I'm Normally Perfect (re-upload)

Chapter Sixty-Four

I spent the final fortnight of the term packing and re-packing for our trip—after all, half the fun of travelling was the preparation involved. I had been enamoured of Russia from the time I was ten or eleven and discovered novels from that country, but the opportunity to go had never presented itself and now I was going to get to see the country with Alex, which was even better than going on my own. I began reading novels written in the language to brush up on it and Alex and I spoke it most of the time, much to the confusion of the dogs. I took to singing Russian folk songs at full voice around the house and one afternoon when I thought she was outside gardening I was having at "Venchka has a Headache" and suddenly realised Alex was standing in the doorway—an amused expression on her face. Once we made eye contact she burst into laughter and once she regained composure she asked, 'You're not planning on singing that once we get there, are you?'

'Absolutely. In the airport.'

We left the first week of July and I was so excited I was nearly vibrating in my plane seat. It's strange going to a place you've only read and dreamt about—you want everything to live up to your expectations whilst simultaneously knowing that's nearly impossible. We'd planned to spend a few days in Moscow and then go on to St Petersburg to see her relatives. In the capital the hotel was nice and after unpacking we had a stroll around. We saw Red Square and the Kremlin, which I hadn't known was high up on a hill overlooking the rest of the city. I had always pictured the Kremlin to be a collection of utilitarian buildings piled one on top of the other, very Spartan and intimidating, but it wasn't. A large part of it was given over to a forest with paths, forests and ponds and some of the buildings were quite lovely. One enters over a bridge and through a red brick tower called Trinity, from the top of which we could see for miles. Inside there were several churches and buildings, some were Soviet style and nondescript and some were beautiful works of art, like a church with three golden tops. The great and also disorienting thing was that it was still light at 1am. Not middle-of-the-day light, but twilight like at that point. Very good for sight seeing.

Our second afternoon there we walked through Gorky Park, which was packed with people. I would've liked to have hired a boat and rowed in the lake, but it was too crowded to be relaxing. And we walked down Arbat Street, which is closed to traffic, but has artists and musicians out trying to make some money. There's also a wall of tiles that were all decorated by children. There were several drawings of American's holding hands with Russians and similarly peace-oriented pictures. It made me glad to know I wasn't the only one who thought distrust between the countries was stupid.

In Red Square there's the world's largest bell and cannon, I suppose Tsar Peter wanted everyone to know he was the greatest by having those built in his honour, though what bells and cannons have to do with being great is beyond me. There was also an enormous statue of Lenin sitting in a chair. He looks as though he's about to stand up. I thought that an odd pose to assume for a statue. When I said as much to Alex she smiled and said, 'It's an aggressive posture—it demonstrates his power.'

'Ooooohhhh.'

In Moscow, I took a picture of the Bolshoi building—home of the ballet. It reminded me of the buildings in Washington D.C., with its columns and the decorations beneath the overhangs. Alex said that was called Baroque style architecture. We also saw the former KGB building. It looked appropriately intimidating and no-nonsense. And we took the Metro. Wowwee. The people in Washington could learn something from those people. There were chandeliers and murals on the ceilings. I wondered if anyone ever forgot to get on the train because they were distracted by the artwork.

We of course saw Basil Cathedral, I always loved the story about how Alexander the Great thought it was so beautiful he had the architect's eyes scooped out so he couldn't recreate it for anyone else. They're very fond of those onion tops for churches over there. I can't say I'm crazy about the design, myself, but it does define Russia to my mind now.