Shopping!
Sunday April 10th
Going clothes shopping in Moscow could perhaps be one of the most hazardous activities to your wallet. My dear friend Rachel has a very sweet Russian boyfriend with a car, and she convinced him to take us girls out shopping to a place where things are actually affordable and won't leave a gaping hole where money should be. I have been living off of the same 3 pairs of pants and 5 shirts since I got here in February, and me being the girly girl I am, was going to die or go crazy enough to spend way too much money on new clothes pretty soon if I had to wear the same thing...again. Oleg took us to Mega Mall, it is just south of Moscow past Юго-запада metro station, and came to pick me up at 11:30am. It certainly was a mega mall with 280 stores, and one of the biggest Ashans I had ever seen (Not that I've seen many Ashans...but it was much bigger than the one near the university).
Before we were able to commence shopping activities, Oleg was in dire need for coffee, and Rachel and I were hungry. They had a decent sized food court with all sorts of fast food places including Burger King, McDonalds, Sbarros, but more importantly, they had Крошко Картошка. That is a fast food place that has cheesy baked potatoes that allow you to put whatever toppings and dressings on it. They are very yummy, and I recommend this to anyone who is coming to Moscow. They also have delicious borscht, and wraps filled with mushrooms and other vegetables. They receive an A+ in my blog!
First shop we went to was Zara, this is where all the Russian women go, and their prices can compare to Express or The Limited, so none of us bought anything, except for Oleg. Over the course of 10 minutes, we found out that he loved shopping as much as us girls. He left the store with his very own Zara bag filled with two very nice pairs of pants. After that we went to C&A, there prices weren't bad, and I managed to find a pretty light purple t-shirt in there for 150 rubles which is the equivalent of $5! I couldn't help but pick up a cute cotton blouse that was also purple with tiny little flowers, and a light beige scarf that also has small flowers on it with shiny things! After that we went into Next, because I saw they had quite a few ballet flats, which turned out to be way too expensive, I couldn't find a nice pair anywhere any less than $60. Jennyfer was the next store, and Rachel and I had a blast! Oleg got all pouty on us because there weren't any men's clothing in there. The prices were right and the clothes were cute. I bought a spring light grey dress, a short black skirt, a blouse, and a black fancy capri pants. That was my biggest bill, but it was definitely worth it. Rachel picked up a few cute things in there too.
By this point, we had a lot of shopping bags so Oleg took all of our bags and went to put them all in the car while we ran off to Ashan. For in case you don't know, Ashan is a big grocery store that is similar to a WalMart, just not as organized. This Ashan was beyond huge and unbelievably busy. It felt like it was Black Friday. Little old women were being very aggressive with their carts, and by that I mean them trying to push their cart through my ass so they can get to where they wanted to be, even if there was no possible way for me to move. If I knew enough Russian and had a temper, I would have yelled and probably gotten into a pretty horrible fight - but I'm not that girl...Rachel and I were scared for our lives, but Oleg said to pretend that you are on the metro and then things wouldn't seem so bad. It didn't matter, it was pretty awful, but I somehow managed to come out of there alive with all the things I needed.
After Ashan, Oleg graciously took our bags back to the car, while he left us at a store called Твое. There were very inexpensive clothing, but more on the sporty side. If you need shorts, sweaters, tanks, beaters, t-shirts, this is the place to come. I bought a nice black sweater for only 250 rubles, a pair of shorts for lounging or exercising, and a leprechaun green t-shirt. Lastly, was Спортмастер where Oleg found a very nice pair of Sketchers for himself. I never found my black ballet flats and Rachel didn't find her spring shoes either, so next weekend we plan to go to the markets outside of the metro, and of course we are bringing Oleg to help us haggle the prices down! This was a very fun day, and shopping is still, and probably always will be, one of my favorite past times. It's amazing how good new clothing can make a girl feel. The day ended at almost 8pm, and I was exhausted, but I had the best nights sleep that I've had in ages.
Going clothes shopping in Moscow could perhaps be one of the most hazardous activities to your wallet. My dear friend Rachel has a very sweet Russian boyfriend with a car, and she convinced him to take us girls out shopping to a place where things are actually affordable and won't leave a gaping hole where money should be. I have been living off of the same 3 pairs of pants and 5 shirts since I got here in February, and me being the girly girl I am, was going to die or go crazy enough to spend way too much money on new clothes pretty soon if I had to wear the same thing...again. Oleg took us to Mega Mall, it is just south of Moscow past Юго-запада metro station, and came to pick me up at 11:30am. It certainly was a mega mall with 280 stores, and one of the biggest Ashans I had ever seen (Not that I've seen many Ashans...but it was much bigger than the one near the university).
Before we were able to commence shopping activities, Oleg was in dire need for coffee, and Rachel and I were hungry. They had a decent sized food court with all sorts of fast food places including Burger King, McDonalds, Sbarros, but more importantly, they had Крошко Картошка. That is a fast food place that has cheesy baked potatoes that allow you to put whatever toppings and dressings on it. They are very yummy, and I recommend this to anyone who is coming to Moscow. They also have delicious borscht, and wraps filled with mushrooms and other vegetables. They receive an A+ in my blog!
First shop we went to was Zara, this is where all the Russian women go, and their prices can compare to Express or The Limited, so none of us bought anything, except for Oleg. Over the course of 10 minutes, we found out that he loved shopping as much as us girls. He left the store with his very own Zara bag filled with two very nice pairs of pants. After that we went to C&A, there prices weren't bad, and I managed to find a pretty light purple t-shirt in there for 150 rubles which is the equivalent of $5! I couldn't help but pick up a cute cotton blouse that was also purple with tiny little flowers, and a light beige scarf that also has small flowers on it with shiny things! After that we went into Next, because I saw they had quite a few ballet flats, which turned out to be way too expensive, I couldn't find a nice pair anywhere any less than $60. Jennyfer was the next store, and Rachel and I had a blast! Oleg got all pouty on us because there weren't any men's clothing in there. The prices were right and the clothes were cute. I bought a spring light grey dress, a short black skirt, a blouse, and a black fancy capri pants. That was my biggest bill, but it was definitely worth it. Rachel picked up a few cute things in there too.
By this point, we had a lot of shopping bags so Oleg took all of our bags and went to put them all in the car while we ran off to Ashan. For in case you don't know, Ashan is a big grocery store that is similar to a WalMart, just not as organized. This Ashan was beyond huge and unbelievably busy. It felt like it was Black Friday. Little old women were being very aggressive with their carts, and by that I mean them trying to push their cart through my ass so they can get to where they wanted to be, even if there was no possible way for me to move. If I knew enough Russian and had a temper, I would have yelled and probably gotten into a pretty horrible fight - but I'm not that girl...Rachel and I were scared for our lives, but Oleg said to pretend that you are on the metro and then things wouldn't seem so bad. It didn't matter, it was pretty awful, but I somehow managed to come out of there alive with all the things I needed.
After Ashan, Oleg graciously took our bags back to the car, while he left us at a store called Твое. There were very inexpensive clothing, but more on the sporty side. If you need shorts, sweaters, tanks, beaters, t-shirts, this is the place to come. I bought a nice black sweater for only 250 rubles, a pair of shorts for lounging or exercising, and a leprechaun green t-shirt. Lastly, was Спортмастер where Oleg found a very nice pair of Sketchers for himself. I never found my black ballet flats and Rachel didn't find her spring shoes either, so next weekend we plan to go to the markets outside of the metro, and of course we are bringing Oleg to help us haggle the prices down! This was a very fun day, and shopping is still, and probably always will be, one of my favorite past times. It's amazing how good new clothing can make a girl feel. The day ended at almost 8pm, and I was exhausted, but I had the best nights sleep that I've had in ages.
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