I've been in the US since December.

I really miss Moscow. I can't bear to delete this blog, I enjoy recollecting too much...

it's time to go!

I'm deleting this in a few days.


bye bye, farewell!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Just a few photos of holiday decorations in Moscow, taken before I left:



They have all of this great new stuff built behind the Red Square, outside of Ploschad Revolutsii Metro. Rows and rows of souvenir shops, hot tea and other food vendors, and wooden rides!!! This is a mini-ferris wheel that is pumped by man power!




The ice skating rink outside of GUM-




Christmas, Lenin, and Canon at Oktyabrskaya metro-


And this is year-round, but a couple of pictures of the beautiful Eleseevskiy store(/palace!!) on Tverskaya Ulitsa, a must see!

just check out those chandeliers, the mirros, the walls... it's the most luxurious shopping experience!




So Happy Holidays everyone, if anyone actually reads this still.
I have a few more interesting photos, including some of the impressive, artistic headstones from Novodevichy Monastery's famous cemetery.
So while I am back in the U.S. now, don't give up on the blog quite yet!!

failblog.org

close up...



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/micahXrisk/failgeography-2.jpg

crap, I can't get it to work right.

It's Saturday afternoon, 3:30 PM and already it's almost dark. I haven't even left the house yet! It's cold, the ground is covered in slush, AND dark. How am I ever suppose to leave the house?

So instead of actually doing something, I'll talk about some other times that I left the house this week...

Jogging has become more and more difficult as the weeks go on. So, I've started walking for an hour or so every day in addition to yoga. On other days I do pilates or other muscle toning.
Ok, so, I walk. In my neighborhood there is this circular lake- almost like a moat but much bigger. And in the middle is a 17th Century Intercession Cathedral. There are some nice walking paths through the island and around the outer rim of the lake. It recently started freezing over, but is still swarmed by about 50 ducks. Here are some interesting pictures of the area-


Looking across the lake at the island-


Close up of the Cathedral-


Check out the cool robe the monk is wearing-


Walking East on the island, looking across the lake you see this-


This is the souvenir headquarters of Moscow. It's a part of a huge market that I've talked about at least once in here. The castle looking thing is a part of the market, and a part of the Vodka Museum.

The difference between freezing weather in the US and in Moscow-


That's a beer bottle (one of many) littered onto the sheet of ice that's covering the lake. Stay classy Moscow!

This made me giggle:


The other night V and I went to an ice sculpture museum "The Ice Palace" This is something they do every year in some park in the city. We've been trying to go out more, so this is what we picked for this week. It was interesting. Glad we went, and I'm glad that he can get us Russian entry prices, because it was not worth the foreign entry price of almost $20.

3 Headed dragon-


Coming out of the ocean-


Me, behind a Princess' body-


They gave us ridiculous coats to wear. I had a light blue robe and this is what the guys wear-

hahaha.

Afterward we took a long walk in the city-




And that's that.

Iran + Russia + U.S. = nukes in bad hands

Cutting it short..

Moving back to the U.S.

I moved to Moscow with the intention of living here for a couple of years. Learning the language, finding a decent job in Public Health and starting a life with V.
And I am not sorry at all that I am giving it up and moving back to the U.S. (although I still plan on doing listed things in the US....)

I bought my ticket last night! My last ticket (for a long while) between Moscow and the U.S.
It's bittersweet, but I feel relieved with the plans.

I'm not sure what to do with the blog. I'll probably do 2 or 3 more updates before I leave. And 1 after a week or so to recollect and sum up my thoughts. Maybe a few months after I will delete it.
I hope that people traveling to Moscow find this blog and get some use out of it, but I don't think many do. So once my friends/family have read it, I will toss it.

For now, I will share some random photos I have taken around Moscow.


Metro train turned art gallery:





Amateur football games in the sleeper cities:



Interesting stuff in the sleeper city:



Local outdoor market Autumn celebration concert:


^where I buy my produce every weekend

At our metro:


I love walking through the city and stumbling upon beautiful buildings:


French Embassy: