July 30, 2012

Dear Fellow Travelers (no Useful Idiots here),

Monday night in Moscow.  We have been too busy to blog.  But, I'm free tonight until Sister Johnson finds out that I am still at home.

One of a batch of sunflowers we see each morning on the way to the office.

These Ecuadorian Indians have set up shop just outside a main Metro station.  They play their and wooden flutes and sell CD's.  The crowds are usually pretty good.

The Adam and Eve statue and park

We are nearing the Tretyakov State Gallery.  There is water running down the panes.

Can you see the figures in the pane of glass?

The Mormons are everywhere.

One of the finest art galleries I have ever seen.

Senor Tretekov.

No pictures were allowed inside the gallery, w/o paying.  This is a 3-D relief of a city scene.  Impressive.

One of the most famous icons in Russia.  Abraham's three visitors--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Nice sunset ahead of a thunder storm.

Post thunderstorm

Apartments on our way to church.  Marlene wants one of these crowns on the house when we get back.

We have fallen under the spell of Cinnabun.  Rarely she will give me crumb.

Tim and the babe at the front end of Victory Park.  Anyone who comes to see us will get the tour.  We are going to turn toward the right of the picture and walk about a half mile to the main monument and museum.

Moscva.

Five levels running from 1941 to 1945, ending at the pillar, which is 146 meters tall, 10 centimeters for each day of the war, if I got the math right, 1,460.

Looking back toward where we started.

The thingee whooper.

Lots of flowers, or more precisely colorful ground cover.  I suppose this is a hemorrhaging watermelon.

They had a large display of  WWII equipment.  The car that Nathanael has always wanted is in this picture somewhere.

A rail-car with a gun.  I think they used it for pheasant hunting.

Look at those guns!!

For Andy.

From back in my day--MIG21.  The North Vietnamese used to scramble these things (I think Russians were flying them) when they thought that we were coming into North Vietnam, but we always had fighter support so the bad guys would log a few minutes flying time and then scurry back to safety.

Add caption

I asked for the scarf but he did not seem to understand my Russian.

Where Emily and Joe are going to be living when we get home.

A VERY impressive Holocaust memorial.  The figures at the head of the line are about to be shot.  The mother is covering the boy's eyes.

Notice the boy's legs and feet.  An interesting pose.

Haunting.

Stuff stripped from the victims, lying on the ground.

I took the 'wave' on the right to represent the flood of evil in the world.
I kept thinking, "Isn't it interesting that the Russians can see this evil in the Germans, but the Commie's killed millions more and shipped millions to Siberia for good measure."  Awful.

The base of the big monument.  I could never get a good picture of the whole thing or the figures hanging off the front of it, near the top.

Rod showing the boys how to fish for Nazi dragons.

We did not have time to get into the museum which you saw behind this monument.  But we will get in there the next time.  I'm interested in seeing war era propaganda.

I never could get the light right for these figures at the top of the pillar.  I think they symbolize impending victory.

Her shirt says, "Strawberry" something.

Might be the longest, deepest escalator in the world, 123 meters.

It was a little crowded as we returned from the park.

Working every minute, except when I am not.

Daniel came from Nashville to join up with Tim for a few days in Moscow before they head for eight days in St. Petersburg where Tim served his mission.
We are on our way to  Yasnaya Polyana   (Ясная Поляна), Tolstoy's home in the country.
We rode about three hours south of Moscow on a decent bus to Tula.  Then got on a marshutka (city bus) for a 20 minute ride out of town to a wide place in the road.

Olga decided to come with us.  She was good company and tolerated the old people pretty well.

The men's room at McDonald's.

Mac in Tula:  Tim, Daniel, Olga, the babe, MaryAnn, Larry, Donna Jones, and Kent Jones.

We have been dropped on the side of the highway and are heading through the weeds to Tolstoy's home.
We would not have been able to find our way except for our Russian speakers.

Tim says this is the typical dacha--shed on a small piece of ground.  I swear every family in Moscow has a dacha.

The entrance to  Yasnaya Polyana, a lovely lake and a nice lane leading to the house--to the right of the picture.

Our tour guide, Yelena.

A little girl crying.  Marlene got Olga to ask if we could give her some cookies to make her feel better.  She took them and was satisfied for about 30 seconds.  But, the parents were appreciative of the effort.

The house.  It dates from about 1800, I think.

The back yard.

The railing around the porch.

More roses.

Dom Tolstoy.

Yellow roses.

I don't think this is a rose.

Nor this.

Maybe.

Sister Johnson stalking the grounds.

A little boy excited about being at the museum.

Good thing I can read Russian or I could not tell you that this says, "McDonald's 100 meters."

The grave was about 400 yards from the house, through the woods.

He was a rock star in his age, but also a spiritual man.  He did not want adoration and insisted on a modest funeral and grave.

He got his wish.

We must have seen 20 or 25 brides.  This girl was cooling off and keeping her dress out of the dirt.

New style, for us at least, a see-though corset.

Hair.

The pregnant bride, always an interesting combination.

More bride.  They are always accompanied by a posse.

Some of the girls.

Some of the less young folk.  Elder Walker wants to eat lunch twice.

Tula to Moscow, the bus back to town.

Wall decor in the Metro station.

   A near-rose.

A nearer rose.

A dandelion, I think.

I'm sure this is not a rose.

WWII KIA from Yasnaya.

The entrance to the grounds.

Lovely lake.  There were some boys swimming in the upper quadrant of the picture.

Olga assured us that all Russians have their picture taken by a birch tree and some water.

Moi and the babe.

Olga and the tree.