Tomsk: December 2012

Moscow feels like a different country. First, it is in Europe and therefore has been influenced much more by the West. Second, it is an enormous, lively city. After over three months in Siberia, it was very overwhelming to find myself in such a cosmopolitan metropolis.

Our first evening here we spent rediscovering Western food and I do not think I shall ever appreciate tomato soup as much as I did on Wednesday evening. The best coffee I have had in the last few months was found in McDonald’s the following day. I remember how the opening of the first McDonald’s in Russia in 1990 was a very defining moment after the collapse of the Soviet Union and it is interesting to see how widely it is spread now, and hence how much the city must have changed in the last twenty years.

Red Square and the Kremlin, the most obvious tourist spots, were just as expected. Impressive buildings, beautiful cathedrals and Russian soldiers were the subject of every tourist’s camera, though I must admit there were very few tourists. This surprised me a little as I had heard that Moscow was a very touristy place, but in fact we have seen very few foreigners here. Whilst taking photos in a metro station, one guy asked us in Russian if we were Muscovites and if it was really our first time on the metro.

After freezing ourselves to the core, we decided to spend an afternoon underground admiring the renowned stations. The Moscow metro is famous for being one of Stalin’s great successes, and also appears to be a cool place to ‘hang out’ as there are benches lining in walls and it is relatively warm. There were also policemen everywhere and it struck me how tight the security is here. I can imagine if someone was to do something deemed inappropriate, policemen would appear from every corner in a flash.

The city is much more beautiful than I expected, and there is an interesting contrast between the old, pre-Soviet buildings, and the skyscrapers and more industrial structures. Although a lot of the cathedrals and churches have had to be re-built after the end of the Soviet Union, they supposedly look like they did originally. Conversely, the high-rise flat blocks and the seven Stalin skyscrapers ( «Сталинские высотки») that tower over the city make it look like a much more modern city, and the scattering of factories with large chimneys give it an industrial feel.

Moscow definitely feels like a capital city, but it is not as intimidating and hectic as I had preconceived. In comparison to Tomsk, it feels like a different world, but I do not think I would appreciate how cosmopolitan the city of Russia is, without seeing the other extreme. Both cities have charm, and the more I discover Russia, the more fascinating it becomes!

(Next stop is St Petersburg, but not until January.)

The start of the journey

After some sad farewells and numerous thank yous, we boarded the train to Moscow. The dean of Tomsk State University arrived in her fur coat on the platform with some home-cooked chicken and a huge lump of pork to last us the journey and we were off! Our journey was to take 56 hours, cross 3 time zones, and cover half of Russia. Everyone had told us it would be ‘horrible’, particularly as we had bought tickets for 3^rd class, «плацкарт», and we had almost heard enough train horror stories to put us off the idea completely.

Svetlana Konstantinova's delivery of The Pork

Nonetheless, we were pleasantly surprised. It seems that Russia has mastered long-haul train journeys. Each of us had our own 'shelf' («полка») and enough space to safely store our ridiculously large suitcases. We had enough food to last us through boredom and unexpected delays or potential snowdrifts and a pack of cards and a few books to keep us entertained. In the 56 hours that followed, not a lot happened. I struggled to keep track of time as the Tomsk time became irrelevant but Moscow time was too late. ‘Lights out’ was enforced by the train staff at 10pm. We stopped at various dreary looking stations, where it got as cold as -32˚C, and I had to run around to stop myself going crazy! Sleeping on the train was not as bad as I had imagined, except when a smelly, old man arrived on the neighbouring shelf and proceeded to snore very loudly all night. Our diet was quite limited; one member of our party ate pot noodle variations for all 7 meals.

When we eventually arrived in Moscow late afternoon on Wednesday, a man named Vasilii bundled us into a taxi and we were driven through a bustling Moscow to our hostel (which is in an old sweet factory). Coming from a small city in Siberia to an enormous capital is overwhelming, and very exciting! And my next post shall be all about Moscow...