Izmailovsky and Kolomenskoe – or How I Goofed Off for Two Whole Days and Called it a Cultural Experience
Mend when thou canst, be better at thy leisure.
~Shakespeare (King Lear)
On Saturday, I headed to the Pushkin apartment-museum, a recreation of the place where Alexander Pushkin, Russia’s national poet, lived with his wife for nearly a year in 1831. The building was restored to its original appearance in the 1980’s based on historical knowledge of what apartments looked like at that point in time – there’s no contemporary description of the place. As a result, there isn’t much there that has a personal connection to Pushkin – it’s more about Moscow and its intellectual circle during that era. My favorite was a small room about his relationship with his wife – over whom he later fought a duel and was killed. There’s a particularly touching letter to a friend describing how Pushkin felt the first time he saw her; how his head spun as a result of her astounding beauty. It gives a good impression of her beauty, as well as the beauty of his language.
The apartment building adjacent to that housed Andrey Bely about 100 years later. Bely, a native Muscovite, wrote a novel called Petersburg that is his most famous work. I’ve read it – but I’ve got to admit I wasn’t very familiar with his other work. Regardless, Bely had an interesting project where he drew a colorful chart of his ups and downs – an annotated lifeline that looks like a multicolored electrocardiogram. It was interesting to see what he valued enough to put on the line, and what the resulting color and amplitude were during those times.
Then, I hopped on the Metro to get to Izmailovsky, the largest and most famous open-air market in Moscow for antiques and arts and crafts. I had vague plans to perhaps meet there with colleagues. Unfortunately, I ran up against the changing reality of the Metro. You see, the Metro used to have two stops next to each other called Izmailovsky. The first one has the market right near it. The second is on the edge of Izmailovsky forest, Europe’s largest park. The problem was that the first stop was renamed Partisanskaya. As the train left that station I had a sinking sensation that I should have gotten out there. Instead I got out at the park stop and decided to hoof it back to Izmailovsky. Well, Europe’s largest park is also probably Europe’s most confusing, and I got seriously disoriented in the woods. I emerged from the forest, somehow, further away from my intended destination. After a couple of hours of trekking, I made it to the market and went exploring.
Izmailovsky Market is a sprawling collection of stalls selling all manner of antiques, Russian handicrafts, and Soviet memorabilia; everything from antique icons to fur hats to army medals. It’s a major stop on the tourist agenda, and the sharp-eyed merchants had me pegged as soon as I crossed the gate – each and every one of them greeted me in English as I walked past their booths. It was a little discouraging given my desperate attempts to fit in here. I resolved to return in the fall (i.e. not tourist season) and try to trick all the merchants into believing I’m Russian.
On Sunday, I headed out to Kolomenskoe, a former royal estate on what was once the outskirts of Moscow. It’s on the Metro line, and really easy to get to – especially since my long and bitterly learned Izmailovsky experience taught me to do a little more research on transit prior to leaving the house. The grounds of the estate are beautiful – an apple orchard, a beautiful cathedral, some relocated wooden cabins from the far north of the country – all bordering the Moskva River. The estate slopes down to the river, and provides beautiful panoramas of Moscow. After walking around for a good long time I took a little siesta on the lawn. Actually, I fell asleep with a book on my chest. That was some serious relaxing. But, since I did it in the shade of a 16th century church (built to celebrate the birth of Ivan the Terrible – before he was terrible), I rationalized it as a cultural excursion. I woke up and had a beer and shashlik, the Russian version of shish kebab. Which we all know is just a derivative of souvlaki.
After my experience of being pegged as an American all day on Saturday, it was refreshing to go to Kolomenskoe; there are very few, if any, tourists at Kolomenskoe and the place is populated entirely with Muscovites relaxing the best way they know – strolling, picnicking in the orchard, swimming in the river, relaxing on the lawn, eating shashlik, etc.
Russians have a strong connection with the outdoors. No matter how many generations of a family have lived in Moscow, they feel as if they’ve only just left the countryside. As a result, the forests and parks of Moscow are crowded with people on weekends and evenings.
Of course, small apartments probably contribute to that behavior.
The apartment building adjacent to that housed Andrey Bely about 100 years later. Bely, a native Muscovite, wrote a novel called Petersburg that is his most famous work. I’ve read it – but I’ve got to admit I wasn’t very familiar with his other work. Regardless, Bely had an interesting project where he drew a colorful chart of his ups and downs – an annotated lifeline that looks like a multicolored electrocardiogram. It was interesting to see what he valued enough to put on the line, and what the resulting color and amplitude were during those times.
Then, I hopped on the Metro to get to Izmailovsky, the largest and most famous open-air market in Moscow for antiques and arts and crafts. I had vague plans to perhaps meet there with colleagues. Unfortunately, I ran up against the changing reality of the Metro. You see, the Metro used to have two stops next to each other called Izmailovsky. The first one has the market right near it. The second is on the edge of Izmailovsky forest, Europe’s largest park. The problem was that the first stop was renamed Partisanskaya. As the train left that station I had a sinking sensation that I should have gotten out there. Instead I got out at the park stop and decided to hoof it back to Izmailovsky. Well, Europe’s largest park is also probably Europe’s most confusing, and I got seriously disoriented in the woods. I emerged from the forest, somehow, further away from my intended destination. After a couple of hours of trekking, I made it to the market and went exploring.
Izmailovsky Market is a sprawling collection of stalls selling all manner of antiques, Russian handicrafts, and Soviet memorabilia; everything from antique icons to fur hats to army medals. It’s a major stop on the tourist agenda, and the sharp-eyed merchants had me pegged as soon as I crossed the gate – each and every one of them greeted me in English as I walked past their booths. It was a little discouraging given my desperate attempts to fit in here. I resolved to return in the fall (i.e. not tourist season) and try to trick all the merchants into believing I’m Russian.
On Sunday, I headed out to Kolomenskoe, a former royal estate on what was once the outskirts of Moscow. It’s on the Metro line, and really easy to get to – especially since my long and bitterly learned Izmailovsky experience taught me to do a little more research on transit prior to leaving the house. The grounds of the estate are beautiful – an apple orchard, a beautiful cathedral, some relocated wooden cabins from the far north of the country – all bordering the Moskva River. The estate slopes down to the river, and provides beautiful panoramas of Moscow. After walking around for a good long time I took a little siesta on the lawn. Actually, I fell asleep with a book on my chest. That was some serious relaxing. But, since I did it in the shade of a 16th century church (built to celebrate the birth of Ivan the Terrible – before he was terrible), I rationalized it as a cultural excursion. I woke up and had a beer and shashlik, the Russian version of shish kebab. Which we all know is just a derivative of souvlaki.
After my experience of being pegged as an American all day on Saturday, it was refreshing to go to Kolomenskoe; there are very few, if any, tourists at Kolomenskoe and the place is populated entirely with Muscovites relaxing the best way they know – strolling, picnicking in the orchard, swimming in the river, relaxing on the lawn, eating shashlik, etc.
Russians have a strong connection with the outdoors. No matter how many generations of a family have lived in Moscow, they feel as if they’ve only just left the countryside. As a result, the forests and parks of Moscow are crowded with people on weekends and evenings.
Of course, small apartments probably contribute to that behavior.
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