russia: moscow: tuesday touring

Moscow is full of churches. They're everywhere. You can barely go more than a few blocks in any direction without running into a church. At least that's how it often feels to me, when I'm walking around the church. I'm constantly stumbling into new churches, just because they always catch my eye.

This Tuesday afternoon I chose to go see one of them in particular. Actually, this one was a full on monastery, complete with big red walls all around. The name translates to Pokrovsky Convent, but the Russian languages writes it as Pokrovsky women's monastery.

Anywho, when I got to the exterior gate I found a security guard and metal detectors. I have no idea what makes this monastery worthy of that kind of security, but it is a lot more than I'm used to seeing. As I got closer to the gate that sends you through the walls, I realized there were a LOT of people there. A LOT.

I didn't think it was a holiday, but apparently there was something going on. There were long queues outside both churches on the grounds. It seemed as if everyone in the queue was waiting for a blessing? Something like that.

I didn't want to wait for a long time in a line I wasn't sure about, so I went in just one of the churches. The interior was beautiful, with frescoes everywhere, and a beautifully decorated interior of the cupola.

On the way back to the metro station I passed by the Museum of Retro Transportation. I wanted to visit, but the gates were closed and locked, and there was a sign saying the place was under construction for a couple months. Argh. Seems like it would be a fun place to see.

One of the Instagram accounts I follow is called russiabeyond. It covers the entire country, and nearly every day has gorgeous photos of Russia. I'd love to have the chance to see all the locations they post.

Anywho, one day they posted an article with a list of quirky buildings (and some of their history,) to visit around Moscow. I chose to continue my Tuesday afternoon off to see a couple of the buildings, since the sun wouldn't be going down for a few more hours.

The first building wasn't too far from school, woo hoo. Tucked into a relatively small street, on a corner, is a building with statues carved onto the front of the building. Some of the statues look to be more than friends.....

From there I walked to the second building, also not a long walk. Along the way I saw a church, so of course I tried to go inside. The church ended up not being open, but I was able to walk around the grounds, which were quite pretty. So was the roof of the church, with lots of colours.

The second building of the day was allegedly built by a guy who had given up drinking. The top of one side looks like an upside down shot glass. I guess the architect put it there to remind himself how to behave? Something like that.

Moscow is a capital city, full of all kinds of quirks.