Inertia: The Walk to School

I have a friend who uses lots and lots of photos in her blog to tell the story of her time here in Russia. As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." so I thought I would give it a try to share with you my favorite walk that I do here in Moscow.

Each time I sub at the school, go to a parent/teacher conference or extra curricular event I walk, take the metro and then walk some more. The trip takes one hour but I love it because I get out of my neighborhood and the city center and into what feels a bit more like true Russia to me! Last week I grabbed my camera and took photos on my way home from the school.

Leaving the Anglo American School. They are very picky about walkers going through the door size gate and cars through the car gate. No slipping through the car gate on foot!

Then a short walk down this dead end road with the river on one side and the school on the other.

This barbed wire lane takes me to the bridge to cross the river. Note the tall apartments buildings lining the banks of the river.

To the left is the river. Right now the river is thawing. In the winter it is covered with ice fishing holes and men sitting with fishing poles in hand.

To the right is a set of locks. When the ice is thawed I plan on spending a bit of time on this bridge to watch a boat go through!

Graffiti painted wall on the other side of the river.

At cross-walks in Moscow one must bravely step out into the street and hope all traffic stops.

Decorative iron-work decorates everything. Whether it is barring on a window or supports for an awning or a fence, everything is pleasant to look at.

Laundry hung out to dry. Russians do not have driers so despite being in tall apartment buildings, they do their best to air dry their clothes outside!

Colorful playground.

Dogs in coats.

Parks. I cut kiddy-corner through this one.

Babushkas with shopping carts.

Decorative lights strung along the streets. I expected to see these only lit during the Christmas season, but with the short daylight hours they are on much of the day. It adds a pep to my step when I get on the main road and see all the sparking lights.

Old electric tram cars - and the wires they run on!

Building decorations. Specifically Soviet symbols.

This is the last major building before I come to the metro. It is a mall with a grocery store in the basement. (Where most grocery stores are located in this city.) The basement also has a few small shops that I have come to rely on. One is a hardware store and the other a spice/nut shop.

My special shop! Note the beautiful Uzbekistan pottery.

The friendly worker who speaks a bit of English and recognizes me every time I come in! He always tempts me with little tastes of nuts and dried fruit.

An industrial area.

Russian men with hats smoking cigarettes.

Women in high heels.

People from all directions entering the metro lane.

Stalls selling things: fruits, cheese, fish, magazines

Old people selling things. Maybe just one doll, or some home canned pickles.

The Metro station

This metro has a long perihode (underground walking tunnel). Perihodes (I've probably spelled that completely wrong.) often have little shops. One of the main things you can buy is women's under items. As you can see from the top picture, they are popular shopping venues.