May 7th, Morning “And then around the corner marched the Russian Army”

So got my list for the day,
Morning checking out the areas surrounding two of the places which are top of the house hunting list.
Then meet Judi at her office and off to see 3 or 4 more places with Lidya.

So the first area is around Ordinka which is top of the list. the flat is about 300 meters away from shops and the Metro. If there is a real panic there is a Macdonalds and Pizza hut within 1/2 a mile. A bakery a bar and lots of places to eat and a Metro station. it is also only 15 minutes walk from Red square and you can see St Basil’s cathedral from the spare bedroom. So all box’s ticked.

Now off to the Seven Sisters, the flat is the sort of place you want to live in not because it is practical but because it is so so different.
Its as ornate and over the top as you can get but the down side is it is not close to anything so I am planning to walk around the area just to make sure. Maybe there is a hidden section which will redeem it. So off I go over the first bridge and swing a right towarde this monumental icon of a building.

Now as I am strolling along a man stops me and asks a question which of course I do not understand but I see a piece of paper in his hand and it looks like he wants directions. Now 5 days in Moscow does not make me a guide however I do have a map so out it comes and he gets quite excited. first we have to work out where we are then we have to try and translate the address he has to see how far aways from “wherever” he wants to go.

Its at this point I notice the “Russian army” come marching around the corner. Fully armed and around 500 of them with a marching band. Now my new friend takes no notice of this distraction but I of course am slightly concerned. He continues trying to find building number 19. I watch as the Army comes to a halt right behind us and is dismissed. They start to walk past us to the line of trucks I have just noticed and my new friend decides they may know where his destination is so he asks them. The whole thing now starts to degenerate somewhat as now we have 15 to 20 soldiers “helping” us. I just watch as the map gets passed around and seeing all these helpful people pointing in various different directions is slightly comical. anyway after a few minutes some barked orders bring the new helpers to heel andthey are off to board their trucks. I manage to retrive my map and my new best friend shakes my hand and strolls confidently off in the direction of his goal.

All this happened in the space of 10 minutes and as the trucks roar away in sequence I am left on my own again wishing I had brought my camera. the whole thing was slightly bizzar but then again maybe not.