My, what beautiful plumage...

As the weeks roll by (we’re in our fourth one already, where DID the time go?!) our world seems to be expanding greatly beyond the walls of our apartment and the various routes I take to travel to/from Mr. Unmentionable’s office.  Since we’ve been on a couple of “field trips” this week, I thought I’d share some of our experiences and list a few of my observations.

Friday’s foray was to the Moscow Zoo.  (I love the zoo almost as much as I love aquaria.)  Well, it turns out that for 200 руб this girl can go see the well-groomed muskoxen ANY time!  It is a 20 minute walk from my door that takes you across the Кутузобский Проспкт bridge with a quick left turn just past the “White House” on to Конющковская ул. then it is about 500 m to Б.Грузинская.  The zoo is situated smack in the middle of the city and you’d never know it.  It is surrounded by trees and green space that protect it from the city noise and (possibly?) the pollution.  The zoo is deceptively large and spans about two Moscow city blocks.  To put that into perspective for you, a Moscow city block is the equivalent of the real estate occupied by the entire Byward Market.  You do remember that I had said everything is huge here.  I wasn’t kidding.

The weather was perfect -not too hot, not too cool and bright enough that sunglasses were a necessary accessory.  Speaking of accessories...check out the beautiful plumage of the...

...oh, no wait!  That is a visitor, NOT a peacock.  Right.  Ok then.  It seems my companion and I were underdressed.  Neither of us got the memo telling us to wear the seemingly obligatory sky-high heels and the skin-tight clothing that are a part of the dress code for an afternoon trip to the zoo.  I wasn’t sure if I should be looking into the cages or outside of them.  At least everyone got a great show; both visitors and residents alike.  Yikes.

We only managed to tour 1/2 of the zoo as we ran out of time but we both agreed to bring our “other halfs” back to finish the visit at a later date.  Next time we’ll remember to wear our finest (and tightest) outfits.

The only thing between the great cat and you is a chain link fence with no guard rail to keep you away.

I have no idea what this strange beast is called.

Mr. Unmentionable's favourite animal.  Apparently their fur is incredibly soft???

I lost my crayons for this one.

All dressed up for the races at Ascot.

He was simply strutting for the cameras to ensure we got his "good side".

Catching a quick nap in the noonday sun.

How can something so graceful in the water be so awkward on land?

Sculptural element in the middle of the zoo park.

This bird was tall and large enough to look me in the eye.

Llama or not a llama?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVcGdnhURJs

Sunday’s trip to the CD/DVD market was quite the eye-opener as well.  Capitalism is alive and well and making a tidy profit around the Багратионовская metro station.  Emerging into the sunlight from the dark underground, your senses are immediately and overwhelmingly assaulted by a variety of sights, sounds and smells. To your left is a small “tent city” of labyrinthine alleyways housing a plethora of wares to meet all of your needs be it for clothing, housewares, pharmaceuticals or even basic home hardware.  Home Depot should never even attempt to open a franchise here, they could never compete!  While gingerly skirting past the pack of feral dogs walking about we picked our way through the alleyways avoiding the tempting cries of the hawkers and emerged (thankfully) unscathed on the other side next to a kebab-to-go cart.  Mr Unmentionable wasn’t quite that brave even though I dared him to give the local “street meat” a try. 

Facing us was a multi-level structure occupying an entire Moscow city block (again, see above description for approximation of size) replete with its own security and what I can only surmise is its own power supply hidden somewhere to keep the fluorescent lights burning at full Las Vegas-like intensity.

Once we braved the crosswalk (playing Frogger with your life is a national sport, it seems) and finally found a point of entry, our eyes and ears were again assaulted by Vegas-like lighting and over-stimulation from the advertising and lighting meant to completely and immediately disassociate you from any known time-space continuum.  All I can say is that if I want anything I can plug in, recharge, turn on/off or play with, I now know where to go.

Anything can be purchased here...for a price.  We were looking for some DVDs to watch because frankly, we are at the point where we are learning to speak German through osmosis from the sport channel we have on the TV.  BBC news is fine the first time around and frankly, CNN is making my eyes water and my brain leak out of my left ear.  That means that until our internet is set up in about 2 weeks, we have to contend with the German sport channel.  Not that there is anything wrong with learning a new language...it is just the WRONG ONE for now!

We purchased the HBO special The Game of Thrones for 600 руб from “a guy” at a booth on the second floor who had to call “another guy” to check the price.  He then wound his way in/out of the booth searching for the collection through piles of piles.  A laugh to behold, for sure.  Cash changed hands and a hearty round of thanks yous ensued.  We scooted out of there quickly thinking that we had gotten the better deal in that exchange. 

On we went to the next booth around the corner where 2 wild and crazy guys from the Ukraine usurped our time and ended up selling us a couple of seasons of Breaking Bad, the latest season of House MD, Limitless and Priest.  We had a good laugh with them -me and my pidgin Russian and Mr. U and his fairly fluent Russian had a hoot and ended up making ourselves well-understood.  When I looked at one of the guys and said, “very expensive” and made a face, he laughed and said what I believe to be “Don’t worry, we’ll fix a better price, watch this.”  After some furious pounding on his calculator (don’t ask how it survived that interaction but he can always pick up another cheaply on the first floor) he came up with a reasonable price and we all walked away happy that day.  All told we spent 2850 руб.  A pretty lucrative day for sure.

The Game of Thrones works well, House MD has a few skips here and there but is generally fine and Breaking Bad seems to be ok too.  Limitless only plays in Russian despite the packaging indicating otherwise and Priest is scratched and defective. 

I guess we’re going back to see our “new friends” next weekend...