This is my last day in Russia. Мой последный день в России.

I have to say that I had a great time. Being on my own, without good friends and family was definitely a new experience, but I met a lot of wonderul people along the way and feel that I truly experienced Moscow.

Over a 2 1/2 week period I took 70 hours of Russian classes, went to two medical conferences, worked out at a Russian gym seven times, and saw countless sites around the city. I was out and about the city every day  from morning until late at night. I still can't explain why I love this place and the language. Arleigh is convinced it has something to do with my Russian ancestors and she is probably right (as always).

I have mixed feelings about returning home, because I am really going to miss being in Russia (how crazy is that?). But it will be good to be home, sleeping in my own bed (even though Arleigh is on her way to India as I write this which is why being home will be somewhat bittersweet), and getting back into my normal routine.

Here are some random parting and photos:

I had chicken soup for dinner tonight. Here is a photo of the soup I had the other day (which was quite good....it had vegetables and sour cream). The chicken soup was tonight was awful (like watered down Campbells or Watties)

My second gastro Conference was quite good. I was a little disappointed that I had a lot of difficulty understanding the speakers in Russian. Thankfully, there were several international speakers who all gave their presentations in English (the Russians had to use headphones for simultaneous translations. To get a headphone, they had to hand over their passports as collateral!). The conference was held in  a 1970's era Soviet era building. This is a sign for the 20th annual Russian Digestive Disease Week!!!

Here is the building

Here is my name tag

There were drug company exhibits and, like all conferences, it was kind of crazy:

Yesterday I thought it would be fun to be a tourist. So I went on a tour of Moscow . This is my guide, Marina. The tour was actually free, although you are expected to tip the guide. It was excellent.

 I learned that this is all that is left of the original wall of Moscow. It is in a subway station!

 No tour of Russia would be complete without  a visit to at least 30 churches. This one was a private church owned and used exclusively by the Romanov family who would eventually start a dynasty that would end in 1917.

I could not leave Moscow without visiting the New Zealand embassy.

 No too shabby a building for a small country (below)! It sits between the German and Afganistan embasssies. There were signs outside asking for Russian support for a seat on the Unitied Nations Security Council. I met my one and only fellow New Zealander (who works at the embassy)  at my Russian school.

This hotel, right by Red Square (now a Four Seasons) has a crazy story. The architects gave Stalin two architectual styles to approve for the building. Stalin just scribbled his name in the middle of the two styles without choosing one as he was supposed to . No one would tell him that he made a mistake so the building has two different facades (note that the right and the left side of the building  are very different). This is actually true!

Speaking of Stalin, I bet he never imagined that his tomb would  be the background for a selfie of me! Stalin actually wanted to be placed

next to Lenin in the Mausoleum. But he was moved to a  small grave behind it.

Not far from Stalin's grave is that of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in Space (he beat Alan Shepherd by a about three weeks) and is a National hero.

No visit to Russia would be complete without the obligatory photos in front of the Kremlin and Lenin's Mausoleum and on Red Square (another selfie!)

Below is the old National Hotel (which I highly recommend if you need a bathroom near Revolution Square). It was the temporary home of Lenin (room 107) and the Bolshevic government immediately after the Revolution as the Kremlin was damaged. Some of the famous people who have stayed here include H.G. Wells, John Steinbeck, Bill Clinton, Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn, and Ray Charles.

Finally, the best of American culture has really left its mark on Moscow

Tomorrow: My journey to the Airport

The most famous dog in Moscow  is in the metro stop Revolutionary Square. No one knows why, but Moscovites rub the dog's nose for luck.  The metal is acutally worn down, as you can see. It is a doberman, I think, but soon it will look like a pug. And yes, I rubbed the nose too!

The metro, as I have said, is really incredible and a wonder to ride. Here are some random shots of some different stations:

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A flutist was playing in one of the coridors which had incredible accoustics.

Having grown up during the cold war, remembering the Cuba Missile Crisis when we had bombing drills in elementary school, walking through the Metro evokes many emotions. 

On another note, I had my conference yesterday on Capsule Endoscopy. It was the fourth course I have taken on the subject and, by far, the best....a pleasant surprise, even though it was held at the "brothel hotel" (or maybe BECAUSE is was held at the brothel hotel). The talks were in both Russian and English and it was absolutely great. Terrific speakers and very well organised.

Here is a snapshot of the decidedly Russian-looking audience. This was the first course on Capsule Endoscopy ever given in Russia! They actually introduced me as a guest from New Zealand although there were attendees from as far away as Siberia.

Today I had a busy day as a tourist. I bought some more souvenirs and took a picture of my favourite Matryoshka lady. She is  the artist and does beautiful work. After buying souvenirs I went to the Tretyakovskaya Gallery. It was wonderful and I will return later in the week (unfortunately no photos are allowed).

Food in Russia (or the lack of it) seems to be a theme for me on this trip.

I almost screamed when I saw what was on the menu for lunch at the conference 

Here is what I had for dinner at the apartment (Nadejda made it). Your guess is as good as mine. It was actually very tasty! I think it was kasha and mystery meat.

I went to a coffee shop and the menu had a listing that said, in Russian, that they had a new offering, a "флейт вейт", pronounced flat white. They had a blurb on it that said it was the national coffee drink of New Zeland. It was pretty good!

This was lamb from a street vender. It was great, but I may be in trouble tomorrow.

Finally, I offer this final video to show that there are some things that are the same no matter where you travel:

This started out to be a very typical day, but I ended up in the Twilight Zone.  Ate my two hard boiled eggs for breakfast and went to school from 10am until 1:30pm. It was a good lesson and I have improved my listening skills a lot since I arrived, but I still have a long, long way to go. Above is what I had for lunch. Mushroom/chicken blinis at a fast food place. I may pay the price in the morning, but they were very, very good. 

In the afternoon I went to the Pushkin Art Museum and saw the impressionist exhibit. It was a small, but incredibly impressive gallery. You walk into rooms and are surrounded by countless paintings by Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Degas. I spent a couple of hours at the museum, then went to the gym for about an hour 

My first medical conference is tomorrow. It is a course on Capsule Endoscopy and is being held at the Korston Hotel, which is  within walking distance from Gorgy Park, south of the city centre. I got reminiscent of the time I was there with Arleigh a couple of years ago. Since I am staying at the hotel tonight,  I thought I would check it out on tripadvisor.com.  Here are some random reviews:

“the worst of the russian style”

Reviewed 5 weeks ago

employees don't speak english, the quality of breakfast is very cheap, the rooms are very poor, the beds are terrible and very uncomfortable making rest impossible, is full of hookers at night, prices are very expensive for what you get.

“A pretty much expensive hotel with poor service and unfriendly staff”

Reviewed August 19, 2014

I stayed in Korston Hotel for 3 weeks for business and had the chance to see 3 different rooms. The summary is still the same, very expensive rooms, poor quality of sleeping, very retro style of the room (not to say its old), aircon not always working, bathroom small and with some smaller issues
There are also construction works going on, which can be very annoying.
The staff is unfriendly, especially one lady at the breakfast buffet:

"Do you have other cereals than this? (they had 6 buckets, 5 times the same)...
"NOT TODAY!"
"Do you have green tea"?
"NOT TODAY!"

Well, all in all, I had to stay there. Being on vacation, I would never go into this former casino now brothel complex.

Room Tip: Its a brothel!

“a 3 stars Brothel with criminal faces going around”

Reviewed August 8, 2014

The Hotel itself wouldn't be so bad, the breakfast was ok while the rooms a bit too little however average. The problem with this hotel is that is a place for gambling, prostitution and criminal's faces going in & out of the door. "Professional girls" are quite pushy with foreign hotel customers and the atmosphere is broken by the vulgarity of people attending the lobby. You expect a gun killing or a mafia attack every minute. A mention a part deserves the top floor restaurant, good but expensive. 

I was not disappointed. Here is the entrance. It used to be a casino.

You have to go through a metal detector when you walk through the door

This is  the lobby. It is definitely like being in Vegas in the 60's.

I thought this was the fitness centre! Unfortunately, they would not let me take pictures inside (just kidding, Arleigh)

This is Men's club number 2, also attached to the hotel.

This is club # 3 in the hotel, a "business club". I thought I would go in to find out about internet access. I think it is interesting that all three clubs have their signage in English.

There are many women relaxing in the hotel lobby

I hope this guy's wife is not following my blog!

Tomorrow: my first conference (it will be in English and Russian). 

I just arrive home at around around 7:30. It was a long day and Andrei was in the kitchen making dinner. Soup.

This soup was actually pretty good. The white stuff is egg, the dark stuff is sorrel and there were potatoes and carrots in it. I am just happy the Chicken noodle soup is finally gone. 

I thought the theme for my blog today would be to walk you through a  typical day. The weather now is clearly Moscow autumn. Hard to believe I gave up spring in NZ to be here. The weather has been between 5 and 10 C and the wind has been blowing so it gives you a real chill. This is the beginning of my walk to the Metro station to get to class.

Just in front of the metro stop this enterprising woman is selling hats and gloves. If I wasn't late for class, I would have stopped. My gloves and hat are cleverly packed away in my suitcase.

The entrance to the Metro has numerous small kiosk type shops where you can buy just about anything from jewelry and sweaters, to eyeglasses,  to fresh bread.

A ride on the Metro, to anyplace in Moscow, including the suburbs, is about $1. If you want, you can ride the train and stay warm all day for the price of a single ticket. There are no turnstiles, but they have very scarry people at all the entrances. Consequently, I have never seen someone try to go through without paying.

I promise to do a page just on the Metro, which has been called the most beautiful in the world. Each stop has a theme and several look like palaces. Here is one stop with a decidedly Soviet feel to it.

The Metro is very crowded during rush hour and I rarely get a seat. I have to change to a different line about half way through. The station is Lubyanka, the site of a terrorist bombing four years ago (hope my mom is not reading this). 
This system would be very hard to navigate if you do not read Russian.

The escalators go on forever, deep into the bowels of the Earths (I love gastroenterology metaphors). There is rumoured to be a second subway station, built during the Cold War, deep under the current Metro! It was to be used to evacuate government officials in the event of a nuclear attack.

Once I get to my school's Metro stop, which is right downtown, not far from Red Square, I have about another 5-10 minute walk. You will notice that even the dogs here look Russian.

Arriving at school is always nice. There is fresh coffee and smiling faces. Russians, while generally very warm and friendly, do not show much expression in public. It is just the way the are. If the video below is not too small, you may note the serious expressions on all the faces of people making their away through the Metro.  Now compare it to the faces of the three women above (all Russian) at my school.

I spend a lot of time at school, averaging about six hours a day. One of the most interesting things about the school is the students. My morning class currently has three students: A woman from Vietnam, one from Finland, and me. My evening class has two diplomats, one from Turkey and the other from Slovakia. I find it strange that we are all conversing and are able to communicate with each other in Russian.

Between classes I try to get in a combination of Russian fitness training (I put this photo in because, Pete, my trainer, is reading the blog) and site seeing. This guy was nice enough to spot me when I did my bench presses. I had to ask him in Russian.

The Pushkin State Museum for Fine Arts is located very close to my school. I spent over two hours there today and will return tomorrow after class to see the Impressionist Exhibit. It is a great museum. There is a second museum, the Tretyakovskaya Gallery, which I plan to see on Sunday, which is supposed to be even more impressive.

Tomorrow I have classes during the day and then some siteseeing. I have my first Russian medical conference on Saturday and will be staying at the hotel where the conference is being held. I hear they have great soup.