Moscow, Russia

I recently had the privilege of going to Moscow with a friend who was shooting video there.  It was so fun to go out with someone else the purpose of capturing photographs all day.   My senses were heightened as I sat in the airport to board the plane to Moscow.  The loudspeaker blurted out in Russian that it was time for boarding.  Our local airport is too small to directly board the plane so all the passengers cram onto a bus that taxis us out to the jet.  The noise of the running jet engines was enough to make me instinctively hold my ears while the turbines created a wind that blew my hair parallel to the ground as we waited for the doors to open.  A lady in flip-flops and pantyhose collected our boarding passes while an airport worker rode up on a dilapidated green bicycle to give a last goodbye to a lady passenger.  As we waited, my eyes noticed how differently my red gortex Columbia jacket and black hiking boots looked in comparison with the leopard print tights and black sequined boots the lady next to me was wearing.  Later in the flight, I was glad to have my gortex as water poured in on me from the exit window I was sitting by!  The leopard tights would have soaked it right up.  It was a great trip. 

 St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square.  This is a photo that I played with so the details would stand out and look almost like a drawing.  This Cathedral was built on the order of Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan. 

 Red Square

 Russia is famous for it's martrushka dolls.  I heard that the tradition started when a Russian lady visited Japan and brought back a similar type stacking doll.  She decided to make them and paint traditional folk Russian people on them.

 These $1000 bikes were lined up for sale in their beautiful GUM mall.

GUM mall

 These tea cups are actually Central Asian.  There are millions of Central Asian people from places like Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and the Caucasus who have gone to Moscow to find work.  They typically find low paying jobs sweeping streets or selling in the bazaars.

 

These sweet ladies said they were from Uzbekistan.

This guy was from Kyrgyzstan and proudly wore his hat.

 The escalators down into the subway are incredibly long!

This is a bust station we walked by when the sun was setting.  You can see behind the clock how brilliantly orange the sun was.

We met a lady on the subway that had a handbag that said "Wyoming".  She was a Jewish Russian speaking lady that took it upon herself to give us a quick tour of the pretty night buildings. 

 

 We were walking fast by all these places because it was raining and late at night.

We were there just after the announcement that Steve Jobs passed away.

 There was a crazy reflection of light coming from across the street hitting this building that caught my eye.

 St. Basil's Cathedral in all it's playful, colorful, fairytale glory.