From Russia With Love: Part One - Moscow, Men and Metros

St Basil's Cathedral

Russia. A place very different from the one I live. A place of new, a place of old, of staunch traditions and habits and of new Western European influence.

I travelled here with my girlfriend, Karen, to do a few races - two of the Champions Cup in Russia (more on these in a coming post) and the Great North Swim in England.

In between training, racing and transit whether it be by planes, cars or Gypsy trains, we managed to see a few sights and get the low down from the locals. A few things surprised my perceived expectations. Firstly, it became clear to me that the Australian media only report on the current Ukrainian conflict in the way America dictates and in fact, it is a very different story that is being told in Russia and the Ukraine. I was also refreshed when I realised, after stepping off the plane, that I hadn't gone back in time through a time warp to a country left behind from the rest of the world. Many things in Moscow amazed me - like the enormity of the underground metro system, the road infrastructure (although still not coping with the some 20 million people) that is much larger than anything in Australia, the availability of fast and free wifi nearly everywhere you go and most importantly: the friendliness and security that I felt at nearly all times in nearly all places. Not to mention frequently running into female cleaners working in the men's public toilets while men still used them, or the disgusting habit of Russians leaving their used toilet paper in the uncovered waste bins next to the toilet, or even tucked back up into the toilet paper dispenser!

First on the agenda was Moscow. We managed to fit in a quick excursion to Red Square (figuring out the Metro system which is written entirely in Cyrillic, all by ourselves!), The Armoury inside the Kremlin, Gorky's House and a lot of Central Moscow as well the outer ring. I'm led to believe that the architect of St Basil's Cathedral in the Red Square was blinded after designing it so that he couldn't design anything as beautiful ever again! I then, a week later, was greeted by a taxi driver that we had hailed, who only had one eye! It wasn't covered with a patch, just a gaping hole into his scull with a cheesy, suspicious smile accompanying it. I was starting to see a pattern, if only coincidentally. (And yes, after negotiating our desired destination and seeing eye to eye, we did arrive at our destination in one piece. See what I did there?)

Red Square

The pool in Moscow was a very large and clean 50m complex complete with a large weights room attached as well. The procedure to get into the water was very different to what I am used to. No deck changes here - after collecting your locker key you must take your clothes off and get naked with all the other men in the room, then change your shoes to thongs, then shower with more naked men (separate cubicles), then finally you are released into the pool complex. Reverse the procedure on the way out and remember to wrap your thongs in plastic slippers after showering so as to not wet the floor. Evgeny, the Champions Cup Event Director was generous to provide us with a lane to ourselves away from the public whenever we trained which is always a nice touch.

Aquatic Centre

I was privileged to four of these health clubs throughout Moscow and Lipetsk, one of them for a swim clinic with some budding age group swimmers and although it was conducted entirely in Russian, I was happy to be able to assist them with better stroke and skills through sign language and basic translation.

To my pleasant surprise, Russian men and women in Moscow are very stylish, a kind of east euro swag for the men and perfect elegance and class for the ladies. In fact I was astounded at just how well presented everyone was. Even on the weekend in small cafés, everyone was dressed to impress no matter what the climate from day to day.

Summer Fashion Flair

What both Karen and I couldn't adjust to was the late hours everyone seemed to keep. Starting the day at 0700 and not eating dinner until 2230-2300 was a killer, especially with bed not being until midnight or so (the exact same time in Australia that I would be waking up!). The food once served though was delicious. We sampled everything from authentic Ukraine to Russian style Italian cuisine and I guess what could be called modern Russian.

Authentic Ukranian Dishes

The one dinner that did stand out however was the one in Sixty - a very exclusive restaurant 60 floors up in the heart of the new CBD of Moscow. A very special thank you to Evgeny again for hosting us in this exquisite restaurant with 360° views of Moscow, a large opening viewing deck and bibs for eating Borsch!

Bibs & Borsch at SIXTY

Moscow from above

The architecture in Moscow left me very confused. At first glance you could be mistaken for thinking that you had entered a third world country - with large high rise flats looking either abandoned or about to collapse for as far as the eye could see, yet inhabited by millions of people. Yet with more sightseeing I found some of the most beautiful buildings externally that I'd ever seen, and was surprised when entering other buildings that looked to be on their last legs, only to find a beautifully decked out interior. I'm told that, unlike in Australia, the priority for young Russians is to buy a car. The best car their dollars will stretch. Flats, houses, family and jobs are prioritised after this - hence the all day traffic jam that features everywhere in Moscow. But I guess just like curls get the girls, cars also attract the fully sick chicks, and with it being a large cultural problem if a girl isn't married by the time she is 28, I can see a method to their madness.

Typical Moscow Flats

Wealthy Moscow Flats

Moscow Traffic - where anything goes

We spent a total of five days in Moscow with a day trip to St Petersburg, before travelling south by Gypsy Train to Lipetsk where we stayed for a further five days for the second race of the Champions Cup. More on this in From Russia With Love: Part Two - St Petersburg, Lipetsk and Gypsy Trains.

All in all I'm very grateful to have been able to experience Moscow in some detail. Special thanks to Evgeny Bezruchenko and his team for their hospitality, Artem, our driver and basic Russian language teacher, for his chauffeur skills and great company, Tatiana and everyone else for making the stay so enjoyable!

Plenty more visual stimulus here.

Stay tuned,