Day Sixteen
We woke up later than we have on the entire trip. For me, the problem is the heat and the
mosquitoes. I just couldn’t sleep well
most of the night. We are in a new room
and we don’t have the fan we had when we stayed in the first room. So, we got up in the afternoon and set out
for the Garden Ring. It was time to take
a trolley.
After waiting a bit at the trolley stop, we got on the
number we thought would take us to the zoo.
While on the trolley, when going through a tunnel, we glanced out and
saw a car with its hood completely up.
And, someone was driving the car!
It was a BMW, and I swear I didn’t see anyone’s head sticking out the
driver’s side window. To witness that
spectacle was a shock. Kade, at the
time, was sitting in a seat towards the front of the bus, in an area generally
reserved for the elderly. I was standing
over her, holding one of the rings, just trying to keep my feet. The next thing I knew this lady next to me
started speaking very aggressively to me.
I had no clue what she was saying.
I smiled, looked down and nudged Kade with my leg. I looked back at the lady and she was
continuing to “chew me out”….so I presumed.
I started feeling very self-conscious and embarrassed. Eventually, I spoke back strongly to her in
English and it didn’t stop her. She had
the meanest look on her face and she was using her free hand to gesture
angrily. It then dawned on me that
perhaps she was upset because Kade was taking up a seat…one that she
wanted. I mentioned this to Kade and she
thought for a minute about getting up.
Soon, we were approaching our stop and I made contact with a young lady
who was smiling at us. As Kade and I
excited the trolley, this young lady assured us, in English, that the woman’s
outburst had nothing to do with us.
Instead, she was angry at the lunacy of the driver in the car that had
the raised hood. This young lady said
she “went off” because she was worried about the dangers of that person driving
that car. Also, the young lady said not
to worry because it’s likely the woman was also overly stressed from her work.
After that bizarre episode, we made our way to the ticket
window of the zoo. What followed was
easily the most boring and most depressing day in Moscow
We left the zoo, during the hottest part of the day, and
walked to a trolley stop. We waited and
waited. Finally, we got on a trolley
and, with an encouraging word from a Russian lady passenger (an old lady with a
wonderful demeanor), we got off at Kievskaya Metro Station and train depot. We walked to the mall and ate lunch in the
food court. Afterward, with the help of
a lady merchant at a nearby market, we were pointed in the direction of the
large rynok (farmers market). I was
determined to find it. After lots of
walking and hoping, we came to the entrance of the farmers market. We walked through an aisle of closed kiosks,
where we finally reached the place Martha Stewart lauded. Much to our disappointment, the food vendors
were closing shop.
We did walk around and look at some remaining vendors. Some of the merchants playfully tried to get
us to sample their produce. We decided
just to look and take in the aroma.
After exiting the rynok, we walked to a shop where we bought
some Russian ice cream. We then
proceeded to walk towards a boulevard where I assumed we would see the tall new
towers. Instead, we made it to the
boulevard – about ten lanes wide – and we were growing tired. No towers in sight! On either side of the massive multi-lane
boulevard were mammoth-sized apartments and office buildings. We eventually jumped onto a tram and headed
back towards the boulevard ring. We then
went into an Italian chain restaurant and got something to eat and drink. Occasionally we would look out the window and
notice a scantily-clad woman. Our spot
was great for people watching! And, we
did have a couple of Russian ladies at a nearby table help us figure out
something.
We left the restaurant and jumped back on a trolley. Our destination was our hostel area. We were beginning to really get the hang of
the trolleys. Finally! We got back to our area and walked down the
street to the “expensive” coffee shop just down from Coffee House. It was very expensive and the service was
pitiful.
In the evening, just before bed, it was muscle rub
city. I also drank a lot of peach juice. Yummy!
Too bad our shower was exceptionally dirty!
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