Russia, Moscow 2

Luckily I can post an update before Beijing after all - straight from paradise (more on that later). But first a bit more about my stay in Moscow. Before the Trans-Siberian left, I spent the day exploring the inside of the Kremlin. But before I could get in, I had to clear a few hurdles.

I wasn’t keen on paying the 800 rubles they were asking (divided by 40, that’s 20 €), since there was a hefty discount for students. Olga’s sister Anna suggested I apply for an international student ID (ISIC). To do that, I’d somehow have to sneak into Moscow University and make my way to the right agency. Well, no harm in trying…. I headed over there and got past the outer guards without any trouble. Security inside the building was a tougher nut to crack, and they wouldn’t let me through because, of course, I’m not a Moscow student. Fair enough - but I still had to get to that agency somehow. So I asked a female student whether there was any way to get into the building. She talked at the guard for over five minutes (I kind of had the feeling she was flirting with him a bit), and in the end they let me through. The metal detector beeped loudly once more - probably because of my Swiss army knife - the girl winked at the guard and I walked through without any further checks. :)
Once inside, the student was kind enough to show me the agency I was looking for, so I got an international student ID issued at a Russian university, even though I’m technically no longer enrolled… All in all everything went smoothly, and proud as a peacock I set off for the Kremlin. I showed the ID to the nice lady at the ticket office and got a ticket for 100 instead of 800 rubles.
Unfortunately I had no idea where to stash my pocket knife at such short notice. There was no way I’d get through the metal detectors into the Kremlin with it. With my heart pounding a little, I walked up to the security officers to see what would happen - I certainly wasn’t going to throw the knife away. Luckily the guards at the first checkpoint told me that not even backpacks were allowed and pointed me to a hidden cloakroom. Once there, my backpack was x-rayed again. The officer stared at the x-ray image for quite a while - it showed my key ring with a USB stick, a MacGyver-style multi-tool whistle-compass-LED-light-thermometer-magnifier, a pen and the pocket knife. Finally he handed me a claim ticket without a word, and after emptying all my pockets I got into the Kremlin without any problems.

The inside of the Kremlin is incredibly big. I’ll put the pictures in a separate gallery when I get around to it. Just past the entrance I came across the scene below. What exactly was being loaded there, I’ll leave to your imagination…

The Russian administration also seems to have good taste when it comes to official cars. Most of the ones I saw were German makes.

And the view from the Kremlin over the city of Moscow wasn’t too shabby either.

After visiting the Kremlin, Olga and Tania cooked a delicious meal for me and we chatted for a while before heading to Yaroslavsky station. I can’t even begin to describe how much these two helped me! In the evening they flagged down a private taxi on the street, paid for the ride as well (all my attempts to pay them back somehow were no match for Russian temperament) and came with me to the station. There they checked at the counter that my tickets were valid, where and when the train would leave, and whether there was anything special to watch out for. While Tania kept an eye on my luggage, Olga took me to a cheap exchange office a little way from the station and did the talking there too. I didn’t have to worry about a thing. They even came onto the train with me, introduced me to my new Russian compartment mates, talked to the conductor and filled me in on a few quirks. Olga and Tania turned out to be two absolute gems. Finally we said a warm goodbye, and I began my journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway.