Ostrankino Tower

From our apartment we occasionally see accidents at the intersections along our street, such as the one below. I have been told that Russian road law requires the vehicles involved in an accident, however minor, not be moved until the scene is attended by the traffic police. The police, being very busy dealing with the mayhem on Moscow's roads, can take a while to arrive. This vehicle was in the middle of the intersection for 3 hours.

Notice the 'pedestrian crossings'. These are purely decorative and serve no practical purpose.

Something else we can see from our apartment is the 7th tallest freestanding structure in the world. Ostrankino Tower. At 540.1 metres it is also the tallest freestanding structure in Europe, and has been so for 46 years since construction was completed in 1967. Note that I say freestanding - there are taller masts guyed by wires and drilling rigs in the ocean.

If you are curious, the current list is:
1. Burj Khalifa - Dubai - 829.8 m
2. Tokyo Skytree - Tokyo - 634 m
3. Abraj Al Bait Tower - Mecca - 601 m
4. Canton Tower - Guangzhou - 600 m
5. CN Tower - Toronto - 553 m
6. One World Trade Centre (Freedom Tower) - New York - 541.3
7. Ostrankino Tower - Moscow - 540.1

I'm a little surprised the Moscow authorities haven't sent some chap up to the top of the mast to attach a broomstick - that should be just about long enough to get 6th place back from the Freedom Tower.

After I told him he was looking at the 7th highest structure, a visitor recently remarked that it didn't look tall enough to be in the top 10 and I have to agree, I was also surprised when I found out. Maybe its the lack of bulk.

The interior of the tower was burnt out in a fire on 27 August 2000, which killed 3 people. Fortunately the fire broke out above the observation deck and restaurant, so most people were safely evacuated. This occurred soon after the Kursk submarine tragedy on 12 August, with which non-Russians are probably more familiar. Not a good month for Russia.

The observation deck is now open for guided groups, though there is no sign of the restaurant reappearing.

May Day

Lunchtime at Sparrow Hills last week produced the first evidence of Spring in the form of a worker enjoying a lunchtime sunbathe beside the Moscow River. Personally I don't think 15 degrees is quite warm enough to shed my shirt, but it has been a long winter.

Oh my, that feels sooo good!

Today is May Day. Traditionally a worker's holiday, it seems to be as much, if not more, a celebration of the arrival of Spring. The length of Tverskaya Ulitsa (a couple of kilometres) was blocked to traffic and access to pedestrians permitted only after passing through security checks. Ever security conscious, I expect the Moscow authorities are even more jumpy after recent events in Boston.

No sign, though, of anyone doing anything other than enjoying the day.

Excuse me, has anyone seen my balloon?

  

All right, you lot, just wait for the signal

 

Always on the alert for unauthorized interplanetary beings, a Man in Black mingles unobtrusively with the sunflower squad at the May Day parade.

Igor, put the kettle on, love. The family's arrived

No dear, I really haven't seen your balloon.

 

Tsaritsyno Park

We have just returned from a couple of weeks in Greece – the winter in Moscow has been particularly long and we had to do something to get rid of our persistent colds. We also just need to feel the sun and warmth. 

Something I have consistently noticed is that many Russian passengers clap when their plane lands. The applause is possibly due to the rise in Russia’s rate of outbound tourism, which has grown from being one of the world’s lowest during the USSR years to ninth. There are currently 40 million tourists a year departing Russia and this number is growing rapidly. Most of them would therefore be inexperienced and nervous air travellers. Hence the clapping. Relief, I suppose.

The paradox of this, to me at any rate, is that flying in large commercial jetliners is quite safe, whereas catching a Moscow taxi to the airport would be very hazardous indeed. Do taxi drivers also get applause for a safe arrival at Sheremetevo airport? 

Back in Moscow and the weather has finally warmed up. Sunny days the past week and those piles of snow are finally disappearing. The trees still look like sticks, but the birds sitting in them seem quite chirpy now.

To mark the change of seasons I have photographs from Tsaritsyno Park taken at various times of the year. This park is about 10 kilometres south of Red Square and easily accessed from Tsarisyno metro station on the dark green line number 2.

Catherine the Great's palace at Tsaritsyno

This is a park I enjoy very much. It has some magnificent buildings set in a charming mix of landscaped grounds and forest. 

The park passed through the hands of several noble families before being bought by Catherine the Great in 1775. Catherine ordered a palace complex built, but decided she didn’t like the centrepiece mansion and ordered it pulled down. Another architect designed a new mansion, but, not surprisingly I suppose, with that sort of frivolous approach to money, Catherine ran short of funds. It was unfinished at the time of her death. 

 

Church of Our Lady of the Life Giving Spirit, Tsaritsyno

Autumn at the lake in Tsaritsyno

Red squirrels are quite common in Moscow forests

 

Gulag Museum

I know I put a similar picture in a previous post, but I couldn't resist adding this one. The building is 7 stories high and although the worker is wearing a harness, it is not connected to anything.

I probably shouldn’t write today, as I am feeling a bit sour. Almost being run over by a young woman at a pedestrian crossing (what’s unusual about that?) didn’t help my mood.

A Canadian friend, also a geologist, said to me many years ago that he couldn’t figure out why the British had sent their free-settlers to an ice-box (Canada) and their convicts to paradise (Australia). In this Russian ice-box it has been snowing again these past three days and I have been feeling a bit homesick for paradise. No doubt I’ll perk up when spring arrives, but these Moscow winters are so darned long.

My topic for today suits my disposition – the Gulag Museum. This museum is located at 16 Petrovka Ulitsa. People say it is hard to find, but it’s more a matter of it not being obvious. One has to walk down a short tunnel almost directly opposite Stoleshnikov Pereulok. The museum is small, with thoughtful and poignant displays showing the lives and meagre possessions of individuals who went through these awful labour camps.

Entrance to the Gulag Museum, only visible after passing through a short tunnel.

 I’m not going to say anything more about the gulags. You can read about them on Wikipedia if interested. Nasty places. Interestingly, Stalin, who instigated the gulag system, is now becoming increasingly admired in Russia (just Google ‘Stalin popularity’). 

Stairway up to the museum.

Stalin's picture might be shown, but this is one place where he is not admired.

Nikolo-Perervinsky Monastery

The last few days have been beautiful. Welcome sunshine after a couple of months of grey skies and gloom. The sun even has some warmth in it.

Many tourists find their way to Novodevichy Convent, so I thought I'd write about a religious institution casual visitors to Moscow do not see, the Nikolo-Perervinskiy Monastery. I also think its more attractive than Novodevichy.

The blue towers of the 'Cathedral of the Iberian Icon of the Virgin' are visible in the distance and across the river from the architectural park at Kolomenskoe (see my posts dated 9 March and 6 August last year - which reminds me I need to do a more complete post on that park some time). It took me a little while to work out where this cathedral is and how to get there. You take the metro on the light green line to Pechatniki, then a bus south (the 30, 161 or 292). The monastery is very obvious - get off the bus when you see it.

The Cathedral of the Iberian Icon of the Virgin

 The monastery's existence was first recorded in 1623, but it has probably been around since the 14th century. The cathedral was built in 1908, one of the last churches to be constructed before the Bolsheviks took power. It was also one of the last monasteries to be closed, perhaps because the buses down there are pretty rickety and Stalin didn't like traveling in them.

The monastery is functioning, fully restored and the grounds and cathedral are open to visitors.

Monastery entrance

 

Museum of Contemporary History

After very heavy snowfall last Monday, the daytime temperature has been hovering around zero. While the city is pretty efficient at clearing snow from the streets, what happens on the footpaths is a bit hit-and-miss and often seems to depend on what the adjacent building owner feels like doing. These temperatures mean that snow partially melts and then refreezes overnight, becoming icy and dangerous. It’s not much fun walking around at the moment.

Snow and ice on roofs is also a hazard to passers-by and there has been plenty of activity clearing it off. Unfortunately this often means blocking off sections of the footpath, temporarily rerouting long-suffering Moscow pedestrians on to the roads to take their chances with the cars. The following photo I took today of some guys clearing snow off the roof of a 6-storey building. I noticed a couple of them were wearing harnesses, but they weren’t actually connected to anything. I guess they rely on that flimsy looking fence if they start sliding down the roof. Most buildings have them. There can be a fairly casual approach to workplace safety in Moscow. Workers using jackhammers, for example, often use no ear protection.  

Clearing snow off a 6 story building. I'm not sure I'd like to rely on that little fence in an emergency

 Anyway, I’ve gone off the track, because today I really intended writing about the Contemporary History Museum in Tverskaya Ulitsa.

This museum covers the period from the mid-19^th century to the end of the Soviet Union. It contains a remarkable collection of original documents and artifacts. If you have any interest in revolutionary Russia, this museum is a must-see. The presentation is logical, with numerous rooms of displays guiding the visitor chronologically through the tumultuous events that have made modern Russia.

Each room has a well-written interpretive plate in both Russian and English. I think these must be fairly new, as I don’t recall seeing them on my previous visit nearly 12 months ago. In addition, the rooms also have an English language A4 sheet which explains, in more detail, many of the displays, though these sheets are becoming a bit tatty. 

If I have any misgivings about the museum, it is that some of the more unpalatable aspects of recent Russian history tend to be smoothed over. Stalin’s brutal reign, for example, is given a fairly light touch. One could easily come away from the display of contemporary propaganda posters and other paraphernalia with the impression he was a kindly and benevolent ruler. His execution of large numbers of army officers prior to the Great Patriotic War/Second World War is described as a reorganisation of the army. The department that employed me for many years in Australia was also recently restructured - thankfully I survived the experience.

Stalin taking time out from the dull routine of purges

 That aside, this museum contains some amazing stuff and if you think you’d enjoy seeing such things as actual banners that were waved around during revolutionary demonstrations, you won’t begrudge the 250 rouble/$7.50 entry fee (plus an extra 100 roubles if you want to take photos).

This museum is easy to get to, it’s on Tverskaya Ulitsa, almost opposite Tverskaya metro station (just up the road a bit towards Mayakovskaya). You can’t miss it, it’s the grand red building with crouching lion statues and a little armoured car in the courtyard. 

The building is also worth visiting in its own right. It was built around 1800, damaged in Napoleon’s 1812 fire, renovated and extended, then sold to the English Club in 1831 by the owner, Count Razumovsky. The English Club, which was formed in 1772 as an expats social club, was disbanded after the 1917 revolution and the building taken over by the Bolshevik government.

Parts of the museum, once used as the English Club, are quite grand

A great collection of revolutionary artifacts.

What the well-dressed Russian geologist was wearing before the revolution. All I used to wear was a pair of old shorts and a tatty teeshirt. At least the hammers haven't changed much.

Sigh...reminds me of the good old Cold War days

Hermitage Garden

Supporters of the Geelong Australian Rules football club may be amused by this Moscow milk carton. This link will help those sadly deprived people who do not follow Australian Rules football understand what I mean - http://www.geelongcats.com.au/

It’s quite a sunny afternoon, nice after an extended period of gloom. It doesn’t help that Moscow is in a permanent state of daylight saving, which means it still doesn’t get light until around 9.30am. Nice in the afternoons, but 5 months of getting up in the dark is difficult.

Last Sunday was also fairly pleasant, so we took a walk to the Hermitage Garden which is located on Ulitsa Karetnyy Ryad, close to where it joins the Garden Ring (which is actually a multi-laned traffic snarl of a ring road).

This small, manicured park, opened in 1894, surrounds the Hermitage Theatre. In summer the gardens are popular with wedding groups, people quietly sitting and reading, and kids running around the playground. In winter, there is a skating rink, but otherwise not much to do other than take a short stroll along the snowy paths. 

Childrens' slippery dip (slide) sculpted from ice. Photographed in the Hermitage Garden last Sunday (20 Jan)

 What I particularly like about this park is the Art Nouveau fence and entrance. Still, being currently ranked 547 out of 592 things to do in Moscow by the Lonely Planet, I doubt too many tourists will be seeing it. 

The rest of these photos I took last summer - the gardens are at their best in the summer and I need to remind myself occasionally that there is such a thing.

The wonderful Art Nouveau garden entrance and fence.

The Hermitage Theatre

One of the grand garden pergolas

Not too surprising that this park is popular with wedding groups.