From Russia with Love | It’s All Blurry in Moscow

From Russia with Love | It’s All Blurry in Moscow

Navigating and understanding a large city of more than 10 million was like chewing a piece of leather. Moscow has more people than the entire Czech Republic where I even got lost in my own back yard. My first day in Moscow was a complete nightmare. With an 18-kg backpack not adjusted very well, I felt the entire load on my neck and shoulder. A wind blow could tip me over. In this condition, I had to find my way in the maze of Moscow’ underground while deciphering Cyrillic.

At one point, I kept getting in and out of the same metro, not being able to find my exit. Stations at intersecting lines sometimes changed their names, and I thought I needed to go one stop further instead of simply walking out.Having walked and got miserably lost in the past 49 countries, I lost all enthusiasm to explore Moscow and its monster size compared to other European cities. Moreover, I didn’t come here to see things; I came here to start the long-waiting Trans-Siberian train journey and my first long-term vagabonding. Moscow was not the ideal place to start such journey; it kept on draining my energy. At time, I wanted to run away to St. Petersburg after hearing how beautiful it looked from every tourist who just came from there or would soon travel there. In the end, I stayed thinking once I got out of Moscow, everywhere else would be a nice piece of sweet chocolate.

I spent the first two days tagging along with other people to save myself the heart-wrenching experience of finding the right direction, but slowly I was able to navigate Moscow on my own. As in any other capitals and big cities, Russians here looked quite grumpy and stressed out. Most of whom I asked for help already switched off their brain and dismissed me even before I opened my mouth and finished my sentences. I would be too if my favorite place to hang out every day were the metro. Crossing the streets in Moscow, on most occasions, required using the underground passage because the roads were big and long with only few zebra crossings. There were far too many cars jamming on the street, and they would not stop for you, not even try to slow down.

I stayed with Elena, my Couchsurfing host who had the same age as my mother. She gave me the first experience with local Russians. I usually stayed with people my ages but this time, I switched. My host was great. She pampered me like a child. She booked train tickets, concert tickets which required spending hours on the phone talking to the sale agents, the extra effort she didn’t have to do. She even sent me to her brother’s family in Yekaterinburg.
Somewhere in between finding directions and getting over my laziness, I managed to sample a few sights here and there and did a few things. Overall, Moscow can be an agreeable city to visit, BUT you need to connect with the local population or understand a great deal about Russian history.
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