Spasskaya Military Music Festival

Another trip on the Moscow metro system early this morning took me to the steps of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, an enormous gold-domed cathedral on the banks of the Moscow River. The morning was a perfect time to visit, and I enjoyed walking around the grounds, observing the many different bronze friezes and intricate carvings on the building. On the opposite side of the cathedral from the metro station a bridge leads from the cathedral grounds to the other side of the Moscow River, and I crossed halfway and turned back to look at the thing towering above me. Even from a distance the thing is giant, and I wondered to myself what time period the architectural wonder was built in. A quick look through my Lonely Planet book revealed it was built in 1997 (surprisingly). Apparently the original church was built from 1839 to 1860 to commemorate Russia’s victory over Napoleon, but Stalin later destroyed it to emphasize his secular interests. The history of the building was fascinating to me; suddenly it became a symbol of Russia’s transition away from soviet-era secularism and into a new society founded on freedom of speech and religion, among other things.

My favorite part of my visit to the cathedral this morning was the views from the bridge across the Moscow River. As I walked past and looked to the north I spotted the towering golden domes of the Kremlin gleaming in the morning sunlight. I stopped for fifteen minutes or so just to enjoy the view, and had a few different passers-by snap pictures of me in front of it. The view from that bridge must be the best in the whole city of Moscow, and I happened to see it at just the right time when the light was perfectly reflecting off the Kremlin and the river.

My next visit of the day was to the Art Muzeon Sculpture Park, a park originally created to house statues of communist heroes that were torn from their pedestals during the 1990’s. The park has since been filled with contemporary works as well, but my favorite statues by far were those of the soviets. One section of the park featured a few full-length statues of Lenin, as well as busts of Lenin and Stalin and a hulking metal creation with a giant hammer and sickle emblem and the letters ‘CCCP’ beneath it. Nearby I found a full length marble statue of Stalin with his nose ripped off and face disfigured. It was interesting to me to reflect on the impact of the soviet-era in the park. To me Moscow feels mostly cosmopolitan and modern, with a few remnants of the soviet-era mixed in. For example, the metro system is dark, cavernous, and antiquated and has the unmistakable feel of soviet creation. In many stations I’ve noticed mosaics depicting the hammer and sickle emblem, Lenin, and even Stalin. It’s very clear from wandering in Moscow that communism and the soviet heroes are part of Russia’s past, but that’s exactly what they are; in the past. The remnants of the soviet-era are present in Russia both literally and figuratively, but those remnants don’t represent what Russia is today.

Later in the day I made yet another journey in the metro system across town to find an Ice Sculpture Gallery that was recommended in my Lonely Planet book. I’ve learned the hard way that traveling independently in Russia is more difficult than in most countries, but after asking several different locals for directions and walking in the direction they pointed as they spoke to me in Russian, I finally found the place. I enjoy doing at least a few quirky things while traveling, and the Ice Sculpture Museum fit the bill. A lady at the front desk outfitted me in a fluffy light-blue jacket to keep me warm, then ushered me into what is essentially a gigantic freezer that houses the ice sculptures. The room was lined with dark blue walls, and the colorful lights and accompanying Christmas-sounding music were a bit unusual, but the ice sculptures were incredible. There must have been a hundred or more different sculptures in the small, freezing room, and my favorites included a knight fighting off a dragon, a man and his daughter riding a ferocious wolf, a row of knights, a giant ice throne in the middle of the room that visitors were invited to sit on, and a giant mosquito dangling from the ceiling. One particularly interesting sculpture was a series of giant crystal-clear ice cubes with fruit frozen inside them. The blocks of ice formed a sort of still life, and the largest one featured a pineapple sliced in half and perfectly preserved by the ice. After enjoying the music and lights in the room for a few minutes, I briefly thought to myself how nice it might be to visit Russia during Christmas time – but then reconsidered once I realized how painfully cold it would be.

On my way back to the metro station I stopped into a small café to have a Russian lunch before continuing. I began with borsch with sour cream, then had a beef dish called (in English) ‘Sirloin beef, Tsar style’. I have no idea what ‘Tsar style’ means, or how typical the dish is in Russia, but I was given a gigantic stack of food consisting of two beef patties with mushrooms and tomatoes between them and cheese melted over the top. I also asked for a Russian drink (non-alcoholic, of course), and was given mineral water (unfortunately it seems that besides the wide assortment of vodkas, the selection of Russian drinks is very limited). As I ate I enjoyed the views of the park, and watched curiously as a man at the table next to me sucked flavored steam from a strange apparatus, held it in briefly, then blew it out into the air.

In the late afternoon I visited Danilovsky Monastery; purported in my Lonely Planet book to be the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox church. The place was just a network of buildings inside a courtyard surrounded by tall whitewashed walls, and it was certainly much smaller than I would expect for a church headquarters, but I enjoyed ducking into a modest Russian cathedral on the grounds and watching a Russian Orthodox service. It’s fascinating to me how many different varieties of Christianity there are. For example, the Russian Orthodox service vaguely resembled a Catholic mass, but instead of sitting on pews, visitors crowd into the cathedral and stand during the service. Four young Russian men chanted at the front of the cathedral in voices that reminded me of medieval Latin chants, but in the Russian language rather than Latin. As the beautiful monotone chant echoed throughout the small room a priest shook smoke from an incense burner throughout the front of the rook, and worshipers simultaneously made the sign of the cross during certain parts of the chant. Flickering candles enhanced the ambiance; the whole atmosphere felt distinctly Christian, yet still very foreign.

As Danilovsky Monastery closed its doors at 7:00 I hurried up to the Red Square to catch a performance there. The Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival is apparently a festival that has been held annually since 2007, and includes musical performers from countries throughout the world. As the name of the festival suggests, the music has a military feel to it, and country after country performed in what was essentially a gathering of very professional sounding marching bands. I watched as bands from France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Israel, Russia, USA, Russia, and even Bahrain played. I have to say that USA was definitely my favorite and clearly the most entertaining (to me, at least). The band started with familiar patriotic songs, but continued with a Michael Jackson ensemble complete with a singer and dancers. I laughed a little as the American performers imitated the walk of the zombies in Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ music video. To me it was very familiar and very entertaining, but I imagine the 5000 or so Russians in attendance must have thought it was very strange. The USA performance definitely stood out as more entertaining and less regimented. That’s one thing I’ve noticed about Russian culture; people here seem very concerned with maintaining dignity. In the US nobody thinks twice about dancing like a zombie or enjoying loud, rambunctious music… Russians must see things a bit differently. After the Americans, my favorite performance had to be Bahrain’s. A large group of Arabic men dressed in white robes and red headdresses danced for the crowd while playing Middle Eastern looking drums and, strangely enough, bagpipes.

The show ended with a spectacular light show on St. Basil’s Cathedral. Projections onto the cathedral raced across the white outlines on the brick façade and lit up the wild domes of the structure in perfectly coordinated color. I was amazed that such a light show was even possible. All the performing acts marched in front of the crowd for the finale, and the night was finished off with fireworks exploding over Russia’s most recognizable icon.