The Gap

Today I stayed close to the apartment, mostly because I've walked so much in the past week that I have blisters on my feet in places that I didn't know I could get blisters. And how so many Russian women walk around on 4 inch heels all day long is beyond me. I was reading through one of those "Eyewitness" travel guides for Moscow and the author wrote that "Moscow's inhabitants are not known to be great walkers." I wonder which Moscow he is talking about because it most certainly is not the large one in Russia. It seems that people here walk everywhere, except for those than can afford a car. The rest of us must make do with the metro.

It seems that the divide between the haves and the have-nots has become very pronounced here. After trying several different grocery stores I understand why so many Russian women are thin - they can't afford to eat. Some thing are priced about the same - grapes for instance are about the same price. You can find milk, butter, cream and domestically produced dairy products relatively cheap and when you consider the quality, in many ways they are often more reasonable than their American equivalents that we purchase at home. In general the dairy here has more fat, so whereas you have to spend nearly $5 to get a pound of real butter (something like Land of Lakes, not Organic Valley which was $7 a pound the last time I checked), at least in Florida, here it can be had for around $3 and you can rest assured that it will have lots of fat :) For those of us that bake this is important. Milk is relatively cheap as is smetana, which some people would equate to sour cream. However, it has a different flavor and a different consistency altogether. Bread is another staple item that is pretty cheap, but bread, or at least the lack of it starts revolutions, so the low cost is not surprising.

I have been truly surprised by the price of fresh vegetables. I knew they were outrageously priced in one of the major chains Azbuxa, but I was surprised to find them so high in another chain Sedmoi Kontinent (7th Continent). For instance tomatoes are about $7 per pound in Sedmoi Kontinent. Originally I had planned to make spaghetti and I thought it would be easiest just to buy fresh tomatoes, but after seeing how much fresh tomatoes were I decided to just get a jar of tomato sauce. Unfortunately the tomato sauce in the jar was even more expensive. So my next step is to try the local farmers market, which will undoubtedly be cheaper but also less convenient.

Beer is also reasonably priced and certain beers such as Czech, German, and Polish are cheaper here than at home, and this makes perfect sense. American beers like Budweiser and Miller are way overpriced, in my opinion, and cost at least 3 times what good Czech beer costs. I got a bottle of Kozel dark beer the other night and it was approximately $1.25 and it was a large bottle. Wine is also comparably priced, although in many instances it is way beyond the income of the average Muscovite.

I also spotted a Chili's and a Friday's not far from my apartment and I was sorely tempted to go into Chili's and order a margarita and fajitas, but it would most likely run around $50. I didn't check the prices on either menu, but considering that they are both located on Novyi Arbat, they are most likely out of my price range.

There are also quite a few homeless people. In my wanderings up and down the Old Arbat I noticed a number of people who seemed to be sleeping on the streets. At the monument to Aleksandr Pushkin an old man was laying on the base sleeping while a group of tourists, thankfully not American, laughed and pointed at him. They took pictures in front of him and the monument, mimicking his behavior. I didn't know what was worse the circumstances of the homeless man, or his fellow human beings standing around laughing at him without any idea of what would bring a man or woman to such a condition.

I am sorry for the somber mood of this post, but I do want to give as full a picture as possible. In the meantime, I hope one of you reading this goes to Chili's and has a margarita (or 4) for me. Cheers!