Last night I was thinking back on some of the best experiences I have had while traveling. One that came to mind took place back in the Winter of 2002. I am usually not good with dates or times of the year when things occur but this one is easy because it involves ice skating in Moscow with the snow a falling.
My sister Tisha and I had been traveling for about five months by the time we reach Moscow via the Trans-Siberian. It was December something or other and wicked cold. Way back when I had read the book and seen the movie 'Gorky Park', so of course, we had to track it down. It was actually quit easy to find...just a 1/2 mile straight down from a metro stop.
The first time we visited Gorky Park it was just days before we headed off to St. Petersburg. It was well into December so all the trees where bare and icicles hung everywhere. Wandering around the meandering footpaths throughout the park you could tell how crazy fun this park must be in the Summer. There where rides, food stalls, and entertainment venues everywhere (most closed for winter). Both of us thought it pretty cool that we got to check out Gorky Park. As we were leaving we notice a little old man ice skating on a small patch of ice. We stopped to watch for a minute not thinking much about the ice he was on as we had been slip sliding our way around Russia for a couple weeks. This ice was different than the chunky bits of ice we had fallen on repeatedly throughout our trip. This graceful, old fellow was on a picture perfect piece of ice. It the background we saw a Zamboni (esk) machine laying down water and smoothing ice. COOOOLLLL!
(a week later)
Upon our return from St. Petersburg we made a bee line for Gorky Park to see what that 'Super Cool Zamboni Thing' had done. OH MY ICE SKATING GODDESS! The entirety of Gorky Park was under ice. All the walking paths were covered in a perfect coat of ice. It was the middle of the afternoon and people from all walks of life were out on the ice. Men in business suits, retired couples, tough looking kids, and anyone else you can imagine were out enjoying the ice.
We worked our way to the main hub of activity and inside an old building in the middle of the park was an ice skate rental joint and concession stand. You know what happened next....skates on.....and off we went. Tisha learned to skate that day. Can't imagine a better way to learn to ice skate than on the meandering walking er skating paths of Gorky Park in the dead of Winter in the middle of Moscow. A few falls did occur...come on now.....there aren't any walls to grab onto in the middle of Gorky Park. Everyone looked as if they were out for a nice walk in the park except that there was a smooth, grace to their movements.
We had the best time ever. Talk about a cheap day out. Skate rentals and a hot chocolate after. This simple, accidental experience is still one of the most memorable of my travel life.
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