moscow in 5°c? here’s what i found (and why i’m still here)
so i was in moscow last week and it was colder than i expected. the snow was everywhere and the air tasted like fake snow. i had a jacket made of old blankets and a thermos of tea. yeah that’s me. i just checked and it's...there right now, hope you like that kind of thing.
so the first thing i noticed was how loud the neighbors were. not like normal loud, but like the kind of loud where they're shouting in russian while walking a dog through a parking lot. if you get bored, st. petersburg is just a short drive away. i heard that the subway trains are randomly loud, which is both a blessing and a curse.
i saw a photo on unsplash of a sunset over a mountain range and thought, 'that’s not moscow.' but then i realized it was from a different city. i tried to find it but couldn’t. maybe i was dreaming.
i tried a place called 'cafe 24' and the coffee was so bad it felt like they were brewing it with snow. i heard that from a guy who looked like he’d been there 10 times. some people said the food was okay, but others said it was like eating a bowl of regret. i didn’t know which to believe.
i also saw a sign for 'moscow local boards' online and thought, 'what even is that?' i finally clicked it and it was a forum where people argued about whether the metro was better than the bus. i didn’t participate. i just took notes.
the weather was weird. it was 5°C but felt like 2°C. i think that’s the 'feels like' thing. i didn’t mind. i like cold. i like pretending i’m in a snow globe.
someone told me that the best way to avoid tourists is to not ask for directions. i tried that and ended up in a market selling vintage socks. they were warm. that’s all i know.
if you go, check out 'moscow tripadvisor' or 'moscow yelp' for reviews. i also found a page about 'moscow local tourism' but it was just a list of abandoned buildings. maybe that’s a good thing.
i’m still here. moscow is loud, cold, and somehow magical. i don’t know if i’ll come back. maybe. maybe not.
You might also be interested in:
- https://votoris.com/post/campinas-where-coffee-meets-concrete-and-i-almost-got-lost
- https://votoris.com/post/the-cost-of-living-in-mosul-monthly-budget-breakdown-3
- https://votoris.com/post/ridgeview-at-6am-a-indie-film-scouts-midnight-scramble-for-hidden-stories
- https://votoris.com/post/the-weather-whispers-in-seattle
- https://votoris.com/post/the-humid-heart-of-city-a-digital-nomads-messy-guide