Travels: Winter in Moscow

Sort of reminds me of something similar to what Dickens once said. Its the best of times, its the worst of times. The season is festive, and Muscovites adore snow and cold. It comes with their history. Napoleon and Hitler both confronted "General Winter" and were soundly defeated. But no doubt winter here has its challenges. The constant brown mush on the streets, slippery sidewalks and the short days help to explain why every Muscovite who can afford it heads for the tropics around the New Year's Holidays. Moscow's businesses shut down from the first until the 11th.

On Christmas Day, I ventured down to Red Square, to see the lights and watch the skaters. I had given some thought to strapping on a pair of skates myself, but when I surfaced from the depths of the Moscow subway, I discovered that the temperature had risen to near freezing and the city was being pummeled with a steady sleet. Four hours later, the temperature dropped again and the surfaces froze solid. Walking became a real challenge (maybe I should strap those skates on now!) The next morning, I awoke to the sounds of snapping tree branches and the ping, ping of people with their ice scrapers trying to get an inch of ice off their car's windshields. It was incredible. If the car had snow on it before, that was now ice. One person at work said it took him 30 minutes, after a series of hot water buckets, to even get his car door open. Domodedevo airport lost power, as did 300 surrounding villages. The sidewalks were littered with tree branches.

I have never seen a city so under control after a major storm. Snow removal here is handled primarily by migrant workers. They come here from Uzbekistan, Krgystan, Azerbijaan, and other republics down south, where work in the winter is hard to come by, and get handed a snow shovel. Its good money. Like the US migrants that harvest our crops. 24/7 I hear the snow shovels going. They shovel into piles, then a backhoe loader comes and puts it in a dump truck and hauls it to the Moscow River. It snows about 8 days out of 10, but the sidewalks and streets stay accessible. Oh yes. whatever you do, do NOT walk too close to a building. The buildings in the business districts abut up to the sidewalk. Ice falling from 4 and 6 story buildings kills a dozen or so every year. Yes, they shovel there too, but nothing is 100% guaranteed!!