I had been hiking across Moscow all day, up and down unnecessary pedestrian stairs to accommodate speeding Porsches. I was nearly run over by one at a zebra stripe zone!
My cool Hilton conceirge who had unhesistantly chosen the top four experiences in Moscow, besides the Kremlin I had seen on the previous night, to some beautiful churches and a museum to experrience Moscow's treasures, which have little to do with what it is today. It was incredible, but walking so far was also incredibly hard on my arthritic knee. My musea stops are detailed elsewhere, but right on our agreed schedule, i left the church of the BING BONG for the subway to my 900 ruble prepaid Moscow boat tour. I had brought my ipad and verified they have wifi since I knew i would get bored, especially since it is a roundtrip. Subway maps, even in Ruskiland, are always take so much poetic license. Perhaps the hunky sauve ruski conciege gave me proper directions, of course he did, but i was probably just gazing into his eyes. (There are no gays in POCCNR by the way.) The subway involved a transfer itself that took about ten minutes and then my poor cartlidge poor old man knee was done, and as i passed through the first slums i had seen in POCCCR, and now I had a second nefarious scummy threat on my back. I soldiered on and made it to the embankment of the river CRAPO, and saw the boat from the pamphlet sailing. My knee! The tour boat office changed by tour from 5pm to 8pm, still broad daylight, not probable but i needed a vodka and one of lenin's seven sister Empire State buildings was a block away, and no subway for kms. Vodka. This hotel was the same basic buidling, but with Moscow's ultra tacky CBD highrises in the background. I was shocked to see suspiciously thuggy security to get into the hotel, and a more sprawling lobby that my Hilton. The Radisson has an amazing blue skied 50m diorama of Moscow next to the bar. Bar.
I ordered a vodka shot and a water in Russian, found a 500 ruble note ($17) and the smarmy bartender retorted that wont buy you anything here, i hope you have more than that! What a schmuck. Funny how the Russian mafia self-importance has spread to the help. I just needed my dawa (Swahili for medicine in previous blog).
Enjoying my vodka (which cost 800 rubles a bottle later in the grocery!) i noticed the (I am afraid to write anything more specific) dubious characters everywhere. I was in the central meeting place for nefarious characters. F%$k!
Nasty, nasty staff serving nastier, nasty guests. It made my skin crawl just to sit and have a vodka with them.
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