Feeling more adventurous today, we decided to venture to the All Russia Exhibition Center. We were able to take the subway, so getting there was fairly convenient. Upon exiting the subway station, we were met with a large crowd of food vendors and smelly toilets. We walked over to the exhibition center, which is basically a collection of very large buildings showing off various aspects of soviet industry and provinces.

Highlights included crazy giant statues, a full-size rocket and the atomic energy pavilion.

While walking around, various people try to convince you to come and eat at their restaurant/food stand. Because we were starting to get hungry, we eventually gave in and stopped at a meat kebab restaurant. The menu was a bit confusing, but the prices seemed reasonable, so three of us ordered pork kebabs and Cynthia ordered vegetables. No questions were asked by the waiter, but when the food came out, we each had massive portions (i.e. enough for two or three meals), which seemed fairly generous, given the price. Naturally, when the bill came it turned out the prices were per 100 grams, so this became the most expensive meal of the trip (and most of it was thrown away since we didn’t have anywhere to store it in the hotel).

After our first experience with being ripped off in Russia, we wandered around the exhibition some more, then headed back into town. We decided to take a boat ride/tour of the Volga river, which was actually fairly nice.

For dinner that night, we went to an italian restaurant called Venice, at which I didn’t actually have carbonara for some reason.