Metropol

I'm back in Russia, in Moscow this time, fortunately. The city is alot more interesting than Murmansk. Moscow has become a metropol, like London and Paris.

This time I travel with some colleagues, which is more fun than going alone. We even got time for an evening with great food at the Pushkin Restaurant.

We stayed in Hotel Metropol, right across the street from the Bolshoy Theatre, and two minutes walk from Red Square. It's only two stops from our Moacow office with the Metro, so getting to work is quite easy too.

Hotel Metropol is a historical hotel. It was built in 1901, before the Revolution. In 1917, when the Communists government moved from St.Petersburg to Moscow, Metropol became the residence of the Central Executive Committee.

In the 1930s it once again became a hotel. It was the place where the leaders of the Soviet Republics stayed when they came to Moscow for meetings.

On the 4th floor, where I stay, there is a photo gallery of famous people who have stayed in the hotel. I recognized Mao, Stalin, Lenin, Berthold Brecht, George Bernard Shaw, Elton John, Michael Jackson and Sharon Stone. Quite a varied lot.

It's time to go to bed. Tomorrow morning is my last breakfast at Metropol, for this time. Great food, and a harpist playing live music while we're eating. That's kind of cool, isn't it?

(Above is a picture of the harpist in Hotel Metropol. She entertained us with soft music while we were eating eggs and bacon; a nice way to start the day.)

See you later, Moscow

Today we got the first data delivery from the company we're dealing with in Murmansk. A guy came to our Moscow office with the data on a USB disk this morning. I had to sign 4 copies of receipt papers. Two of them I couldn't even read, but our Russian lawyer was by my side, and said it was OK.

But my signature wasn't enough, bacause in Russia they want stamps too. So they searched around our office to find some kind of stamp, and then everything was fine. I could probably carved a stamp out of a half potato (like we did as kids), and they would be happy with it. The only important thing was to get the damned paperwork stamped.

Then my business in Moscow was completed, for this time. One of our drivers took me to the airport. The first part of the trip was nice, through central Moscow. The driver told me, in his very limited English, about the history and current use of every building along the streets; The Kremlin, the Ministry of This and That, the Bolshoy Theatre, the Pushkin monument (Lady of Spades is a good book; recommended), and Stalin's Seven Sisters.

The Seven Sisters, also known as Stalin's Cakes, are seven monumental buildings, built for the 800-year aniversary of the City of Moscow. Eight buildings were planned, but only seven were finished before the aniversary ... and the eighth was never built (drawings exist). The Seven Sisters are used for various institutions; Moscow State University, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hotel Ukraina, Hotel Leningradskaya, and a couple of apartment buildings for the rich and powerful. You can spot one of the Seven Sisters in the photo in my previous post.

The traffic was slow but steady on the first part of Leningradsky Prospekt. It's part of a federal highway that goes all the way to St Petersburg (the driver told me). At the point were 5 lanes are reduced to 3, we got stuck. Our drivers, however, are good guys, with very creative solutions. So we left the higway, and took the small side-roads, through apartment areas, sports stadiums, construction sites, junk yards and green parks ... and then back on the highway. So I made it to the airport in time, again.

Da svidaniya, Moskva.

I'll be back in about three weeks.

(I took the picture above from the highway on a previous trip to Moscow in July. It shows the Red Gates Square Building, one of Statlin's Seven Sisters)