Day 24 through 38: A Lot of Traveling In Such Little Time

Day 24 through 38: A Lot of Traveling In Such Little Time

Word of the Day(s): есть [yest']: eat

Okay, so you know those times when you say you are going to keep up on something and then you let it go one day, and then another, and then another, and then pretty soon you are so far behind it is depressing. Yeah, this is one of those times. Max and I have been traveling a bunch lately and between traveling and school I have been very busy. In order to get caught up on the blog, this post will mostly consist of pictures, captions, and a few stories here and there. Enjoy!

Day 24 was Monday the 6th of May.  Day 25 was Tuesday the 7th of May. Day 26 was Wednesday the 8th of May. And the day where all the adventures began was Day 27, Thursday the 9th of May. The 9th of May marks Russia's Victory Day! Victory Day is a celebration to remember the day that the Nazi forces were overcome. In order to get a good spot in the parade, Max and I got up really early (6:00am) to be able to find a spot as soon as possible and as close as possible. The red square was where all the action was, but only people who were invited were allowed. We got up, got ready, tied a black and orange ribbon around our bags (a celebration symbol of Victory Day), and headed out the door. On our way we stopped by a bakery and got a chocolate croissant, naturally, and a smoothie.

As we walked to the bridge right by the red square, where we planned to stand by, we came across a security checkpoint and they wouldn't let us by. The bridge was also closed off for those who were invited. Dumb. So, we moved on and tried to find the next best thing. As we walked, we couldn't find much. We stopped by this one point and asked a police officer if he knew if the parade marched through there and he told us that it did. Luckily we didn't stay because later we found out it didn't. Police officers don't really know what they are talking about here. Note to self: ask someone else next time.

Police officer who told us the parade marched through a certain spot, but it didn't 

After standing around for a bit trying to figure out what to do, we started walking again. We ended up running into this little place right across from the red square where we could clearly see where the parade would march through. So, we decided to stay and watch from there. By the time we got to our final spot, it was about 7:30 and the parade was scheduled to start at 10:00. Needless to say, we had a little bit of time to just stand there (there were no seats anywhere near by and we couldn't move or else someone would steal our spot). After a few hours of waiting and waiting more and more people came and crowded the streets. There were tons of people everywhere! People were climbing up little temporary construction sites that didn't seem very stable and pipes that weren't supposed to be climbed on. It was hectic to say the least. People also started to send their kids up to the front so they could see causing arguments between people. I heard a lot of, "You should have come earlier if you wanted your kids to be in front,. Put them on your shoulders!" and "Let the kids through!" and "You're not even from here so you don't even understand!" There was a lot of shoving and pushing and no such thing as personal space. I was sandwiched between a big man's beer belly and a tall lanky man with pealing sunburn in front of me so I couldn't see. Not pleasant at all.

Then, out of no where these cannons right by us fired blank's and scared the heck out of me. I didn't notice them at all, so I thought I was going to die.

Finally the parade began and I squeezed around the lanky tall guy and was released from the grip of the big belly. Max and I took lots of pictures...

The guys in the cars are those who announce Victory Day. 

They were cheering and yelling "Hurrah!"

It was pretty cool seeing the power of Russia. We were so lucky to take part in victory day. Leaving was a mess. It was crazy! So many people, but so many adorable kids...

He almost whacked me in the face with his flag haha

On our way back we decided we were hungry and stopped by a Mexican food place in Russia haha While we were eating our burrito and chips we came across another American family! They happened to be from Utah and were LDS. What are the chances??? They were just visiting Russia because that is where their son served his mission. Their son and daughter also just graduated from BYU and they decided to go on a celebration/mission tour vacation. We talked with them, played the name game, found people we knew in common, and then ended up joining them for the rest of the day to explore Moscow. 

It say's Mexico Texas in the window! Shout out to all my Texan's! 

Before we went in, we saw this guy haha I have never seen one of those before...

To be continued...