And in complete contrast to my previous post this blog entry shall be more photos and less talking (writing?) because my brain is broken and no longer wishes to function in any language other than sleep. Which is totally my own fault, for deciding to forsake my native language for one totally different and also mind-bogglingly hard. I'm pretty sure if my brain was an autonomous being it would remove itself from my head and punch me in the face.
Anyway.
Friday just gone was Unity Day, one of the main holidays in Russia which celebrates, well, unity. All the museums are free for the day, and open until late, so my friends from the dorm and I went museum hopping at about 7pm. Yes, a truly wild Friday night. But before we went and immersed ourselves in all things history we took advantage (well us and the entire city) of a beautifully lit Red Square and snapped some night photos featuring us, very important Russian landmarks, and the ever-present snow. I also had a complete excitement meltdown and scared the beejesus out of a Russian lad who was sporting a Lush bag over his arm- Lush. Is. In. Moscow. (For those that aren’t familiar with Lush, you should probably sort that out right now. All natural, all cruelty free, all amazing products for bath and body. My shower gel literally smells like a hug.)
Unity day gave us a four day weekend, so today I went on an adventure to Sergiev Posad, a town about 80km north of Moscow. Sergiev Posad is about as holy as you can get in Russia, founded in 1340 by St Sergei of Radonezh, and him being the most revered saint around. The Monastery is the spiritual centre of Russian Orthodoxy, and full of pilgrims and monks. And in typical Russian Orthodox style, it is absolutely stunning. Gold abounds, and of course some star-spangled onion domes, crazy tiling and salmon pink walls. The dusting (/foot) of snow covering everything made it just that much more beautiful, though my hands would certainly have begged to differ… if they had had any feeling left in them. I did feel slightly better about my inability to deal with how cold it was when I saw 'White Pond', which was pretty much entirely iced over (leaving all the ducks corralled for children to throw bread at so quite convenient for all I suppose). If the pond is iced over, then it is actually cold right? Right!? (Is this the time to mention I'm planning a trip to Murmansk (located above the artic circle) in January? Brrr but also Northern Lights yes please).
This week will feature Lucy-tries-to-find-a-job-despite-potentially-not-being-allowed-to (thank you obscure visa policy) as my much anticipated 'allowance' is actually only about $50 a month. To be fair, that is about two weeks of groceries but still not quite going to cut the mustard especially with forementioned arctic trips planned (TUNDRA YEEHAA). But that probably does mean I won’t be leaving mother Russia for Europe adventures… y'all just have to come have adventures here. Trust me, we've got plenty. (Unless I find exceptionally well-paid and somehow legal work. Stay tuned.)
I'm going to put this brain of mine to bed before it stages a coup. Stay warm troops!
P.S First photo is of my 16th floor Lucy nest, then Moscow centre until you hit the gold domes. From there, Sergiev Posad until the final photo, which is one of the many elaborate metro stations... all marble, all the way.
Anyway.
Friday just gone was Unity Day, one of the main holidays in Russia which celebrates, well, unity. All the museums are free for the day, and open until late, so my friends from the dorm and I went museum hopping at about 7pm. Yes, a truly wild Friday night. But before we went and immersed ourselves in all things history we took advantage (well us and the entire city) of a beautifully lit Red Square and snapped some night photos featuring us, very important Russian landmarks, and the ever-present snow. I also had a complete excitement meltdown and scared the beejesus out of a Russian lad who was sporting a Lush bag over his arm- Lush. Is. In. Moscow. (For those that aren’t familiar with Lush, you should probably sort that out right now. All natural, all cruelty free, all amazing products for bath and body. My shower gel literally smells like a hug.)
Unity day gave us a four day weekend, so today I went on an adventure to Sergiev Posad, a town about 80km north of Moscow. Sergiev Posad is about as holy as you can get in Russia, founded in 1340 by St Sergei of Radonezh, and him being the most revered saint around. The Monastery is the spiritual centre of Russian Orthodoxy, and full of pilgrims and monks. And in typical Russian Orthodox style, it is absolutely stunning. Gold abounds, and of course some star-spangled onion domes, crazy tiling and salmon pink walls. The dusting (/foot) of snow covering everything made it just that much more beautiful, though my hands would certainly have begged to differ… if they had had any feeling left in them. I did feel slightly better about my inability to deal with how cold it was when I saw 'White Pond', which was pretty much entirely iced over (leaving all the ducks corralled for children to throw bread at so quite convenient for all I suppose). If the pond is iced over, then it is actually cold right? Right!? (Is this the time to mention I'm planning a trip to Murmansk (located above the artic circle) in January? Brrr but also Northern Lights yes please).
This week will feature Lucy-tries-to-find-a-job-despite-potentially-not-being-allowed-to (thank you obscure visa policy) as my much anticipated 'allowance' is actually only about $50 a month. To be fair, that is about two weeks of groceries but still not quite going to cut the mustard especially with forementioned arctic trips planned (TUNDRA YEEHAA). But that probably does mean I won’t be leaving mother Russia for Europe adventures… y'all just have to come have adventures here. Trust me, we've got plenty. (Unless I find exceptionally well-paid and somehow legal work. Stay tuned.)
I'm going to put this brain of mine to bed before it stages a coup. Stay warm troops!
P.S First photo is of my 16th floor Lucy nest, then Moscow centre until you hit the gold domes. From there, Sergiev Posad until the final photo, which is one of the many elaborate metro stations... all marble, all the way.
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