Russia, Day 29

 

Day Twenty-Nine 

Our last day.  It was a bit sad.  We had seen most of what of what we wanted to see and we had spent approximately the amount we had budgeted.  We were exhausted, yes.  Our visa was expiring.  It was time to go.  

 

It was raining.  We had one thing in mind:  Find the Dostoevsky Apartment Museum.  It was supposedly in our neighborhood, but had been eluding us for so long.  We walked around the area where we thought the museum was.  We walked and walked.  I was convinced that the guidebook’s map and street names were totally wrong.  We eventually found a farmers market – wish he had known about it when we first arrived.  After exiting it and walking to the right, I noticed the apartment museum.  Sure enough, it was near a church we had passed numerous times.   

Being that the Dostoevsky Museum had not opened yet, we decided to walk on down to Marata Street.  What’s funny is that we saw the bakery where we just a few days earlier!  We went and got lunch.   It was meatballs and potatoes.  It was fair.  I didn’t notice a nice-looking couple dressed their business suits having lunch. 

After getting our sustenance, we walked back to the museum.  We bought our tickets, made our way upstairs, picked up the audio player and started the tour.  We saw Dostoyevsky’s clothes, his children’s toys, his famous desk and so much more.  I was intrigued, the way I was while visiting Pushkin’s apartment.  It was hard to believe that The Brothers Karamoz was written at the very desk I was seeing! 

During the day, we also did a good deed.  There was a very old lady that was standing outside with her hand out, asking for money.  We walked past her once and then decided to return later to give her something.  As it turns out, she had moved spots.  Still, we found her and gave her some money.  She was very grateful.  We squeezed hands.  She asked where Kade was from.  It was a short moment in our trip, but it meant something to us.  It felt wonderful to connect with the old lady in that way.

 

Later in the day, in-between packing and thinking ahead to tomorrow, we went to the mall.  We bought some Flagman and Russian Standard vodka – two vodkas we couldn’t get easily in the USA.  We also had a meal at an interesting restaurant called Transport Meal.  It was like eating while being inside a video game.  We learned about this place from a friend of the lady we befriended at the coffee shop.  The Transport Meal restaurant was a new thing.  It was obvious that the emcee was rehearsing his parts and that the manager was observing him.  We ordered our food from a computer touch-screen.  After eating and paying, we talked briefly with the emcee – he was taking a break – and left.  We had ice cream at the coffee shop.

 

Late in the evening, we walked down to a 24 hour grocer.  We bought some smoked sausages and some instant noodles.  Our last meal was to be partaken in our apartment.