russia: june in Moscow

June was a short month for me in Moscow, as I left before the month was out to go back to the States for the summer.

The first weekend of the month I met up with Claire and Caroline, we wanted to go see VDNKh. Since the World Cup was starting so soon, we figured all the construction and renovation would be finished. It turned out to be mostly finished, but not quite.

I finally got to see the main fountain, which looked quite nice. It was surrounded by statues of women, I think there are supposed to be enough that each one represents one of the countries of the former Soviet Union.

When we'd visited during winter the whole thing had been surrounded by fences. The water wasn't running in any of the fountains, I'm sure they would've looked better with moving water. The colour of this main fountain was that of rust, so I wasn't sure if that was intentional or not.

We walked around the whole complex and got to see more completed buildings than we'd seen previously. A few of them still weren't finished, they didn't look like they'd be ready any time soon. When they are finished, I wonder how they'll be used. It was fun to see traditional patterns of each country of the former Soviet Union.

The gardens in the middle of all the buildings were nicely landscaped. The fountain at the other end of the complex was decorated with mosaics, quite pretty. That being said, it looked as if it could use a good cleaning.

After leaving VDNKh we stopped at a grocery store because I realized I was dehydrated. It was really sunny and warm, and I had no water with me. You'd think I would be aware of such things by now. Sigh.

We took the metro to Sokolniki Park, in the northeast part of Moscow. It's a big park, and the last time any of us had been there it had been winter. It didn't turn out to be anything special, but we had fun watching people.

There were a LOT of people to watch, as the weather was good. There was an area with music playing and people dancing, so much fun to watch for a few minutes. We also found a statue of the mascot of the upcoming World Cup, of course we took a photo with him.

Later in the month I took an evening after school was finished to go out to see a church on the north side of Moscow. The church itself wasn't stunning or particularly memorable, but I liked the way it reflected in the water of the pond next door. The only downside of this outing was all the cotton stuff flying everywhere. I'm glad I don't have allergies!

The World Cup football tournament started mid June, the official fan zone of Moscow was in front of Moscow State University. This meant that each time games were played in Moscow or another city in the country, I could hear cheering when a team scored.

The first weekend I met up with some friends, we tried to go to a game in the fan zone. It turned out to be a really popular game to watch, the zone was already full by the time we got there. We went to dinner instead, then came back to watch a later game.

The fan zone experience was entertaining, and full of fan fanatics. Costumes, lots of drinking, dancing, etc... I'm glad we went, but I don't think I'll be traveling to any World Cup tournaments around the world just to be there in person.

That sums up my June in Moscow!