The Ruskies
Back in London after 3 days in Moscow. This was easily one of the best trips of my life. I owe this to some very cool Russians who took great care of us while we were there. First was Masha.
She met us at the airport and stayed with us the whole time until she left us at the security gate at the airport. She had just flown in from Belgium where she'd gone to the Werchter Festvial. She was run ragged trying to keep up with taking everyone sight-seeing and out at night. Both nights we were there went until sunrise drinking vodka at a club owned by Nash.
Nash is the singer in The Blast, the Moscow band that opened for us. This is one of the warmest people I've ever met. I can't say enough good things about him and his friends.
The day we got in, Masha took me, Fab, Richard, Rob, Matt & Nikolai to see Red Square. What an amazing place.
Fab talking to Drew with St. Basil's in his sights...
Lenin's tomb...
We stood around taking pictures for awhile then walked across the river through some less touristy neighborhoods and took the Metro back.
The Kremlin...
A very old church...
Moscow's subway is one of the coolest I've been on. Very old and rickety but fancy in its way.
That night Masha and Tatiana (the promoter) took us to a great restaurant on top of the academy of sciences building. It was on the 22nd floor with amazing views. Ate caviar and blinis and got drunk on vodka.
Then it was off to Nash's bar, which was empty on a Monday night. We had a great night anyway talking and drinking until 5:30am with our new russian friends.
The gig was a nightmare for me but the kids loved it. They were rabid when we left the venue, which was an old relic stuck in the soviet era. Lenin looked disapprovingly over the stage. This statue was easily 20ft. tall.
The afterparty was at Nash's club. This is one of the coolest bars I've ever been in. It was packed with people and there were a bunch of kids from the gig who'd found their way over and couldn't get in. They were showing the Italy-Germany semi-final on a projection screen so we watched that and ate great food. What a game. The place erupted when Italy scored the winning goal. I was quite ill all day from being stupid drunk the night before (I even threw up in the elevator of the super fancy hotel we stayed at). Despite my plans to not drink and have an early night I was fed vodka shots until I was the last one there at 6am. I met the most beautiful Russian girl with eyes and a face that i'll remember on my death bed. She spoke virtually no english so there wasn't much verbal communication but it was still one of the best connections I made there. Like a dumbass I didn't bring my camera so I have only the picture in my brain. Masha came and got me and got me home at 6:30am. When we came out of the club the first night I said "We'll never find a taxi". Masha said "Everything is taxi" and sure enough she negotiated with some random car to take us home. A very different place. It's crazy to think about what all these people lived through with the fall of the Soviet Union. Many thanks and much love to Masha, Nash and the rest of the very warm people who made this such an amazing trip.
She met us at the airport and stayed with us the whole time until she left us at the security gate at the airport. She had just flown in from Belgium where she'd gone to the Werchter Festvial. She was run ragged trying to keep up with taking everyone sight-seeing and out at night. Both nights we were there went until sunrise drinking vodka at a club owned by Nash.
Nash is the singer in The Blast, the Moscow band that opened for us. This is one of the warmest people I've ever met. I can't say enough good things about him and his friends.
The day we got in, Masha took me, Fab, Richard, Rob, Matt & Nikolai to see Red Square. What an amazing place.
Fab talking to Drew with St. Basil's in his sights...
Lenin's tomb...
We stood around taking pictures for awhile then walked across the river through some less touristy neighborhoods and took the Metro back.
The Kremlin...
A very old church...
Moscow's subway is one of the coolest I've been on. Very old and rickety but fancy in its way.
That night Masha and Tatiana (the promoter) took us to a great restaurant on top of the academy of sciences building. It was on the 22nd floor with amazing views. Ate caviar and blinis and got drunk on vodka.
Then it was off to Nash's bar, which was empty on a Monday night. We had a great night anyway talking and drinking until 5:30am with our new russian friends.
The gig was a nightmare for me but the kids loved it. They were rabid when we left the venue, which was an old relic stuck in the soviet era. Lenin looked disapprovingly over the stage. This statue was easily 20ft. tall.
The afterparty was at Nash's club. This is one of the coolest bars I've ever been in. It was packed with people and there were a bunch of kids from the gig who'd found their way over and couldn't get in. They were showing the Italy-Germany semi-final on a projection screen so we watched that and ate great food. What a game. The place erupted when Italy scored the winning goal. I was quite ill all day from being stupid drunk the night before (I even threw up in the elevator of the super fancy hotel we stayed at). Despite my plans to not drink and have an early night I was fed vodka shots until I was the last one there at 6am. I met the most beautiful Russian girl with eyes and a face that i'll remember on my death bed. She spoke virtually no english so there wasn't much verbal communication but it was still one of the best connections I made there. Like a dumbass I didn't bring my camera so I have only the picture in my brain. Masha came and got me and got me home at 6:30am. When we came out of the club the first night I said "We'll never find a taxi". Masha said "Everything is taxi" and sure enough she negotiated with some random car to take us home. A very different place. It's crazy to think about what all these people lived through with the fall of the Soviet Union. Many thanks and much love to Masha, Nash and the rest of the very warm people who made this such an amazing trip.
posted by JJL at 8:41 AM
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