TRAVELOGUE #17

When: Saturday, June 24
Where: Moscow, Russia

I’m in Moscow. It is 730 PM and I’m sitting outside a restaurant called My-My Moo-Moo on Au Arbat waiting for two French girls that were on the train (Ariane and Fanny) and my cabin mate, Jeff. I bought a bottle of Amsterdam to keep me company, dangerous company at 8.4% alcohol. But it’s never too late to start hanging out with the wrong crowd. I must admit, it took some effort to find this place. The Zarya Hotel, my home for the night, is way up in the northern end of the city. I bought a week pass and took the grey line to Arbatskaya, where I walked the length of Novy Arbat Ul, aimlessly until I found out I was on the new Arbat street and it was the old Arbat I was seeking. How the hell are idiot tourists like me supposed to know these things?

*While waiting for company to arrive*

First impressions are unimportant, but fun nonetheless. I was met on the train platform by friends of Monkey Shrine. The driver, a lean middle aged chain smoker, brought me to the hotel where I showered for the first time after five whole days of sponge baths. The hotel towels were completely spent after I used them. The hotel staff really ought to stuff them into neon orange biohazard bags with three foot long metal tongs and then burn everything. The car ride to the hotel put me in a really weird mood. It was drizzly outside and the driver was listening to a radio station that was devoted to bad poppy English music. The first song was Jonny Be Good, and then some vapid late work by Madonna, and finally, a horrible cover of Jimmy Cliff’s The Harder They Come.

For some stupid reason, I was expecting Russian folk music.

Ils est arrive; the three I mentioned plus two French Canadians. Josianne was a very plucky girl who has been studying in Moscow for 10 months. The other woman was a bit more detached, almost brooding. I can’t seem to remember her name. We ate at the aforementioned restaurant and then strolled down old Arbat. I bought a stack of Russian propaganda postcards and watched street performers do their thing. My favorite was a group of angst filled, pale punk-rock teenagers singing Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics. Then we took an impromptu tour around the city center, had some drinks and around midnight, strolled through Red Square. The place was absolutely strung up with Christmas lights. Lucky us, a group of soldiers were celebrating their graduation. Hundreds of them were marching in mock formation, unbuttoned uniforms, completely shit-faced and singing. I caught the last metro back to the hotel at 1AM.