The greeness is so vast. It struck me immediately. Especially looking over the land from the plane, my entire conception of Russian land changed on the spot. It's more vast forest than I have ever seen before. I can't wait to see the Siberia countryside from the Trans-Siberian Railway. It refreshes me to see the world still so green at least in some places. From what I saw of the city of Moscow however, the environmental movement is NOT well...moving. The water quality is very poor, and as everyone smokes everywhere, the indoor air quality is less than stellar as well. It's a big city, so there's going to be pollution, and I'm sure I'll see worse throughout my travels.

This may be the culture shock talking but Moscow is not very...friendly. Except for this amazingly sweet waitress at TGIF's, we've had a very hard time getting information. For example, the woman at the information booth tried to convince us that the metro from the airport was much too confusing for us and that we should definitely take a taxi. Only when I asked her VERY assertively would she tell me where the bus to the metro station was located. Did mention that the metro cost about $4.50 USD for the three of us whereas a taxi would have cost $96 USD!! of which I'm sure she'd have gotten some percentage.

The language barrier is intense, especially with a different alphabet (cyrillic). Gesturing goes a long way. My few interactions with people have been at the Godzilla hostel where we are staying. It's cool to see how open and friendly all of the other travelers can be. They offer advice, swap stories, and brag about their traveling exploits. I'd have to say though, my best experience so far was waking up early, walking to Red Square, and sketching St. Basil's Cathedral. I sat in front of Moscow's signature church. I practically had Red Square to myself. I sketched it out for a watercolor painting (hopefully I can scan into the computer some time soon). The normally packed square was serene and quiet, and St. Basil's just makes everything around you all whimsy and magic.

I opted to skip viewing Lenin's tomb complete with his embalmed body on display. First because...that's creepy. Second, his philosophy and leadership were responsible for communist Russia, and I didn't want to honor that. Of course, I seemed to be the only one of that opinion because the line for his tomb was about a NYC block long! I've heard the line for Mao can get crazy long also, and I DEFINITELY don't want to see that. Feel free to comment!

Final comments: The days here are long. The metro is crowded from before 10am to well after 10pm. It doesn't even get dark until about 11. It's very strange and kind of wonderful. It gives you a lot more time to sight see, which explains my very sore feet. Well, that's all for Moscow. See you in St. Petersburg!