The doors here seem to be really heavy and you have to watch out when entering the subway, as the door swings way back and you could easily break a wrist if you tried to catch it at the wrong place.
Women wear beautiful coats: puffy, wool, leather, fur. And they are not afraid to wear hats, some of which are quite styled, or their hoods with their face beautifully surrounded by fur. It's been about 20 degrees and they are bundled up with their fur coats, hats, scarfs, gloves and boots. I can't imagine that most of the boots I am seeing are very warm, as they are leather and healed --- I remember watching the women in Hungary getting around on the ice in their stiletto heals -- there is no ice here yet, so not sure if they leave these boots on or trade them out for something more comfortable. One thought that runs through my mind, is that they must have a selection of winter coats, as some are long, others short, etc. Oh, and of course, there are young girls and 20-somethings wearing boots up to their knees and mini-skirts and short coats with their legs only covered by tights.
Daily I have been asked directions, or something, in Russian by people on the streets, and I have to say "sorry, I only speak English". Kind of frustrating that I can't even say that in Russian, but haven't had time to study. I've had some of the ticket sellers and guards in the museum rooms speak a bit of English, but it is pretty limited. It was kind of confusing going onto the Kremlin grounds, as I wasn't sure what my ticket covered and what there was to see, even with the map the provided, as they said some of the things were closed.
Went to the Pharmacy with Terri this morning, and she was able to get her husband's prescriptions filled with a handwritten note from over a year ago that just listed the meds and the strength. She needed two months worth of one of them, and tried to explain it and the pharmacist was confused. A young man from behind us came forward and helped -- that was nice. She says it doesn't happen very often! The other interesting thing was that we entered the store on the street level and then at the back of the store was a narrow staircase that we had to go down to the pharmacy area. Kind of creepy - not sure I would have done it the first time! The main floor had a lot of other meds, some that we would have needed prescriptions for, but don't need prescriptions for here.
Went to the little store next door this evening to get a few items. They have a lot of stuff in a small space -- really narrow aisles. When paying here and everywhere else, they really get on you if you don't have small sized bills to pay with. But, the ATM I used only gave out large bills which is so typical.
Something I saw in Turkey as well, is that napkins seem to be hard to come by! It's not that they don't have them, they just don't put them on the table with the silverware. Even in nice places with tablecloths, there often are not cloth napkins, rather maybe papernapkins in a holder on the table. Napkins aren't always given to you with something you bought from a counter, etc.
In Moscow the cigarettes are CHEAP! Less than 50 cents a pack! Everyone seems to smoke.
It's common to see parked cars on the sidewalk, sometimes horizontal to the street/building. Then, outside apartments and stores, you will see a whole line of cars waiting. Especially outside of apartments, these will be cars with drivers, waiting for the clients. Each time we left the apartment to ride in the company car, there were at least three other cars sitting there waiting for their clients.
Trying to think of other differences, but right now, that's about it! Really enjoyed seeing Moscow and Russia, although it seemed surreal most of the time.
Women wear beautiful coats: puffy, wool, leather, fur. And they are not afraid to wear hats, some of which are quite styled, or their hoods with their face beautifully surrounded by fur. It's been about 20 degrees and they are bundled up with their fur coats, hats, scarfs, gloves and boots. I can't imagine that most of the boots I am seeing are very warm, as they are leather and healed --- I remember watching the women in Hungary getting around on the ice in their stiletto heals -- there is no ice here yet, so not sure if they leave these boots on or trade them out for something more comfortable. One thought that runs through my mind, is that they must have a selection of winter coats, as some are long, others short, etc. Oh, and of course, there are young girls and 20-somethings wearing boots up to their knees and mini-skirts and short coats with their legs only covered by tights.
Daily I have been asked directions, or something, in Russian by people on the streets, and I have to say "sorry, I only speak English". Kind of frustrating that I can't even say that in Russian, but haven't had time to study. I've had some of the ticket sellers and guards in the museum rooms speak a bit of English, but it is pretty limited. It was kind of confusing going onto the Kremlin grounds, as I wasn't sure what my ticket covered and what there was to see, even with the map the provided, as they said some of the things were closed.
Went to the Pharmacy with Terri this morning, and she was able to get her husband's prescriptions filled with a handwritten note from over a year ago that just listed the meds and the strength. She needed two months worth of one of them, and tried to explain it and the pharmacist was confused. A young man from behind us came forward and helped -- that was nice. She says it doesn't happen very often! The other interesting thing was that we entered the store on the street level and then at the back of the store was a narrow staircase that we had to go down to the pharmacy area. Kind of creepy - not sure I would have done it the first time! The main floor had a lot of other meds, some that we would have needed prescriptions for, but don't need prescriptions for here.
Went to the little store next door this evening to get a few items. They have a lot of stuff in a small space -- really narrow aisles. When paying here and everywhere else, they really get on you if you don't have small sized bills to pay with. But, the ATM I used only gave out large bills which is so typical.
Something I saw in Turkey as well, is that napkins seem to be hard to come by! It's not that they don't have them, they just don't put them on the table with the silverware. Even in nice places with tablecloths, there often are not cloth napkins, rather maybe papernapkins in a holder on the table. Napkins aren't always given to you with something you bought from a counter, etc.
In Moscow the cigarettes are CHEAP! Less than 50 cents a pack! Everyone seems to smoke.
It's common to see parked cars on the sidewalk, sometimes horizontal to the street/building. Then, outside apartments and stores, you will see a whole line of cars waiting. Especially outside of apartments, these will be cars with drivers, waiting for the clients. Each time we left the apartment to ride in the company car, there were at least three other cars sitting there waiting for their clients.
Trying to think of other differences, but right now, that's about it! Really enjoyed seeing Moscow and Russia, although it seemed surreal most of the time.
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