Raid Over Moscow

I remember, from when I was a kid, there was a video game we used to play called Raid over Moscow. What I do not remember is what the game was all about, but I guess that would be the first time I even thought about the city. I need to talk to my friend, Kevin, who I’m sure can remind me. Anyway, we were in Moscow during the national election and also for the aftermath, which involved demonstrations that were made to look so much worse than they were in the media. I don’t necessarily have a problem with the media being liberal like Sarah Palin (or Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin), but what I do have a problem is when they stir shit up. I’m not saying that the protests of the election were perfectly peaceful, but the way the stories I read were written, it was almost like they were written to motivate people to go on Facebook and be a part of the “network” and then get out and make some noise. If we didn’t have 10,000 news sources, there would be no need to make a mountain out of a molehill, but 95% of the news has become selling it and getting people to pay attention and the other 5% (and I’m being generous with that 5%) is about content. It’s why it’s almost better to get your news from Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert because at least they cut through the bullshit. The Huffington Post occasionally gives me what I’m looking for (as do several podcasts), but it would be great if the focus out there could be on good journalism and writing, rather than exaggeration and outright lying.

WIA: Over the two weeks I was in Moscow, I was able to get out for dinner for some good meals. There are approximately 12 million people in the city, so there is pretty much every kind of food. The restaurants in the center of the city are very expensive as one would expect, but there are plenty that are perfectly reasonable, though that’s relative because Moscow is extremely expensive. On average, meals were around $40 to $50. We stuck mostly to Russian food, but we also tried Georgian and Ukrainian, both of which we liked (especially the Georgian). The first week there, the only place we ate worth noting was Bosco Bar at the Gum Department store, which is a very high end mall in Red Square. We had really good pumpkin soup and beef stroganoff, which in Russia doesn’t have noodles. I also had blinis, Russian crepes, for lunch during the week at Tepemok, a fast food chain. I had this for lunch many times, but my favorite savory one was mushroom and cheese and the apple and caramel was the best for sweet. We were able to explore a little more during week 2. We were advised to go to Shinok, a very popular (for tourists) Ukrainian place. The hook is that in the middle of the restaurant, they have a walled off area (with windows) where live animals roam around, while a Babushka, an old Russian woman, sits and watched. It was all very odd. The food was ridiculously overpriced, but at least it was good. I had chicken Kiev and french fries which I enjoyed very much. 

My favorite meal of the trip was the next night at Suliko, which is a Georgian place that at least seemed local, though they had an English menu, so hard to say. I can best describe Georgian cuisine as a mix between Greek, Turkish, and Indian. The most popular Georgian dish is khachapuri, which is bread either filled with cheese or topped with cheese.

The only problem was that it was like eating in the smoking room at the airport. It’s small and everyone was smoking. The 30 minute walk back to the hotel didn’t help at all in airing us out. We both needed to shower when we returned to the room before going to bed. Cafe Pushkin, where Jenn, Sarah, and I ate on Friday night is the Russian version of Shinok. In fact, they are owned by the same people. It has a classical look and the food is good, but also way overpriced. I had borscht for the first time. I don't like beets, but I still strangely really liked it. The chicken Kiev was good, but the star of the night was Jenn’s crème brulee, which had a sugar and caramel shell that the waiter lit on fire in front of us to melt it onto the dessert. It was quite a show. After dinner, we went to the bar at the top of the Ritz, which was next door to our hotel. There was no one there because it was early. The bar has a door out to the roof of the hotel which offers awesome views of the city. We paid the equivalent of 80 US dollars for one shot of vodka (for me) and two cocktails for Jenn and Sarah.
On Saturday night, we had Georgian again at Hachapuri, which fortunately had a non-smoking section. I didn’t think the food was quite as good as Suliko, but it was still very good. It is a modern, but comfortable place with a young clientele. Their khachapuri was different than we’d had before, but still rich, fattening, and tasty.

WID: We first went to see Lenin’s embalmed body. They have done an fantastic job maintaining the body. If you ever need a body embalmed and preserved, talk to the Russians. They know their stuff. It was very weird, but quick and painless. We walked through the Kremlin (in the snow) and enjoyed our tour of the Armory.

I wasn’t expecting much, but was really impressed with the collection. They had everything from jewels and Faberge eggs to clothing and riding coaches, which I don’t believe I’ve ever seen up close before. The audio guide explained how almost everything accumulated was given as gifts to the Russians, but I think the Russians obtained much of the collection by other means that were omitted from the tour narration. We then walked through the three churches, none of which were that exciting on the inside. We then walked for a little while along Arbot Street, which is a long and famous pedestrian shopping street. We shopped for matryoshkas, the Russian wooden dolls.  There are probably millions of them in the city and every store sells them, but they vary in price and quality. However, they all look the exact same and though the salesperson can try to convince you otherwise, it’s very hard to distinguish what is what. The traditional ones are almost all manufactured and not hand painted, which seems to be a differentiation point. In the entire time I was there, I didn’t see one where I looked at it and thought it was worth the amount of money that was being asked. I'm certainly not the target customer though. On Sunday morning, we went into the inside of St. Basil's. It wasn't nearly as impressive as the outside.

WIS: We stayed at the Hotel National, which is right across from Red Square. It’s an old and traditional hotel, but in very good shape and still very comfortable. The breakfast room overlooking Red Square provided a great view each morning. I have three complaints. This is going to sound snobby, but now that I have Platinum status at Starwood, I do not like it when the staff doesn’t recognize it in advance with my reservation and make the appropriate preparations. I’m not asking for the red carpet to be rolled out or anything, but there are some standard things that are supposed to be done at check-in, one of which is a complimentary upgrade to the best room that is available. As I said, I realize how this comes across, but I hope it’s easier understood when you put it in context that I’ve stayed in hotels for probably half of the this year, so whenever it can be made easier, more convenient, or comfortable, it’s appreciated (and not taken for granted). The other two complaints are about the room, which they charge over $300 a night for. This is actually not that expensive for Russia, so we got a good deal, but to not have air conditioning or even the ability to open a window was frustrating. On the same note, the temperature of the water from the shower would change suddenly and often and the variations were dramatic from freezing cold to scalding (literally) hot. That is not just irritating, but dangerous.

WAM: We rode the metros a lot and the stations were nice. I wouldn’t describe them as beautiful, which is how they are described in books, but some of them are ornate and definitely nicer than you would see in other cities. I saw pictures from a co-worker who went out one night on a metro station tour and there are some stations that are stunning. They just weren't ones on the line we were using regularly. Also, worth noting is that I bought vodka to bring home, but because of the demonstrations, security was tight around Red Square. We were turned away because of the vodka being in a glass bottle and told we had to go around. When we tried to get through at another point, we were told there was no way for us to get back to our hotel as long as we had the vodka so we should go back outside, drink it all, and then come through. I liked that recommendation and thought it was much better than what I thought was going to happen when he called over his superior, which was that I would be arrested. We ended up walking about a mile out of our way to go around all the nonsense and eventually made it back to the hotel. Every time we passed a military person on the walk back though, I clutched the bag closely, hoping to avoid any further trouble.

WTF: I've got two:

1. Apparently, no one in Russia has gotten the memo that smoking is detrimental to one's health. The Russians smoke anywhere and everywhere, inside and outside. It’s disgusting. Fortunately, there are some restaurants where non-smoking sections are available, but it’s rare. 

2. As I went to bed one night, my eye started to itch and become irritated. When I awoke the next morning, it was swollen, watery, and hurt every time I moved my eyeball. It looked like someone had punched me. After some internet research, I diagnosed it as a stye. I had never had one before, but it's essentially a bacterial infection in the eye. One thing I'm trying to be better about it is not touching my face when I travel, but I do it so often without thinking. I don't know if that's how I got the stye, but I assume it is. During the day, my co-workers had to here me whining about my eye and then Jenn got to hear it all evening. I was a bit paranoid that every time I was in a meeting that the other person or people were staring at my eye. I would even ask my teammates if they thought the others in the meeting were looking at my eye. I don't handle pain well and I pretty much make everyone around me suffer through it with me. Fortunately, I survived and my eye eventually went back to normal after a little over a week.

For more pictures, click here.