Norm & I tried - notice I said tried - to meet Becky & Keith at noon at the GUM today. We failed. Miserably. I'm not sure how we all missed each other but we did. Becky even has video proof on their blog that they were there...waiting for us...for a very long time. Oopsie!!
More about the GUM (pronounced "goom") can be found here: http://www.gum.ru/en/ If you're traveling to Russia, it will be well worth your time to check this out in person. It's breathtakingly beautiful.
So instead of meeting up with Becky & Keith as planned, we ended up walking around Red Square a bit but couldn't go as far as we wanted because a large portion was blocked off - I think due to the European Football (soccer) Championship game on Wednesday. I guess there are pre-celebrations or something equally festive/roudy going on. My instincts tell me this is a good place to avoid going until after Wednesday!
Since we couldn't walk around Red Square, we set out about the outside of the Kremlin walls, ended up way farther out than we (okay, I) expected to be and then we (okay, me again) started wondering if we'd ever make it back to our apartment. We finally did but a large portion of our "stroll" was off the normal touristy beaten path. Obviously all ended just fine for us but I don't recommend to other families that you just go out and wander without knowing a little more about the neighborhoods you're in. One street in particular seemed a little...seedy...and I wasn't entirely comfortable with our surroundings.
Despite our little mix up earlier in the day, we were finally able to meet up with Becky, Keith, Ron, Dana & Aaron for dinner at My My (moo-moo) Cafe on Old Arbat at 5pm. Cute cow, huh?
Wow...what a difference from our first trip in March. You know what we saw in March? Mud. Lots and lots of mud, everywhere. It is absolutely gorgeous here now, so I'll leave you with another slideshow of beautiful Moscow in May!
5 comments:
Kar, it sounds like you guys are having so much fun. It reminds me so much of our first trip to Russia with such a large group. And you couldn't have asked for better weather, how awesome to have warmth if you're going to be in Russia for a month! :)
I'm enjoying following all of you! Keep the posts coming.
Ondrea
You guys have really gotten your exercise since you've been there! But it's a good way to pass the time, and you'll be able to share all that you've seen with Ilya later.
You got some great photos. Thanks for sharing! (What was the deal with the iguanas?)
Wow..Moscow is truly beautiful in the spring. We saw it briefly in May 2005. All we saw this adoption was snow, rain, snow, mud, dirt, snow...did I say snow?
So that's what Moscow looks like all thawed out! ;-)
I'm wondering about those iguanas too?
Thanks for sharing the photos. I just lOVE photos. I wish yall would go back when we get to travel, you seem like the moscow expert now!
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