Last Days in Moscow and then on to St. Petersburg

In a souvenir shop down Arbat Street in Moscow Peter and I were tempted to purchase these extremely handsome hats but, unfortunately, they weren’t in the budget. Lonely Planet books are great for helping with finding transportation but I’m always frustrated that their budgets always leave out dispendible cash for alcohol and stupid hats. I tried out another hat but despite its popularity with the local women, I ultimately decided to buy a t-shirt. I did hate on the mall in the Red Square at first, but after going inside I was impressed with the architecture and shocked by the prices. It’s easily one of the nicest malls I’ve ever been to in my life. Sara was only slightly interested in the clothes though, as always, she was just looking for a good time. Admittedly, there’s something about those round little wooden boobs that begs, touch me. Since I’ve forgotten the majority of my Spanish from school, the son of this Spanish family had to translate most of our conversation. He was excited about his role though and we spent a while chatting before I told them about this site. Suddenly they were adamant about us having a picture together. I hope they visit the site and see themselves in this shot. They were a really cool family. I calculated that in the past couple months traveling from Xiamen, China to St. Petersburg, Russia, I have been on a train for a combined total of 223 hours. That’s more than 10 days on a train. This picture was taken once we arrived in St. Petersburg, marking the end of our trans-Siberian rail trip. Notice how cracked out we look. Later on in the same day, Sara and I slept during the morning hours waiting for our check-in time. It wasn’t the most comfortable sleep but I could have slept just about anywhere at that point in time. We only caught a short siesta though because of all the other people in, out, and milling about the hostel. Only with my impeccable eye, Sara’s good looks, and Steven’s swagger were we able to capture such a moment in time on film. Numerous modeling agencies have already contacted us about potential new careers in the world of being really, really, ridiculously good-looking. I’m sure Peter won’t be happy about this picture of him with Bizzaro-Bussigel being online but the resemblance between him and this Aussie is just too striking. It only took an hour at the bar before Peter attempted to kill the guy for copying his style. Outside a film museum advertised as a photography museum I saw this cat taking a cat-nap. Unfortunately this photo is far more interesting than any of the short films we saw. Then again, I liked the one with the fat lady mowing the lawn in her less-than-flattering bikini. Only one word comes to mind when I look at this picture: eyelashes. Wanna see something gross? Check out Sara’s filthy little toes blackened from playing Frisbee in a local park. Wanna know something strange? She used toothpaste to clean them off. And you know what’s funny? It worked. I’ll say that this picture doesn’t quite capture Sara’s mood throughout the trip and I would have left her middle fingers out if it wasn’t for Peter’s huge, wide-open grill. The other character in the shot is a friend we made at the hostel who’s currently going to U of M. Not only is he cool but he also wears a watch (not one of us has had a watch this entire trip) and he speaks Russian. Some people like to call St. Petersburg the “Venice of Russia” which I think is annoying. It’s certainly not Venice, and certainly not anymore than Bangkok is the Venice of SE Asia or Zhouzhuang is the Venice of China. How’s this: Venice is Venice, St. Petersburg is St. Petersburg, and Ohio is the armpit of the United States.
This sign needs little explanation. I just wonder what really necessitated the sign in the first place. How many cars plunged down into the canal before the finally put this up warning drivers about the perils of driving over the curb and into the water? You know it’s time to do laundry when you start wearing dirty clothes inside out. I’m not just picking on Sara though, we all have made our compromises along the way, using sniff checks to decide when a change of clothes is necessary. Call it gross if you want but travel through Siberia is less than luxurious and finding a washing machine in major cities can be a problem.
I’m not sure what Peter’s exact reaction to Sara’s kiss implies, nor do I understand why Stephen is going for bunny ears but Dave seems less than impressed. Now that’s a comfortable chair. It may not look it, but that chair hugs the person lucky enough to be sitting in it. Here’s another model shot taken outside the Church of Spilled Blood. Best t-shirt of the week award goes to Dave for his “I am Mickey Mouse” classic.

Night on the Pond

Moscow's not the cheapest place in the world to go out for some drinks. In fact, it's the most expensive. But small budgets and face control at clubds didn't stop us from having a great time at night. A small group of us from our hostel took some cheap beers out to park in the middle of the city where we found many Moscovites doing the same.
The Setting: A large pond in a park in the middle of a posh neighborhood where two lost geese swam.


Our crew:
a Ukrainian student named Tanya.
an Australian animator named David
an annoying Danish dork named Peter
a massage therapist from Cali
a composer from New York
and a photographer from Michigan


The Mixer: Cheap Russian Pivos, cheap Russia wine, and a camera.


The Results: A return to our childhood, playing on a colorful playground.


The Finale: Dustin racing up in the opposite elevator, missing out on the best picture of the night.

Moscow is for Lovers

On a steel structure in the middle of a walking bridge, hundreds of Moscovites have gone with their lovers and locked a padlock in a symbolic show of their commitment to each other. But that’s not why I think Moscow is for lovers. Most Russians are bored by such acts and instead prefer the instant gratification of sloppily kissing, heavy petting, and slightly undressing in public. I didn’t understand it at first, but I’ll guess it has something to do with the common Russian home not having a basement. For whatever reason, Moscovian parks are full of couples rolling around together in the grass, kissing atop bridges over looking the Moscow River and more-than-tenderly embracing each in front of St. Basil’s. On account of the extreme beauty on the Russian women, admittedly I did feel a little jealous at first but it didn’t take long before Peter and I met two Turkish girls in the Tretyakov museum. Suddenly Moscow wasn’t so lonely. We never made it to this extreme, however. This wonderful couple is a prime, albeit extreme, example of the love out in the open in Moscow. It’s certainly the exception and not the rule of Moscovian PDAs but these two are most certainly in love. Or just really drunk and in lust. Either way, Moscow is for lovers.

Lenin's Tomb: Best. Date. Ever.

I had offered noon as a meeting time but Esla and Emel asked us to meet them at Lenin’s Grave at 9:30 in the morning. Not being idiots, we agreed and made it there by 10. Making an already slightly morbid meeting more ominous, it rained all morning while we waited an hour in line to see Lenin’s corpse. Soaked through, we eventually made it to the mauseleum and entered the minimalist structure. Making the creepy halls even more surreal were the soldiers who silently pointed in the direction we were to walk. Inside a square room with no decorations, Lenin lay dead and waxy in a brightly lit glass casket. It was the only moment of pure silence we’ve had on our trip. His ear was slightly decaying and his eyes looked sewn shut. His signature Lenin goatee-moustache was intact but sparse but carefully manicured. Getting soaked in rain before seeing an old dead guy really set the mood for the rest of the day with the Turks. After such a morning in Moscow, things could only get better.

The Kremlin

Glimpses of Moscow