On the Road: Moscow

It's a cold, rainy night in Moscow. The rain that I avoided while in St. Petersburg has finally caught up with me here in the center of the country. It is of course, not the geographical center of the country, but the political and financial center. All the money is here and it's easy to tell - prices in Moscow are much higher than other places in the country, including St. Petersburg. An example can be found in housing. The listed prices for apartments that I saw in Piter numbered around two million rubles (around 62,000 dollars) while in Moscow, I've seen prices upwards of six million (188,000 dollars). Prices for food, entertainment, and transport all follow this logic.

Moscow for me has always been a place I'd rather visit than live in due to many reasons. First off, the city is huge. I will be the first to say that I very much enjoy living in a big city as opposed to the small towns that I am accustomed too. However, I can't say the same about a megalopolis - and that's what Moscow seems to me. We are located twenty minutes from the center of the city by subway. It is rather close in all actuality, but the thing is, that this isn't the end of the city. Standing on the top floor of our hotel, the landscape spreads out, it seems as if the whole of Moscow is laid bare before us. On one side, you can see towards the center of the city - where the seats of power sit (You can't actually see the Kremlin, just look towards it). On the other side the land expands out with row upon row of apartment buildings. I've seen these спальные районы (literally "sleeping neighborhoods", but better understood as residential neighborhoods) in ever city I've visited in Russia, but this was the first time I was a little bit 'spooked' by the sight of them. The buildings just keep going and going - one square after another. It betrays the size of Moscow and the speed at which the city is growing. Cars move through the streets all night - the city indeed never sleeps.

Main building of Moscow State University - one of the
"Seven Sisters"

The other reasons for my preference to stay in St. Petersburg are political and social. Russia is the largest country on the planet. To fly from one end of the country to the other takes around nine hours - the same amount of time it takes to fly from New York to Moscow. Yet, the political and economic center of the country is located far away from Siberia for example, the piece of Russia's territory that arguably drives its economy. The political culture and system of the country is centralized in Moscow. Everything we hear in the US about Russia usually takes place in Moscow. Many in Russia dream of heading to Moscow in search of opportunities (hence the growth rate of the city). It strikes me as unfair and inefficient that one city should hold such a sway over so many people and such a vast tract of land. I say this with very little idea of what would be better for a country and specifically for Russia. Notwithstanding, it still causes me a bit of grief when people speak highly of Moscow, because there is a lot of potential in the so called "provinces". I'm drawn to those places more or less. We can't forget about people, because then it only becomes a matter of time before we are forgotten ourselves.

Yet at the same time I will not deny that Moscow does not contain beauty. I still enjoy immersing myself into the crowds that wander its streets, even though I do not feel at home among them. Other people do call this city home though and that is beautiful because it means there are stories to be heard, love and loss to be shared, and a present to live in together.

Moscow is one piece (albeit a rather big piece) of the Russia puzzle and is worth learning about and discovering. As the rain continues however, I found myself drawn more to my warm bed, than to Red Square.