Moscow has been interesting. Thought it is winter here and normally very cold, it hasn't been too terrible these few days. Each day has been mostly overcast, however, with spurts of rain that aren't quite freezing. There's lots of mud in Moscow right now--I'm kind of struck by how much dirt and mud there is. I think it's dirtier than New York, though not in a garbage/litter/sewage way--I have yet to see any big piles of garbage in the street. The dirtiness of Moscow is about dirt--earth and since it's been wet, mud. It's more or less understood here to take off one's shoes when entering someone's apartment and it seems clear this is not some asian/Japa
nese custom, but rather just a practical matter so that mud isn't tracked all over.Someone in the upstairs apartment is playing piano right now. While entering one of the underground metro stations the other day there were about a dozen people standing in a line each playing a stringed instrument and together they delivered a piece of classical music I recognized. You have a sense that the people here know and understand their culture and history.
I'll have to add more commentary on Moscow later, it's nearly time for us to leave for the airport.
