Everyday, Homespun, Grade A Adventure

I don't much take to travel guides. Maybe because they're boring. Maybe because they're overwhelming. Maybe because I don't follow directions well. OR maybe because adventures are so much more fun when you make them up as you go, and discoveries are so much more satisfying when they actually feel like your own. I recently had one such adventure. I "discovered" the love lock bridge. This is based off an international tradition which I had never heard of until traveling to Ireland a year ago. Now I see it everywhere. Apparently, as tradition has it, couples put a padlock on a bridge and then throw the key into the water to symbolize the lasting nature of their relationship. Lock your love and throw away the key? I'm skeptical. But I guess it adds character to the bridge. Strangely enough, however, there was a truck on this pedestrian bridge. This particular bridge has metal trees all down the middle of the path, each of which is covered with locks. Unfortunately for the love-birds of these trees, the love luck had maxed out and the trees were being lifted and carried off by this truck. I'm not sure how that works into the symbolism, but it can't bode well. On came the fresh, new trees ready for fresh, new love birds. I took some pictures and then moved on with my adventure as fountains shot up in the river.

Across the street was a park so I decided to check it out. I'm sure it's just as famous as the bridge, and, were I to crack I travel guide to Moscow, I would have known all about it and sought it out, but there's something so much better about not knowing. There was a huge statue and lots of flowers, which, I guess, is a good thing and makes it a pretty park, but I didn't really know what to do with them so I just proceeded on. There was a huge sculpture at the end of the flower beds. If I were more mischievous I might have crossed the rope with signs saying not to get any closer. It was a fascinating sculpture, however, embodying 15 vices of adults that to which children (who we claim to be the future) are the victims. It was rather profound, as I suppose art is meant to be.  After I read the sign about it and took a few pictures, I surveyed the scene for my next move.

There were several playsets... But I resisted the temptation to be the creepy adult playing alone on the slides and whatnot. Plus I had no one to watch my purse. Instead, I eyed the many benches lining the pathway. I picked one, popped a squat, and pulled out my book. Yep. That did it. I sat in the springy sunshine with a great view and filled my mind with Harry Potter in German. That's how much of a nerd I am. After a while I went back. I passed through several newlyweds taking pictures on the bridge.

Oh and then there was the garbage can on fire. Yep. Another run-of-the-mill, everyday, homespun, grade A adventure.

I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'.