Moscow Part 5: The Arbat and Random Stuff

So, here’s my report on the Arbat. It’s a lot like Beale St. But longer and with more original buildings intact. Lots of restaurants. Lots of tourist kitsch. Yeah, Beale, but longer.

I might have a better appreciation of the Arbat, if I had tried harder to understand the tour guide or just know the history, or if I had spun by a night. But . . .

Hard Rock Café Moscow

Here I spent too much money on a very warm hoodie.

Statue of Aleksandr Pushkin and Natalya Goncharovna.

Tiles listing names and wedding dates of Russian couples in front of the above statue. For those of you familiar with Aleksandr and Natalya relationship – please, don’t ask me why you would want their “blessing” for your marriage.

This is another thing Russian couples do in Moscow – they attach padlocks to these wire trees on a bridge crossing the river. They also attach them to the bridge by the rebuild-to-attract-tourists Christ the Savior Cathedral.

And here’s an interesting statue, Anton pointed out to me. It’s supposed to represent the ways in which the world corrupts children.