More of Moscow and Back to the Future

Our host in Moscow was Roman Vlasov; he prefers to be called Roma. I met him in Odessa, Ukraine, in 1989, when he was a student learning English. We have corresponded and visited each other since then. In 1995 he was able to come to the States for a visit. Now he works as a foreign service national at the Help Desk at the American Embassy in Moscow assisting the large staff with computer problems and other technical concerns. Roma speaks fluent English and is always a fascinating conversationalist. For many years he has been a devoted fan of the Beatles and has even made a pilgrimage to Liverpool, England. He attended Paul McCartney's first concert in Russia, in Red Square, in 2003. Lately he has added two new interests to his life: tennis and theater. He plays tennis and is a avid supporter of the Russian tennis team. He frequently attends theatrical performances and lately has begun attending a theater club to learn about acting.
Last Saturday Roma took me with him to the hugh indoor Olympic Stadium where we watched most of a quarter final doubles match between France and Russia. We saw former Russian President Boris Yeltzen in the stands to our right; Roma told me that he attends all Russia's matches. I had an impulse to go over and ask him some questions: President Yeltzen, "Do you think the life of the average Russian has improved since you left office?" I could think of a lot of questions to ask him, but I restrained my impulse.
In 2000 Roma and I had been to the renactment of the important Battle of Boridino, part of the war of 1812 between Nepoleon's forces and Russia. In a one day battle the Russians lost 40,000 men and the French 30,000. Although Napoleon was able to go on to invade Moscow, he considered Borodino the "most terrible" of all his battles. Roma and I joked that is much better to see Russia and France battling on the tennis court than on the fields of Borodino.
We had to leave the match early to meet Tanya and Svyatoslav. Roma was disheartened that Russia lost the doubles match and explained that they would have to win both matches on Sunday to prevail. Their chances did not look good.
The four of us went the the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Like so many things in Russia it has a rich and dramatic history. The hugh church with room for ten thousand worshipers was built to honor Russia's victory over Napoleon. In 1931 Stalin ordered it to be destroyed to make way for a grandiose Palace of Soviets. The Palace of the Soviets was never completed and for a long time the site of the church was a large public swimming pool. After the fall of the Soviet Union, with contributions from millions of Russians, rich and poor, as well as the city government of Moscow, the Cathedral was rebuilt as it was originally. It is vast and beautiful and inspiring.
At the Cathedral we met Vasia and his wife Luda who are icon painters. They took us up an elevator to their spacious studio high up in the Cathedral. They showed us how they work with the most contemporary technology (computers and scanners) and the most ancient implements (brushes, tempura and gold) to make beautiful icons. Outside the arched window of their studio we could look down on the Kremlin not far away.
After tea Vasia took us up a flight of steps to an open area where we could walk around and see a panoramic view of Moscow stretching to the horizon in all directions. While we were enjoying the view, men began to ring the church bells. One bell was probably over ten feet high and the ringer had to swing the large clapper back and forth several times before it finally hit the side of the bell with a very loud and deep bong.
When we left the cathedral Roma had to go off to do and errand and I guided the tourists to the Kish Mish Restaurant on New Arbat Street where we enjoyed a wonderful Uzbecki meal (skewers of lamb, rice pilaf, tasty frest-baked flat bread).
On Sunday we all went to the Tolstoy House Museum. Since Roma and I had both visited inside before, we sat outside in the garden on a little hill while Tanya and her son went inside. We later learned from a very informative woman at the ticket office that Tolstoy had bought the house because he liked the large garden in back and built the little hill as a place for his many children to sled in the winter.
While Roma went off to meet with his theater club, the rest of us made our way to Patriarch's Pools, a place made famous by Michael Bulgakov's famous novel, Master and Margareta. The Ponds now are a very quiet place like an oasis in the hugh megalopolis. We dropped into Margarita's Cafe for a light snack.
Later in the evening, my dear old friends Max and Yana, came in their car and took us to a wonderful Caucasis restaurant with a large patio that looked like it could be a Mexican restaurant in Southern California. Max and Yana love to travel and told of us of their recent trip to Italy which they enjoyed very much.
Monday was very warm and muggy as we set out to visit the Kremlin. On the way we strolled through the new Menezhnia Square "mall" and the Alexander Garden next to the Kremlin wall. There is an eternal flame guarded by military honor guards. We saw a display of flowers commemorating the 60th anniversary of Victory Day, May 9th, 1945, the day Russia defeated Germany (with a little help from some other nations).
As we neared the main public entrance to the Kremlin (which means "fortress" in Russian) a short, bright-eyed woman introduced herself asking if we needed a guide to the Kremlin. She said that she could give a tour in Russian, English or Italian and agreed that she would talk mostly in Russian, but with some English for me. She promised to help us expedite getting tickets and be our tour guide inside for an hour and a half including the interiors of three of the five ancient churches (formerly used by the Tsars). Her fee seemed reasonable so we agreed. The guide introduced herself as Lubov (a fairly common Russian name which means "Love"). So with Love as our guide we toured the Kremlin, the heart of this city which is over 850 years old.
In one church she said that Nepolian had entered it on horseback and had turned it into a stable for horses. I hadn't realized that Nepoleon was such an evil tyrant who was so disrespectful of Russia, its people and religion. (Moscovites burned their city down rather than to yield to Napoleon and he had to flee in disgrace back to France.) My visit was much more successful than his.
After the tour of the interior of the third church I was suffering an overdose of icons and sat and rested while my fellow-tourists explored the interiors of two more churches.
On the way back to Roma's apartment we were tired, hungry and thirsty. I proposed going to a nearby MacDonalds which I knew would be air conditioned and have reliable, inexpensive food. But since my wife doesn't like MacDonalds at all we went on looking in vain for a restaurant on which we could agree. Finally we gave up and went back to Roma's to eat. He came home and cheered us up with the news that Russia had won both singles matches that day which meant an overall victory for Russia over France (like a peaceful version of the War of 1812). Roma also gave us the good news that another old friend, Misha, had agreed to take us to the airport the next day so we didn't need a taxi. During our late evening conversation Roma said that going to America (where he stayed for about five months) was like going to visit the future.
So on a rainy Tuesday morning, my last day on this trip to Russia, Misha showed up with his car to begin the process of getting me "back to the future". Misha is a unique person, perhaps 40 years old with a wife and family of six beautiful children. He works as a computer consultant and is a devout Russian Orthodox Christian. He was very patient driving through the rain and stop-and-go traffic for two hours to get us to the airport. There I said goodby to Tanya and Svyatoslav. Tanya will remain in Russia for another month.
I went throug the normal ordel of X-rays, baggage checks, passport control and was frazzled by the time I finally boarded the airplane. A kindly stewdardess immediately spoke to me (in Russian) and calmed me down and even later found me a better seat by myelf next to a window. Over thirteen hours later (including 12 hours and 23 minutes in the air) I was back in Los Angeles. Some good Russian friends, Eugene and Ria, met me and drove me home. That evening, still lusting after American junk food, I drove to MacDonald's and enloyed the decadence of a Big Mac with large fries!
Now I am trying to adjust to this strange land of empty sidewalks, early sunsets and funny green money. Monday I'll return to the obscurity of my five by seven foot cubicle to perform my public service knowing that my life has been immeasurable enriched and altered by all the beautiful people and marvelous places I encountered on this memorable trip.