Yesterday was the busiest day we have spent in Moscow and it was truly memorable. There were two events sponsored by AAS, one was a trip to the Izmailovo Market in the morning and the other was attending the Military Tattoo (Spasskaya Bashnya) in Red Square in the evening. About a dozen of us from Gruz met at the gate at ten am and marched to the Metro. It was a very cold, grey and windy morning and we all appreciated the warmth of the Metro. Eight stops including one transfer later, we were at Izmailovo Park, but not without incident. I, being a nurturer, always stood back to make sure everyone in our group got on the subway. At our transfer point, a particularly busy station, too many of our group were more interested in talking than traveling and they lollygagged their way onto the Metro car as I was yelling at them to just move in and fast. Naturally the doors closed just as one of the other members of the group and I were trying to get in. The door closed on my bag and his foot and we had to work like crazy to remove both before the train sped away. The reason these trains run every two minutes it that they don’t wait for people to sashay on to the cars. I confirmed that my new travel partner was not hurt and then we both talked about people that are used to subway travel (he is from London) and those that don’t pay any attention to what they are doing. Moscow needs pushers on their Metro like they have in Tokyo.
We hopped on the next train, which arrived exactly two minutes later and were reunited with the group for the walk over to the market. (CC- he got a big hug from me, of course!) Izmailovo Park is one of the largest in Moscow, 350 hectares, and was once the Hunting Preserve of the Czar. It has huge lakes and waterways, which are now used as reservoirs, and miles and miles of hiking and running paths. The first part of the estate – the only part we saw yesterday - is filled with vendors selling everything you can imagine. It is a fine introduction to Russian arts and crafts, with some of the booths selling mass produced trinkets and others selling things that they made: birch bark art, quilts, linen and lace, the ubiquitous Russian fur hats and so on. This from Pravda:
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| Izmailovo Park from the River |
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| Cool Building in the Market |
The ‘Vernisash’ market at Izmailovo is like a supermarket which is as clean as any market can be. Local religious people try to sell their tatty goods and lay them out on ragged mats. The market traders are very professional. Almost every veteran or invalid has to pay only 30 roubles for a spot on the market rather than the 300 roubles that young and healthy people must pay. A business-like appearance and good manners help to attract prospective clients.
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| Entrance to the Market |
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| Bridge over the Moscow River to the Market |
The market is open on Saturdays and Sundays. From 9 o’clock in the morning there is a constant stream of people coming to the market from Partisanskaya metro station. The pandemonium starts much earlier at the ticket office of Savelovsky station where trains leave for the market.
Near mid-afternoon one has to force one’s way through the crowds at the market. Visitors come to the ‘Vernisash’ market to get a flavour of Russia and it is on every tourist’s list of places to see in Moscow. They are happy once they have bought a cheap glass, a real Russian souvenir.
We wandered for hours and bargained like pros, well we thought we did, and purchased a few things that we really liked and made mental notes about things for the next visit. At about 1pm we were shopped out and hungry and headed for the food area. There were four large charcoal braziers each manned by five men dressed in kitchen whites. They were cooking skewers of lamb chops, chicken, beef, pork and fish and the smells were wonderful. I think they were all the same outfit since everything looked the same, but they were very aggressive about calling us over to their particular grill. We chose one lamb and one chicken shish kabob, some grilled flat bread and a bottle of water and sat at a picnic table while our plates were prepared. They finally came and the wait was well worthwhile. The plates had a hunk of tomato, a ton of raw onions, and more cucumbers than any one person should eat in a summer. My lamb, the first since arriving since I’ve never seen it for sale in the markets, was outstanding. It was served with some sauce that wasn’t spicy but very flavorful, and you would dip the hot flat bread in the sauce to go with the lamb. We were very happy and ready to take the long trip back home. You can take a walk though the market by clicking on the YouTube link here. (Is there anything that isn’t on YouTube?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrMJrshiWPY
We did a bunch of work here at the apartment until about 6pm, and then cleaned and refreshed we met Peggy and Dave to walk to Red Square for the big event known as Military Tattoo. Yesterday was the celebration of the settling of Moscow, called Moscow City Days. All the major streets were decorated with flags and banners and best of all, the main drag from here to the Kremlin was closed to traffic and we could walk in the middle of the eight-lane road so as to appreciate the magnificent buildings that line the avenue. There were no fewer than five checkpoints where you had to walk through metal detectors and submit your bags for inspection. These became more frequent the closer you came to Red Square. Along the way were different venues that had bands playing for the youth of Moscow, food stations, and people (not police) on horses, whose function I never did quite understand.
After the final check at Red Square where we had to show our tickets, we were surrounded by military men in dress uniforms standing at attention all over the Square. We were walking past some food concessions when an Arab man in full Middle Eastern guttra and thobe came up to me and said, “You must enjoy Bahraini hospitality, come with me.” I am not JOKING! He was from Bahrain and as he escorted me to their kiosk, I greeted him in Arabic and told him that we had lived in Juffair last year. He immediately adopted me and shouted to his friends in the kiosk to give me this and that and soon we all had cardamom coffee and sweet pastries. I was given two hats with the Bahraini seal and my head was spinning. It turns out that Bahrain was in the Tattoo that evening - who knew they had a military band -and they wanted everyone to experience their warmth. It was so strange and wonderful, as was their marching band. It was a great combination of West meets Middle East. I can’t find a clip of them but I’m sure one will be posted soon.
We climbed to our seats, a very long climb, and were seated at ten to eight. At exactly eight o’clock, the tower bell chimed, lights in the square dimmed and when the last bell pealed, the cannons started to fire and enormous sparklers went off all over the square. Seven thousand of us erupted in cheers. It was a remarkable evening, with great music, wonderful pageantry, and a laser show on St. Basil’s Cathedral, which I’ll always remember for its artistry and technique. It ended with all of the bands assembled in the square playing the last movement of the 1812 Overture, complete with the canons, and a long and loud fireworks display over the Moscow River, all of whose bridges were illuminated with white, blue and red lights in honor of the Russian flag. Pictures are worth a thousand words so if you have time take a look at some of these from last year’s production; it will give you a great feel for our experience. (We were mightily impressed with the Ukrainian marching band and this is the only link I could find, but it is good.)
Tattoo
Finale
Ukrainian Marching Band
Fireworks
We headed for the Metro along with everyone else, only to find that all the Metros were closed and guarded by armed soldiers. The streets outside the Kremlin Walls were covered with police cars, blaring something in Russian about the Metro. We tried to walk to two different stations but they were also closed and we had no recourse but to walk home arriving at eleven thirty. I made some quick snacks and we had some wine and trundled to bed. This morning I learned that a suicide bomber in Dagestan had run his explosive laden car into a Russian military base killing a dozen and wounding many, many more. Every time something like that happens in Dagestan, there is usually a threat to Red Square and they always shut down the Metro stations. Dagestan continues to want to be a Muslim state and they continue to cause chaos on a weekly basis.
From CC: As you can probably imagine, last night’s exhibition or concert or whatever it should be called goes beyond words. It’s not often that you can be grinning with a slackened jaw (what a picture) for that long, 2 ¼ hours. It was fabulous. I love being within walking distance of central Moscow, although I’ll admit that having to walk all the way home last night was a bit much. Those dang terrorists – but I’m so glad they didn’t come anywhere near here. We checked the news when we got home in case there really had been an incident and we needed to assure everyone that we were fine.
Off to our next adventure, a boat trip … Cindy and Wm
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