Sunday October 20, 2013- Headed out on our journey! First stop was DC to visit two life long friends. We had a great time with the Brinsons and the Huxfords! They've been our friends for 25+ years! Its great to keep these friendships cultivated! Even if you only get to see each other once a year!
Tuesday October 22, 2013-Had a great time in NY... went to central park, times square, saw a broadway show...Then walked around Brooklyn and saw Brooklyn library and park.
Wednesday October 23, 2013- Started our journey to Moscow! took the subway to a bus to the airport. Then a 10 hour flight to Moscow! Thankfully it was at night so we did sleep some. Although it's really hard to sleep sitting up with people on either side of you!
Thursday October 24, 2013- Landed in Moscow around 12:30 in the afternoon. The airport is north of the city and our hotel was south of the city. I had looked up info about the hotel before we left and knew what metro stop it was near. We decided to try and figure out the metro instead of take a taxi because taxis can be very expensive and Moscow traffic is very congested. So we took a train from the airport to the metro station. When we got off the train it was very confusing! Of course everything is in Russian! The Cyrillic language is so complicated! We finally figured out we had to walk from the train station to the metro. Then we had to figure out how to get a ticket. Then we had to figure out which metro line to get on and get on going in the right direction! We definitely looked like tourists with our book out. I was getting really frustrated with reading the signs too! Then Larry took over and he didn't need to make sense of the words. He just looked for "AO6 backwards L" and then we could know which metro to get on! Whew! Well we finally made it to our metro by our hotel. Walked up to the street... hmmm.... I had no idea how to get to the hotel from the metro! Well, the Lord blessed because we looked up and Larry said "Maybe that's it" I had seen a picture of the hotel online and Yes it was! Hallelujah! We went to our hotel room and crashed. Completely exhausted! Slept till about 10pm then woke up! Went back to sleep around 2 or 3am and slept till 7am! It was still dark outside!
Friday October 25, 2013- We took a tour with a guide and 2 other people (who were from Virginia! and Christians! a Pastor even!) We went to the Kremlin. Kremlin means "fortress". It is a collection of buildings and churches. The drive into the city was almost 2 hours! Our guide explained a lot of Russian history to us. It was very interesting. The weather was a bit chilly but not bad at all. I was completely surprised at the weather! It was always really really hot indoors and then cool outside. We wore coats and gloves but was never freezing cold.
Got lots of great pictures. The guide took us up to Sparrow hill which is the highest point in Moscow and we could see the city from there. Then instead of them taking us all the way back to the hotel we had them drop us off at a Metro. We had some great lunch and then headed to see Red square! Completely awed by the architecture and beauty of St. Basil's Cathedral. It seemed completely surreal that we were actually standing there. The mood in the square was solemn. Lots of people. Felt completely safe. No worries at all. Also in the square is a History museum, a church, and GUM department store. The most amazing department store! It was so huge! And extremely nice! Lots of high end shops and really really pretty!
We walked around the Department Store a while to get out of the cold. We wanted to go to a ballet but had heard the tickets were sold out months in advance. We were trying to get across the street to Bolshoi Theater. It's the famous theater for ballets. The street is about 8 lanes across and there's no way to cross! Finally we figured out that there are crosswalks UNDER the road! So we walked under and up to the theater. Walked right up there and a guy was selling tickets to the ballet that started in about 5 minutes! We talked him down a bit and then went to the ballet!! It was so beautiful! To see the dancers and their athleticism was absolutely stunning. The theater itself was beautiful too! We sat high up but had a great view of the ballet.
Then we headed back to the hotel. As we were trying to figure out the metro again and not having a lot of luck...a couple saw us with our book in hand and said "Where are you going?" We told him and he said "Follow us we are going the same way" So off we went! We got on the metro with them and started talking to them. It's completely amazing to me how God can orchestrate events and people to come together! The couple looks at us and said "Are you born again believers?" Yes!! "Can we pray right now?" Yes!!! So we held hands and bowed right there on the metro in Moscow and prayed with fellow believers. It was very moving. I was so thankful to see God working in a city I never thought much about before.
Saturday October 26, 2013- We slept till 9am! Took my hula hoop today and got a lot of really strange looks wherever we went. It was tied in a scarf on my backpack. We went to the State Historical museum. It was in Red Square and was a huge museum that started with pre-historic times! Lots of interesting exhibits and lots of history. There were some papers with things in English so we could understand what was going on. Not everything was in English. I was so tired though. Lots of standing and walking. I fell going down some stairs and slid down a few steps! Whoops!
Then we went to Red Square and I hula hooped there! We took a few pictures and then a plain clothes police officer came over and said "no". So we packed up and left! That was the only time I felt a little nervous there in Moscow!
Then we went over to a place that sells lots of tea. It was an interesting little shop but couldn't figure out what to buy!
We wanted to see more recent Russian History. So we found the Museum of Modern History. Really interesting to see the perspective of the Russians from 1900 to present day!
Sunday October 27, 2013-Took an excursion with a guide to a Monastery outside town. It was weird to see so many people there praying to these "icons" on the frescoes on the walls. They also stood in long lines to have the priest pray for them. They also stood in long lines to touch relics. I'm so thankful we can go directly to God through Jesus Christ! Russian Orthodox is a very traditional and ritualistic religion. Doesn't seems like a relationship at all. At one point our guide was telling us how they pray to the "icons". She said, "It is mostly like you Americans do. " Larry piped in rather loudly and said "NO- JESUS CHRIST IS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!" She just looked up and did the sign of the cross and said "Yes, Jesus Christ is King of King and Lord of Lords."
Then we had lunch in town. Borscht! and a meat pie baked in a crock with bread on top. And Pancakes with a sweet sauce for dessert! Yummy!! So delicious!
Headed back to town and had the driver drop us off at a metro in town. He dropped us off right at the Russian Space Museum! So we went in and saw that! So neat! Not much in English but it was a great museum!
Then we went to Gorky Park and the area of the park for fallen statues. These statues are from the Soviet era. It's good they keep their history alive even though it was a dark period for them.
They talk about the "Soviet"time and they don't like it at all. We heard stories from our guide about when she lived in the "Soviet" time as compared to now. Standing in long lines for food and clothes and shoes. Then getting to the front of the line and not having her size. Having to grow gardens because there wasn't enough food. Free housing but everyone just had a small apartment with a few rooms. Everyone's career was picked out for them. No incentives to try and be more and do more.
Monday Oct 28, 2013- Got up at 5:30am! Took a metro to a train then to airport. Long flight back 10 1/2 hours. Didn't sleep much at all. Landed in NY then had to take 2 more planes to Dallas! By the time we got home we had been up and travelling for 24 hours! Whew!
Planes, taxis, buses, metros, cars, and lots and lots of walking!! But it was so worth it! I'm so thankful for the opportunity to travel and see other cultures. People are the same everywhere. Different in some ways but a lot the same.
Take every opportunity you have to enjoy this life God has blessed us with! A new adventure awaits with each new morning!
