Moscow Nights

After a whirlwind week in Petersburg with my dearest Jessie, we headed to Moscow. I had tried to prepare her for the reality of the overnight train, but it turns out, there’s no way to do so. Between my assurances and my friends’ warnings, Jessie was still bewildered by platzkart (3rd class). For me it wasn’t so bad, but poor Jessie slept about as well as a hooker on VJ Day. Anyway, we arrived in Moscow, checked in to our hostel, and hit the streets.

This was my third time in Moscow, and my first time there purely for pleasure. You know, I like the city more than I thought. In two days’ time, Jessie and I rocked Red Square, the “old” Tretyakov Gallery, and the American-themed Starlite Diner. We had a great time wandering around the city, drinking Super Hooch and just enjoying each other’s long-lost company. Yes, it’s a very expensive city, but we kept it real. My advice for Moscow: don’t be shy about doing uber-touristy things. The Tretyakov Gallery is a knock-out and St. Basil’s Cathedral is even more beautiful on the inside. Moscow has a bad reputation for being hectic, but as long as you avoid the subway at rush-hour, it’s not so bad. And on that note, the subway is the most logical I’ve ever seen, with the exception of Ekaterinburg’s one-horse line. Bottom line, I was thrilled to unlock Moscow’s mysteries with one of my all-time best friends.

So Jessie left on Tuesday, giving me two days by myself. On the first day, I went to the “new” Tretyakov to see the modern Russian art collection. Hot dog! They do a great job of showing but the regime-approved Soviet art, and what was going on underground. Best of all I loved the exhibit of super-contemporary (read: today) artists. I enjoy going to museums alone, but this particular experience made me miss Jessie, who always teaches me so much about art.

On Wednesday I made a pilgrimage of sorts to Yasnaya Polyana (“Clear Glade”), the site of Tolstoy’s farm estate. I thought it was the name of the house itself, but it turns out, Yasnaya Polyana refers to the entire neighborhood. If I had known how complicated this trip would be, I don’t know if I would’ve attempted it. But however blindly, I took the three-hour bus ride to Tula, got dropped off at the proper stop, and wandered until I found the museum environs.

It was, of course, amazing to see where Tolstoy lived, worked, wrote, walked, planted, taught. I saw his house, his greenhouse, his doctor’s house, the schools he built for his peasants’ children. All of it was beautiful, and not quite what I pictured. Well, what I pictured was the 40-page scene of Anna Karenina in which scores of peasants thresh wheat, so of course I didn’t see that. But I did see the equipment they would use, and a family of cats living in the hay barn.

The most touching part of the experience was seeing Tolstoy’s simple, grass-covered tomb. I doubt his body is interred there, since at 80 years old he abandoned his family at Yasnaya Polyana and went off, I imagine into a cave, to die. But I stood there, paying my respects at this memorial, and thought about Jennifer Day. She helped me write my senior project about Tolstoy, and all my thoughts about him are connected with my feelings about her. I don’t know if she ever made this pilgrimage, but I made it in her honor. In some ways, everything I do from now on will be in her honor. If Jen and Count Tolstoy are together somewhere drinking tea, they will know I love them both.

The following day, my friend Sydney came to Moscow from Chicago. She and I studied Russian together and even lived in St. Petersburg together. We both studied with Jen, so it was really therapeutic for us to be together. We grieved a great deal, but soon moved on to remembering good times. And of those, there were plenty. Plus, Syd is one of the funniest, liveliest, most outrageous people I know. I love that crazy girl. We had a great time doing “bullshit souvenir shopping,” eating various ethnic cuisines and even checking out a couple museums. Also, because I misunderstood my own flight information, we got an extra half-day together. Weee!

So now I’m back in Ekat, exhausted but satisfied. Having spent time in the two big cities with two of my favorite people, I’m ready for the last two months of this great experiment. Here I go!