week. We opened the menus and it was filled with
delicious looking food! I really wanted to try some more traditional food so I
went with their specialty tea (strawberry and orange) and pelmeni (пельмени).
It was a tough decision because everything looked amazing. The pelmeni was similar
to tortellini and it was tasty. Dad ordered borsch and it looked nasty - all red
with strings of beets in it. However! I tried it and it was delicious! I was
very surprised that I enjoyed it. I may even order it again sometime. We really
liked this place. We paid for our meal by credit card and then asked the
waitress if she had change for a 500 ruble bill (Google Translate ftw). She
said she did not. This was disappointing because we didn’t have anything
smaller than a 500 and that would have been a 50% tip. We asked if we could tip
using our credit card and she said no. She looked sad. Unfortunately, we had to
leave without putting down a tip. It was tough to leave that way because she
was one of the best waitresses we’ve had. But! Our plan was to return with a
100 ruble later in the day in hopes that she was still there.
Red Square was up next and so we walked to the main plaza area to
approach the front entrance. It was swarming with people! Of course, there were
tons of Latin fans scattered throughout hooting and hollering. It was full of
energy and it was only 2pm. We noticed the people were being corralled into a
bunch of metal detectors before entering. It looked like a
swarm of bees from a
distance. We walked up to the security area and were permitted to enter. Now
when we had tried viewing Red Square a few days ago, most of it was blocked off
because they were tearing down stages and other equipment from some sort of
performance – so today’s experience was already shaping up to be much
different. We walked around for a bit and absorbed the fandom of all the
different countries and then headed toward St. Basil’s Cathedral. As we walked
up, a ginormous line wrapped around the edge. About 100 times more people than
the last time we came! Thankfully, we thought ahead and bought tickets online.
We walked right up to
the gate, showed our tickets, and the guard let us right
in. That felt reallll good. Gosh, one of the best feelings in the world I’d
say. We also continued to bypass the long line that had formed in the interior.
We approached the separate “online tickets” window after waiting behind a
couple. The lady behind the counter gave our voucher to the Russian helper girl
standing nearby and she looked all excited like we had won the lottery or
something. “This way please!” I asked her where we were going and she said we
had bought “special tickets.” I told her I didn’t even know I bought special
tickets! It was kind of exciting. She asked us where we were from and we said
“America.” “Oh, you are Americans! How cool!” This wasn’t the first time we’ve
received such an excited reaction from a local. Apparently they love meeting
Americans. Which is honestly the opposite of how I assumed they would react. I
assumed they heard bad things about Americans. But maybe the younger generation
is smarter than that – not to listen to mainstream media and follow it blindly.
They make us feel like we are celebrities. We
exchanged some very energy filled conversation because she was asking us lots of
questions. I think she really enjoyed practicing her English with us. And she
was very good at it. She walked us to the back side of the Cathedral (VIP
status) and we entered a small office room. They were looking at my ticket and
trying to figure
out how to print me an official ticket. Apparently, it wasn’t
a special ticket, but more a ticket that was bought with an unusual vendor.
Well at least we were seeing a part of the cathedral many people don’t get to
see! Within a couple minutes we had a ticket in our hand and we bid farewell to
our friendly Russian girl. We entered the cathedral and it was astonishing
inside. The interior was mostly brick and every so often you could walk through
arches into a different room. It became like a maze. Some of the rooms had tall
ceilings that went to the top of the domes seen from the outside and some were
much shorter. It was really neat and I would highly recommend it. Nano had told
me to make sure to explore every room on the second floor. This was quite the
task because there were so many that branched off in different directions! At
one point we heard angelic voices singing, but we figured it was playing over a
loud speaker. Nope! It was live! We listened in awe of the three men singing
like angels and a crowd formed outside the room to see them. At the exit, I finally
bought some postcards to send to people and we saw that the entry line had
grown even more. Gosh I’m so glad we bought online tickets! Best decision ever
:)
After this, we headed toward the two Arbat Streets. It was going to take
us about 45 minutes to walk there, but we figured why not. I mean, we did walk
500 miles on Saturday so 45 minutes is nothing ;) Most of the walk was along
the river which had stunning views. There was quite the
variety of building
types. It was pretty hot today so we tried to walk in the shade as much as
possible. Along the way we came across a nice, long park that spanned several blocks.
This is something that Moscow does really well. We’ve discovered many large
parks throughout our time here. We decided to walk New Arbat Street first since
it had an eatery that a friend recommended – Obed Bufet. New Arbat Street is
due North of Old Arbat Street. As we strolled along the sidewalk, it was
apparent that this street was very modern. There were many large, impressive
buildings with lots of skyscraper-esque windows. To me, it seemed like a
boardwalk placed in a city. There was lots of music, ice cream parlors,
benches, cafes, outdoor patios, etc. And it spanned for about 0.5 miles! Dad
made a good point that if there wasn’t cyrillic on all the
buildings, you would
think you were in a typical American city. We stopped at Obed Bufet which, like
its name suggests, was a buffet styled eatery. It was very popular. The seating
inside was abstract and spacious. Dad ordered a beer and I indulged in multiple
types of Russian salads. And a pastry. The pastry lady was very sweet and she
didn’t speak English so she brought out her cheat sheet that had the corresponding
English word for the type of pastry filling. I’d point at something, she’d say
it in Russian, run her finger down her list, match it with English word, and then
say the English word out loud. She was so cute because she was so excited about
it. It was a fun little game. Dad and I watched a little of the Sweden match
while we ate and then continued our walk. Some of the places along the street
seemed very fancy. It was impressive. The sidewalk was extremely wide which was
nice because it gave everyone a lot of area to spread out. We hit the end
of the New Arbat district, turned left, and walked along Old Arbat Street. It
was really cool to see the comparison of the two back-to-back. Old Arbat Street
is an entire alley with no cars nearby. It was lined with buildings on both
sides. This street seemed a little more popular, though I’m sure it’s the
opposite when tourists aren’t taking over. This street was very similar to
Nikolskaya Street to me.
We left around 5:30pm and caught the metro back to Red
Square. We searched for an outdoor patio that was playing the Belgium vs Panama
match, but it was impossible to find because they all were either full, or were
not playing the match (what?!). We eventually caved and went to a place that seated
folks inside. This turned out to be a really nice choice. It was open air, we
could see onto the street outside, and there were a good amount of people also
watching the match. Our waiter came by and we placed our orders. Beer for Dad.
Vodka shot for Julie. The vodka was veryyy strong. I had half of it and it hit
fast. I decided to write some postcards (the best ones are written while tipsy,
right?). It was a girl’s birthday in the restaurant so we all clapped and sang
and then when it ended, the Peruvians decided to sing it again it Spanish. It
was awesome. After this we strolled down the always poppin’ Nikolskaya Street.
This time it was so packed with people that we could barely make our way
through. Argentinians were
cheering and jumping to our left and then 50 yards
later, Colombians. This street was such a blast to cruise down because people
watching was on point. I kept thinking how Kenneth would love this atmosphere
and wished that he had joined us. The dangling lights above the street started
to shine just a little more now since it was close to 9pm at this point. We
walked off the beaten path a bit and stumbled across an awesome outdoor café
with a TV showing the next match – England vs Tunisia. We noticed that a guy
was paying his bill at a two-person table so Dad asked the host if we could sit
there. It was a long shot, but it ended up working out! The guard kept turning
others away. We had to wait about 15 minutes, but once we sat down the
atmosphere was perfect. There was live music being played down the street that was
just far enough away to not be overbearing. People were also dancing to the
music in the street. The TV was at the perfect position from our seats and the
weather was ideal. People continually crowded the patio because it was one of
the few places that had the match showing outside. It made me feel even more special
that we got the seats. The waiter was really cute and very nice. We were
sitting near some Germans and the table next to them was full of Mexicans. Since
Mexico had beaten Germany 1-0 the night before, this clash of groups provided
entertainment all night. The Germans (very drunk) would start chanting and
cheers-ing their beers and then the Mexicans would battle them back. It was all
in good fun. Neither side was getting upset or violent which was great to see.
The Germans would sometimes chant the “Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay” song to make fun of the
Mexicans, but then the Mexicans would overpower them and shout
it louder. And more
Mexicans walking by on the streets would chime in as well. The 5 German guys
were outnumbered every time and they didn’t stand a chance! But that didn’t stop
them from having a good time. Then, two Russian girls joined them and it looked like the Germans were all
swooning over them. The Russian girls were leaving at one point – they even
made it out to the street – but the Germans had bought them wine, started
shouting, and the waiter was standing there holding the glasses smiling. The girls had
no choice but to return and it was very comical. By the end of the match (which
was tied until the very end) a huge group of people was surrounding the café.
Again, I felt very fortunate that we had seats. This is the type of atmosphere
I love to experience during the World Cup. After the match ended, we
walked around a little more and used some of the underground crossings. This
was a wonderful design in Moscow because then people wouldn’t impede traffic.
It was like its own traffic system underground - tons of people and even small
shops and cafes as well. I bet these underground passageways are really helpful
in the winter time when it is freezing cold. Around 11:30pm we headed back to
the hotel. What a day! I am soo ready for bed. Dad went back out to stroll the
streets and he returned around 1:30am.
June 19, 2018: Moscow Spirit Contest: Poland wins
I hereby declare this day Wrong Direction Day. Let’s begin, shall we?
This morning started off really slow and relaxed. Dad woke up early and
went for a run while I continued to sleep until 9am. I
wrote a bit in this (which has been extremely hard to stay motivated for), ate
breakfast provided by the hotel (much better than the previous hotel), and
packed up my stuff. This hotel room also had its own living room space. I guess
that’s a trend in Moscow hotels. We checked out at noon (loving the late
check-outs!), left our luggage at the concierge’s desk, and made our way to the
rooftop terrace nearby for food and drinks. It was the perfect temperature
today and the terrace didn’t have too many people. The views weren’t stunning,
but the vibe was really neat. Our waiter spoke little English and he looked
like my friend Bruno from Denver. I ordered a cosmopolitan after much confusion
trying to ask look-alike-Bruno for a drink with vodka in it. He didn’t
understand what I was asking for, even though vodka is pronounced the same in both
languages… Dad ordered, you guessed it, a beer. We also split a bowl of borsch
which has become one of my favorite dishes. We absorbed the views a bit and
then walked to the metro to catch a train to the International Business Center
of Moscow. A friend of mine had suggested it because it has stellar skyscrapers
which provides a neat contrast to the rest of Moscow. I searched International
Business Center on Google Maps and it provided me a pin very far south of us.
This would soon become our first major wrong direction of the day. We rode the
train about 5 stops, exited the station, and immediately I felt something
wasn’t right. I saw beat up chain fences, other dirty items along the road, and
smokestacks in the distance. Not a skyscraper in sight. Hmmm. We walked toward
civilization and then I decided to fess up and say we may be in the wrong location.
I used Google search
engine to find photos of this Business Center, and the
photos showed us pristine skyscrapers and teal windows - quite the opposite of
what we were seeing in front of us. We planned our new route and off we went.
This route included two transfers which was unusual for us. It seemed a little
complicated to get there. Despite the multiple legs, we actually arrived with
ease. We can’t find the right place initially, but when we do locate it, we
succeed! This metro station was on the light blue line which was a foreign line
to us. As soon as we walked out onto the platform, you could see a huge
difference in the décor and architecture. Everything was a little more modern
and shiny. We walked out and BEHOLD! A huge, impressive, twisting skyscraper.
It was extremely tall. To the point where I was starting to feel uneasy. The
building was immaculate and I could have starred at it for a good 30 minutes.
It looked like something out of a movie. And the clouds reflected in it so
perfectly. Thank goodness it was a blue-sky day. There were also other insanely
tall skyscrapers next to the twisting one. We definitely weren’t in historic
Moscow anymore.
It was about 3:30pm at this point, and while we would have
liked to have stayed for a drink, we were running low on time. We wanted to get
to the Poland vs Senegal match (which started at 6pm) an hour and a half early
if possible. During one of our transfers to the stadium, I noticed 3 attractive
men all lined up on the escalator carrying…Victoria’s Secret bags. Buying some
lingerie are we boys?? It was a hilarious image. Macho men with little pink
bags. We arrived at Spartak Stadium station around 4:40pm. It was a longg ride,
but there was a TV inside the train playing the Japan vs Colombia match so the
time passed quickly. Once we walked above ground I was wondering how close the
stadium would actually be to the station. It always seemed like the Russians
made it sound close, but it never actually was (i.e. Moscow FanFest and Kazan Arena).
Much to our surprise, the stadium was in view as soon as we exited and it only
took us about 10 minutes to walk around to our gate. The Polish representation was strong
and there were a decent amount of Senegal fans. I was proud
of them. They stuck out like sore thumbs with their very dark skin tone and I’m sure
they stuck out even more when they were in Moscow proper. It was nice to see
many Polish fans going up to them and carrying on conversations and even
hugging them. I think it’s been 16 years since Senegal has made the World Cup.
The sense of pride from the Senegal people was very evident. We walked into the
stadium limits with no issues and kept our eyes peeled for a “Coca-Cola soccer
dome” as Nano had suggested because you could get your photo taken and put on a
match cup. We were unsuccessful. We bought two beers and soon after, it started
to rain. Ayeee. We entered the
stadium, bought some light food, and found our seats. I was a little
disappointed in our seats because for this match I bought Category 1 tickets.
It seemed to have the same view as the Kazan seats which were Category 3. We
were sandwiched (in a good way) between a mini section of Poland fans and mini
section of
Senegal fans. The Senegal fan in front of me was veryy energetic. He
would jump up from his seat and wave his Senegal flag. Then there were two
Polish fans in full body spandex suits with really loud noise makers who were
raising hell. It was a fun section to be in. The Polish were singing all sorts
of songs and going nuts. They definitely were louder than the Aussies a couple
days ago. The match started and I must say, Senegal put on their A game. They
were hustling and running to every ball and playing with all their heart. It
was nice to see and they ended up getting rewarded by it because they won 2-1.
The Polish fans were stunned. There was a Senegal girl two
rows down from us who constantly FaceTimed different friends while she was
cheesing so hard and spinning in a circle. It was very comical. We left the
match and were directed to walk 100 miles again. Of course. In true Russian
World Cup fashion. We hopped on a station upstream of the really popular one so
we were able to sit down for the long ride. Score!
We exited at the station near our hotel, collected our luggage, had
some drinks in the hotel while watching Russia vs Egypt, washed up a bit, and
then headed for the train station. Our Free Ride train using
our FIFA Fan IDs was scheduled to leave at 10:30pm. We arrived at the station
around 9:55pm and noticed that our tickets showed a station that started with
an O. None of the stations where we were standing started with an O. Uh oh. This isn’t
good. We noticed that there was a metro stop that matched the word on the
ticket so we quickly turned around and headed that way. We were rushing at this
point because we only had 30 minutes to catch the train! We rode the metro a
few stops but then realized the O stop didn’t have a train symbol next to it.
Oh geez. Are we even going the right way?? Frantically trying to figure out a solution,
I asked some nearby young Russians and they pointed us to the O stop as well.
But then they noticed, like we did, that there is no train symbol. They gave us
a shrug and we decided to get off at the next station which did have a train
symbol. We ran off the metro, crossing our fingers it was the right one… But we
both knew it was a shot in the dark. We approached the FIFA Info desk while catching
our breath and they proceeded to tell us that we were, in fact, at the right station
before. NOOOOOOO. Wow. How ironic is that. We mentioned to them that the name
on the ticket did not match any of those stations and they replied “Oh, that’s
because that was the old name of the station. The new name in Leningradsky”
Well then why didn’t it say Leningradsky?! Gosh I wonder how many other fans
missed the train because of that mix up. Anyway, we left this station and headed back to
the one we were at originally. We were keeping pretty calm about this fiasco
the entire time - I was very proud of us. I think we’ve both learned over the course of our lives that shit happens and the only thing you really have control over is your
reaction. By this point we had run up and down all the stairs of Moscow with
our luggage (or so it seemed). I approached the Free Ride desk as Dad asked a
different information kiosk about high speed trains to St. Petersburg. All high
speed trains were sold out. The guy mentioned they had some overnights left,
but not many. I eventually got through to the Free Ride guy and he set me up on
the next Free overnight train at 1:25am. However, he was scaring me because he
made it seem like we needed a ticket to a match in St. Petersburg (which we didn't have) and that Moscow
matches don’t count. This was contradictory to how I received approval before.
I went ahead and booked it anyway and he said we needed to show our ticket
before we boarded the train later. That could be problematic…soo we decided to make
a back-up plan just in case we weren’t allowed access to the Free Ride train.
We tried using the self-serve kiosks to buy tickets and even had a very nice
Russian girl help us. Everything was all set up and we were going to buy
tickets for a 12:20am train. It was 11:45pm by this point. We were making moves
fast! However, the kiosk denied us passes and we even tried two other ones with
no success either. Bummer. We took a number to be helped by an in-person ticket
seller and waited our turn. My oh my has this been a whirlwind! It was one way
to spice up a trip that’s for sure. International travel always presents these
types of situations. Even Brittney who has been traveling Europe at the same
time as us is running into a lot of troubles. That’s why I believe travelers are the
best suited people in life. You run into things you can’t control and you need
to react fast in order to overcome the obstacles. It’s part of the fun in my
opinion. Eventually our number was called and a translator was at the window
helping us. We tried to sign up for the 12:40am train but when the lady tried
to process it, she said it was full. Numerous others were full as well and our
only option was to leave at 1:09am and arrive at noon. That was close to 11 hours!
All the others were only 9 hours. We debated it for a couple minutes and the
lady was pressuring us for a decision. It was like we were on Jeopardy and
running out of time. It was very stressful and all eyes were on us to say yes
or no. Eventually I gave in and said, “Let’s do it. We have no other option.” The
price was only 7,000 rubles for both of us which translated to
 |
| FINALLY MADE IT |
$75. What a
deal! We discussed our recent purchase and decided to try and board the Free
Ride one because it would get us to St. Petersburg 1.5 hours earlier even
though it left 20 minutes later. Any time we can get back we should go for it.
The only problem was that Free Ride left at 1:25am and our purchased one left
at 1:09am. To try to board the Free Ride one and get rejected may result in us
missing the 1:09am one. We took a deep breath and went for it. Another obstacle
was that the platforms were isolated and if we were rejected, we would have to
exit and re-enter through security. Man were we putting all our chips in one
basket! We walked up to our train car, which was the furthest from the entrance
(of course), and were told to wait a bit. They started boarding at 12:50am – a
mere 20 minutes before our other train was to leave. We walked up to the lady
and she didn’t even ask to see our game ticket! The Free Ride guy lied to us!
But man were we happy he was wrong. We entered the train with celebratory
cheers and prepared our beds for sleeping. This setup was slightly different
because we had a compartment with a sliding door. And it turns out we had the
whole place to ourselves! What a treat! We passed out soon after.
SUCCESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
kinda sketchy and was waiting for him to
turn the vehicle into a bad part of town. During our cab ride I called the Free
Tour people to tell them we weren’t going to make the walking tour due to a
late train arrival. They were very thankful that I called to inform them. We
arrived at the Airbnb apartment around 11am and started unpacking. The stair climb was
very tiring. Thankfully we won’t have luggage the next time we take them on. A housekeeper
who spoke little English met us at the door and showed us around. She said almost
everything in Russian but we could figure out what she meant by the way her
tone was and with her pointing at things. And if we couldn’t figure it out, we
would alternate speaking into Google Translate. She was very sweet. I crashed
on the bed for about 45 minutes and then wrote in this journal. I also saw that
JT posted an article “Moscow Bars and Restaurants Already Running Low on Beer
During 2018 World Cup” Hahahah. That actually isn’t surprising because we
noticed they were running out of certain beers about two days ago. Come on,
Russia. Didn’t you do your research? Football fans live on beer! We booked a
ballet showing at Mariinsky Theater tonight at 7pm but have no plans other than
that. Let’s see what the day brings!
options. It was a struggle to
find the desk and it was megaaa windy. So windy that most people were almost
falling over while walking. We bought high speed boat tickets for Peterhof which is
about 40 minutes from St. P. It is a gorgeous palace well-known for its
fountains and gold. After we bought
tickets we started walking to Mariinsky Theater for the Don Quixote ballet show
at 7pm. This was highly suggested by both Brett and Menno and was also highlighted
in National Geographic magazine. We stopped in a hidden gem restaurant called Teplo
along the way. We walked under the arch and through
the alley and saw a cute courtyard setup with small tables. It was a nice
surprise! We were seated inside quickly which was a plus for me because I was
getting cold in the ferocious wind. The meal was wonderful.
I ordered oliver salad with chicken bits and herring with potatoes. Both were local
dishes. Great atmosphere and great food. We then headed to Mariinsky Theater! 
had a small café that smelled amazing. We walked up the marble
staircase and into our seats. When purchasing the tickets a week ago, they were some
of the last seats available - read: nosebleeds section - but it was incredible!
There was a huge chandelier above the center and the curtain looked very heavy
and legit. Dad said it reminded him of the Kapital Club in Spain. Bahaha. Kind
of the opposite atmosphere Mariinsky is going for but I could see the
similarity. It all seemed very fancy and old. There were paintings on the
ceiling as well. I was impressed. The Don Quixote ballet began and the place
was sold out. The performance was awesome! I was surprised I enjoyed it. I had
never seen a ballet before but I assumed I would find it dull. Dad was nodding
off during the first Act which he tried to play off by bobbing his head to the
music. Speaking of music, the orchestra was fantastic. Very well balanced and
there were harps! After the first Act we had an
“interval" so we bought
some coffee and a pastry. Dad claimed the food from dinner was making him
sleepy and he would be ok for the rest of the performance. I must say that the
men in tights in this ballet are very well endowed! And the main guy had butt
muscles like whoa. His bottom half looked like a chiseled statue. During the
performance there was a lot of activity going on outside of the main spotlight.
I think this helped me like it because there was always something to fixate my
eyes on. After every scene the girls and guys would bow, and the girls would
all receive flowers. Main reason I'd join a ballet right there! After the
incredible 3 hour performance (doubt many people can say their first ballet was
in Mariinsky Theater!), we walked to the pub across the street to watch Spain
vs Iran. The place was starting to get packed from all the theater goers. The
match was much closer than I thought it would be, but thankfully Spain pulled
it out in the end. 
Irish accent. I recommended to Dad that we do this free walking
tour because Anish and I did one in Cusco, Peru and it was awesome. This one
also did not disappoint. Overall, we walked a few miles and Anastasia stopped
at perfect intervals to give us rest. I felt like I learned a lot. She had a
lot to say about Kazan and how beautiful it was and recommended we go there.
CHECK. She also mentioned that people go salsa/bachata dancing in the streets
on Basil's Island during summer weekends with good weather! I found it very
interesting that she mentioned it during the tour and that the dance of choice
for that community was salsa. Looks like I won't be able to participate though
since we fly out Saturday morning :(
I asked her afterward if she knew of any salsa venues/clubs and she said she
did not. She was so nice I wanted to be her best friend. The tour group was
rather large so I was surprised we were able to all stay together especially
considering at the end we crossed streets a lot. At the end of the tour, we
stumbled upon the bustling part of the city that’s for sure. It seems our
apartment is in a quiet zoned neighborhood because the area at the end of the
tour was a night and day difference. Well, I guess here in Russia with the
White Nights I can’t make that colloquialism since night and day are basically
the same haha. 
because we thought we could walk around the palace for free, but it actually required tickets. It seemed we had two options: 600 ruble tickets and 900 ruble tickets. Dad was torn on which ones we should buy and I mentioned that it was only a $5 difference so we should just get the more expensive one. He praised me for this realization: “Thank you. Thanks for bringing the voice of reason.” That was nice :) We walked up the concrete path to the beautiful fountains in front of us. It was a long walk and the entire time the palace was in view. Stunning. We came to a mini bridge and took some selfies. Then we walked closer to the palace and took more photos. The statues and décor were all made of gold. It was very impressive. I kept taking 100 photos of the same things. I couldn’t get enough. We then walked through the hedges, trees, and other fountains. I would
highly recommend this visit to anyone. It was more rewarding than many other palace gardens I have been to. Including Vienna Schonbrunn. It went on for a least a mile on each
side. I was envisioning living in the palace as a royal member and being
completely enthralled with my everyday life. Gorgeous. We saw on the map that
there was a front part of the palace with gardens. We were about to exit to
them but then I stopped us and said, “What if it's only one entry per ticket
and we can’t come back?” Our guide had mentioned that about the Hermitage after
all. My assumption turned out to be true and we found out by asking a local
ticket checker. Dang that sucks. So in order to see the front (which is free by
the way) you need to arrive by car/bus. Or if you come by boat you need to pay
for two tickets. That's super lame. They should let tourists know about that
before they book the boat trip. So after being rejected we decided to try and
enter the palace.
Well the line to get in was extremely long and it was raining
at this point. We noticed some people were surpassing the line with their
tickets. Oh so maybe our extra 300 rubles gets us into the palace. NOPE. When
trying to ask the lady checking tickets, she simply whacked Dad's ticket out of
his hand. Harsh. I don’t think she meant to do that but it was still harsh (and
a little comical). We asked a tour guide from Britain if she could help us with
information and apparently the 900 euro is a general fee and 600 was a reduced
fee for seniors. Ohhh. So we really
never had a choice. Silly us! After being rejected twice in a matter of 1 hour
we decided to drink our sorrows away – me with berry tea and Dad with beer. We
also ordered dinner. I got a Pozharsky Cutlet which was a Russian breaded
chicken dish, it was incredible! The chicken inside was perfectly buttered and
juicy. Probably one of the better meals I've had. After that we relaxed and hid from the rain a bit
and then walked to the boat around 6:15pm. We departed the dock at 6:40pm.
hang out
with Nano and crew. We had to stand up because the table was on the edge of the
patio with no room for more chairs. They told us about their day and we told
them about ours. The table they had was situated where we could see the TV through the
window. It was a pretty sweet setup! Near the end of the game, Croatia stepped
it up and scored 3 goals. The place was going nuts! There were a lot of
anti-Argentina fans. I ordered a different shot of vodka (Tsarskaia Original) but
the waitress forgot to bring a 7Up. Oh well. Bottoms up! It actually was very
tasty. I didn’t need the 7Up after all. After the match ended around 11pm, Nano
and crew decided to go home. Dad and I wandered the streets for a couple hours.
The lights on all the buildings were really pretty. Our goal was to find a nice
café outside with decent food, but it was a difficult task because either the
place wasn’t to our liking or it was overcrowded. I think we ended up going in
and out of 10 different places. Two of which we wanted to stay and eat but the
wait staff never came by to take our order. We stumbled upon a neat balcony on
a long building along Nevsky Prospect with lots of soccer fans. This seemed to
be a good place for party central, but actually it wasn’t too packed. People
were chanting and waving flags, of course. The bar was no longer serving food
though so we left. Dad and I finally landed at a place
called Rock Star. It was interesting. They were blasting rock music and playing
rock music videos. I wasn't really a fan, but I was getting tired of striking
out at all the other bars. I ordered Borscht and water. My throat had been
bothering me a bit and my voice had dropped an octave. Never a good sign. We
left around 1:30am and called an Uber.
This was different from most of my trips
because it included a lot of last minute planning. Usually I book things ahead
of time. Most things were working out ok, but there were others I wish had gone
better. Overall, we did fine. We decided to go to the vodka museum first to do
a vodka tasting. Then we would go to Church of the Savior of Spilled Blood
since it was close to FanFest and we wanted to go there at 3pm for the Brazil
match. I had tried earlier this morning to find tickets to the match on
Facebook, but everyone was selling them for at least $400! Too expensive. Dad and I took an Uber at 11:45am to the vodka museum and man, was this
a highlight of the trip! We bought audio guides which were just ok, but the
best part was the vodka tasting. They set out 3 vodka shot glasses for us along
with little snacks (salted pickle, herring on bread, lard on bread). I liked
the first one best. The second one tasted like gin and the third was a little
spicy. They said we could order more tastings at an additional cost. Well ok
then! I only ordered one
more because I was already feeling the 3 and didn’t
want to overdo it. I asked the workers which they liked best and they mentioned
Northern Amurs. They said it was a special one because it was rare and had
hints of honey. I'll take It! I threw it back and goodness it was smooth!! And
it only cost 350 ruble (like $4)! That's insanely cheap for a vodka of that
caliber. In the States they charge $5 for bottom shelf vodka. Tisk tisk. We started
chatting with an Australian who was also doing the tasting with his
Brazilian
girlfriend. He was very nice and we swapped stories for a bit
which was fun. Then he and his girlfriend left and I asked the bartenders some
more questions. They said since Smirnoff and Grey Goose vodka are not Russian
they were crap. Hahaha. After this, Dad and I walked to the Church of the
Savior on Spilled Blood. It took longer than anticipated because FanFest was
situated literally right next to the church so certain paths were cut off. We walked up to
the entrance and purchasing tickets was easy peasy! We simply walked straight
through. The interior was magnificent. Everywhere we looked we saw very
vibrant, colorful images. From floor to ceiling. It was jaw dropping. Each
image was comprised of thousands of mini tiles to create over 7,500 square
meters of mosaics. Much different than any other church I’ve ever seen! We even
saw the location of where Alexander II was assassinated (hence why it’s called
Church of the Savior ‘on Spilled Blood’).
Brazilian guy I met a couple days ago, Carlos, was texting me asking where I was and was
sending me photos of him and his group. It made me laugh. We determined that we
were pretty close to one another but couldn’t find each other. Once I passed
through security, I saw a guy who looked like him. I walked up to him and
tapped him on the shoulder. “Heyy! Julie!” He was very excited to see me, gave
me a big hug, and kissed me on the check. We chatted for a bit and I told him my dad was still going through
security. We waited until Dad came through and Carlos then asked if I wanted something to drink. I said yes. He also
offered to hold my big coat for me. What a gentleman! We searched around for
his friends and eventually found them. One of them seemed in bad shape from the
night before haha. As we watched the match on the big screens, with Church of
the Savior on Spilled Blood in the background, I couldn’t believe how blessed
my life was. It was too good to be true. And then Brazil
ended up winning the
match (woohoo!) At this point I wanted to leave because the combo of ample alcohol
and sun was giving me a migraine so I took a 2 hour nap and then Dad and I went to St. Issac’s Cathedral to do a tour. We arrived at St. Isaac’s and
then went up to the booth to buy tickets. Unfortunately, we were given
incorrect information and the building was going to close in an hour. We had to
choose between going inside or going up to the dome view. We decided to do the dome.
We walked up to the entrance and it had a sign saying we had to climb stairs.
What! I thought it was going to be an elevator. There was no way I could climb
all those stairs without any windows and survive my fear of heights. I let Dad
go without me and I walked around the park nearby. I FaceTimed Dad when he
reached the top and the view was great. Unfortunately, I have an early flight tomorrow so around 11pm Dad and I returned to the apartment and I fell asleep quickly while Dad
went back out for a walk. 
