Двери закрываются

Some of the most exquisite hidden treasures in Moscow are found 60 m below the street in the halls of the underground metro system.  Having heard so much about these stations I decided that it was high time I paid some of them a visit.  Brandishing my ‘ticket to ride’, I swiped through the automatic turnstile and I braved the escalators to h-e-double hockey sticks to find myself surrounded by fur coats and hats in an ornate environment reminiscent of times gone by.  Having previously ascertained that taking photographs in the Moscow Metro was permitted (and not wanting to cause an international incident), I eagerly (if not timidly) began to shoot.

My romantic notions certainly found themselves at home here amongst the 17th Century Ukrainian architectural details and mosaics depicting the friendship of Russian and Ukrainian people in the КИЕВСКАЯ (Kievskaya) station on the Circle Line.

 

My plan was to ride the entire circle line, hopping off at each station to photograph the different decor and possibly to capture a few images of Russians in their natural habitats.  There being 11 stations open on this line (Park Kultury has been closed since our arrival and it doesn’t look like it will be open any time soon) I had planned for at least 2 hours in the metro.  It was fairly quiet in the middle of the day and relatively warm (above ground the temperature was around -22°C so I really didn’t mind) so I proceeded to go about my business of photographing and documenting my little field trip.

As I quickly found out, the best laid plans of mice and men are inevitably interrupted by a venti latté and 600ml bottle of water.  Curious thing...there are no public toilet facilities in the Moscow Metro system.  You’d know this if you would bother to spend time doing research on the very complete and well-translated Moscow Metro website.  Sadly, I wasn’t that clever.  Imagine that!  So...what is a girl to do?  Why, exit the metro system immediately and pray for the best, hoping that the worst would not come to fruition (although there really was some frantic panic that it would)!  Snaking my way through the maze-like tunnels and up an escalator that seemed both slower and longer than usual (or was it just my imagination?), out I went, finding myself in an area that appeared to be a train station of sorts.  The bright sunlight and clear sky reminded me that an arctic front had settled over Moscow and it took no time at all for my fingertips and camera shutter to seize up from the cold.  This, of course, didn’t help my situation any.  

Blinded by the sun’s rays and panicking as my biological situation was reaching a dire level, I entered what seemed to be a train ticketing station.  Sadly, I did not see any sign that remotely resembled a male/female silhouette nor did I see the word туалет anywhere (do I really need to translate that one for you?).  Back out into the cold (not really having had any time to warm up), I followed the pedestrian corridor around the corner and asked a custodial staff member where I might find toilets.  **Please let the record show that I used proper, polite grammar and vocabulary, all in Russian.  The response was a curt nod and a finger pointed in the direction of a sign indicating underground toilet facilities about 100m away.  Almost crying with relief, I paid the the less-than-enthralled woman at the counter 20руб for recycled, newsprint-quality toilet paper and the privilege of using a latrine.

Since “Princess” over here has successfully managed to avoid ever using a latrine her entire life (that’s a pretty good track record, I’d say), this whole experience was fraught with anxiety.  How to properly use a latrine was never one of the life lessons my mother taught me -or anyone else for that matter.  Suffice it to say that 1) thankfully, I did NOT pee on myself and 2) there has got to be a better way.  I’m pretty sure the бабушки (grandmas) do NOT play “Latrine Twister” the way I did so if anyone out there has any suggestions for the next time I get any bright ideas and forget to pee before I go, feel free to let me know in a PRIVATE email.

Physical emergency averted, I returned, blinking, out into the sunlight and noticed that my surroundings were, in fact, rather interesting.  The public art that was erected around the train station in order to stir up feelings of patriotism and stability during the Soviet era still take pride of place in the public square -no doubt as inspiration for all of the travelers coming and going from the majestic capital city of Moscow.

Getting back to the original purpose of my field trip, I swiped the last token on my metro card and scurried back down into the warmth and safety of the public metro system/bomb shelter.  Oddly, it didn’t take me all that long to return to the metro platform.  Time really is relative, isn’t it?

My presence as a photographer was noted by some, mostly received with a mix of curiosity and mistrust.  I saw no others that day with cameras in hand, cell-phone or otherwise.  Only one militzia gave me a second look (third, actually) but he continued on his way when I lowered my camera and stopped shooting.  I was surprised when an older gentleman, obviously proud of his city's Metro station artwork, tapped me gently on the shoulder and motioned for me to move to another spot and look up to get a better view of the artwork on the ceiling.  After a brief and awkward exchange (it seems my Russian escaped me at that point), we parted as new friends, both with smiles on our faces and warm, fuzzy feelings in our hearts.  (Sheesh...talk about shmaltz!)

Below is a collection of what I deem to be some of the best images from the day in no particular order. 

There was something in each photo that captured my attention.