Farewell to Moscow
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2006
1
9
14
Trip End
Aug 13, 2006
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Moscow,
Russia
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Moscow, Russia
(Completed after return to Chicago)
Dear Readers:
I rise extra early this morning to be present in the lobby to facilitate baggage handling and checkout. All goes smoothly, and we are on the road shortly after 9am.
Natalia has some bad news for me this morning. My local suppliers were never notified that the persons who had paid single supplement in the hotel were also supposed to have a private compartment on the overnight train. I discovered the error several days ago and have been trying to rectify the situation ever since, but Natalia informs me that the train is completely sold out and there is no possibility for private compartments, even on later trains this evening
01 Aerospace Monument
.We head out of town to visit Sergiev Posad, one of the towns on the historic Golden Ring northeast of Moscow. I take the microphone to inform the men about the problem with the single supplement, and assign roommates for the one night aboard the train. It isn't a pleasant feeling to have to admit that something was done incorrectly, but the guys who are affected take the news in stride. Unfortunately, it is not the last time I need to admit that an error has been made.
Sergiev Posad is the location of the famous Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius which is the object of our visit today. Here the monks survived a siege by the Polish army in the early 1600's, and it became the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1946 after the Communists allowed it to reopen (they had closed it down in 1919).
The weather is splendid, for a change, and we take a group photograph at a place that overlooks the Monastery. Entering the ornamental gate of St. John the Baptist, we meet Andrei, our guide for the morning. He is a young priest at the Monastery. One of the main differences between the Russian Orthodox and the Roman Catholic churches is that priests are allowed to marry in Russia
02 Group at Sergiev Posad
. Andrei shows us the Monk's refectory and tell us a little bit about living conditions there. Natalia, our lead guide, seems quite religious and is a little put off by questions to Andrei about his personal life as a priest, but she faithfully interprets the questions and his responses.
After the tour of the Monastery we have free time for lunch. Eva and I and a few others find a lovely local restaurant off the main street in Sergiev Posad and enjoy borsht and salads while the majority of the group settles for fast food at McDonalds.
Returning to Moscow in the afternoon we enjoy what is one of the highlights of the tour thus far, a tour of the Tretyakov Gallery, an enormous museum of Russian art. Natalia has a great knowledge of these works of art, and a real passion for talking about them, and she comes to life in this setting. The diversity of this collection is astounding (62 rooms on 2 floors), and we are only able to see a fraction of the exhibition.
This evening I have added a group dinner at the Café des Artistes on a pedestrian street near Pushkin Square
03 Dan with Eva and Natalia
. We arrive to find that the restaurant has arranged for us to be seated outdoors since the weather is still wonderful, and they have gone to the trouble of typing up our special menu for everyone on really beautiful paper. It is beautifully done, and all of us are impressed.The meal is delicious and leisurely, as we have a few hours to kill before boarding the train to St. Petersburg. At one point a group of music students sets up on the street across from our tables and plays beautiful classical music. Everyone agrees that the evening is perfect, and it gets even better as we do a nighttime walk through Red Square, enjoying the illuminated buildings, before we head to the train station. It is an amazing way to say farewell to Moscow.
Porters trundle our masses of luggage from the street through the train station and onto the platform beside our coaches. Eighteen of the guys fit into one full train car (nine compartments with two men in each), and myself and one other client plus Eva are assigned to the next car. Eva gets a look at her compartment-mate through the windows outside, and doesn't want to share with the stranger. I ask my roommate if he would rather sleep with Eva or with the stranger, and he picks Eva. I get to bunk with the stranger.
04 St. Sergius
He is a Swiss man named Roland. He speaks fluent English, and tells me the most fascinating story of his life. He made a fortune with an internet company before the "Dot Bomb" of 2002. He had the Ferrari and the glamorous trophy wife, but he lost everything. His friends turned out to be "fair weather" friends; no one wanted to associate with him once he was penniless.
He decided to move to Russia and start over, marketing a software program called SecretMaker (www.secretmaker.com). In the three years he has been living in Russia it has become one of the fastest growing companies in the country, and he is back in the money again. He loves Russia, and doesn't plan to return to Switzerland. In Russia, he says, your friends are your friends no matter how much money you have. He showed me photos on his camera of his very young Russian girlfriend (he is about 45). He seems to be a bit of a playboy, and is very involved in organizing a huge Ibiza-type party on the Crimean beach (www.kazantip.com).
I tell him about Toto Tours, and he obviously thinks I am doing too much work for not enough money. But he is very social, and he leads a group of us through several train coaches to check out the wonderful dining car on the overnight train. Some of the guys take photos, and then we head back to our compartments to get some sleep. Or so I think!
Hugs,
Dan
