Everything is Big in Texas; Everything in Moscow might be Bigger

Enormous. If you asked me to describe Moscow in one word, that would be it: enormous. Not because of the area size (which is somewhat smaller than NYC, according to Wiki stats) or the number of people living here (around 12 million or so) but because of the buildings.

The city is filled with giant, towering structures peppered throughout the city, quite a few left over from Stalin's era. Even coming from DC – where the size of the memorials and museums still sometimes leave me in awe – I was first struck by the incredible size of the structures here. I don't mean to say that all of Moscow's buildings tower high over the pedestrians. (For instance, in New York, I sometimes feel as if I'm wandering through a maze of skyscrapers; this isn't the case here.) Rather, the most gigantic structures are interspersed among smaller buildings, the wild web of Moscow roads, and the city's many green parks.

Moscow is surprisingly green – one of our tour guides said that parks make up nearly a third of the city's space. (Hopefully I didn't hear her incorrectly, but there are so many beautiful parks around, I easily believe it!) Between the greenery, elaborately-designed buildings, and onion-domed churches, the city is a joy to walk around. Even if your final destination is relatively unremarkable, you're still almost guaranteed to enjoy the journey.

On one of our first days in the city, a group of us students decided to explore a specific pedestrian zone and sculpture garden that were recommended by a guidebook. Surprisingly, both turned out to be generally unimpressive. (The sculpture garden was particularly odd; it was a giant, unkempt plot of land filled with overgrown grass, outdated Soviet statues, and – perhaps most oddly – outdoor hanging disco balls. Very strange. So I took my picture between Soviet-era concrete busts of Stalin & Lenin.) However, the walk to these locations was incredible. We meandered through the Red Square, popped into St. Basil's cathedral, awed at the Kremlin from a bridge over the Moskva River, and gawked at a gargantuan statue of Peter the Great. (I have no idea how many stories high this statue is. The thing is massive.)

So really, it didn't matter that our final destination – the sculpture garden – seemed to be the quirky brainchild of some doped-up nostalgic Soviet Comrad; the evening was still incredible!