The past two days have been very busy so I've been unable to update the blog recently. This also means that this is going to be a long one!
We've been very lucky lately with fantastic weather as yesterday and today were sunny and in the mid- to high 70s. We left the dorm around noon on Sunday and headed straight for the metro. Our first stop was to Парк Культуры и Отдыха Горького or just Парк Горького (Park Gorkova). It is, in some ways, similar to New York's Central Park but only in that it is a large park in the middle of the city. There were many bikers and people on roller blades riding around but mostly just near the entrance. The rest of the park was full of people laying in the grass and even some street performers. We stopped at a small food stand by a fountain and ordered some блинчики (blinchiki) which are similar to quesadillas but softer and with far more on the inside. The prices were a little expensive (150 roubles or 5 dollars per) because of the tourist nature of the location but the food was incredible and filled us up. We also stopped by a full size model of Буран (Buran) which was a Soviet equivalent of the US Space Shuttle. It only ever made one flight in the 80s but it was done completely unmanned and it remained the only spacecraft to take off and land automatically until 2010 with the launching of the US X-37 space plane. The name comes from the Russian word for 'blizzard'.
After we left the park, we took the metro over to see the Храм Христа Спасителя (Cathedral of Christ the Savior) which is the largest Eastern Orthodox Church in the World. It was originally built following the Russian victory over Napoleon under Czar Alexander I but it was completely leveled by the Stalin and the Communist Party in 1931, along with all of the other churches in Moscow, because of the Soviet adherence to atheism. It was rebuilt in 1995 and is supposedly an exact replica if the original. We took plenty of pictures from the outside but were not allowed to bring cameras inside. The interior is gorgeous with an incredible level of detail over every inch. Russian and Latin text can be seen on almost every surface along with images of biblical scenes. It truly is an incredible sight. They have service everyday at 8AM and another service at 5PM.
We left the cathedral and headed back to the dorm for a little rest and then went back out to grab some food. A national fast food chain, Картошка (Cartoshka meaning 'Potato') had been recommended to us and we headed down the road to the nearest one. As can be expected with a restaurant called 'Potato', everything was made out of potatoes. The main meal is basically a baked potato that has been mashed up on the inside and mixed with meat or cheese. I went with cheese and it was actually pretty good. definitely better than the fast food back in the US.
We've been very lucky lately with fantastic weather as yesterday and today were sunny and in the mid- to high 70s. We left the dorm around noon on Sunday and headed straight for the metro. Our first stop was to Парк Культуры и Отдыха Горького or just Парк Горького (Park Gorkova). It is, in some ways, similar to New York's Central Park but only in that it is a large park in the middle of the city. There were many bikers and people on roller blades riding around but mostly just near the entrance. The rest of the park was full of people laying in the grass and even some street performers. We stopped at a small food stand by a fountain and ordered some блинчики (blinchiki) which are similar to quesadillas but softer and with far more on the inside. The prices were a little expensive (150 roubles or 5 dollars per) because of the tourist nature of the location but the food was incredible and filled us up. We also stopped by a full size model of Буран (Buran) which was a Soviet equivalent of the US Space Shuttle. It only ever made one flight in the 80s but it was done completely unmanned and it remained the only spacecraft to take off and land automatically until 2010 with the launching of the US X-37 space plane. The name comes from the Russian word for 'blizzard'.
After we left the park, we took the metro over to see the Храм Христа Спасителя (Cathedral of Christ the Savior) which is the largest Eastern Orthodox Church in the World. It was originally built following the Russian victory over Napoleon under Czar Alexander I but it was completely leveled by the Stalin and the Communist Party in 1931, along with all of the other churches in Moscow, because of the Soviet adherence to atheism. It was rebuilt in 1995 and is supposedly an exact replica if the original. We took plenty of pictures from the outside but were not allowed to bring cameras inside. The interior is gorgeous with an incredible level of detail over every inch. Russian and Latin text can be seen on almost every surface along with images of biblical scenes. It truly is an incredible sight. They have service everyday at 8AM and another service at 5PM.
We left the cathedral and headed back to the dorm for a little rest and then went back out to grab some food. A national fast food chain, Картошка (Cartoshka meaning 'Potato') had been recommended to us and we headed down the road to the nearest one. As can be expected with a restaurant called 'Potato', everything was made out of potatoes. The main meal is basically a baked potato that has been mashed up on the inside and mixed with meat or cheese. I went with cheese and it was actually pretty good. definitely better than the fast food back in the US.
Just realized that this is only yesterday but I think its long enough. More to come!
I managed 3 weeks with zero fast food - no McD's, BK's, KFC's, Subway's...lots of pub food, but none of it FAST!
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