6/10: Kolomenskoe, Public Market, Dinner with the Musicians

Aleksey Mikhailovich

It was a very rainy day once again in Moscow. We took the metro to the outskirts of the city in order to visit the palace of Tsar Aleksey Mikhailovich with some of the Russian students of FFL. Before that, however, we all said goodbye to Jane, who came to the platform of one of the metro stops to bid us farewell. She had a personal message for each of us as she gave us a hug goodbye. It was sad to see a friend go, but there's a lot more of that to come, so I don't want to get worked up quite yet.

As we marched to the palace in the freezing rain, I saw what seemed to be the palace. Surprisingly, the outside was made entirely of barely-painted wood. It looked more like a luxurious log cabin than a palace for royalty. It also looked as if it hadn't aged a bit. It was then that I learned from Sasha, one of the students from FFL, that the real summer palace was demolished by Catherine the Great. A model was rebuilt a couple of years ago for tourists to visit, but it just didn't feel very authentic. Ventilation shafts were visible everywhere, there were fire alarms and smoke detectors on the ceilings, and the wood smelled as if it had just been cut. Nonetheless, the builders did an excellent job recreating Alexey's home. The palace was split into a female section and a male section. We were able to stand inside the study room of Peter the Great and his daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth's room was decorated a lot like the Winter Palace. The room was baby blue to match her eyes, and in an extravagant  classical baroque style that was a testament to how much money she spent as tsarina. Oddly enough, there was a portrait of Catherine the Great in Alexeys' wife's room. This was weird because Catherine was born way after his wife's death. I guess historical accuracy wasn't one of the main aims of the designers.

Kolomenskoe

We then ate lunch at the mall. I saw an Israeli restaurant standing in the food court and sprinted for some falafel and sababa. Delicious stuff. I miss Middle Eastern food. The marketplace was exciting. We were given an hour and a half to do as much shopping as possible. Some of the Russian students told us to save our money for this moment, because the cheapest souvenirs are available at the marketplace. However, you have to know how to haggle in order to get those good prices. Storeowners like to rip off foreigners by charging them inflated prices and making them think that they are giving them a special discount. For example, I passed a hat salesman who brought a hat up to me and said "1000 rubles." I said no. He then asked me where I was from, and said, "Fine, because you're American...800 rubles." To haggle, you must be ready to walk away. You get the best deals when you pretend that you aren't interested in an item. I found that I was pretty good at haggling, receiving an 800 ruble markdown on that hat that I ended up paying 200 rubles for. The marketplace was a relaxing way to enjoy the afternoon.

Marlene and Alexei, the two singers who performed a free concert for us, invited us over to their apartment to eat dinner and take warm showers. Even though it was tempting, everyone declined the latter option, but still enjoyed a wonderful meal. The night was a lot of fun. Dinner consisted of Armenian and Uzbek dishes. Everything served was delicious. Particularly good was an Uzbek rice pilaf with vegetables, prunes, and dates in it. The babushka who was serving us rice took particular note of Dan, Isaac, and myself, putting more food on our plate despite our "no thank you's." At one point, Isaac hid his plate under the table so she wouldn't add more food, but the grandmother spotted him and scooped spoonfuls of the delicious dish onto his plate once again. We were completely stuffed by the end of the night. We talked a lot about politics at dinner and we found out that Marlene was in support of Putin. It was interesting to hear her reasons. The 1990's were absolute chaos according to her, and she saw Putin as a stabilizer who could move the country forward. The opposition groups didn't have a clear agenda, but they are all really just untied around the fact that they don't like Putin (sounds like a criticism of the Occupy Wall Street protests in America). Their family was split; however, and her son and husband were strongly against Putin.

We went into a guest room and were invited to play some songs that we knew for the piano. I tapped out the Turkish Waltz and some others in the group had a bit of piano knowledge, but Alexie put us all to shame when he played. His fingers didn't seem to be pressing down on keys. His hands were moving so fast. He played astoundingly well (he is a professional after all). After some singing and gazing from the balcony, we headed to a nearby park for a late night walk. The walk in the park was peaceful, leisurely, and relaxing. It was nice to have a low-key day after weeks of going from place to place. Things seem to be winding down on our program and it is getting more difficult to experience everything there is to know. At home, if you want to understand something in more detail, you can tell yourself that you can always come back and see it another time. In Russia, that possibility isn't there. The only thing I have to lock me and my experiences together is this journal. Memories are hard to keep, and while writing them down and taking pictures helps, it isn't the same as experiencing them first hand.