This morning, I woke up early to head to the gallery which had been suggested. I’m glad I did. It was interesting to see a lot of artwork from Russian artists about Russian History. When I entered, unfortunately there were groups of kids everywhere, so it was noisy, rowdy, and boisterous. After making my way through tickets, I had to go and turn in my coat and things, and I was handed two blue bags. I kept thinking, I don’t have an umbrella, so what would these be for? As I looked around, everyone was strapping them on their shoes to enter the main part of the gallery. I thought it was odd because any wet dirt and mud that you’re bringing in on your shoes, will be on this floor, in which you’re stepping on again with the bags. I guess the bags magically dissipate the mud and dirt for entrance into the gallery. So with my magic bags around my shoes, I entered the gallery to take a look at the paintings. They were quite amazing, and seeing clothing/fights/women/men opened a view into Russia’s past. It made me want to learn more about the Russian historical past and wonder why in my schooling we didn’t seem to even take one chapter to learn about Russia.
After the gallery, I headed back home for lunch. Evgeny, Grisha and I headed out to a Palace near Novogireevo. We just walked the grounds so I could take some pictures, but what I found so amazing was the lake that was right nearby completely frozen over. Kids were playing hockey and everyone was just walking on it. There were holes in the top for fishing as well! I’d never been to a place so cold that the lake actually had frozen over solid enough for walking on!
Evgeny and I then went to Gorki Park to do some ice skating. We had all thought about going to Red Square where they had a rink set up, but it was so crowded that we thought Gorki Park would be bigger and better. Well, it was definitely interesting! It wasn’t just one rink, but all the trails throughout the park connected areas that you could skate. It was like a huge skating park where you could just skate around to different areas. It was cool to see so many kids just hanging out with their friends and skating as big groups, the troublemakers that would rush past and cut ice in front of you, and the beginners that were moving ‘like cows’.
I felt pretty comfortable on the skates from my roller skating history :) We had a great time once we finally got out to the ice and started going around, but boy, you can tell that you don’t use those muscles often! After an hour, we were both more than ready to turn in the skates for a rest. All in all we had a good time and enjoyed this unique winter activity.