russia: moscow in January

I returned from my New Year's holidays 14 January, (yay for 3 weeks of holidays!!) so I only had about half of January to explore Moscow. Since my flight arrived Sunday morning, Claire and I arranged to meet up around noon. I knew I needed to get back onto Moscow time as fast as possible, and staying out in the city would be a good way to do that.

One of the remaining holiday activities going in the city was a slide made of ice. It was a really cold day, but I still had fun going down the slide. That being said, you could tell it wasn't new anymore. The ice wasn't as smooth as it should've been. Even so, I wouldn't have minded doing it again. I love these kinds of activities, I wish it had been around a bit longer, or started a little earlier.

After the slide we went to dinner, and while we were walking, we could see ice and snow being shoveled off roofs all over the city. Winter can be rather dangerous in Moscow, both from above and under your feet.

In past years in Kyiv, Ukraine I've taken part in an event/holiday called Khreshchenya. In the western Christian world it would be called the 12^th day of Christmas, or Epiphany. In countries where Orthodox Christianity is popular, the tradition is to go for a 'swim' in a lake or river. I did it three times in Kyiv, and loved it. I was excited to participate in Moscow, and to make comparisons.

The 12^th day of Christmas by the Orthodox calendar is 19 January. It was harder for me to figure out where to go, as it turns out there were quite a number of event locations around the city.

I had arranged months previously to have that afternoon off work, only to discover that week that Russia does things differently. In Moscow the main part of the event is the evening before, which meant I was heading out in the dark and cold.

I chose to do my part in Sokolniki Park. It's a big park, I ended up wandering around a little lost for a while before finding the right place. When I got there I discovered everything much more organized than it had been in Kyiv. Sokolniki Park had a special tent set up as changing rooms, separated by sex. 

There was a security guard keeping the queue in control, only a limited number of people were allowed in the tent at one time.

When I got inside and changed, I was able to leave my bag hanging on a hook while I took my towel with me and got in another queue to go back outside. It seemed to me only one 'group' was allowed outside at once. Since I was doing this by myself, that meant I was by myself. Well, not completely by myself, as there were several official people out there as well. A photographer, a videographer, two people dressed in wetsuits, ready to go in the water immediately if anyone had any trouble.

The area to go in the water was really small. It was a hole cut into the ice, with a set of stairs on two sides of the hole. I walked down the stairs, went under the water 3 times, then walked up the stairs on the other side. I had hung my towel on the railing right next to the hole, leaving my jandals under the towel; As I came back out of the water, it was too easy to grab my towel and jandals straightaway, I had no time to get cold.

What I'm trying to say is that the whole experience was very ver safe. I didn't feel as if I was doing anything risky, or dangerous. I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to get any photos or a video or my experience.

Since I'd already arranged my afternoon off, I took the chance to go for an afternoon walk in the city. It ended up being a cold walk, as the wind was blowing quite a bit. Still, I always think it is worth it to go for a walk.

That evening all three branches of my school had a dinner together. Good food, and lots of dancing. It's always fun to see people let their guard down and have fun.

On Saturday Claire and I met up for a weekend adventure. We walked from my flat over to Moscow State University, about a 15 minute walk. It was blowing snow, which made the walk a little more of an adventure. 

The main building of the university is impressive at all times, it was fun to see it in winter.

We had been there about ten minutes when a group wanting to take wedding photos arrived. They immediately asked us to move, and I said we would be done in a couple minutes. They said they were there to take professional photos, and asked us again to move. I repeated what I said before, adding that we had been there first. Yes, I know that's petty, but I didn't feel as though they were more important than we were, just because they had a better camera. (Plus, the wedding dress wasn't very pretty.)

After leaving the university, we hopped on the metro, over to a completely different area of town. We went to the area around the Cosmonautics Museum, and took note of the architecture of the museum. We saved a visit to the museum for another day.

From there we walked across a street to get to an area called VDNKh. I have no idea what the acronym means in English, I'm not even sure how to describe the area. There is a giant gate to walk through, topped with sculptures of Soviet workers. There are a bunch of buildings in the complex, each representing a country in the former Soviet Union. 

We were visiting during winter, which meant the annual ice skating rink had been set up.

This 'rink' wasn't like a hockey rink, it was more like a long wide track that circled around the area. We liked watching people fly by, and we enjoyed the holiday lights that still decorated the whole thing. The place was packed, ice skating outside in winter is a popular activity in Russia.

The next day we met up again, and headed to a new (to us,) region of Moscow: Kolomenskoye. I'd been there one afternoon in early fall, but coming in winter was a completely different experience. It was beautiful to see everything covered in snow. We went in both of the churches, and watched people going for rides on the troika (a traditional Russian sleigh, pulled by horses.)

This particular Sunday was the third of the month, which meant some of the museums in the city had free entry. One of them was in Kolomenskoye, it was one of the former lodges/homes of the royal family. 

We had fun wandering through, along with every citizen of the city. I was more interested in the wooden exterior of the building than I was in the interior exhibits.

The following Wednesday afternoon I went back to UMAM museum for another exhibit. This one was all about North Korea. There were some portraits of the leaders, 'statues' wearing traditional Korean clothing, an old motorcycle, etc... Interesting, particularly because I'd visited the actual country previously.

The last day of January made me happy. SNOW SNOW SNOW. Bring on the rest of winter :)