I have a few odds and ends about Moscow that don't fit anywhere but which I want to include:
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| This postcard-perfect photo is of Novodevichy ("New Maiden") Convent, which was built in the 1500s. It was closed down by the Bolsheviks in 1924, then used for a museum, and later for a school. Nuns returned to the convent in 1994. The Novodevichy Cemetery that I wrote about in a previous post is nearby. |
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| Little white bits of fluff floating in the air everywhere we went turned out to be from cottonwood trees and were the reason I began sneezing almost immediately after we arrived. Thank goodness I packed Claritin. |
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| Olympic Stadium for the 1980 Summer Olympics, which the United States boycotted to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. |
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| The very long, very steep, and very scary ski jump. |
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| Note the Seven Sisters building in the silhouette on the front. |
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| Olympic logo. Do you recognize the Seven Sisters image (again) topped with the Russian star |
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| T-shirt stall in a tourist area. It was nice to know the Russians have a sense of humor. |
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| The Moscow Circus Arena |
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| Performing bears and dogs |
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| Various animals waiting to perform. |
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| Izmailovsky Handicraft Market looked a lot like Disneyland's "It's a Small World" ride. | (Photo by Scott Zimmerman) |
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| Matroyshka Dolls (Photo by Scott Zimmerman) |
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| Stall where I bought dresses for my granddaughters |
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| I purchased a pair of wooden dolls hand-carved by this man (his wife handled the business end) to add to my small collection of "happily married" wooden couples at home. |
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| A sweet surprise in the airport on our way out of Moscow |
A character in a play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov exclaims, "If only we could go back to Moscow! Sell the house, finish with our life here, and go back to Moscow."
I don't think I'm quite ready to sell the house, but I do hope to return to this beautiful, intriguing city some day.
That's it for Moscow.
Next: Berlin. And don't worry; none of our other destinations will take this many posts to cover.
Beautiful country--no wonder it took 10 postings to cover everything. You've really awakened my desire to visit Russia.
ReplyDeleteAs a hockey fan ;), I instantly noticed the Olympic Games photos. Cool, but just wanted to point out that the Summer games were held in Moscow, and the Winter games were held in Lake Placid, NY (where the US olympic hockey team beat the Russians for the first time in decades).
ReplyDeleteOops, my boo-boo. Hippo mom, you are right! I remember that hockey game SO WELL. Note that this ski jump is NOT marked with the Olympic symbol (first clue). (It is an odd place to put a training ramp, however, and it IS right next to the Olympic stadium. Sometimes when I put two and two together I get five.) I will go in and edit that.
ReplyDeleteLoved the line-up of Matryoshka dolls. My heart went pitty-pat. Such beautiful scenery everywhere. I'm with chrisjones in my desire to head over there and see these sights.
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