Hi everyone! This is my
first doodle and I'm excited to write about the trip to
Moscow! First of all, a huge congrats to the Russian Fed Cup
team!It was incredible being there and watching them win their 3rd Fed Cup.
So what was Moscow like? AMAZING! I absolutely loved it! The culture, architecture, and people were fascinating.
Growing up in the US, I had only seen Russia through pictures and read about it in books, which doesn't do it justice! Every corner you turn there is a beautiful building with so much history! I speak zero Russian, so I'm so lucky I was with Maria, otherwise I would have been lost. I tried to learn, but only got as far as thank you, yes, no, and hello, how are you?
I have traveled with Maria to many places around the world, but didn't really know what to expect being in her home country. Two words to describe it....Maria Mania!! From the moment we stepped off the plane, it seemed like everyone wanted to follow her every step. I don't think neither of us expected it to be such big news that she was coming there as a practice partner.
You probably wonder what a typical day is like with Maria in Moscow? Well, we met for breakfast at about 9am everyday.
After meeting downstairs, the first question Maria and I would ask each other was, "How was your sleeping pattern?" Now this may seem like a strange question, but when you have just crossed 8 time zones from New York (So when it is 1am in Moscow, it is only 5pm in NY), let me tell you, your sleeping pattern is not good.
The typical answer from either one of us was, "I was up from 1-3, slept from 3-5, up from 5-6, and now it's 9am and I feel like I have been hit by a bus because at 9am, it is 1am on the East Coast of the US and your body doesn't want to get up in the middle of the night. After breakfast, we would head to the courts, Maria would practice, get treatment on her shoulder, I would do some emails, read a bit, have some lunch, and by then it was 4pm and time to head back to the hotel, rest (which usually meant a nap), and go to dinner. The food in Moscow is AMAZING! I tried some Russian dumplings, borsch (which is surprisingly good), kebobs, and other Russian food. My favorite Russian dish is a crepe her grandma made for me once, heavenly!
The Fed Cup was great to watch. Usually at tennis matches it is so quiet, but Fed Cup is for your country, so it was loud and a fun atmosphere. The Russians and the Italians both had great fans! They were loud and cheering like crazy, especially during Svetlana's match to win for Russia! There was an Italian fan there with a trumpet who played a song after every point. That poor guy must have been exhausted after the two days. It was very cool though because after Russia won, he played the Russian national anthem on his trumpet, very impressive!
As you probably have seen on Maria's website, we got to go to the Kremlin and see some sites! Of course it was raining that day, but Maria was my own personal tour guide and knows her Russian history! The cathedral we went to was the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life!
So I hope you enjoyed my doodle and if you have never been to Russia and you get the chance, GO, it is incredible!