Austin Goes To Russia
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I flew from Sacramento to Seattle to catch a direct flight to Moscow. Flying to Moscow took about ten hours. Moscow is eleven hours ahead of our time zone so we lost an entire day. |
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Our translator Ludmila and driver met us at the airport. Getting all of our bags into our driver's small car was not easy, but we managed. |
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Here I am in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral at the end of Red Square. In Russian the term "Red" means beautiful. So this is beautiful square. |
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This is Tatiana and Ludmila and I at Red square. They were my guides and interpreters. I don't speak much Russian but many Russians speak English. |
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The tomb of Vladimir Lenin is in Red Square. He was a great figure in modern Russian history. He is stuffed and placed in a glass casket. The funny thing was he had a band-aid on his right thumb. |
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This is my dad and I in Red Square. On the left is the store Gum. During Soviet times Gum was used only by visitors and people of high position. In the background you can see the Hotel Russia where we stayed. Hotels in Russia are not quite what they are here. To the right of the picture is the Kremlin clock tower. The stars on top are about 18 feet wide. |
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Here I am in Gum. It is now like the Arden Fair Mall with many different stores including The Gap. The water fountain is a favorite place to meet. |
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The gate of Red Square has been destroyed several times in different wars. Only the very bottom is original. |
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These men dress in historical Russian clothing and pose for pictures with tourists. They charge 5 Russian Rubles, or about 17 cents. Most Russians keep their money in US Dollars or German Marks then exchange it when they need to buy something. While we were there the exchange was about 30 Russian Rubles for each US Dollar. There were exchange places everywhere we went. |
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I am standing at the center of the Russian world. This is the spot where all measurements from Moscow - like how far it is from Moscow to Kiev - are started. For good luck you drop a coin and turn around while making a wish. The tiny building with the blue top and stars in front of the gate is a Russian Orthodox Cathedral complete with altar inside. |
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The tomb of the unknown soldier has an eternal flame and two guards at all times. Behind is the wall of the Kremlin. The Kremlin wall was first built in 1498. That is just six years after our continent was found by Columbus. |
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Although the Kremlin can be visited by tourists, it is a military facility. We saw a lot of military men and equipment. |
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Along the Kremlin wall are very nice gardens and fountains. My dad is threatening to toss me into the pond. Behind us on the picture's left is an underground shopping mall that cost over $500 million to build. They had a problem with the Moscow River leaking into it. |
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I'm at the Kremlin gate, about to go in. It was kind of weird how I had always heard of the Kremlin like a big government place like we hear about the White House, but we just walked in after going thorough a metal detector like at an airport. |
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This is the main government building in the Kremlin. Russia's Premier Vladimir Putin was working inside when we took this photo. He is like our President
Bush. There are not many soldiers around, but I didn't try to make a run for the door. |
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The Tsar's cannon was used in war but never fired balls. It fired shrapnel at oncoming troops. It took six horses to carry it. |
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This bell was going to be put in a cathedral tower, but during a fire it became very hot and people who didn't know better poured cold water on it causing it to crack. Now it is just a spot where tourists take photos of a bad bell. |
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The Kremlin was like a city within a city. It had 69 cathedrals at one time and they were all the same religion. Some cathedrals were for one royal family only. Some cathedrals were destroyed during wars and some were destroyed during Soviet times. |
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The gardens have been kept very nice. The Kremlin is more like a park than a government center. |
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This bell tower has five layers of bells. With 69 bell towers it must have been very noisy in the Kremlin on Sunday mornings. |
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In Kiev we visited an outdoor museum that had different buildings representing different parts of historical Ukraine. I didn't know that windmills were used in Ukraine for grinding flour. |
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The bottom of the windmills are on a turntable and the whole building can move into the wind. |
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The houses in old Ukraine were made from sod bricks and with thatched roofs made from straw. They were very nice inside. |
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Dad's fiancée Victoria was a lot of fun. I'm happy
she will become my step-mom. |
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This is a weaved fence. That is more work than I'd want to do. |
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A group of students were on a field trip to the museum. A musician played a Ukrainian instrument that looked like a harp but he played it differently. |
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Can you guess what these are? The opening is that small whole in the front. They are bee hives for honey bees. |
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Victoria's son is Simon and his grandmother came to visit
while we were staying in Victoria's home in Kiev. Dad cooked
dinner. |
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My dad and I took the overnight train to Minsk in
Belarus. Dad had to bribe the passport man $50 because there was
"a problem" with my visa.
In Minsk I met Elizabeth. We had a lot of fun playing together. |
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We visited Elizabeth's cousins Fedua and Nadia. They
had a computer and we were able to play games I knew.
We had planned to meet many more people in Belarus, but some were not
available and dad became sick.
We made it back to Kiev without paying a bribe. |
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Cathedrals are everywhere in Russia. This one is in Kiev.
Major Ukraine cities have buildings and stores just like at home.
You can find McDonald's everywhere.
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We were invited to dinner at the home of some friends of
Victoria. Sergey, Victoria (another Victoria), and Sergey Jr. made
a very nice very Russian meal. They will immigrate to Canada in
February 2002. Dad has offered to help them when they arrive. |
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It seems that everyone in Russia has a nickname. Simon's
nickname is Senya and although he spoke only a little English, we were able to understand how to play Gameboy Advanced just fine.
My trip was very interesting, but I was glad when it was time to go
home.
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