And the Vote Was...

Blog by Theresa, [with comments by Bill...think of us sitting across the table from you, trying to tell you the story, but me interrupting to "help" Theresa tell it right! :-)]

When we left our tale yesterday, the fair couple [who?] didn't know the plan for the day. Well, thanks to a very talkative person on the computer next to us, the blog took over 2 hours to complete, so we woke up this morning still not knowing what was on the plan for the day.[Like it mattered...think "the plans of mice and men!"]

So, over breakfast, we did what all good travelers do [eat everything that's free at the Exec Lounge?] (well, double engineers at any rate)...made a list of everywhere we wanted to go and each ranked them...then did an average of the rankings to determine which were the highest priority [this is a classic "Theresa Thing", Bill HATES that game!]. There were 6 clear "winners" and then a 4 way tie for 7th place. So, we decided to start at the top of the list...the Museum of the Cosmonauts. But, on the way we stopped and bought tickets to a Military Band festival, which is in Red Square through Thursday (the reason we can't get in until Friday). Hopefully we'll have some dashing pictures of that to share later. As Bill said, we spent "less time outside then a standard mole" with the Concierge telling us where to pop out of the metro, walk 10 meters and buy the tickets (which were no longer available via phone)[the Navy Seals would be proud]. Then on to the Museum of the Cosmonauts.

The museum is a very striking structure which represents a rocket taking off. We saw a bust of Yuri Gagarin and...a closed sign. Despite having a print out of a description of the museum with the assurance they were open Tues - Sun, apparently they are closed Monday and Tuesday. So...what's next? We decided on the boat tour up the Moscow river. We go through a couple of the more scenic Metro stations, so hopped off, took pictures, and hopped back on a Metro [one of these was a stroke of luck. We jumped off a sardine packed subway car, and the next train was nearly empty for the first half of the cars. Of course, the ones in the back that stopped before us were 2/3 full, but still a great improvement!], and made it to the stop where we believed the boat left (the directions for which were left at the hotel because we wouldn't have time for that today). Went towards where we thought the river was, found a beautiful flower market [I thought about getting them, but knew we had nowhere to put them, and didn't want Theresa to have to carry them for hours. So, lovingly, I left them at the store! I still get points, right? It's the thought?], but no river....now, it was 2pm and we were hungry. So, there's a mall! After much scouring, we found the food court and managed to get some food by pointing at it and grunting...there's class :-) [Grunt for yourself! I was busy stammering and stuttering bits of Russian!] So, we regrouped over the lunch table and decided, Arbat street isn't that far away, let's just walk there! [An aside on lunch...I have been looking forward for weeks to try borscht (what I believe to be "beet soup"). So, this place has borscht, and I order it. It was like onion soup in a beef broth. Sure, it was very tasty and satisfying, but not at all what I anticipated, so I'm not sure if I can cross "borsch" off of my list of things to try.]

Saw another of the Seven Sister towers and then lots of shops on Arbat street. Other than souvenirs and restaurants, there wasn't much [Uh, let's not forget the bronze statue of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin with his wife??] ...oh, yeah! But, a Starbucks that Bill just had to stop at! [Oh come on. We've all heard the jokes about Starbucks opening absolutely everywhere, including inside of a Starbucks because there weren't any new places left. So, walking down the "cultural aisle" of Moscow, seeing what could hardly be mistaken as "Russian", but a bit of home, how could I not? I'm helping the US economy here, right??] Walked and got to the metro at the end of the street (rush hour again!) and stopped at a couple of other really nice metros. Our final metro stop, Bill got a very nice tap on the shoulder and wag of the finger from a police woman...I guess the photos aren't all that appreciated. [As nice as a tap on the shoulder by a policewoman can be I suppose. It was a shaking head and disapproving expression, coupled with a wagging finger. My shocked and "innocent" face must have appeased her and the five male police with her. I've learned my lesson. I'll be sure not to take any more pictures next to the police in the Metro!! More to the point, wouldn't you think they'd be happy that a tourist thought so much of the artistic effort they made, that this person wanted to take a piece of it with them, and share it with others??]

So, we didn't manage to get anything on our list done, but did a lot of wandering. Now, dinner and our 3 hour tour. Hopefully we'll have some pretty photos tomorrow from our night tour of Moscow. [Yes, pictures taken in the dark no doubt from a moving car. Certain to be award winning, magazine cover quality! :-)]